Someone Else's Movie

With her new film Lucky Star making its Toronto premiere at the Reel Asian film festival this Saturday, writer-director Gillian McKercher is here to celebrate Pietro Marcello’s muscular adaptation of Martin Eden, which galvanized the festival circuit five years ago but was lost in the first wave of COVID. Your genial host Norm Wilner didn’t expect this episode to be as timely as it is, but there you go.

Since Lauren Collins is starring in the new Crave series My Dead Mom – and since the US election is all anyone can think about right now – here’s her 2015 episode on Gillian Robespierre’s breakout comedy Obvious Child, the one where Jenny Slate plays an aspiring Brooklyn standup trying to build a set while dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. Your genial host Norm Wilner really hopes America holds itself together this week.

With his sci-fi drama The Becomers landing on Blu-ray today, writer-director Zach Clark closes out his October horror viewing with Jack Hill’s unquantifiable family study Spider Baby. Your genial host Norm Wilner wonders whether it truly is The Maddest Story Ever Told.

With his short film The Light Before the Sun making its world premiere at the Hamilton Film Festival this Saturday, October 26, actor and director Michael Greyeyes is here to talk about his newfound passion for Wong Kar-Wai’s 2000 romance In the Mood for Love. Your genial host Norm Wilner has been waiting so long for someone to pick this one, you guys.

As their found-footage horror movie It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This continues rolling through theaters, filmmakers Rachel Kempf and Nick Toti drop by to talk about their love for Eli Roth’s Hostel, and make the case for the film being a lot more thoughtful than people gave it credit for. Your genial host Norm Wilner is willing to hear them out.

With her first feature Compulsus opening across Canada this Friday – just as her second film, Lakeview, rolls through the festival circuit – writer-director Tara Thorne stops by to salute Lorene Scafaria’s 2019 true-crime picture Hustlers, in which Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez play exotic dancers who exploited their patrons right back. Your genial host Norm Wilner still doesn’t understand how the Oscars overlooked that one.

He faces off against hard-partying puppets in Steven Kostanski’s new comedy Frankie Freako, but right now Conor Sweeney is here to get very serious about his love for Ridley Scott’s genre-defining 1979 masterpiece Alien. Your genial host Norm Wilner can’t believe it took somebody nine and a half years to pick this one.

With her new drama The Arrival freshly available on digital and on demand, producer-director Alyssa Rallo Bennett is here to explore the slow-rolling dread of Sam Esmail’s 2023 drama  Leave the World Behind. Your genial host Norm Wilner stocked up on bottled water before the recording, just in case.

With his paranormal thriller Succubus hitting DVD and digital next week, writer-director RJ Daniel Hanna stops in with a film that somehow no one’s picked in over 500 episodes: Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Your genial host Norm Wilner is really glad he did.

His debut dramatic feature Shook makes its world premiere at TIFF this Saturday, but first Amar Wala is here to celebrate Lulu Wang’s  The Farewell, the 2019 indie hit that spins an emotionally complex tale of generational culture clash -- and lets us see Awkwafina in a whole new light. Your genial host Norm Wilner hopes to see you at the Festival.