New film brings Roy Scheider back to ‘life’ — 14 years after his death

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran film, theater and opera director Julie Taymor has been set as the president of the competition jury at next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival. Taymor (“The Lion King”) will head a small group that selects the winners from the 15 competition titles that unspool in Tokyo between Oct. 24 and Nov. 2, 2022. The other four members of the jury will be announced later. Taymor is the second woman to head the jury in as many years and follows Isabelle Huppert in 2021. There was no competition in 2020 due to COVID. And in 2019, the jury was headed by China’s Zhang Ziyi.

The world premiere of documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me will fire up the 36th AFI Fest on Nov. 2.

Michaela Zee editor The American Film Institute has announced that the world premiere of “Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me” is set to open the 36th edition of AFI Fest on Nov. 2. “AFI is proud to launch AFI Fest 2022 with ‘Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me,’ a film as profoundly powerful as it is personal,” AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale said in a statement. “Selena is a global force in art and entertainment, and we are honored to partner with her, Alek and Apple to shine a light upon her journey in this beautifully crafted celebration of optimism, vulnerability and hopefulness.” Directed by Alek Keshishian (“Madonna: Truth or Dare”), the documentary explores Gomez’s rise to stardom as an actress and singer, along with the personal crises she’s endured throughout her life.

Toronto Film Festival returned in spectacular fashion after two years of virtual premieres or limited capacity screenings. The parties were packed (which may lead to COVID outbreaks down the road, but… that’s showbiz?), the red carpets were glittering and the atmosphere was electric, bordering on euphoric, as director Rian Johnson’s acclaimed sequel “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story,” Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” and the Harry Styles-led romantic drama “My Policeman” debuted to blockbuster-starved audiences in Canada. Hollywood seemed eager to make up for lost time. So, as the curtain comes down on TIFF, here’s a look back at the major trends and takeaways from the 10-day festival.

TORONTO – Venice, Telluride, and TIFF have pretty much come and gone, and, as such, the Oscar race is slightly more clear than it was just two weeks ago. Sure, there are a number of major players yet to show their wares such as Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” James Cameron’s “Avatar 2,” David O.

TORONTO – Venice, Telluride, and TIFF have pretty much come and gone, and, as such, the Oscar race is slightly more clear than it was just two weeks ago. Sure, there are a number of major players yet to show their wares such as Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” James Cameron’s “Avatar 2,” David O.

Drew Barrymore had a blast at Britney Spears and Sam Asghari’s wedding in June.

Of all the directors making TIFF debuts this year, none are more revered or accomplished than Steven Spielberg. The highest-grossing director of all time normally premieres his films in late fall.

Bai Ling left little to the imagination as she walked the red carpet of the Brent Shapiro Summer Spectacular event in Beverly Hills on Saturday.The Chinese-American actress and model - who is best known for starring in Red Corner with Richard Gere and for posing for the cover of Playboy - wore a risqué white mini dress held together by strategically placed laces.Also at the event was Lisa Vanderpump, Lala Kent, Kathy Hilton, Kelly LeBrock and Blanca Blanco. Hot stuff: Bai Ling left little to the imagination as she walked the red carpet of the Brent Shapiro Summer Spectacular event in Beverly Hills on Saturday  The first: The Chinese-American actress and model wore a risqué white mini dress held together by strategically placed lacesThe Crow actress was the first Asian actress to ever be on the cover of Playboy in June 2005 as she appeared wearing just a few skinny leather straps around her naked body while holding a lightsaber.The Playboy shoot turned out to be a life-changing experience for the star, which gave a nod to her role in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.

Brendan Fraser fought back tears as “The Whale” received a passionate standing ovation at its Toronto International Film Festival premiere on Sunday. The crowd stood for roughly five minutes until festival organizers quieted the applause to begin a question and answer session with Fraser, director Darren Aronofsky, writer Samuel D. Hunter and cast members Sadie Sink and Ty Simpkins. The reception was one of the strongest yet at this year’s festival, a gathering that has already included the premieres of Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” and “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” TIFF was set to be a big festival for Fraser even before “The Whale” screened to huge acclaim. The actor is receiving the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance at the 2022 festival, with TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey saying, “Brendan Fraser gives a performance of staggering depth, power, and nuance in ‘The Whale.’ This former Torontonian has been an action star, a screen comic, and a romantic lead. We’re thrilled to welcome him home as the actor behind one of the finest performances of the year.”

