David Cronenberg, body parts and a new partner shake up ‘Law & Order Toronto’

TORONTO - Luke Kirby arrived on the set of “Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent” with a new co-star to figure out, a new character to establish and a city to rediscover. 

So he did a little homework.

Kirby, who joins the fourth season of the Toronto-set Citytv crime drama as Det.-Sgt. John Darcy, watched David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome” and “Crash” to prepare.

“I was sort of just trying to get a vibe for the city and Cronenberg shoots the city in such a compelling way, that I just was like, ‘Oh, let me get into the mood,” says the Hamilton-born, Brooklyn-based actor on a virtual call.

Michael J. Fox promoted to companion level of Order of Canada

OTTAWA - Celebrated actor and Parkinson’s disease activist Michael J. Fox said he felt both "pride" and "humility" while receiving a promotion within the Order of Canada on Friday.

Spectators stood and applauded Fox at Rideau Hall as Gov. Gen. Louise Arbour officially named him to the companion level of the Order of Canada.

Rideau Hall says Fox was elevated to the companion level to honour his "powerful global advocacy and unflinching honesty about Parkinson's."

"It's so many things. But mostly it's just growing up in Canada, loving this country, loving what it stands for and how it's progressed and corrected course when it needed to, and stayed the course when it needed to," Fox told The Canadian Press following the ceremony.

Hans Zimmer is ‘rooting for Canada’ as trade war crescendoes before North American tour

Hans Zimmer’s epic scores have transcended borders, but as the Oscar-winning composer prepares to bring his live show across North America, he knows which side he’s on.

“If this was a soccer match, I’d be rooting for Canada,” Zimmer says.

The German-born maestro, who will hit several Canadian cities next year as part of his recently announced The Next Level tour, says he has a deep affection for the country and its culture — and he’s not hiding that sentiment as Canada and the United States navigate a crescendoing trade war.

“There’s so much right about Canada,” Zimmer says in an interview from his Los Angeles studio.

Thriller has steam to spare, but story slogs

Based on a 2018 book by hugely popular, wildly polarizing author Colleen Hoover (whose novels It Ends with Us, Regretting You and Reminders of Him have also been made into movies), this new adaptation is being billed as a sexy psychological thriller.

Mi’kmaw actor’s directorial debut highlights injustice faced by Donald Marshall Jr.

A Mi’kmaw actor has made his film directing debut in a movie inspired by a road trip he went on with his uncle, Donald Marshall Jr., who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent 11 years in jail.

Glen Gould, from Membertou First Nation, was 17 when his mother sent him to Maine to help his uncle and bring him back home to Cape Breton.

“It was one thing after another on that road trip," Gould said in a recent interview. "We got our car stolen, ended up stranded at a motel … so I took that road trip and turned it into a movie."

During the trip, Gould said Marshall Jr. shared many stories and recounted what happened the night his friend, 17-year-old Sandy Seale, was stabbed at a park late at night in May of 1971. 

How ‘North of North’ turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution

TORONTO - It was supposed to be a table read for the Season 2 finale of “North of North.”

But it turned into one big group cry.

Inuk actress Zorga Qaunaq, who plays Millie on the hit Iqaluit-shot sitcom, began tearing up at the end of the script.

“She just started crying and being like, ‘It’s so nice to have something nice. We deserve nice things,’” recalled co-creator Alethea Arnaquq-Baril.

Baruchel soulful in role as frustrated Canuck daredevil

For better and worse, the name of the barely famous Canadian stunt driver Ken Carter (a.k.a. The Mad Canadian) will always be associated with the name of his much more famous American counterpart Evel Knievel.

Concrete documentary aided by filmmaker’s tender, affecting manner

The title sounds direct, straight-up and, well, concrete.

This is, however, a sweetly aimless, sneakily hilarious, completely unclassifiable documentary.

If you’re a real concrete wonk, you might end up frustrated. Yes, there will be some wild revelations about the world’s most common building material, but this is not exactly a comprehensive examination.

