海角大神

Dear Reader,

Monitor film critic Peter Rainer has just wrapped up his time in Canada at the Toronto International Film Festival. You'll see his reviews in聽future newsletters, but he shared a few highlights this past week.

He says the 11-day festival (ending Sept. 15) that previews upcoming movies had something for everyone this year "from the ultra-dark 'Joker,' starring Joaquin Phoenix in an origin story about Batman鈥檚 nemesis," to the "radiantly humane 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,' starring Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers." He notes that legions of fans turned up in red cardigan sweaters, a nod to Mr. Rogers' comfy clothes, at that premiere.

Peter's聽highlights include聽"the documentary 'Varda by Agn猫s,' the last film of the great Agn猫s Varda; the master-class performances of Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce as, respectively, Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, in 'The Two Popes;' Adam Driver鈥檚 best work yet in the divorce drama 'Marriage Story;' and the chilling documentary 'Collective,' about high level corruption in the Romanian healthcare industry."

A personal highlight for him was a dinner with聽Isabelle Huppert, whom he says "is sort of the Meryl Streep of French films, though with a very different style."

"The whole time, I felt like I was a character in an Isabelle Huppert movie," he says of his time with the "Frankie" star.聽

Kim Campbell,聽culture聽and聽learning聽editor

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