Author Archives: Emma Badame

Casting Director Nina Gold on Intuition and Happy Accidents

Filmmakers can have the best script in the world, the best director – all the way down to the greatest craft service team in the biz, but if they don’t have a cast that fits, then their project is doomed before it ever gets off the ground. That’s the importance of casting. If you don’tContinue reading “Casting Director Nina Gold on Intuition and Happy Accidents”

Trained to See – Three Women and the War Review: Bearing Witness to History

Trained to See – Three Women and the War (Drei Frauen und der Krieg)(Germany/Italy, 106 min.)Dir. Luzia SchmidProgramme: Artscapes (North American Premiere) While soldiers and civilians fight on the frontlines of world conflicts, those on the homefront and in the rest of the world face daily headlines of death and destruction. War correspondents jeopardize lifeContinue reading “Trained to See – Three Women and the War Review: Bearing Witness to History”

Stonehouse: The Stars and Filmmakers on Bringing this Truly Bonkers Real Story to Life

Every once in a while, a story comes along that not only sounds made up but like it could only have been conceived in a creative Hollywood think tank. Disgraced British politician John Stonehouse’s life story is truly bonkers, and even when you’ve seen it in the black-and-white newsprint of the day, it still seemsContinue reading “Stonehouse: The Stars and Filmmakers on Bringing this Truly Bonkers Real Story to Life”

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Review

Rian Johnson set himself a gargantuan task when he decided to take on a sequel to the wildly successful Knives Out. After all, how could anyone capture that special kind of old-school movie magic back-to-back? It sounded virtually impossible and this critic was admittedly quite skeptical. More fool me. Johnson turns the volume up toContinue reading “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Review”

Check out the best movies and TV series to stream in September 2022

Fall is here and with it a whole host of new, must-see titles. Remember when this time of year was quiet, movie- and television-wise? When you could focus on heading back to work and school and not experience any FOMO? Those were the days! Now, thanks to the streamers, content just keeps a-comin’ and we wouldn’t have it any other way–nostalgia be damned. 

Scarborough Review: The Kids Are Alright

It’s hard to put into words the emotions that Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson’s Scarborough elicits. This intimate look into the lives of three young Toronto kids (and their low-income, marginalized families) runs the gamut from joy in the smallest of victories to rage at the failures of people and systems that turn a blind eye or discriminate. Only a few minutes into its runtime and it’s easy to see how this small but powerful Canadian film beat out some of Hollywood’s best to secure the first runner-up spot for the TIFF People’s Choice Award this past September.

10 stars who broke the silence around pregnancy loss

According to the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, roughly 15 to 20% of pregnancies in this country end in miscarriage. It seems a surprisingly high statistic but only when juxtaposed with how little pregnancy loss, and its resulting trauma, are discussed.

20 pop culture moments from 2021 we haven’t stopped thinking about

Just when we all thought nothing could outdo 2020’s dramatic twists and turns, along came 2021. There were scandals, tragedies, high-profile interviews, break-ups and make-ups, memes and milestones—and, we don’t know how, but Seth Rogen, Pete Davidson and Ben Affleck seemed to be involved in almost everything.

5 Things You Should Know About Disney’s Encanto

Written by Charise Castro Smith and Jared Bush, and directed by Bush and Byron Howard, Encanto features 8 new songs by award-winning composer and songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda. That Shelf got to sit in on a press conference with the filmmakers and voice cast to find out more about Walt Disney Animation’s latest. Here are five things that stood out:

Director Will Sharpe on The Electrical Life of Louis Wain

I had a chance to sit down with the director for an in-depth chat before his film’s Canadian premiere this past September. Sharpe talked about his fascination with the lesser-known Wain, the challenges of bringing the artist’s story to the big screen, and how one goes about directing Cumberbatch and cats. Lots and lots of cats.

TIFF 2021: A Playlist of Memorable Soundtrack Moments

Each year after the festival wraps, we here at That Shelf take a look back at the soundtrack songs that stuck with us long after the film’s credits rolled. So after the awards have been announced and the final film screened, we pull together a playlist to remind us of another TIFF come and gone. This year we saw key tunes from musician bios like Jagged and Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, a host of ’80s classics (“Fame”, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)”), the dance track from Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe’s joyful Belfast dance scene (“Everlasting Love”), and much, much more.

Tom Hiddleston and Christina Hendricks set sail in The Pirate Fairy

Tom Hiddleston is no stranger to the magical lure of Disney. Leaving aside the 33-year old’s engrossing, scene-stealing role as Loki in the studio’s popular Marvel franchise, the British thesp also happened to grow up on the films just like the rest of us. A talented mimic from a very young age, the actor citesContinue reading “Tom Hiddleston and Christina Hendricks set sail in The Pirate Fairy“

5 things we learned at The Giver Comic-Con panel

It may have taken Lois Lowry‘s best-selling novel almost two decades to make it to the big screen but that doesn’t mean the author is any less excited for a new generation of fans to be introduced to her dystopian teenage tale. First published in 1993, the road to the big screen was a longContinue reading “5 things we learned at The Giver Comic-Con panel”

Simon Pegg and Rosamund Pike take us on the road to Happiness

Charles Schultz once said that “happiness is a warm puppy” but then The Beatles told us — albeit sarcastically and with a boatload of overtones — that “Happiness is a Warm Gun.” So who to believe? In reality, the idea of what makes people happy has so many different permutations and combinations that it scarcelyContinue reading “Simon Pegg and Rosamund Pike take us on the road to Happiness“

Marvel rules Super Saturday with Avengers: Age of Ultron footage

The most devoted of fans camped out over 24-hours in advance for just a chance to witness this year’s Marvel Comic-Con showcase. Who can blame them, given very few studios know how to put on a show quite like the cinematic home of the blockbuster superhero? Though the 2014 panel contained fewer surprises and specialContinue reading “Marvel rules Super Saturday with Avengers: Age of Ultron footage”

8 things we learned at the Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Comic-Con panel

Super Saturday marked what could be director Peter Jackson‘s final Tolkien-related Comic-Con presentation. Perhaps fittingly then, the panel proved to be both a look back at both trilogies, a thank you to fans, and a look ahead at the final film of the Hobbit series, The Battle of the Five Armies. The prolific New ZealanderContinue reading “8 things we learned at the Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Comic-Con panel”

5 takeaways from Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak Comic-Con preview

It doesn’t feel quite like Comic-Con unless filmmaker Guillermo del Toro takes to the Hall H stage at some point during the four-day tribute to all things pop culture and fan-ish. Having showcased both Hellboy andPacific Rim in the past to rapturous enthusiasm, the San Diego event is somewhat old hat for the Mexican auteur.Continue reading “5 takeaways from Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak Comic-Con preview”

Remembering Robin Williams: 10 of his most memorable roles

It’s hard to believe that someone as full of life, energy and talent as Robin Williams is gone. Perhaps it’s even harder to think of someone who brought so much joy to others being in so much pain. From his earliest days on television in the delightfully comic “Mork and Mindy” to his later, moreContinue reading “Remembering Robin Williams: 10 of his most memorable roles”

From RDJ to Cumberbatch, the stars are headed to TIFF 2014

Film fanatics and star gazers, your time is now. Well…almost now. More precisely, your time WILL be September 4 – 14. That’s when the A-list glitterati, with their films in tow, descend on downtown Hogtown as they flock to the Toronto International Film Festival. As has become the norm, the list of TIFF-bound talent isContinue reading “From RDJ to Cumberbatch, the stars are headed to TIFF 2014”