- TIFF 2025: Hamnet, Driver’s Ed, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (September 16, 2025)
There was much ado about some of the biggest festival favorites and premieres coming to the 50th Toronto International Film Festival, and no shortage of what to watch between the various categories. Among one of the heralded festival favorites to make its Canadian premiere was Chloé Zhao’s breathtaking adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s “Hamnet.” Rich in beauty and astounding performances, “Hamnet” is a stunning domestic drama set in the household of William Shakespeare, but with a twist: in this retelling of the Bard’s life, it is his wife who is the real subject of the movie.
“Hamnet” follows the story of Agnes (Jessie Buckley), an independent spirit whose mother was closely tied with the land and before her early death, passed many of her remedies and practices to her daughter. She meets an unhappy tutor named William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and the pair begin a passionate affair that leads them to marriage. Their bliss is short-lived as William’s restless creative spirit cannot find peace in the countryside where Agnes finds home and comfort. She encourages him to go to London while she looks after the children, but over the years, the pair must endure the pangs of long distance love and the challenges of raising a family in the era.
Zhao, who adapted the screen version of “Hamnet” with author O’Farrell, gives the story an enchanting visual style through cinematographer Lukasz Zal’s camera. So much of the movie is meticulously composed, colorful, and detailed, that it almost feels like a romantic fairytale. When the harsh reality of the historical period arrives, it darkens the fantasy, but does not destroy it, for Zhao and Buckley so wonderfully carry the audience through her character’s grief.
This is Buckley’s showcase, a chance to play many parts throughout her character’s life, from lovestruck young woman to a frustrated wife and heartbroken mother. The object of her affection, Mescal’s Shakespeare, falls for her untamed manners and theirs is a tender affair. Zhao captures their romantic intensity in aching closeups framed by the bucolic setting of the English countryside. Now winner of the festival’s People’s Choice Award, “Hamnet” will likely end up on many awards shortlists and year-end favorites. The only detrimental note was the choice of composer Max Richter’s heavily used score “On the Nature of Daylight” from “Arrival” and “Shutter Island.” It leaves this otherwise magnificent film on a false note.
I had less lofty expectations for director Bobby Farrelly’s new film, “Driver’s Ed,” but ended up pleasantly surprised by its good-natured coming-of-age story about first love and a first road trip with friends. Writer Thomas Moffett and Farrelly make some use of his raunchy comedy hijinks, but the overall story at the center ends on a heartwarming note and a feel-good message about the painful changes that come with growing up.
Jeremy (Sam Nivola), is a newly minted senior and an aspiring filmmaker wholly dedicated to Samantha (Lilah Pate), his girlfriend who has gone off to college ahead of him. After she stops talking to him for too long and drunkenly breaks up with him one night, Jeremy decides to visit her on campus to clear things up. Jeremy steals a car from driver’s ed full of his friends, including the romantic skeptic Evie (Sophia Telegadis), valedictorian Aparna (Mohana Krishnan), and a depressed-slacker-turned-drug dealer Yoshi (Aidan Laprete), in an effort to save his relationship, if only he can slip past his bumbling driver’s ed substitute teacher Mr. Rivers (Kumail Nanjiani), their poodle-obsessed principal (Molly Shannon), and a security guard (Tim Baltz ) tasked with bringing the kids back from their misadventure.
Bobby Farrelly and his brother Peter cornered the ‘90s gross comedy market with movies like “There’s Something About Mary” and “Dumb and Dumber,” and there are a few low hanging jokes sprinkled throughout the college scenes. But “Driver’s Ed” is more in line with Farrelly’s other recent movies, like the heartwarming sports underdog story “Champions” and the Jack Black-led “Dear Santa.” The beats of “Driver’s Ed” are perhaps a bit familiar and predictable, but they’re still effective thanks to the film’s cast.
As Baz Luhrmann revealed with his 2022 movie, “Elvis,” the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is still a source of inspiration for him. Thanks to his research on that film, Luhrmann came across rare, never-before seen footage, and now, “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” is bringing the king’s own words and performance back to the spotlight.
