Long-lost adult siblings strive to rebuild severed family bonds in ‘Meadowlarks’

TORONTO - Director Tasha Hubbard didn’t have far to look for inspiration in order to capture the complex emotions of separated Indigenous siblings who meet for the first time as adults.

Her new family drama “Meadowlarks” borrows heavily from her 2017 documentary “Birth of a Family,” which traced a momentous weekend for three sisters and a brother who bond in elation and grief decades after being taken from their mother as babies in the ‘60s Scoop.

Like that non-fiction account, Hubbard’s scripted saga explores the painful legacy of government policies that continues to ripple through generations of fractured families, including her own.

Hubbard was adopted in the ‘70s through the Adopt Indian and Métis Project in Saskatchewan, designed to place Indigenous children in white adoptive homes.

Barry Hertz’s ‘Fast & Furious’ book pops the hood on power struggles driving the franchise

TORONTO - Before “The Fast and the Furious” became one of the world’s most lucrative film franchises, its fate reportedly hinged on an unlikely question: could it survive opening against “Dr. Dolittle 2”?

That’s one of the many revelations Globe and Mail editor Barry Hertz uncovered while researching for his new book on the series, “Welcome to the Family: The Explosive Story Behind Fast & Furious, the Blockbusters that Supercharged the World.”

Back in 2001, Universal Pictures’ marketing team was stuck in a minor existential crisis over when to release the first film, Hertz writes. The studio had planned a spring-break debut — until executive Marc Shmuger insisted on a summer slot that would put the modest street-racing thriller head-to-head with Eddie Murphy’s talking-animal sequel.

“People at the time were like, ‘You’re insane! That will kill us! You’re going to ruin this studio! ‘Dr. Dolittle 2’ is a behemoth,’” says Hertz, a Toronto-based arts journalist.

Not everyone sees the new Cancon rules as a win. Five takeaways from CRTC’s decision

An overhaul by the federal regulator of how Canadian content is defined has been met with mixed reaction from some of the country's biggest film and TV players this week.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued its long-awaited expansion of the range of creative roles that qualify a film or TV show as Canadian, setting new rules for foreign streaming companies that operate in the country.

However, not everyone sees the changes as a win.

MORE ROLES, MORE POINTS — AND MORE WORRIES FROM DIRECTORS

Sentimental journeys into holiday season

Confounding weather patterns aside, we are slipping into winter. Our screens are happy to oblige our hibernation urges with movies and series that might give the gift of a smile or a wee sniffle. Plus a sexy hockey drama! Whoa. Let’s have a look at some new viewing options.

Family-recipe garlic-dill pickles make cameo in locally-lensed holiday movie

Lights. Camera. Pickles?

Christmas in Midnight Clear is a new made-for-television holiday film that was shot in and around Winnipeg this past summer.

The heartwarming feature, which began streaming Nov. 1 on the Great American Family network, tells the story of a corporate real-estate developer played by Canadian actor Alicia Dea Josipovic who arrives in the fictional town of Midnight Clear, with the intention of modernizing the struggling burg by converting character structures into faceless edifices. Along the way she meets Daniel (Ottawa’s Jon McLaren), a local pastor who — spoiler alert — ultimately convinces her the town’s heritage, particularly a historic church earmarked for demolition, is more important than her bottom line.

In addition to the Trappist Monastery Ruins in St. Norbert and Paroisse Saint-Jean-Baptiste in the Rural Municipality of Montcalm, the 88-minute flick also “stars” Cathy’s Pickles, a fledgling business selling preservative-free, Polish-style dill pickles.

Bif Naked stares down her darkest experiences in uplifting new documentary

TORONTO - Bif Naked wasn't exactly yearning to revisit her life's darkest moments for a deeply personal documentary.

The pop-punk singer had already mined her painful past for the 2017 memoir "I Bificus," and she balked when her longtime manager suggested putting those stories on film for "Bif Naked."

"It really wasn't, nor could it ever be, my idea," she says of the doc, which makes its pay-TV premiere Nov. 21 on Super Channel and will screen in select theatres.

Her feelings changed when she saw the film come together, marvelling at footage she says she had never seen before and gratified that, despite the oft-dark material, it all feels authentic.

Five things to know about Trailer Park Boys

HALIFAX - Mike Smith, an actor, writer and producer of the long-running comedy Trailer Park Boys, was arraigned in Nova Scotia provincial court Monday on a sexual assault charge.

The allegations against Smith have not been tested in court.

Here are five things you need to know: 

WHO IS MIKE SMITH – Smith, 53, is best known for playing Bubbles on the television show “Trailer Park Boys.” Born near New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, he has won a Canadian Comedy Award and two Gemini Awards for his work on the show.

Award-winning doc featured at local festival

A 90-year-old Manitoba woman was the hit of the Hot Docs documentary film festival in April in Toronto. You can come to that conclusion honestly since the film — Agatha’s Almanac — won Best Canadian Feature Documentary at the festival.

