‘Devotion’ Toronto Review: Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell Are The Original ‘Top Guns’ In Korean War Portrait Of The First Black Navy Pilot.

After star turns in “The Last Black Man In San Francisco,” “The Harder They Fall,” and “Devotion,” what does Jonathan Majors have up next? Well, being Kang the Conquerer in various MCU fare is one answer, but here’s another, more audacious one. Deadline reports that Majors is set to star as ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman in Lionsgate‘s upcoming film, “48 Hours In Vegas.” READ MORE: New ‘Devotion’ Trailer: Jonathan Majors & Glen Powell’s Korean War Drama Has Its World Premiere At TIFF This September The upcoming film follows the infamous story now made legendary by last year’s Michael Jordan–Chicago Bulls documentary, “The Last Dance.” While the Bulls vied for their second thee-peat championship run, Rodman took a 48-hour trip to Las Vegas to unwind in the middle of the 1998 finals.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic African American boxing champ Muhammad Ali famously refused to fight for his country, justifying himself with the oft-quoted quip, “No Viet Cong ever called me n—–.” That’s one-half of American history, and an important one. “Devotion” tells the other, presenting the story of a Black pilot so determined to defend — and die for, if need be — the United States that he was willing to endure institutional bigotry to become the Jackie Robinson of the skies: Jesse Brown, the first aviator of color to complete the Navy’s basic training program. A square but satisfying social justice drama set against the backdrop of the Korean War, “Devotion” impressed on the biggest screen possible at the Toronto Film Festival two months before its Nov. 23 theatrical release. Featuring elements of both “Green Book” and “Red Tails,” the film is more than just a stirring case of Black exceptionalism; it also celebrates the one white officer who had Brown’s back, Tom Hudner, treating the bond these two men formed as something exceptional unto itself. Director JD Dillard dazzles with see-it-in-Imax airborne sequences, but the meat of the film focuses on the friendship between Brown (“Da 5 Bloods” star Jonathan Majors) and his white wingman, played by Glen Powell, the “Hidden Figures” actor who most recently appeared in “Top Gun: Maverick.”

As the Toronto International Film Festival comes to its official Closing Night we say goodbye to the re-energized fest for another year, but not before we say ‘hello Dali’ or actually the final World Premiere of the festival, Daliland  which picks up the celebrated artists’ life in its later years focusing on the odd relationship between his and his controlling wife. If only this film stuck to that idea and didn’t take a detour into a misbegotten coming of age plotline about the young assistant both Dalis take a shine to in their own way.

The looming specter of whiteness often plagues stories of Black achievement, overshadowing what should be singular moments of triumph. Though it is true that these legends disrupted the framework of whiteness and pushed the world towards progress, the films about them don’t necessarily need to follow that same structural path.

Regé-Jean Page suited up for a mega-budgeted spy actioner with The Russo Brothers this year with Netflix‘s “The Gray Man.” Now, he and the Russos saddle up for another genre entirely: the TV western. READ MORE: ‘The Gray Man’ Review: Chris Evans Steals The Russos Actioner As Delicious Jackass; Too Bad About The Rest The Hollywood Reporter reports that Page and “Top Gun: Maverick” star Glen Powell will star in “Butch And Sundance” for Amazon.

Regé-Jean Page and Glen Powell are reportedly set to star in a new series together.

Rege-Jean Page and Glen Powell have an exciting new project on the horizon!

The Hollywood Reporter, which first broke the news. The series is envisioned as part of a larger franchise with multiple shows and spinoffs.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Regé-Jean Page and Glen Powell will star in TV series about Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid for Amazon, Variety has confirmed with sources. The untitled series will be executive produced by The Russo Brothers under their AGBO production banner. Kaz and Ryan Firpo, who most recently worked on Marvel’s “The Eternals,” will write. The search is currently on for a showrunner. According to sources, deals for the series are not yet closed and discussions are ongoing. Exact plot details are being kept under wraps but it is known that Page will play Cassidy while Powell will play The Sundance Kid. Both actors will also serve as executive producers on the show in addition to starring. Mike Larocca, Angela Russo-Otstot, and Scott Nemes of AGBO will also executive.

Regé-Jean Page and Glen Powell are set to star in a series inspired by Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid for Amazon.

