TIFF50 - Butterfly on a Wheel-short film

 

Butterfly on a Wheel

Short film: 36min - TIFF Market Screening

Director: Trevor Morris

Starring: Curran Walters

SynopSet against Toronto’s vibrant urban landscape, Butterfly on a Wheel tells the story of Jacen Davis (Curran Walters), a gifted young jazz musician at the Royal Conservatory of Music, whose immense talent is shadowed by struggles with OCD and anxiety. With the support of his brother Dylan (Michael Provost) and an unexpected connection with Sorrel (Brielle Robillard), Jacen embarks on a journey of resilience, self-acceptance, and creative freedom.

This film perfectly demonstrates what it's like living with his OCD/Anxiety struggles while trying to manage a career and relationships. It's both sweet and sad.   The cinematography is thoughtful and gorgeously lit, which I really appreciate.  The small cast performs with a lot of emotion that translates very well on screen.  I especially love the visuals of Toronto, from the chaotic city life to the Skyline views, and then to the serene and clean Royal Conservatory room.  The music is woven throughout the film to showcase the depth of the lead character's talent.  I was very impressed by all of the work that Trevor Morris did on this film, a lot of attention to detail, and you can see it all in the production value on screen and you can tell he put his heart into this film.

I sent my friend Gerald Dykstra to see the film because he works at the Royal Conservatory.  Here is his review:

Butterfly on the Wheel is a great short film. Wonderfully shot around Toronto and at the Royal Conservatory of Music.  Sound is a big part of this movie and you really feel it when the character Jacen (Curran Waters) is overwhelmed with the sounds of the city. He can retreat into his music but his anxiety prevents him from performing. The acting is superb and you really follow Jacen on his journey to overcoming his anxiety.  Supporting actors are great at doing just that supporting Jacen on his journey.  The ending is wonderful.  The score of the movie along with piano playing is fantastic.  The writer/director (Trevor Morris) also composed the music for the film and he clearly knows what he is doing.  What a great uplifting film.

Official Site: butterflythefilm.com

Trevor Morris: trevormorris.com | IMDb | Instagram

Tiff 50 - Roofman- Smart man makes stupid decisions

ROOFMAN

TIFF 50 World Premiere

USA  126min

Director: Derek Cianfrance

Starring:

Channing Tatum

Kirsten Dunst

Ben Mendelsohn

LaKeith Stanfield

Juno Temple

Uzo Aduba

Jimmy O. Yang

Peter Dinklage

Roofman is the real-life story of Jeffrey Manchester.  Manchester (Roofman) played by Channing Tatum is a veteran who can't figure out how to return to normal life. He is a kind and smart man who makes really stupid decisions. When he feels like he is letting his family down, he turns to robbing a McDonald's and then gets caught, goes to jail, and uses his power of seeing details to escape from prison.  Unfortunately, he lost his family after robbing the bank, and the only person he has to turn to is a shady guy who makes passports.   He tells him to hide for a month, and then he comes up with a plan to hide in plain sight in a Toys R' Us.  He lives off of M&M's and takes the store's video games to a pawn shop to get money.  He sets up video surveillance on the store's staff so he can see what they are doing and falls in love with a woman (Kirsten Dunst) who works in the store.  He feels bad for her after she asks her manager for toys for a toy drive, and he rudely declines.  Roofman takes it upon himself to show up at her church with a pile of the store's toys.  Someone at the Church ushers him in and makes him stay, and he is introduced to the woman, and they start dating. She has 2 daughters whom he tries to bond with because he misses his own family.

You can only keep up a double life for so long, and eventually someone will catch on, and then it's over.  Unfortunately, his make-shift normal life wasn't destined to last, and Roofman gets busted in an unexpected way.

This film is funny, but it is also thought-provoking about what happens to veterans when they return to civilian life, and if there aren't opportunities to channel skills, then what do people choose to do to survive?

To watch the trailer, check out the film's website:

Roofman | Official Website | October 10 2025

#Roofman

#Tiff50 Black Rabbit -Bateman + Law - Gritty new series

    

BLACK RABBIT

Black Rabbit Trailer  

Director: Jason Bateman

Writers: Zach Baylin & Katherine Susman

Black Rabbit is a new Netflix series set to premiere on September 18th.  I had the chance to see 2 episodes at TIFF Lightbox during the World Premiere of the series, and the writers and Jason Bateman, who acts and directs in this project, as well as Jude Law, who stars as Jason's brother who owns a restaurant in New York.

