Latest news with #JohnCandy:ILikeMe
Toronto Star
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Star
‘John Candy: I Like Me' to open 50th edition of Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO - A documentary about late Canadian comic John Candy will open the 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. The festival says 'John Candy: I Like Me' traces the comedy star's personal and professional life with never-before-seen home videos and candid recollections that reveal a son, husband, father and friend who battled personal ghosts and Hollywood pressures.
UPI
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- UPI
John Candy documentary to open Toronto International Film Festival
1 of 4 | Director Colin Hanks' documentary "John Candy: I Like Me" will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo June 4 (UPI) -- The 50th annual Toronto International Film Festival will open with the world premiere of the documentary John Candy: I Like Me. TIFF announced the documentary, directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds, will screen Sept. 4 at the Opening Night Gala at Roy Thomson Hall. The film chronicles the life and career of Candy, an actor and comedian who died in 1994 at the age of 43. "Comedy fans all over the world grew up on John Candy's humor," TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said in a news release. "We love that John's global career started in Toronto, and we can't wait to share John Candy: I Like Me with everyone at this year's Opening Night Gala premiere. Colin Hanks has made a hugely entertaining film packed with some of Hollywood's biggest stars, but like John, this movie is all heart. For us, it's the perfect way to kick off TIFF's 50th edition." John Candy: I Like Me features never-before-seen home videos, interviews with his family and the recollections of colleagues and collaborators. The documentary is set to be released in the fall on Prime Video. Ryan Reynolds's career: Film premieres, laughs and family Ryan Reynolds (L), and his former girlfriend, Alanis Morissette, pose together at the premiere of "De-Lovely" in New York City on June 21, 2004. Reynolds and Morissette met in 2002 and dated for two years before becoming engaged in 2004. They then split in 2007. Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI | License Photo
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Ritual' Review: Al Pacino Performs an Exorcism in a Horror Effort Possessed by Mediocrity
If Hollywood is to be believed, life as a Catholic priest at the turn of the 20th century involved spending 75 percent of your time sitting in your office while people brought troubled women to you and asked you to determine if all of their problems could be explained away by demonic possession. So begins 'The Ritual,' David Middel's excruciatingly generic horror effort that forces us to wonder whether the exorcism subgenre has any interesting juice left squeezing out of it — and then offers little in terms of reassurance on that front. When Emma Schmidt (Abigail Cowen) begins experiencing night terrors, crippling fears of holy objects, and other signs of extreme distress, the clergymen in Earling, Iowa have differing opinions about how to treat her afflictions. Father Joseph Steiger (Dan Stevens), the young priest in charge of the local parish, is inclined to take a modern approach. Informed on the latest scientific developments, he sees a woman who needs psychiatric help, not evidence that Satan himself has infiltrated a human soul and needs to be exorcised. But the elderly (and eccentric) Father Theophilus Riesinger (Al Pacino) has other ideas. A lifelong believer in the ritual of exorcism, Theophilus won't be fooled by any of that newfangled science. He's determined to rely on old world methods to expunge the demonic presence from Emma, and the local bishop (Patrick Fabian), overrules Joseph and insists that they use his church to do it. More from IndieWire 'Stick' Review: Owen Wilson's Golf Comedy Takes Too Many Shortcuts Trying to Be 'Ted Lasso' 'John Candy: I Like Me' Documentary to Open 2025 Toronto International Film Festival What follows is so redundant that it barely merits a summary. Per usual, the old and new world methods clash over topics like whether to physically restrain Emma to a bed, and Theophilus is convinced that anything that looks like rational evidence against his ideas is just Satan manipulating everyone's brain. Despite all of that, Joseph gradually realizes that his nutty companion is correct about Satan being in the room with us. (Just once, I'd like to see one of these movies where the rational priest is vindicated after the crackpot's tactics completely fail and leave the church in a shambles.) While the film occasionally makes an attempt at a jump scare, it doesn't offer nearly enough spectacle to justify its strict adherence to plot beats we've seen so many times before. A certain breed of cinephile might read this and think that the prospect of current Al Pacino playing a borderline senile exorcist with a thick German accent in a cheap B-movie is enough to guarantee a campy good time, narrative flaws be damned. But the final nail in the coffin of the film's watchability is how much effort the octogenarian star actually puts into the role. He plays the character perfectly straight, ensuring that there's no memeably bad outburst or low effort moment in a film that really could have used one. The film's greatest sin is how utterly boring it is, from its straightforward Catholic rituals that give way to predictable scares to the shaky handheld camerawork that doesn't fit with a movie that never makes any attempt to brand itself as found footage. And it appears that its filmmakers (or at least its marketing team) hope to rectify that by branding it as the one 'real' exorcism movie. 