March 07, 2025

WIFF’S WEEKEND WATCH LIST — 3/7

Check out our recommendations of what to watch this weekend.

if you want to discover mikey madison

once upon a time…in hollywood

Vincent Georgie: Last weekend’s Best Actress Oscar Winner, Mikey Madison, is only 25 years old. The vast majority of film lovers discovered her in Anora, but sharp eyes remember her memorable performance in Quentin Tarantino’s last film. How memorable was she? Anora director Sean Baker cast her in his film based on her performance in Tarantino’s film.

Synopsis: Actor Rick Dalton gained fame and fortune by starring in a 1950s television Western but is now struggling to find meaningful work in a Hollywood that he doesn’t recognize anymore. He spends most of his time drinking and palling around with Cliff Booth, his easygoing best friend and longtime stunt double. Rick also happens to live next door to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tatethe filmmaker and budding actress whose futures will forever be altered by members of the Manson Family.

Available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.

if you want a film that sticks with you

black box diaries

Vincent Georgie: Powerful, emotional, and deeply humane. A truly excellent film, nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar this year. A praised film from WIFF 2024.

Synopsis: Journalist Shiori Ito conducts an investigation into her own sexual assault, aiming to bring the prominent perpetrator to justice. Her pursuit evolves into a significant legal case, revealing the antiquated judicial and societal frameworks in Japan.

Available on Apple TV.

if you want something uplifting

the starfish throwers

Vincent Georgie: 11 years ago, I gave a ride to a filmmaker I had just met in Toronto during the Hot Docs International Film Festival. His name was Jesse Roesler, and he pitched me his film that was screening at the Festival. Just my luck, it turned out to be a wonderfully life-affirming, touching, and positive film. Easy recommendation on this wonderful collection of true stories. A gem of a film from WIFF 2014.

Synopsis: A chef, a girl, and a retired school teacher’s efforts to feed the poor ignite a movement in the fight against hunger.

Available on Apple TV and YouTube.

DOUBLE FEATURE

THE infallible gene hackman

Vincent Georgie: Ever seen a bad Gene Hackman performance? Ever found a character he could not play or a genre he could not adapt to? I didn’t think so. Like his contemporary Robert Duvall, every line out of Hackman’s mouth is instantly believable. Take a look at two very different flavours of Hackman on-screen. One as hard-boiled and gruff as the other is wry and droll.

night moves

Hard-nosed private investigator Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman), to distract himself from a rapidly deteriorating marriage, takes a case from an aging B-movie queen (Janet Ward) to locate her runaway daughter, Delly (Melanie Griffith). His search takes him to the Florida Keys, where the girl has been hiding out with her stepfather, Tom (John Crawford), and Tom’s lover, Paula (Jennifer Warren). Harry initiates an affair with Paula and soon learns the case is more complex than he first assessed it.

Available on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.

THE royal tenenbaums

Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children, and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary—all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father’s fault. The Royal Tenenbaums is the story of the family’s sudden, unexpected reunion one recent winter.