Using archival taped interviews and footage both familiar and never-before-seen, Luhrmann creates a montage of different parts of Elvis’ life, including his relationship with his mother, his time in the army and how it affected his career, his doubts about his time in Hollywood, to his tireless performances in Vegas. Luhrmann lays the soundtracks to Elivs’s life and with editor Jonathan Redmond, creates a visual story to encompass each song or interview, including touching tributes to Elvis’ time with Priscilla and Lisa Marie.
The quality of the restored footage in “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” is truly dazzling (I did have one question as to whether what looked like an animated photo in the film used AI or not, but I really hope it’s not the case). It’s even better when Luhrmann stops adding too much extra business on top of an already busy screen, like red rhinestoned texts to stand in for headlines explaining what’s happening in Elvis’ life at that moment. These eventually fall by the wayside as he lets Elvis’ interviews tell the story in his own words. It’s also perhaps why some of the tougher parts of Elvis’ story is missing from the film, like some of the problems Priscilla shared from their relationship. As a music documentary, “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” lands somewhere in-between “Moonage Daydream” and the recently released “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley,” and it’s nonetheless a treat for just about every Elvis fan.
- 11 Baseball Movies that Hit it Out of the Park from Make Me Commissioner’s Jane Leavy (September 16, 2025)
Jane Leavy knows baseball. And she really loves baseball. She’s a former sportswriter and author of best-sellers about Sandy Koufax and Mickey Mantle. Her new book is Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix it. The book is a skillful mix of history, personal connections, and insights based on watching innumerable games as a lifetime fan. She writes about the way baseball has been affected by changes in technology, from “moneyball” math to television cameras intruding on the playing field, the shift in ownership from families to billionaires, even the way stadiums are designed, the shift from “the sun is the pitchclock,” keeping the action going to one estimate that there are only 17 minutes of action in a baseball game. She explains how they have affected the game and what it would take to get a new generation of fans to fall in love with what we used to call America’s Pastime.
I especially enjoyed her chapter about the Savannah Bananas, a minor league team that is all about the fans – even their name came from a fan. I learned the most from her chapter about the “Tommy John surgery” that more than a third of professional pitchers end up needing, from her conversations with baseball stadium architect Janet Marie Smith, and from her critique of baseball’s failure to support Black players, while still pointing to Jackie Robinson’s historic time in the major league as key to its history. What comes through on every page is how much she loves every bit of the game, its players, and its coaches and managers. She also loves baseball movies, and I asked her to give me her favorites.
“Pride of the Yankees”
Because of Gary Cooper’s chin. Because sometimes I need a good cry. Because home plate at the old Yankee Stadium was one long, loud foul ball from my grandmother’s parlor. At bottom, your relationship with the game is personal, perhaps intimate.
“Bull Durham”
Because it celebrates the language of baseball, how they really talk and the practiced answers dictated by Crash Davis, the washed up big league catcher, on how to answer a question without saying anything. Derek Jeter was a master of the art. The love affair between Crash and Annie, the ultimate clubhouse Annie, is of course a metaphor for the love of the game–only wetter and funnier.
“A League of Their Own”
Because it tells a story that needed to be told about the women who pinch-hit for Major League Baseball during WW II. It gets all the details right and by doing so gives the women implicit credibility. Penny Marshall got it. Baseball is funny. “There’s no crying in baseball.”
“Bang the Drum Slowly”
Hollywood’s best and most faithful treatment of literary baseball fiction, Mark Harris’s novel about the New York Mammoths and the friendship between their star pitcher and his terminally ill catcher. Robert DeNiro and Michael Moriarty are sublime. Beautiful.
“Eight Men Out”
John Sayles important film about the 1919 Chicago Black Sox cheating scandal that has renewed relevance now that MLB has decided gambling is okay and Donald Trump has twisted arms to get reprobate Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame.
