Latest news with #TIFF
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'The Life of Chuck' star Matthew Lillard on joining the 'Flanafam': 'Hollywood is such a lonely journey'
After receiving the People's Choice Award at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Mike Flanagan's movie The Life of Chuck, based on the Stephen King story, has finally hit theatres. With an impressive cast that includes Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, David Dastmalchian, Jacob Tremblay and Matthew Lillard, it's a striking film that brings up particularly poignant existential questions as we follow the life of Charles "Chuck" Krantz. There's always been a through line of humanity in much of King's work and Flanagan is the perfect person to really lean into those elements for The Life of Chuck. A story told in three acting, in reverse chronological order, we get a glimpse of Hiddleston's Krantz through a billboard that reads, "39 Great Years! Thanks, Chuck!" amid environmental disasters, including a part California falling into the ocean. Marty (Ejiofor) is a teacher who sees the billboard. He doesn't know who Chuck is, but there's a curiosity about who he might be as everyone's approaching the end of the world. Lillard plays Gus, who only a appears for a short conversation with Marty, but it's easily one of the more impactful moments of the whole film. "I couldn't be more thrilled," Lillard told Yahoo Canada about working with Flanagan and joining the "Flanafam," the group the makes up the filmmaker's regular collaborators. "Hollywood is such a lonely journey and having somebody that's like, not only do I want you in this movie, I want you in all my movies, it's like a love letter. So I feel very lucky to have found him on this journey." "And collaborating with him is fantastic. ... He's got this spirit of generosity that's ... unparalleled in terms of my experiences over the last 30 years. I think he's generous, he's funny, he's charming, he's very clear with what he wants, ... and there's freedom within that form. And he does work that I am proud to be a part of." As Gus talks to Marty about the end of the world, the blue-collar working has this beautiful epiphany about life that's incredibly moving. "Going into it I was like, I have a lot of information to deliver in a really small amount of time," Lillard said. "The reality is, I didn't know Mike very well, we had just become friends. I had a very small part. I didn't want to come in and suck on behalf of the film. So it was a little nerve-wracking going in." "At the end of the day, you just want to be good. And so this particular moment and this particular film, I accomplished that goal. I'm really proud of the work." But in a world that feel particularly divisive right now, amid escalating tensions in many places around the world, The Life of Chuck may just be coming out at the perfect time, when we really need nuanced stories about humanity, that can still give us joy. "Everyone wanted to be in last year's Academy Awards sort of cycle, and the reality is that it got pushed, for whatever reason. ... We didn't get to Toronto for a while because we missed that window, and so there's a lot of waiting," Lillard said. "I do think, in a weird way, that the movie is built to be delivered to the people in this moment." "The timing of this, in terms of where the world is now, especially in America, feels like it's a gift. And so I do think the world works in mysterious ways, and hopefully that holds true for people who find it." While The Life of Chuck is particularly great journey to go on, the impact of Lillard's character does also come down to the fact that he is such a beloved actor, whether you watched him in Scooby-Doo, She's All That, the Scream films, Good Girls, or his other work. But as Lillard admitted, sometimes he's just auditioning to get a job, he ultimately wants to be "charmed" by a project." "A lot of times in Hollywood, people ... are constantly trying to make as much money as they possibly can, which is to increase their margins, which is to not pay people a lot of money," Lillard said. "That's [something] that people don't understand, just because you're in a movie doesn't mean you're making a lot of money." "To be motivated, I want to be charmed by the part. I want to find something that I can hold on to and I want to be able to do something really great with the part that's exciting. ... Walking on a Life of Chuck and on the set, ... my job is just to bring me to this role, which is to bring my own humanity and my own take. And so luckily for me, that's what happened. I have a little part in a beautiful film that makes a tiny impact. So I'm really lucky, I feel really lucky."