Steven Spielberg has described his semi-autobiographical picture The Fabelmans, delving into the teenage experiences that led him into filmmaking, as the most “daunting” project of his six-decade, blockbuster filmmaking career.

My favorite Toronto premiere memory was the one where eventual Best Picture winner Spotlight played to a raucous crowd reaction at the Princess of Wales Theatre, the emotion ratcheted up even further when the Boston Globe journalists who cracked the Catholic Church pedophile scandals took the stage and stood next to the actors who played them onscreen. It has been several years since TIFF has been able to show why this is such a special festival, because of the Covid epidemic and Canada’s protective lockdown of its borders. Last night marked a turning point for TIFF as a preeminent showcase for awards season movies, with the back to back Princess of Wales Theatre world premieres of Netflix’s Rian Johnson-directed Knives Out sequel Glass Onion, followed by the premiere of Amblin/Universal’s Steven Spielberg love letter to his family and a movie camera, The Fabelmans. Both of these films land squarely in the awards conversation.

Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, the director’s semi-autobiographical movie based on his own family and upbringing, has released its official trailer.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Steven Spielberg has said that mining his family history to make “The Fabelmans” was a “very daunting experience” that was at times “very, very hard to get through.” The iconic filmmaker’s latest project world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday night to raves from critics and largely favorable reviews. The semi-autobiographical movie, which is already being tipped as an Oscar contender, tells the story of Sam Fabelman, a young boy who falls in love with cinema, but finds himself fighting family turmoil to keep his dream alive. In a so-called press conference on Sunday, that was effectively a Q&A with TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey (the festival did not take any questions in the room from the gathered journalists, who had to submit questions almost 24 hours in advance), the “Jaws” director said he thought making the movie “would be a lot easier than it turned out to be because I know the material and I’ve known the characters for my entire life.”

“The Fabelmans” made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday, and a new trailer offers a glimpse of the latest film from acclaimed director Steven Spielberg.

Sift through some of his best work, and you will find that Steven Spielberg has always been a filmmaker charged by notions of love and ache for families, both those we are born into and those we select for ourselves. Though his tender devotion to domestic, often suburban bonds and rhythms—a well-documented and endlessly discussed through-line in his filmography—has perhaps never been as evident as in the soul-baring “The Fabelmans.” It’s Spielberg’s most personal film, one that gorgeously revives the memories of his childhood and youth with a lavish sense of wistfulness and an aptly Hollywood-ized, fable-like touch.  That beautiful Hollywood sheen is fitting for the on-screen autobiography of an escapist filmmaker, one whose name we came to pronounce synonymously with the magic of movies.

Jurassic Park.“The night before, I was on the Valley House set thanking Steven Spielberg for filming here. Not knowing that he had not been told yet about the impending hurricane,” said Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kauaʻi Visitors Bureau.

Carson Burton Steven Spielberg is taking audiences on an intimate stroll through his childhood in the first trailer for “The Fabelmans.”The semi-autobiographical film follows the formative years of a young man as he discovers a shattering family secret, causing him to use movies as a means to help him see the truth about others and himself. Spielberg based the film on his own early years in Arizona and co-wrote the script with “Lincoln,” “Munich” and “West Side Story” screenwriter Tony Kushner.On Saturday, “The Fabelmans” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, earning a standing ovation in the crowd of movie lovers, who cheered loudly for the Oscar-winning auteur as he made his first appearance at the Canadian gathering. 

Toronto International Film Festival, has been shrouded in secrecy for months. About all we knew going in was that the movie is based on the famed director’s own life, and stars Williams, Paul Dano and Seth Rogen. Running time: 151 minutes.