“Moneyball”
The origin story of baseball analytics with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill as a cuddly odd couple: handsome Billy Beane, insurgent general manager of the Oakland As, and Hill his fictional analytics guy because the real one, Paul DePodesta, wanted no part of the movie. By the time it premiered in 201, eight years after Michael Lewis’ book, analytics had sunk its teeth into the game. Beane’s methods were old hat and every general manager aspired to look and dress just like him. Hollywood took the usual liberties. Beane did not fire scouting director Grady Fusion because he objected to drafting a fat catcher. But the movie mattered.
“The Natural”
Barry Levinson changed the ending of Bernard Malamud’s 1952 novel to let Robert Redford play the hero Robert Redford had to be, invoking magical realism as opposed to just plain realism. Redford knocks the lights out. Glenn Close, the lady in white, summons the best from damaged Roy Hobbs. Irresistible.
Tie “The Bad News Bears” and “Angels in the Outfield.”
Walter Matthau and Christopher Lloyd with wings.
“Field of Dreams”
I hated W.S. Kinsella’s treacly, overwrought novella “Shoeless Joe” and I hate everything it’s led to. Especially MLB’s Field of Dreams games in 2021-2023, played not on the diamond Hollywood carved out of an Iowa cornfield but in a pop-up ballpark made to look old with faux pine adhesive padding. And those corn stalks Ray Liotta stepped out of as Shoeless Joe Jackson in search of redemption? Plastic. The landscaper, Chris Krug, told me. He was the Cubs’ catcher whose errant throw allowed the only run to score in Sandy Koufax’s perfect game. But I’m a sucker for James Earl Jones, more so now that he’s gone. And that book banning scene plays really well in 2025.
“Damn Yankees.”
The Fifties: when people wanted to play baseball so much, they’d do a deal with the devil. Whatever Lola wants.
- “Gen V” Rivals “The Boys” in a Sharper and Sleeker Season Two (September 16, 2025)
In the final episode of the first season of Prime’s “Gen V,” our young heroes were left defeated and imprisoned, seemingly left to rot as the world went on without them. Since then, we got Season 4 of “The Boys” last summer, ushering in the setup for the series’ final season and the progression of this new story. After the off-screen death of Andre (Chance Perdomo, who passed away before Season 2 began production), who died trying to free himself and his friends, Emma (Elizabeth Broadway) and Jordan (London Thor, Derek Luh), are brought back to Godolkin University, forced to tell the press that they aren’t affiliated with either Andre, nor Marie (Jaz Sinclair).
Our heroine made her escape before Andre’s death, leaving her friends behind and taking to staying in motels, evading capture in small towns. With Dean Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn) now dead, another rises: Dean Cipher (Hamish Linklater), a pious and brutal man who desires to weed out the weak at the university, desperate to mold the remaining students into an army that can rival The Seven. As Marie walks around America picking up snacks at gas stations and beating up Homelander (Antony Starr) supporters, she is tailed by Starlight (Erin Moriarty), who needs her help in uncovering a mystery that lies buried beneath the floors of God U.
More so than Season 1, “Gen V” is now directly intertwined with the showdown that will obviously commence in the final season of its predecessor. The underbellies of Godolkin’s already rotten core are even more frightening than one could imagine, and beneath those horrors lie ones that are unfathomable not only to our central characters but also to the audience. These horrors, which will inevitably break open this world as we know it, are also tethered to one of our heroes more than we could have expected.
Hamish Linklater (Dean Cipher)
At its core, this season examines its protagonist, Marie, who still crackles as the show’s fierce breathing heart. Her connection to the secrets being kept beneath Godolkin’s halls and its new Dean grows as the season progresses, ultimately becoming a defining aspect of the show, cracking open the foundation of not only Marie’s birth, but her existence. In spite of what should have been a deadly blast from Homelander in the Season 1 finale, it became clear that Marie harnessed a power that she and viewers had not previously been shown. These powers have sat dormant within her, and desperate to bring them up from the surface is Dean Cipher, who attempts to push her beyond her means, amplifying her powers but simultaneously putting Marie and those she loves in danger.
