His debut feature Nose to Tail is now playing in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary, so writer-director Jesse Zigelstein is here to raise a glass to Sideways, Alexander Payne’s 2004 drama about two friends on a trip to wine country — and who, before it’s over, will face their own personal spit buckets. Your genial host Norm Wilner is fine with merlot, just for the record.
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Actor and podcaster Lara Jean Chorostecki (Hannibal, X Company, Designated Survivor) co-stars with Aaron Abrams in the indie Nose to Tail, which opens in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary this Friday, February 14th. Which makes it the perfect time to discuss the subtle perfection of Elsie Fisher’s performance — and writer/director Bo Burnham’s piercing attention to detail — in Eighth Grade. Your genial host Norm Wilner was so sure he was ready for this.
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With the Oscars just days away, Toronto filmmaker Sami Khan — whose St. Louis Superman is up for Best Documentary Short — takes a break from the awards circuit to talk about the landmark American drama Daughters of the Dust, and how writer-director Julie Dash’s evocative study of people dealing with a shared trauma influenced his own work (and Beyoncé’s). Your genial host Norm Wilner was delighted for the opportunity to revisit the film.
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Actor JC MacKenzie — currently battling monsters in October Faction and corruption in The Irishman, both of which are streaming on Netflix right now — takes a run at Sam Mendes’ 1917, the single-take WWI drama that’s muscled its way to the head of the Oscar pack. Your genial host Norm Wilner, being a big fan of editing, might need some convincing.
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Actor and filmmaker Sofia Banzhaf — whom you may know from Closet Monster, Bitten, Carter and Black Conflux, and whose short film I Am In The World As Free And Slender As A Deer On A Plain screens at the TIFF Bell Lightbox this Sunday, January 26th, at 4 pm in the Canada’s Top Ten shorts program — is here to make sure The Canyons, Paul Schrader’s 2013 Hollywood scenester drama starring Lindsay Lohan and James Deen, gets the love it deserves. Your genial host Norm Wilner is not entirely sure he accepts this premise.
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Actor Dan Beirne (Great Great Great, Workin’ Moms, White Lie) just won the Vancouver Film Critics Circle award for his performance as William Lyon Mackenzie King in Matthew Rankin’s absurdist history The Twentieth Century. He’s here to talk about Monrovia, Indiana and the observational documentary cinema of Frederick Wiseman. Your genial host Norm Wilner is keen to see how that goes.
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Actors Vladimir Jon Cubrt (Hannibal, Stockholm) and Nicole Maroon (Meet the Family, The Boys) are partners in both life and work, and their new film Luba — which Vlad wrote and produced, and which stars Nicole as a young mother trying to get her life on an even keel while dealing with her disintegrating ex — opens in Calgary and Toronto this Friday, January 10th. (It’ll also be available for purchase on HighballTV.com.) They wanted to talk about A Fish Called Wanda, the 1988 comedy in which John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin chase each other around London over some stolen jewels. Your genial host Norm Wilner was awfully curious to see how these things are connected.
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Krysty Wilson-Cairns, co-writer of Edgar Wright’s upcoming Last Night in Soho and Sam Mendes’ WWI drama 1917, takes a break from a marathon press tour to share her pure and lasting love for Shallow Grave, the scrappy little thriller that put Danny Boyle, John Hodge and Andrew Macdonald on the cinematic map 25 years ago. Your genial host Norm Wilner wishes everyone a happy holiday, and really hopes Krysty pitches that sequel sometime.
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On this week’s episode, Cameron Maitland — the co-host of the Royal Canadian Movie Podcast and a film and content specialist for Hollywood Suite — drops by to talk about the deep-dive retrospective series he’s written for the service, A Year in Film, and one movie in particular: Reginald Hudlin’s Boomerang, the 1992 romantic comedy that gave Eddie Murphy a chance to do something radically different with his persona … and which became a blockbuster most people remember as a failure. Your genial host Norm Wilner would like to remind you that Hollywood Suite’s free preview is on until January 5, 2020. Go watch something!
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Her new project Things I Do For Money just had its world premiere at Whistler, so now we can release producer (and actor, and podcaster) Jen Pogue‘s very fun episode on Michael Dowse’s The F Word — the delightful 2013 romantic comedy (released in the US as What If) where Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan try to be friends despite an obvious attraction. Your genial host Norm Wilner is just happy to be celebrating a movie where Toronto plays itself.
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