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ryan Reynolds and Colin Hanks' Documentary ‘John Candy: I Like Me' to Open Toronto Film Festival's 50th Edition
'John Candy: I Like Me,' a documentary from director Colin Hanks and producer Ryan Reynolds, will open the 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. It's set to screen on Sept. 4 at Roy Thomson Hall. Candy was a Toronto-born comedian who rose to fame on Canada's sketch comedy show 'SCTV' and went on to star in films such as 'Spaceballs,' 'Uncle Buck,' 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles,' 'National Lampoon's Vacation' and 'Little Shop of Horrors.' He unexpectedly died of a heart attack at age 43 in 1994. More from Variety 'The Shadow Scholars,' Executive Produced by Steve McQueen, Debuts Trailer Ahead of North American Premiere at Tribeca (EXCLUSIVE) Bill Murray to Topline Second Annual Croatia International Film Festival (EXCLUSIVE) 'Welded Together' Acquired by Lightdox Ahead of Sheffield DocFest Premiere (EXCLUSIVE) 'Comedy fans all over the world grew up on John Candy's humor,' said Cameron Bailey, CEO of TIFF. 'We love that John's global career started in Toronto. Colin Hanks has made a hugely entertaining film packed with some of Hollywood's biggest stars, but like John, this movie is all heart.' 'John Candy: I Like Me' presents an unvarnished look at the funnyman's life on and off camera, featuring home videos and candid interviews with his family, friends and collaborators. According to the official logline, 'it's the story of a son, husband, father, friend, and professional driven to bring joy to audiences and loved ones while battling personal ghosts and Hollywood pressures.' Amazon MGM is backing the film, which will debut on Prime Video in the fall. 'When you hear the name John Candy, your face lights up. He wasn't just a great actor; he was an even better person,' Hanks and Reynolds said. 'People loved his everyman qualities, but they didn't know how relatable John really was. He went through the same struggles we all do, except now we talk about them. We are incredibly honored to have gotten to know the man better through this process and to bring the real John Candy to audiences starting with his hometown of Toronto.' Other than the opening night film, TIFF's lineup hasn't been released. This year's festival will take place from Sept. 4 through 14. Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in June 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
CTV News
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘Mind-blowing': Former Barenaked Ladies frontman recalls performing with Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson arrives on the red carpet for the film "Love and Mercy" at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Sunday Sept. 7, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn TORONTO — When Steven Page penned an ode to musical visionary Brian Wilson, he never expected to share a stage with the Beach Boy, perform alongside him nor hear him sing 'Brian Wilson' to a roaring Toronto audience. But in the summer of 2000, Page says he felt an 'absolute dream come true' when all that happened during Wilson's tour stop with Paul Simon at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre. Page says he knew Wilson had performed the song at previous concerts and expected to hear it, but not as the opening number. As news of Wilson's death broke Wednesday, Page looked back fondly at the memory of being in the audience while a musical hero sang Barenaked Ladies' 1992 hit 'Brian Wilson.' 'Every musician in Toronto was sitting around us, and they all kind of turned their head to look at me,' said Page, who later joined Wilson and Simon for the encore to sing Wilson's 'Love and Mercy' and the Beach Boys' 'Fun, Fun, Fun.' 'And I thought, like, do I stand up and wave, or do I hide, or what do I do? I mean, just absolute dream come true.' Singer Steven Page poses for a photograph in Toronto on Thursday, October. 14, 2010. Page has a new solo album coming out called "Page One." (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette) Singer Steven Page poses for a photograph in Toronto on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette) Wilson's family posted news of his death to his website Wednesday. He was 82. 'Obviously, (I was) sad to hear that Brian had passed. It's been a tough couple years for him, I think, with his declining health and the loss of his wife, Melinda,' Page said. Page wrote the song 'Brian Wilson' when he was a 19-year-old student at Toronto's York University, drawing inspiration from his own struggles and eager to see more empathy in discourse about mental health in the music industry. Even though he named it after the much-lauded musician who faced highly publicized mental health struggles, Page says he was actually not a great fan of the Beach Boys before then, considering them 'lightweight and not as musically evolved.' He changed his tune after a classmate made him a mixtape. Page said he always felt Wilson was depicted in the press as a 'rock 'n' roll casualty' and wanted to bring more empathy and nuance to discussions of mental health in rock music. 'Even then, as a teenager I could hear in the music this kind of struggle between light and dark and that really appealed to me,' said Page, who split with Barenaked Ladies in 2009. The tune became a hit for the band and a staple in their live set. Eight years after it appeared on their debut album 'Gordon,' Barenaked Ladies recorded an album at the same L.A. studio used to make the Beach Boys' classic 1966 album 'Pet Sounds.' Page says their producer at the time, Don Was, said he had a surprise for the band and introduced them to Wilson and his wife, Melinda. Page says during that meeting, Wilson played them a recording of his rendition of 'Brian Wilson,' which appeared on his 2000 live album, 'Live at the Roxy Theatre.' 'It was amazing to hear this song that I wrote in my parents' basement when I was a teenager being sung by one of the most important composers in the history of mankind. Even if it was a joke, it was mind-blowing,' Page said. 'At one point where I sing: 'If you want to find me / I'll be out in the sandbox wondering where the hell all the love has gone / Playing my guitar and singing and building castles in the sun,' he changed it to 'playing my piano.' He just turned to me and said 'I don't play guitar.'' Page also recalls performing 'Brian Wilson' with the Barenaked Ladies at a pre-Grammy tribute celebration honouring Wilson in 2005, when he was selected as the MusiCares Person of the Year. The group performed an a capella-style version of the song and was the only act that played a song not written by Wilson. Page said the Beach Boys' harmonies were 'hugely' influential on the Barenaked Ladies, which also boasted a five-man lineup. The Beach Boys, he said, gave the group 'a palette to choose from that didn't really exist in music without them.' 'On top of that, Brian's adventurousness in the studio — as far as choices of instruments, the way the songs can flow in and out of each other — those are the kinds of things that, as we matured as musicians, continued to excite. And still continue for me to excite and inspire me.' 'He really is one of the greats. He is like Beethoven and Paul McCartney all mixed together,' Page said. Randy Bachman, former Guess Who guitarist and Bachman-Turner Overdrive frontman, also played tribute to Wilson in a social media post where he referred to the Beach Boys as being 'like family' after playing several shows with the group in the '60s. 'They were the American answer to the Beatles. They wowed everyone with the songs, structures, vocals harmonies … We lost one of the greatest composers and messengers who took jazz harmony, put it to a Chuck Berry beat and made a new genre of music,' Bachman wrote. According to a post on his Facebook page, Wilson became an honorary citizen of Calgary in the city's famed white hat ceremony in 2011. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025. Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Disney and NBCUniversal Sue AI Company Midjourney Over Copyright Violations