While I was watching it I sort of got the idea of the Bear only darker and less about the food mixed with a Mob series and old crime films.   It's shot like a film and very dark in tone and color.   

Jason's hair and facial hair, which is real, almost is a character in the series.  This is Jason as a dirty, less smart Marty Byrd.  Because Jason is a very likable human, he translates the character with empathy and also wants to slap him to get his act together and make better choices.

Jude Law waffles between being a good father to a slimy restaurant owner.

The characters and story are a conglomeration of people that the writers knew, frequenting many New York restaurants where they lived.

Jude is a very slick actor and can easily slip from classy to slimy, but Jason is nothing like what you have ever seen him play before.

I was really happy to be at the screening where they did a Q&A to get some of the details of how this project came to be.   I posted some video of it on my Instagram.

I am really looking forward to seeing the rest of the series, as Jason said, there is a lot more to come.

If you get a chance to see it at Tiff I recommend it. Films + Events - Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF 50 - BINGO for Volunteers

 

BINGO FOR TIFF VOLUNTEERS

B	I	N	G	O
Where’s the washroom?	ATOM EGOYEN SPOTTING	Had a ticket to a film but was too tired to go	Got a RAT pin	Where can I get Tylenol?
The weather suddenly changes	I’m a family member of X star	CAMERON BAILEY IS LATE	Mayor Oliva Chow shows up	The website crashed
I ate a salad	Where can I smoke?		Military personnel in combat gear show up	Getting street meat on break
Spotted _________ at _______	When does the film end?	The Prime Minister shows up	Someone left a banana	Where’s The closest Tim Hortons?
Someone lost their glasses	Waited in a rush line for an hour and didn’t get in	There’s a Big Furry Moose on King Street	Tech issue delays	Your shift was cancelled

TIFF50 - Still Single- A sushi masters life

Runtime: 93 Minutes.

Directed by first-time filmmakers Jamal Burger from Toronto and Jukan Tateisi from Tokyo. 

This documentary is about 36-year-old Chef Masaki Saito, who made history as the first to earn two Michelin stars in Toronto (2022) and remains the only person to achieve this milestone in both Toronto and New York (2017/2018). His restaurant Sushi Masaki Saito remains Toronto’s only two-star Michelin establishment in 2025. 

STILL SINGLE follows Chef Saito's incredible journey from rural Hokkaido. 

This documentary had a very quirky style.  Some of the dialogue was hard to understand because the subtitle translation didn't quite get the conversation translated correctly.  Chef Saito is a very unusual artist and certainly has his own communication style.  The film shows the incredible dedication and sheer will it takes to become a 2-star Michelin Chef and the sacrifices that must be made to accomplish this standing.

Chef Saito has some very risky vices, but maybe that's what it takes to be successful.  The willingness to take risks to get what you want. But once you get all the money and accolades, then what?  Priorities change when you don't have to worry about money and success; you realize what's truly important that money can't buy.  You can't keep up the non-stop pace once you reach a certain age, so you need to learn how to balance your life and spend time with people you care about and do things you are passionate about doing.

With 2 first-time directors creating this film, it takes on a disjointed flow that mimics the way Chef Saito's life becomes. 

Even though it's not explained, the scene in the photo above is beautiful, and watching Chef Saito make sushi is like watching someone do Tai Chi; with the flowing hand movements, it is mesmerizing to watch.

After the premiere screening on September 5th, they arranged a special activation on King Street West, in front of the TIFF Lightbox where a 60-foot sushi counter was set up for festival attendees to sample Michelin-starred Omakase Sushi.

The theatrical release will be in November.

If you want to go to the restaurant, here is the link: Masaki Saito | Masaki Saito

But make note you better bring your gold card because..... 

Someone told me there was a $99 Omakase but you have to dig for that on the website.

