‘Lee’ Review: Kate Winslet Excels In A Complex Biopic Of A Woman At War On Many Fronts – Toronto Film Festival

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor In her seven feature films as director, Rebecca Miller has presented indelible, complicated characters rarely seen on the big screen. One of those films, “Arthur Miller: Writer,” was a documentary about the heralded playwright, her father. But the remaining six narrative films were of her own creation — including the titular 10-year-old obsessed with absolving her sins in “Angela,” the three women at the center of “Personal Velocity” and the young mother who schemes to reunite her husband with his ex in “Maggie’s Plan.”As with her characters, the filmmaker has excelled at presenting unique worlds to the viewer.

Sound Unseen, the music documentary festival held in Minneapolis, is returning with a slew of rock docs including Alison Ellwood’s Cyndi Lauper film Let The Canary Sing and the North American premiere of Peter Doherty: Stranger In My Own Skin about the Libertines co-founder.

With a budget of $80 million—a pittance compared to the budgets of most modern blockbusters— Gareth Edwards has made his long-awaited return to science-fiction on the big screen with “The Creator,” a provocative sci-fi adventure set roughly 50 years in the future, where Western society is devastated by and at war with artificial intelligence (read our review). Whereas the East, having not undergone a similar tragedy, has embraced and fostered the technology.

Michaela Zee “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” director Gareth Edwards is once again addressing the multiple reports about the 2016 film requiring extensive reshoots overseen by Tony Gilroy (the eventual “Andor” creator was hired by Lucasfilm to join the “Rogue One” team in June 2016). On a recent episode of KCRW’s “The Business” podcast, Edwards claimed “there is so much inaccuracy” surrounding the making of the “Star Wars” prequel.

Jordan Moreau Move over, Barbenheimer, it’s time for Saw Patrol. This weekend sees the releases of four major movies, including Paramount’s family friendly “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” Lionsgate’s gory, R-rated “Saw X,” 20th Century’s sci-fi epic “The Creator” and “Sony’s GameStop stock story “Dumb Money.” “PAW Patrol” is expected to come out on top with an estimated $18 million to $20 million opening, but “Saw X” will be right on its tail with an estimated $15 million to $18 million. However, some projections go as high as $20 million to $25 million, overtaking the “PAW Patrol” pups.

So, filmmaker Gareth Edwards is doing the interview round for his latest sci-fi extravaganza, “The Creator,” starring John David Washington. It’s a movie heavily indebted to “Blade Runner,” “Apocalypse Now,” and even “Star Wars” (read our review here).

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kerry Washington explains in her new memoir, “Thicker Than Water,” that she actively rejected playing the “white girl’s best friend” after starring in “Against the Ropes,” the 2004 boxing drama headlined by Meg Ryan and Omar Epps. The film starred Ryan as Jackie Kallen, the first woman to achieve success as a boxing manager.

A familiar mélange and pastiche of sci-fi-tropes you’ve seen and felt before, filmmaker Gareth Edwards’ science-fiction drama, “The Creator,” is recognizable but, nonetheless, largely compelling— skillfully understanding the crucial balance of blockbuster scale and grounding character intimacy. Its intriguing examination of what constitutes a sentient being—coupled with its aesthetic mix of lo-fi, gritty, and grimy tech blended with sleeker, cleaner, and austerely traditional visual references to the future— makes for an engaging experience clearly designed for the big screen.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic The creator of “The Creator,” Gareth Edwards, started his filmmaking career teaching himself VFX at home. He’s an innovator on that front, devising ways to generate creepy CG monsters for “Monsters” more than a dozen years ago, then overseeing deceptively massive blockbusters, like “Godzilla,” ever since (deceptive because much of that stunning scale comes from virtual detail added in post).

Director, Producer, and Co-Writer (with Chris Weitz) Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) has been working on his idea for an original science fiction tale involving human interaction with advanced AI childfor many years. Now that The Creator is finally reaching the screen I would say it is more like science fact, or at least a plausible facsimile. With recent warnings from Silcon Valley leaders about imminent dangers with the alarming speed of AI progress, and all the talk (especially with the guild strikes) about the threat of AI technology invading and possibly even shifting out of our control in frightening ways, Edwards has cooked up a hell of a story in which AI just might be the good guys – or robots as it were – in a world where humans could be losing the upper hand.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor If Tom Hanks is America’s Dad, then Will Smith is the cool big brother. Smith has been a favorite of audiences and awards voters during his impressive three-decade career.

EXCLUSIVE: The UK Jewish Film Festival (November 9 – 22) has revealed its lineup of 2023 gala screenings and premieres, including special presentations of the Anthony Hopkins pic One Life and Mario Bellochi’s Cannes competition title Kidnapped. 

He’s captivated our imaginations with iconic monsters and futuristic space battles, using a symphony of light, scale, sound, and mastery over visual effects. Oh, and he really knows how to make Darth Vader scary.

Gareth Edwards directed his first movie, the 2010 indie “Monsters,” it could scarcely have been a more DIY endeavor. He had less than $500,000 to tell an intimate story about two Americans contending with giant aliens rampaging through Mexico, so his crew consisted of just his actors (Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able), a sound tech, a line producer, a translator and a driver.

Throughout an entire junket day as well as a special screening tonight at the TCL Grauman Chinese Theatre, The Creator filmmaker Gareth Edwards showed his solidarity for the pic’s cast as the SAG-AFTRA strike continued into its 67th day.

EXCLUSIVE: In competitive bidding, A24 has acquired U.S. theatrical rights to Sing Sing, the Greg Kwedar-directed drama that stars Colman Domingo. The film premiered at Toronto to rapturous reviews and A24 is plotting a 2024 theatrical release. Deal is 7-figures.

BreAnna Bell Salma Hayek Pinault will be honored with this year’s Giving Tree Award at the 2023 Baby2Baby Gala taking place on November 11 in Los Angeles. The Giving Tree Award is awarded annually to a public figure who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to improving the lives of children in need around the world. Past honorees include Amy Adams, Jessica Alba, Drew Barrymore, Vanessa Bryant, Jennifer Garner, Kate Hudson, Kim Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chrissy Teigen, and Kerry Washington.

The Gotham Awards said today that Rustin, director George C. Wolfe’s snapshot of the life of civil rights icon Bayard Rustin that stars Colman Domingo, will receive its Icon & Creator Tribute for Social Justice. The Netflix pic will be honored at the 33rd annual Gotham Awards on November 27 at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent U.S. director Darren Lynn Bousman’s English and Arabic-language horror film “The Cello,” starring Jeremy Irons and “Saw” star Tobin Bell, is set to open theatrically across Saudi Arabia on Thursday, marking a significant moment in the kingdom’s moviemaking ambitions. The high-end chiller, about a cellist who finds out his new instrument comes with a centuries-old curse, is generating local buzz and robust ticket pre-sales following its gala premiere on Sept.

Sophia Scorziello editor Adam Sandler is back on tour and hitting the road for a slate of North American comedy shows through the end of the year. Starting in October, Sandler will start his 25-city “The I Missed You Tour,” produced by Live Nation, and is set to debut a “surprise guest” at its opening show at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena on Oct. 12.