With each bombshell, Sinclair plays Marie with ease, allowing the character to become a younger version of herself when reconnecting with people who knew her now-deceased parents, while harnessing a fierceness that grows with each episode and makes her appear as someone long grown-up. While this cast has always had chemistry, each of the young actors here has improved with Season 2, making for an ensemble that runs like a well-oiled yet tender machine. Each of them melds together perfectly, perfectly portraying a broken family that is desperate to bind itself together again, despite their foes doing everything in their power to separate them.
A welcome addition to the core group this season is Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas), who was only featured briefly in Season 1 as Andre’s father. His presence here is increased tenfold, operating as not only an older mentor for our young protagonists but the series’s new emotional clutch in the wake of Andre’s death. Kept in the dark about the why and how that led to this, we watch as Polarity is broken apart by this loss, which is directly tied to the powers that he and his son once shared. Forced to reckon not only with his son’s death but with his declining health, Thomas harnesses a tender yet fierce melancholy, fully aware of his declining health but still desperate to uncover the mystery of his son’s death.
Asa Germann (Sam)
This leads to a job at Godolkin, hopeful to get closer to uncovering these mysteries while also helping Andre’s friends figure out the secrets kept by Cipher. This storyline, along with others, often makes Season 2 of “Gen V” feel more like a detective show. We watch as characters trade fight scenes for sequences spent digging through university archives, and the show’s high-tension moments aren’t dependent on CGI, but on characters revealing secrets to each other over hushed whispers and declarations. While some may not enjoy this shift in tone, it helps the series grow into one that may eventually surpass “The Boys.”
Although this series was never as politically charged as its parent show, this season explores how young people’s bodies and minds are co-opted by their elders and molded to become talking heads for a cause that is unjust and that they don’t truly believe in. Cate (Maddie Phillips) and Sam (Asa Germann), last seen as “villains” in the final moments of Season 4 of “The Boys,” have become some of this universe’s most engaging characters. With them are, of course, our clear-cut heroes, who band together to attempt to rehabilitate these broken souls.
Each character at play here is one whose childhood was stripped away from them. Finally, the series delves deeper into what this means for these characters going forward, and how we push children in our technologically driven society to see themselves as products that can be sold to a broader audience, rather than as individuals who can exist beyond the bounds of consumption. While the children outside of this fictional world are pushed further into a jaded adulthood, “Gen V” makes it clear that what these fictional heroes desperately need is to look back and attempt to heal the broken children that lie within them.
- The River Flows: Robert Redford (1936 – 2025) (September 16, 2025)
“Even the anatomy of a river was laid bare. Not far downstream was a dry channel where the river had run once, and part of the way to come to know a thing is through its death. But years ago I had known the river when it flowed through this now dry channel, so I could enliven its stony remains with the waters of memory.” – A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
Actor, director, activist, and mentor: Robert Redford was all of them. After his passing on September 16, 2025, a tribute to him could expound on any of these roles he played in his amazing life and still feel inadequate. For a generation, he was one of the most charismatic actors of his day, a performer who knew how to play both the smartest guy in the room and the everyman, an actor who somehow felt simultaneously relatable and larger than life. That was his draw. He was as handsome as anyone to ever grace the screen, but he never felt too far away from people you knew at the same time. He was someone who looked equally comfortable with a fishing rod in his hand as he did on the red carpet, and that kind of celebrity is rare. He was also an underrated director, someone who understood the value of silence in film and told stories that spoke to him personally with style and grace. Of course, he founded the Sundance Film Festival, forever altering the landscape of independent cinema. It is no exaggeration to say that film today would not be the same without Robert Redford, even if he had never appeared in front of the camera. The number of directors, writers, performers, and even festival producers who are in the field today because of Sundance easily numbers into the thousands. Finally, he was a philanthropist, using his fame and power for good. It’s undeniable that the world is lesser without him in it, but his impact will ripple for many years to come.