Tiff Screenings:

Saturday, September 6

Scotiabank Theatre Toronto at 10:00 pm

Saturday, September 13

TIFF Lightbox

9:10 am

Still Single

Tiff 50 - Opening the Fest with John Candy: I like me

 

              JOHN CANDY: I Like Me

                                                                                    Photo credit: Courtesy of the Candy Family Estate

JOHN CANDY: I LIKE ME

(Amazon MGM Studios)

Section: Gala Presentations 

Directed by: Colin Hanks

Produced by: Colin Hanks, Sean Stuart, Glen Zipper, Ryan Reynolds, George Dewey, Johnny Pariseau, Shane Reid

Genre: Documentary

Screening time: 113m

 

TIFF 50 Day 1 started off Big Time.  I finished my shift about 7pm at the Princess of Wales theatre and then I was trying to figure out if should try and rush the John Candy: I Like Me documentary because I wasn't able to get a ticket.  Before that I got sidetracked by the Ferrero activation.  I waited in line for a long time.  Someone passed out little samples and I decided to give up and go check out the rush line but instead of walking on King I walked around the back through David Pecaut square and to Wellington and around so I could see the finished red carpet set up since I shot the building of it.  I wasn't really thinking I would see anything but I got luck on my timing when Ryan Reynolds and Colin Hanks drove up the carpet in this green monster smoking away.  They got out and the crowd went crazy.  I was able to snap some pics and video.  This wasn't planned.  This goes with my tip on leave room for the unexpected happenings.

Photo Credit: Linda Matarasso

I went around to Wellington and stopped and ran into a friend and while talking to her some Military dressed men popped out of a car in the parking lot of Roy Thompson Hall.  I thought that was odd considering my 20 years being there.

So Now I think it may have had something to do with the fact that Prime Minister Mark Carney was in the building to do the introduction of the film and to congratulate Tiff on 50 years.

After Mark Carney's 5-minute hilarious speech, Cameron Bailey brought out former TIFF Execs before introducing Director Colin Hanks and Producer Ryan Reynolds.  You know it's a big night when the Prime Minister and the unofficial Ambassador of Canada and the son of the Father of Hollywood show up.

Of course, Ryan Reynolds' speech was his usual sarcastic quick wit, and Colin's was more heartfelt.

Now to the film.  This was a deep dive into the Canadian roots of comedy with then-working actors who became family.  Little Second City and SCTV grew to become comedians who became big Hollywood actors.  

John Candy knew how to foster strong relationships.  He was a man with deep trauma that he kept inside, but used the pain to treat everyone with empathy and love and channel the pain into his work.

John Candy was born on Halloween in Newmarket.  At 5 years old, his father passed away from a heart attack, which left an indelible mark on his life.  He went through numerous tragedies, and his coping mechanism was food, drink, and smoking.  His brother also had a heart attack and lived, but that didn't stop Candy from living a lifestyle that was killing him.

I think what made John Candy great was his pain because it gave him the ability to understand that everyone is going through something, and he tried to connect with everyone, and the "nice Canadian" stereotype really applied to him.  There was a joke that he was Mr. Toronto, and looking back, you can really see why the moniker fit.

The interview with Bill Murray is priceless.  Bill Murray is a unique individual, and they had a great friendship.

Other notable participants in the film were Steve Martin, Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Tom Hanks, Conan O'Brien, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, and John's son and daughter, and wife.

It was so great seeing all the old footage of his work and also the family photos, even though John passed when his kids were fairly young, they knew him but got to know the man better through the cooperation of the making of this documentary. 

The thing I found most interesting was the fat-shaming John endured from the media.  You think men are untouchable when it comes to body image, but this really shows how it can affect someone's self-esteem.  John had a lot of insecurity and discussed how he was treated differently because of his weight.  He was a good-looking man with a big heart, but people who didn't know him couldn't get past his large frame and constantly pointed it out. I think a lot of people will connect with him, and as said in the film, he is an everyman.

He represented Canada well, and I think this film was a good choice for the Opening Night of TIFF's 50th year.  Bridging Canada with America and connecting to the World.

There was a Q&A after the film with Colin and Ryan, and they also brought out John's son and daughter.  Unfortunately, my phone died, so I don't have photos of them.

This film was funny, heartfelt, historical, Canadian, and will connect with anyone who loves film.

Festival Screenings: 

Thursday, September 11, 9:00PM - Public Screening 3 (Scotiabank 1)

Friday, September 12, 9:00AM - Public Screening 4 (Scotiabank 1)

Saturday, September 13, 9:00AM - Public Screening 5 (Scotiabank 11)

Sunday, September 14, 9:25AM - Public Screening 6 (Scotiabank 14)

Amazon Prime Release date: Oct. 10, 2025