If you’re a John Wilson fan, on the other hand, you’ll find exactly what you want here. Known for his HBO series How To With John Wilson, the New York-based creator makes his move to the big screen with The History of Concrete, and that means more bizarro street footage, more funny business signs, and more encounters with weird and wonderful NYC randos.

Concrete doc befits brutalist Winnipeg

Moviegoers across North America are pounding the pavement and lining up around the block to see The History of Concrete, small-screen documentarian John Wilson’s feature-length debut.

Neil Peart gets the limelight in new doc celebrating late Rush drummer’s legacy

Neil Peart, the late drummer and lyricist for Rush, probably wouldn’t have been entirely comfortable with the limelight surrounding a new documentary about his life and legacy, according to his longtime bandmate.

“I think it would be a little embarrassing for him,” guitarist Alex Lifeson said at last week’s Toronto International Film Festival premiere of “Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple.”

“He didn’t like to have a lot of attention.”

But Lifeson, who played alongside Peart in Rush for more than four decades, believes the famously introverted stickman would have understood the affection behind the celebration.

Terry Fox documentary premieres at Toronto International Film Festival

TORONTO - As Canadians lace up for the annual Terry Fox Run, a new documentary offers unseen footage of the young man behind it all.

Run Terry Run, directed by Sean Menard, follows Fox's journey as a 21-year-old with an amputated right leg from osteosarcoma who sets out to traverse the country to raise money for cancer research.

Fox's brother, Darrell Fox, joined Canadian athletes gathered at the Toronto International Film Festival for a screening on Saturday.

He was part of his brother's Marathon of Hope, which began in St. John's, Nfld., in April 1980, and says he cherishes those memories.

‘I’d rather not moonwalk back into the closet’: ‘Neverman’ spotlights transgender people’s dementia fears

TORONTO - Cuban-Canadian director Rodrigo Barriuso says he decided years ago he needed to draw attention to the difficulties some LGBTQ+ residents face as they enter long-term care homes, including examples he found "devastating and enraging." 

He was seeing a number of media reports abroad about cases of long-term care homes that weren't equipped to provide identity-affirming care to residents.   

"As a result, they were returning to the proverbial closet because the discrimination that they were facing in these place(s) was so rampant that they would rather live in the closet than subject themselves to it," said Rodrigo, whose film "Neverman" played at the Toronto International Film Festival. 

The generation of the LGBTQ+ community that fought for gay and transgender rights is now aging, with some developing dementia and ending up "sharing a living facility with the bullies who — news flash — also age," said the Toronto-based director. 

Hits and misses from this year’s TIFF as the festival draws to a close

TORONTO - The 51st Toronto International Film Festival arrived with tensions flaring between Canada and the United States, concerns about artificial intelligence in filmmaking and a massive evolution in how the arts organization courts industry members.

With the festival set to wind up Sunday, here's a look at how some aspects of it fared.

HITS 

The race for People's Choice 

TV review: locally shot American Hostage smooths over tricky tonal shifts

The first episode of the eight-part series American Hostage is as fiercely compelling an opener as one gets in the realm of streaming shows.

Goulet found a friend in Gilles Villeneuve while filming biopic premiering at TIFF

TORONTO - Actor Rémi Goulet was on the set of Canadian hockey movie "Major Junior" when a producer mentioned he was working on a film about the late Formula One star Gilles Villeneuve.

Christian Larouche was convinced Goulet was meant to play the Canadian race car driver, but years into his acting career, the actor knew better than to get his hopes up.

It was only when Goulet landed the role in 2021 and started intensely researching Villeneuve that he realized just how much he was meant to play the driver. 

Villeneuve, who died after a racetrack collision in May 1982, was from Berthierville, Que. Goulet grew up 20 minutes away. They both liked snowmobiling in the same fields and shared a love for speed that was born in the back roads of Quebec.