'The Ritual' leans into its status as a 'true story' of one of the most documented exorcisms in American history, using title cards to note that Father Theophilus Riesinger was eventually profiled in Time Magazine and that the events influenced other movies like 'The Exorcist.' It's a flimsy platform to stake an entire movie's existence on, as the claim is impossible to prove, and those who want to believe it will say it's impossible to disprove. We know that Emma Schmidt was a real woman who had an exorcism performed on her by these two men, but we don't have any way of knowing that there was an actual demon inside of her. For a film that treats historical realism as a primary selling point, 'The Ritual' has no real grounds on which to assert that it's less fantastical than any of the better exorcism movies out there. An XYZ release, 'The Ritual' opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, June 6. Want to stay up to date on IndieWire's film and critical thoughts? to our newly launched newsletter, In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best new reviews and streaming picks along with some exclusive musings — all only available to subscribers. Best of IndieWire The 25 Best Alfred Hitchcock Movies, Ranked Every IndieWire TV Review from 2020, Ranked by Grade from Best to Worst
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘John Candy: I Like Me' Documentary to Open 2025 Toronto International Film Festival
It may only be June, but the fall film festival picture is starting to come into relief, as today the Toronto International Film Festival has announced its 2025 opening night gala pick: the world premiere of Colin Hanks' documentary 'John Candy: I Like Me.' The Opening Night Gala will take place on Thursday, September 4, at Roy Thomson Hall. The film is billed as 'a heartfelt tribute to the legendary Canadian icon, with stories and memories from Candy's family, closest friends, and longtime collaborators.' 'Comedy fans all over the world grew up on John Candy's humor,' said Cameron Bailey, CEO of TIFF in an official statement. 'We love that John's global career started in Toronto, and we can't wait to share 'John Candy: I Like Me' with everyone at this year's Opening Night Gala premiere. Colin Hanks has made a hugely entertaining film packed with some of Hollywood's biggest stars, but like John, this movie is all heart. For us, it's the perfect way to kick off TIFF's 50th edition.' More from IndieWire Jon M. Chu Warned His 'Wicked: For Good' VFX Team That the Film Will Inevitably Be Memed 'The Ritual' Review: Al Pacino Performs an Exorcism in a Horror Effort Possessed by Mediocrity The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, runs September 4 – 14, 2025. More festival details will be shared in the coming weeks. Added Hanks and producer Ryan Reynolds in their own statement, 'When you hear the name John Candy, your face lights up. He wasn't just a great actor; he was an even better person. 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.' The film, an Amazon MGM title that will debut globally on Prime Video in the fall, is further described as a way into Candy's 'on- and off-camera existence, featuring never-before-seen home videos, intimate access to his family, and candid recollections from collaborators to paint a bigger picture of one of the brightest stars of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. 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.' The film is Hanks' third feature directing effort, following documentaries on both Tower Records and the band Eagles of Death Metal, which chronicles the events before and after the November 13 terrorist attacks that took place while they were performing at the Bataclan in Paris. Of note: TIFF's Film Reference Library already includes a free John Candy Collection, donated by Rose Candy, containing objects related to Candy's professional career and personal life from the 1970s to the early 1990s. 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
Global News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Global News
‘John Candy: I Like Me' documentary set to open TIFF 50th edition
A documentary about late Canadian comic John Candy will open the 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. The festival says John Candy: I Like Me traces the comedy star's personal and professional life with never-before-seen home videos and candid recollections that reveal a son, husband, father and friend who battled personal ghosts and Hollywood pressures. The film was directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds, who say in a joint statement the SCTV was a great actor and an even better person. View image in full screen John Candy, pictured in a scene from the comedy 'Uncle Buck.'. Universal Candy appeared in some of the biggest comedies of the '80s and '90s, including Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Cool Runnings and Splash, a comedy classic that catapulted his big-screen career along with co-star Tom Hanks, Colin's father. Story continues below advertisement Candy was just 43 when he died in 1994 of a heart attack in Mexico while working on a film. 1:37 'He's still loved:' John Candy's legacy lives on, 25 years after his death John Candy: I Like Me makes its world premiere at TIFF on Sept. 4 before streaming on Prime Video in the fall. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 4 to 14. 'We love that John's global career started in Toronto, and we can't wait to share John Candy: I Like Me with everyone at this year's opening night gala premiere,' TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said Wednesday in a release. 'Colin Hanks has made a hugely entertaining film packed with some of Hollywood's biggest stars, but like John, this movie is all heart. For us, it's the perfect way to kick off TIFF's 50th edition.'