Born in 1936 in Austin, Texas, Redford’s family moved to Van Nuys when he was young, graduating from high school there in 1954 before going to the University of Colorado in Boulder—where the Sundance Film Festival will move in 2027, a remarkable closing of a circle. He dropped out of school, moving to New York, where he took a few classes and auditioned, landing his first small role in 1959’s Tall Story—his big screen debut would come in the 1960 film adaptation of the same. It’s funny to consider how these early stops influenced Redford’s versatility, someone who could play “Texas,” “California,” or “New York” with ease, maybe because he had formative years in all three places.
He did a remarkable amount of TV work in the ‘60s, including a phenomenal episode of “The Twilight Zone” in 1962 called “Nothing in the Dark,” basically playing the Grim Reaper opposite Gladys Cooper. Redford has something even at this young age, taking a part that could have been exaggerated and going subtle instead, understanding that death should be quiet. Shortly thereafter, he broke through on stage in the original production of Neil Simon’s beloved Barefoot in the Park. It led to bigger roles opposite Alec Guiness (“Situation Hopeless … But Not Serious”), Natalie Wood (“Inside Daisy Clover”), and Charles Bronson (“This Property is Condemned”).
Everything changed when Gene Saks adapted his Broadway breakout, pairing Redford and Jane Fonda in “Barefoot in the Park,” a massive hit in 1967. And yet Redford was already keenly aware of his image, reportedly turning down roles in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “The Graduate” lest he be locked into a certain kind of part. He went far from Neil Simon, taking one of the title roles in George Roy Hill’s beloved “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” a masterpiece that still feels like the gateway for not just Redford and Paul Newman’s career but the entire era. It’s one of those rare films that works for every demographic, and it made Redford an even bigger star. He would win the BAFTA for it (the movie won eight such trophies, including Best Film).
Hits would basically follow for the next half-century. Robert Redford was such a reliable face in the industry from the ‘60s through to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that he started to feel invincible. We’re going to do a piece later this week in which we pick out specific highlights of his career but just consider the range in this list just from his most popular era: “Downhill Racer,” “The Candidate,” “The Way We Were,” “The Sting” (Redford’s only acting nomination), “The Great Gatsby,” “Three Days of the Condor,” “All the President’s Men,” and “The Electric Horseman.” You could watch only his films and get a snapshot of American filmmaking in the 1970s.
In 1980, he made his directorial debut with one of the most acclaimed first films of all time. Roger Ebert called “Ordinary People” “an intelligent, perceptive, and deeply moving film.” It won Best Picture and Best Director, somehow making one of the most famous people in the world even more beloved.
Despite that success, Redford didn’t give up acting, starring in major films of the ‘80s and ‘90s like “The Natural,” “Out of Africa,” “Sneakers,” and “Indecent Proposal.” He didn’t work a lot in the new century, choosing his roles very carefully. Memorable turns include “Spy Game,” “All is Lost,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” and the lovely “Pete’s Dragon.” His last great acting turn was in 2018’s “The Old Man & the Gun,” a true story of a septuagenarian bank robber that plays like an ode to Redford’s youthful presence.
He would direct eight more times after his Best Picture win, including the beloved “A River Runs Through It” and the excellent, nuanced drama “Quiz Show,” a great example of how much he valued intellect in his characters and audience. As an actor and director, he never talked down to the viewer, and that mutual respect was so formative to his legacy.
And then there’s Sundance.
Robert Redford couldn’t have known the impact he’d have on independent film when he bought a ski area in Utah in the ‘60s. After falling in love with the region, he co-founded the Sundance Film Festival in 1978 as an effort to bring more filmmakers to the state. It would move in 1981 to Park City, where it would live until next year’s final edition in the mountain town. Originally called the US Film and Video Festival, it was rebranded Sundance in 1984 and rose in that decade to become a crucial part of the landscape. Sundance became more than just a festival, encouraging filmmakers through its institute and lab programs, cultivating an environment of discovery and creativity that became a foundation of American filmmaking in the ‘90s. So many directors credit Sundance with launching their careers but just a few include Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Darren Aronofsky, and so many more.