The Walt Disney Co. and NBCUniversal have filed a joint lawsuit against AI company Midjourney citing alleged copyright violations. Midjourney is an image-generating service that, according to the suit, could 'function as a virtual vending machine' to replicate copyrighted characters. This is the first major legal action studios have taken against an AI company. Both studios are seeking an undisclosed amount of maximum statutory damages. The legal filing is here. More from IndieWire Patricia Arquette Took Her Directorial Debut All the Way to TIFF - Then, She Had to Recut It Chanel Returns to New York City for Its Star-Studded 18th Annual Tribeca Artists Dinner 'By helping itself to Plaintiffs' copyrighted works, and then distributing images (and soon videos) that blatantly incorporate and copy Disney's and Universal's famous characters — without investing a penny in their creation — Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism,' the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, states. 'Piracy is piracy, and whether an infringing image or video is made with AI or another technology does not make it any less infringing.' One example of possible copyright infringement included in the lawsuit involves Disney's 'Star Wars' properties. Per the filing, if a Midjourney user asks the service to create an image of Darth Vader in a scene, 'Midjourney obliges by generating and displaying a high quality, downloadable image featuring Disney's copyrighted Darth Vader character.' And since Midjourney is about to launch a new video service feature, the company could start making videos with these copyrighted characters, or, as the suit states, 'Midjourney is very likely already infringing Plaintiffs' copyrighted works.' Both Walt Disney Co. and NBCUniversal claim that Midjourney is opting not to implement protective measures to prevent users from generating copyright-infringing images. Allegedly, the studios asked Midjourney to take action but the company instead opted to 'continue to release new versions of its Image Service, which, according to Midjourney's founder and CEO, have even higher quality infringing images.' Horacio Gutierrez, the senior executive vice president and chief legal and compliance officer for Disney, said in a statement, 'Our world-class IP is built on decades of financial investment, creativity and innovation—investments only made possible by the incentives embodied in copyright law that give creators the exclusive right to profit from their works. We are bullish on the promise of AI technology and optimistic about how it can be used responsibly as a tool to further human creativity. But piracy is piracy, and the fact that it's done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing.' Kim Harris, the executive vice president and general counsel of NBCU, added, 'Creativity is the cornerstone of our business. We are bringing this action today to protect the hard work of all the artists whose work entertains and inspires us and the significant investment we make in our content. Theft is theft regardless of the technology used, and this action involves blatant infringement of our copyrights.' The Motion Picture Association has not changed its preexisting law against copyrighting and piracy since the rise of AI. In 2023, legal representatives for the MPA said that 'at present, there is no reason to conclude that these existing doctrines and principles will be inadequate to provide courts and the Copyright Office with the tools they need to answer AI-related questions as and when they arise. At the current time, however, there is no need for legislation or special rules to apply copyright law in the context of AI.' The MPA Copyright Office did not find distinguishing differences between generative AI such as Midjourney and the use of post-production AI tools, much of which were used in the recent 2024 Oscar nominees such as 'The Brutalist' and 'A Complete Unknown.'Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Evan Shapiro to Keynote The Hollywood Reporter's Access Canada Summit
Evan Shapiro, known as the cartographer of the media universe, will be a keynote speaker at The Hollywood Reporter's inaugural Access Canada Summit, set to run during the upcoming Toronto Film Festival. Shapiro, a former top executive at NBCUniversal and Participant Media is expected to bring his trademark provocative mix of graphics, charts and analysis to the Access Canada Summit to reflect on the current, and future, state of the media industry. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Industry' Creators on How Their Storytelling and Characters Have Evolved (in Bleepable Ways) and HBO's "Fantastic Notes" Disney+ Inks New Deal to Bundle With Crave, TSN in Canada The Hollywood Reporter Sets Tonys Preshow Shapiro is also a veteran producer (Portlandia, Brick City) and a former president of IFC TV and Sundance Channel. The inaugural three-day Access Canada Summit event in Toronto, set to run Sept. 8-10 during TIFF's 2025 edition, will spotlight Canadian content producers navigating a global entertainment industry. Besides his keynote presentation, Shapiro will also host a small group of Access Canada Summit attendees at a private breakfast where winners of an upcoming draw can pose questions and discuss specific forecasts and opportunities in the unfolding global media space with the in-demand industry analyst and speaker. The Access Canada Summit event, to be held at the Omni King Edward Hotel, will include keynote speakers and panels and dealmaking between top creatives and decision-makers across the country, and have THR as its title media partner. The event will be produced by Access Canada, the producer of The Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Canada event, which just concluded its second star-studded conference and awards show on May 29 in Toronto. More programming announcements the inaugural Summit, including keynote speakers, panels and workshops, curated meetings and networking opportunities, will be announced in the coming weeks. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