Watching Peter Farrelly’s new film, The Greatest Beer Run Ever, and knowing little about it going in, I kept thinking this would be a totally absurd, beyond belief story if it isn’t one that really happened. By the end I saw it is indeed 100% true, proving life can sometimes be stranger than fiction.  As such it turns out to be one of the more memorable, and certainly heartfelt movies this year, as well as a Vietnam War movie that couldn’t be further from The Deer Hunter, Platoon, and Apocalypse Now,  but a character-driven drama that defies logic but makes you believe once again in the power of the human spirit. This is the rare Vietnam film seen from the POV of a civilian, a key reason it works as well as it does.

The mix of musical genres in the title of this Toronto Film Festival Gala Presentation reflects the wildly uneven tone of this rare drama from Tyler Perry Studios, a lush romantic musical telling the story of a Southern lynching with echoes of the murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi 1955. An imminent bow on Netflix is probably the best strategy for it; Perry may have his following, but it’s hard to imagine a crossover audience for A Jazzman’s Blues.

Lewis Milestone’s 1930 classic, All Quiet On The Western Front was based on the 1928 novel by Erich Maria Remarque and became the first adaptation of a book to win the Oscar for Best Picture, as well as the first Best Picture Oscar winner to also take Best Director. It has hardly been touched by filmmakers since then save for a TV Movie remake by director Delbert Mann in 1979 that starred Richard Thomas. Now that has changed, and in a significant way , as the book has finally been taken on by Germany with director Edward Berger’s (Patrick Melrose, Your Honor) adaptation (co-written with Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell) that finally shows us the perspective from the German side. It has already been selected as the German entry for the 95th Academy Awards Best International Film race, and just had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival today.

Did you ever see those videos of women giving birth in high school anatomy class? It’s like watching a David Cronenberg film because childbirth is body horror. The impending task of motherhood is draining, and for some, Postpartum depression is a large part of the horrifying ordeal of being a mom. This is what director/writer Bess Wohl aims to portray in her new feature film Baby Ruby which stars Noemie Merlant and Kit Harrington.

Chevalier is a biopic about violin virtuoso Joseph Bolonge Chevalier de Saint George directed by Stephen Williams and written by Stefani Robinson.

For questionable reasons, some very talented people got it into their heads that it would be a great idea to redress Georges Bizet’s classic 1875 musical Carmen for the big screen by throwing out everything—the setting, the era and, most of all, the music—and replacing it with a misguided attempt at relevance by setting it on the contemporary U.S. and Mexican border.

Lena Dunham directs the Medieval comedic drama Catherine Called Birdy. The film is an adaptation of the book by the same name by Karen Kushman and stars Bella Ramsey, Andrew Scott, Billie Piper.

There is definitely a trend of late for film directors to take a look in thinly disguised cinematic memoirs of their early influences that shaped the artist and person they have become. Kenneth Branagh with Belfast and Paolo Sorrentino with The Hand Of God did it last year. Of course there is Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, others over the years. Sam Mendes, while not drawing a portrait of his younger self revisits the movie palaces of his youth in another 2022 offering, Empire Of Light, which premiered last weekend at Telluride and will also hit the Toronto International Film Festival. TIFF is also where the man I recently described as the GOAT, Steven Spielberg, has chosen to debut his own story where the names have been changed but the story is  clearly his. The Fabelmans basically chronicling his early Jewish family life and infatuation with making movies  had its World Premiere Saturday night, the first of Spielberg’s directed movies ever to premiere at a film festival. This one seems entirely appropriate, and it has been gestating in the director’s head ever since he and his co-writer Tony Kushner started kicking it around during the making of Lincoln over a decade ago. He says he finally made it primarily as a way to bring his late parents Leah and Arnold (to whom the film is dedicated) somehow back to his life. Movies can do that, and no one knows it better than Steven Spielberg.

A group of wealthy people arrive on a mysterious island and receive the meal of a lifetime in Mark Mylod’s psychological thriller The Menu. Written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, the film stars Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor Joy. 

A group of wealthy people arrive on a mysterious island and receive the meal of a lifetime in Mark Maylod’s psychological thriller The Menu. Written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, the film stars Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor Joy.