Stefan Pape 
We are well and truly in the midst of festival season, and to be honest, we couldn’t be happier. So while you’re only just catching your breath from the aftermath of Venice, it’s time to restart your engines, for now the Toronto International Film Festival has begun – and Hot Corn are in attendance. To get you as excited as we are (and we’re really excited), here we compile out list of six films you do not want to miss out on.
A STAR IS BORN – Everybody is going gaga for Gaga, as she turns in a memorable performance in Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut A Star Is Born. Getting rave reviews out of Venice, not many would’ve started the year anticipating the hit musician to be the frontrunner for the Best Actress Oscar, and yet here we are. A role that seems a perfect fit for her, needless to say anybody who wasn’t excited about this one will have been heavily turned by the critical response thus far. We’re anticipating a similar reaction from the Canadian faithful, too.
BEAUTIFUL BOY – Since he stole our hearts in Call Me By Your Name, all eyes have been on Timothée Chalamet as we wonder where he turns next. Well, seems he’s turned to another excellent production, sharing the screen with Steve Carell in Felix von Groeningen’s latest picture.
FIRST MAN – Damien Chazelle is in his early 30s, and already he’s been behind Whiplash and La La Land, and with it become one of the true forces behind the lens in contemporary cinema. He’s teamed up yet again with Ryan Gosling, who plays Neil Armstrong (the first man on the moon, of course) in this exciting new venture. It seems a continuing strand, and one that illuminates all of Chazelle’s work is the theme of determination, those who will do whatever it takes to fulfil their dreams, risking the affections of those they love in the process. We have to hold our hands up, a biopic of Neil Armstrong didn’t exactly scream out to us, but then again neither did the story of a steely young jazz drummer, and hey, look what happened there.
GREEN BOOK – Generating quite a buzz, Green Book is undoubtedly one of the films to keep an eye out for this year, as an early dark horse in the award’s season buzz. Starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, just those two names are enough to have us on board.
WIDOWS – A new Steve McQueen film deserves all the attention it’s going to get, as following on from 12 Years A Slave, Shame and Hunger, it seems there is little this man can do wrong. Heck, he even won the Turner Prize. The way he’s going he could be on course to become the most famous Steve McQueen in cinematic history, which would be quite some feat. In this instance he’s bringing a former drama series on ITV to the silver screen. Had anyone else done that we’d have turned our noses up at it – but Steve McQueen sure as hell isn’t just ‘anyone’. Throw Viola Davis and Colin Farrell into the mix and we’re fully up for this one.
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK – Two years ago Barry Jenkins brought a little indie film to TIFF by the name of Moonlight – and, well, you know the rest. But now he’s more than a mere indie director, as he’s rightly got the eyes of cinema fans around the world looking forward to seeing what he’s serving up to audience members next. Just to add to the excitement, he’s adapting a novel by the incredible writer James Baldwin – which seems like a match-made in heaven. Soon we’ll find out whether that proved to the case (we’re pretty confident it will be – no pressure, Barry).
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