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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 1h

Canada’s Steven Kostanski is a master of turning ‘80s trash into treasure. But his reboot of DEATHSTALKER slays just a little too hard. Excellent work from Daniel Bernhardt, who could’ve easily gone the Bruce Campbell route but chooses something different. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

Canadian reboot of swords-and-sorcery flick Deathstalker slays just a little too hard

Steven Kostanski’s project feels torn between goofy irreverence and something approaching self-seriousness

www.theglobeandmail.com

Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 19h

On TRON: ARES, which has a head like a hole. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

Tron: Ares has a head like a hole, but a great Nine Inch Nails soundtrack

Ares is a mostly disposable and thoroughly dumb product of lazy franchise fetishism

www.theglobeandmail.com

Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 20h

With little fanfare (and no real programming changes), Disney+ Canada today added a "Hulu" tab to its mix, retiring the old "Star" branding that served Hulu-less international markets. Oh, and also a monthly $3 price hike for a standard subscription.

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 1d

_____ō͡≡o˞̶_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________just me racing to tell you___________
__________TRON: ARES is very stupid_____
_____________but_______________the NIN soundtrack____rules_____ō͡≡o˞̶__

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 2d

The world isn’t ready for Best Supporting Actor Kevin O’Leary

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 5d

Like many, just patiently killing time until the release of Nick Vallelonga’s THAT’S AMORE!

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 7d

THE SMASHING MACHINE deserves to launch Dwayne Johnson into the Oscars pantheon − which makes it a shame that The Rock is cooking something that smells like a whole lotta BS on the film's press tour. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

Dwayne Johnson crushes expectations with the surprising, subversive drama The Smashing Machine

As real-life mixed martial arts fighter Mark Kerr, Johnson is meticulous in his emotional and physical calibrations

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 7d

Two Canadian dates for NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE THE TOUR ahead of film's early 2026 theatrical release:
Montreal, Cinema Du Musee, Oct. 29
Vancouver, Rio Theatre, Nov. 10
No Toronto stop b/c that city was covered with #TIFF25. Also: "Canadian merch details to come"

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 9d

The perfect new airplane read by @pleasuremotors.bsky.social from @coachhousebooks.bsky.social — it’s like spending a few hours with your smartest, most self-deprecating friend who happens to know a frightening amount about the twinned histories of art and commerce. chbooks.com/Books/H/How-...

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 11d

If you’re in London before Nov. 8, get
tix to The Lady and the Sea at the Bridge Theatre now. Ibsen updated with just the right bombast. Alicia Vikander, Andrew Lincoln, Joe Alwyn, the entire cast had me in pure lean-forward meme mode. Might also be the only play with a splash zone.

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 12d

Did I travel to London specifically to watch ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER at the BFI IMAX on 70mm? No, but it was a happy coincidence. And I can report that the final chase is transformative on such a canvas, the UK’s largest. Second viewing also confirms that Jim Downey earns the film’s biggest laugh.

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 17d

A stoner comedy about the persistence of paranoia, a searing drama about the sting of oppression, and a go-go-go thriller about the Sisyphean struggles of fighting the good fight, PTA's ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER is the finest film of the year.
www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/re...

Review: Paul Thomas Anderson’s explosive, galvanizing epic One Battle After Another is the best film of the year

Anderson’s film arrives with the kind of casual, confident brilliance that feels deceptively effortless

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 20d

Look at what ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER cinematographer Michael Bauman has next up on his CV …

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 21d

Hate to admit, but Warner Bros. was right not to take ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER to festivals. It would have thoroughly crushed any other film, instantly rendering the rest of the programming null and void. Rather considerate of PTA to let everyone else breathe for a moment or two.

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 21d

I appreciate the marketing effort, but feel Warner Bros. should’ve gone with ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER balaclavas

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 22d

Some words on Robert Redford, who was at once a poster boy for mainstream Hollywood and the establishment-bucking maverick who built American indie cinema from the ground up. www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article...

Robert Redford, a hero of Hollywood and an industry-bucking maverick like no other

Redford played a vital role in stitching together the very fabric of Western culture

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 23d

More on the wonderful, wild, terrifying, hilarious ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER soon, but first: Johnny Greenwood’s jittery, jangly, perfect score is propulsive and electric enough to power the grid of several dozen municipalities. We have several all-timers on this one, everybody.

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 23d

My wrap of #TIFF50, a festival of eye-popping cinema and nerve-wracking tensions. www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/ti...

TIFF 2025 was a festival of eye-popping films, nerve-wracking tensions and unforced errors

The overall vibe of this year: plenty to celebrate, just as much to worry about

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 24d

Finally seeing my children on #TIFF50 Day 11

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 24d

NEW*: #TIFF50 winners are HAMNET (People’s Choice), NO OTHER CHOICE (International PC), NIRVANNA THE BAND… (Midnight), ROAD BETWEEN US (Doc), WRONG HUSBAND (Cdn), BLUE HERON (Cdn Discovery)
*List inadvertently sent to TIFF members @ 10 am, ~30 mins prior to awards ceremony began handing out honours

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 25d

#TIFF50 award predictions ahead of tomorrow:
People’s Choice:
Rental Family
Hamnet (2nd runner-up)
Tuner (3rd)
International People’s Choice:
No Other Choice
Midnight:
Nirvanna
Doc:
Cover-Up
Platform:
The World of Love
Canadian:
The Cost of Heaven
Cdn Discovery:
Blue Heron

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 26d

My Top 16 of #TIFF50 (out of 40 films watched total — 7 titles seen earlier at Cannes, 13 watched pre-festival during press screenings or via links) letterboxd.com/barry_hertz/

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 26d

100 SUNSET: Along with 2023’s curious but flat TENZIN, Kunsang Kyirong’s elliptical, adventurous Tibetan drama builds burgeoning Parkdale Cinema genre. Would make fine, only occasionally confounding double bill with CONCRETE VALLEY — a shared city-of-neighbourhoods vision #TIFF50

Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 26d

Here’s some background on the longstanding Cineplex/Netflix/TIFF brouhaha, which I first reported on back in the relatively good ol’ days of 2019. #TIFF50 www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/ti...

Drama between Netflix and Cineplex continues to stream straight into TIFF

The situation directly echoes the controversy from last year’s TIFF, in which Cineplex confirmed that Netflix titles were effectively barred from its venues

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Barry Hertz @hertzbarry.bsky.social · 26d

One fun thing to note before #TIFF50 wraps: Once again, it appears Netflix vs. Cineplex beef has caught TIFF in middle, with none of streamers' seven fest features (including NOUVELLE VAGUE, which Netflix doesn't even have Cdn rights to) screened in Cineplex's Scotiabank venue.

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