Finally, there was Robert Redford the activist. So much has been written about his influence on filmmaking and Hollywood’s bottom line, but he used that power for good, advocating for Indigenous rights, LGBTQ rights, saving the planet and more. He fought against the Keystone Pipeline, was a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and launched the Robert Redford Conservancy in South California. He knew how to use the status that came with immense fame.
Robert Redford was a titan. In a year when it feels like we’re losing too many of our legends, this loss feels like one of the deepest, but the thing to keep in mind is that Robert Redford used all 89 years of his life to make a difference. His legacy isn’t just intact, it will continue to flow.
- Ouray Film Festival Launches New Filmmaker Lab (September 15, 2025)
There are few places on Earth that feel more creatively supportive than the Ouray Film Festival, a gorgeous mountain setting where creators come together to support each other’s visions. The team behind the annual June event are launching their own filmmaker lab: The Ouray Filmmaker Sabbatical. It’s designed to give creators space from the hustle and bustle of the industry in places like New York and Los Angeles, a safety net that’s “designed to give filmmakers pace to recharge and rethink.”
According to the team behind Ouray, this very special opportunity is designed to release the pressure by not being tied to a specific stage of filmmaking: labs are often for writers, post-production, etc. This should bring a wide range of artists to Ouray from March 7-10, 2026, using each other as sounding boards, reading drafts, watching footage, etc., and connecting them with mentors who are there to guide the way.
Find out more about this wonderful opportunity and apply here, and read more below, from the official site.
Who is the Ouray Film Sabbatical for?
At the Ouray Film Sabbatical, we offer creative support, rest, and community for filmmakers (in any role), film writers (critics, academics, journalists), and film programmers (festivals, theaters, and filmmaker education) – all through a fully-funded residential experience in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. Like many film labs, we offer mentorship for projects at all phases of development. But like a true sabbatical, we also welcome candidates who are looking to benefit from connecting with other film professionals while recharging between major projects.
How did the Sabbatical come to be?
This sabbatical was born out of the Ouray International Film Festival (OIFF), now entering its seventh year. After six iterations of our film festival, we have learned how much these remote mountains and the people who live here can transform artists. Now, we’re looking to extend that same connection to a sabbatical that can nourish the independent film community in one of the most beautiful corners of the Rockies.
Where is this located?
The Sabbatical is located in the stunning mountain town of Ouray, Colorado, known as the “Switzerland of America.” Located at an elevation of almost 8,000 feet, Ouray is a unique place that leaves creatives feeling refilled and ready for whatever is next in their journeys. With this sabbatical, we hope to share this experience of place and community that has come to define our festival. We cover airfare, lodging, and meals for all participants.
When is the sabbatical?
The inaugural Sabbatical is slated to take place between March 7-10, 2026! We will fly out the cohort a day prior (March 6) and depart from Ouray on March 11. This will give us four full days together and travel days to help those participating in SXSW or other work-related responsibilities.
What is the venue, and what will the schedule look like?
The Sabbatical will take place at a series of venues across Ouray, Colorado, where we host our summer film festival. Artists will be placed in private homes and other lodging. Daily gatherings each morning will allow the cohort to check-in with the lab directors on their goals with each day providing a spotlight for one or two sabbatical participants to highlight their area of focus. Venues include an excursion to Ouray School, a theater space in Silverton, Colorado, and the primary private residence where our lab leadership will convene daily meals for all lab participants.
Who is leading the sabbatical?
The sabbatical is led by Jared LaCroix, Jake Abell, and Ben Wiessner–all leaders of the Ouray International Film Festival and filmmakers. There will also be external mentors (to be announced) on site as well as virtual mentors who will join the cohort for daily sessions focused on the specific career development needs of sabbatical participants.