And now we can see what the fuss was about. The film is playing at Gimme Some Truth, the 16th edition of the Dave Barber Cinematheque’s own documentary festival. It screens today at 3 p.m.

The film wears its distinction proudly, but not too proudly. With its gentle, considered pace and its lovingly composed, Zen-like images of agricultural beauty, it is the antithesis of some of the typically provocative docs out there.

It’s more of a barn-builder than a barn-burner.

Post-Second World War film 'Nuremberg' can’t handle weight of material

Looking at the lead-up to the first Nuremberg trials in 1945, this misguided historical drama wastes its intriguing and important source material and squanders some very good actors with a script that feels tonally off.

Writer-director James Vanderbilt has written for the Spider-Man, Independence Day and Scream franchises, as well as making his directorial debut with the serious real-life news drama Truth.

Working here from Jack El-Hai’s book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, he’s clearly aiming to balance prestige and popular appeal, trying for a smooth, handsome, Oscar-worthy blend of information and entertainment.

Unfortunately, Nuremberg alternates between over-obvious exposition and oddly glib character beats, without ever conveying the enormity of its historical moment.

Cineplex CEO says ‘Wicked’ sequel already bewitching moviegoers into higher presales

TORONTO - Cineplex Inc.'s CEO is seeing signs that the latest instalment of the Wicked franchise will help his cinema chain end this year on a high note.

"The Wicked pre-sales are nearly three times what the last one was, so I'm kind of excited," Ellis Jacob said in a Thursday interview.

The franchise's sophomore film "Wicked: For Good" heads back to the "Wizard of Oz" universe to continue the story of Elphaba and Glinda, played by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. 

The debut film, which was released last year, grossed $756.4 million at the global box office and spawned a litany of collaborations with brands including Aldo, Conair, Crocs and Lego.

Who needs a trailer? Cineplex bets on mystery with ‘surprise’ movie premieres

Cineplex wants to bring new meaning to the term “no spoilers.”

Canada’s largest theatre chain is introducing “Monday Surprise Premieres,” where moviegoers can buy a ticket for a major new release without knowing what they’re seeing until the lights go down.

The idea channels the same spirit as “secret screenings,” a concept employed by film festivals and indie theatres for decades.

The Toronto International Film Festival holds a similar event with its Secret Movie Club on select Tuesday evenings.

Documentary revisits Swift Current Broncos crash — and the trauma that never left

CALGARY - In 1986, a bus carrying the Swift Current Broncos hit black ice and spun off the Trans-Canada Highway just east of their southwestern Saskatchewan city. Four players were killed.

For defenceman Bob Wilkie, who saw teammate Chris Mantyka in the final moments of his life, trauma haunted him and other surviving Broncos.

Mantyka, Trent Kresse, Brent Ruff and Scott Kruger died in the bus crash during Swift Current’s first season back in the Western Hockey League after a 12-year absence. Wilkie and other players from that team helped the Broncos win the 1989 Memorial Cup — a story of triumph over tragedy.

But mental-health support was nonexistent for traumatized teenage hockey players in the 1980s. Compounding the damage, Broncos head coach and general manager Graham James discouraged counselling to hide his own secret. James later served prison time for sexually assaulting players he coached.

What to watch: Cathartic raging, outside-the-box thinking, virtuous sleuthing and safe-vacation practices

Overdoing screen time is not (always?) the solution to whatever challenge presents itself, but it couldn’t hurt. Just me?

In any case, consider these five viewing suggestions as mostly relatable examples of how to survive and even thrive.

After free streaming debut, Lilith Fair doc heads to cinemas for limited release

TORONTO - Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair documentary is getting a second wind on the big screen.

Film distributor Elevation Pictures says it plans to show "Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery" at eight independent movie theatres across the country in November.

It's an unusual twist in the traditional distribution model. The documentary has already been available to stream for free on CBC Gem and YouTube for the past month.

Elevation's co-president, Noah Segal, says the idea to show "Lilith Fair" in theatres came after a thunderous reception at its Toronto International Film Festival premiere in September.

Issues of race, queerness integrated in heady adaptation of Ibsen classic

Stepping into a role that’s been played onstage by some of the great leading women of the past century (Ingrid Bergman, Diana Rigg, Glenda Jackson, Isabelle Huppert, Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith, Judy Davis, Cate Blanchett), Tessa Thompson is magnetic.

As the centre of Henrik Ibsen’s scandalous 1891 play Hedda Gabler, Thompson (Creed) mesmerizes, veering from manipulative monster to misunderstood martyr with a complex emotional energy that practically vibrates onscreen.

American writer-director Nia DaCosta (Candyman) transfers Ibsen’s original text to a swanky version of 1950s Britain, working with freedom and flare but also rigorous intelligence. The issues of race and queerness raised in this updated adaptation aren’t just dropped in, they are thoroughly integrated into Ibsen’s examination of social conformity and existential authenticity.

The results are both gloriously theatrical, bursting with big juicy performances, and slyly cinematic, as DaCosta’s camera prowls restlessly through an opulent English mansion over the course of one fabulous, debauched, possibly deadly party.