The Toronto International Film Festival has descended upon the city, and with hundreds of choices, picking the right film to see can be overwhelming. We’ll be bringing you recommendations every day, from major Hollywood features to compelling docs — the best from around the world. These are films that deserve to be seen, either during the festival or after.
Watermark
Rating: 3.5/5
Manufactured Landscapes creators Edward Burtynsky and Jennifer Baichwal return with a stunningly beautiful and haunting documentary that expertly catalogues how humans around the world interact with — and often abuse — water.
A dried up riverbed, a polluted stream and an extensive abalone farm are just some of the many places across the globe chronicled in ultra-high definition by the pair. The film is propelled by its pictures — there is little dialogue or narration, but the astounding imagery conveys power, beauty and terror.
Those images seem otherworldly, and an almost terrifying portrait unfolds about the way in which humans have changed their environment and abused water systems everywhere.
Sept. 6, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1, 7 p.m.
Sept. 8, Scotiabank Theatre 13, 9 a.m
Parkland
Rating: 3.5/5
This historical drama featuring an ensemble cast seems to fly by in minutes. Chronicling the assassination of American President John F. Kennedy and the days that followed, Parkland, named after the hospital that tried to revive JFK, is simple and tense. It employs an A-list cast, including Billy Bob Thornton, Zac Efron, Marcia Gay Harden, Paul Giamatti, Jacki Weaver and many other recognizable faces. Director Peter Landesman, meanwhile, makes his debut.
It’s a curious and fascinating movie, one that keeps a close eye on its many characters, and it offers up some interesting insight into what took place in hallways, offices, cars and Air Force One during that tumultuous time. Giamatti’s performance is perhaps the best as Abraham Zapruder, the man who captured the shooting on film. Also noteworthy is James Badge Dale as Lee Harvey Oswald’s brother, Robert.
Sept. 6, Roy Thomson Hall, 9:30 p.m.
Sept. 8, Winter Garden Theatre, 12:30 p.m.
Jason Reitman’s Live Read of Boogie Nights
This is a very hard ticket to get, so if you have your hands on this one, you’re golden. Oscar-nominated Canadian filmmaker Jason Reitman, whose feature Labor Day is playing during the festival, directs a stage reading of a Paul Thomas Anderson’s beloved Boogie Nights.
Reitman, who has been staging live reads for years now in Los Angeles, including ones of The Big Lebowski and Breaking Bad, is creating a one-night-only reading that is perhaps the most-anticipated non-film event of the festival. While Reitman will read directions and asides, his has assembled a talented and intriguing cast to take on some of the famed roles.
Joining on stage will be Olivia Wilde, Jason Sudeikis and Scott Thompson, with Dakota Fanning as Rollergirl and Josh Brolin as Jack Horner. No word yet who will take on the iconic role of Dirk Diggler.
Sept. 6, Ryerson Theatre, 6 p.m.
