Who expected Lesley Manville to spawn an haute couture cinematic universe? After wowing cinephiles with devastating turns in the kitchen sink dramas of Mike Leigh, Manville is back in fashion (not that she ever went out) with Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. The film returns her to the world of high fashion after her Oscar-nominated perf in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread. However, where her quick-witted fashionista Cyril cut zingers as sharply as she snipped gowns, her Ada Harris is…

Food documentaries are some of the best documentaries. Not only are they gorgeous to look at, but the story behind the chef and/or restaurant can be very moving. The artistry behind Japanese cuisine in particular has made it excellent fodder for documentarians — Jiro Dreams of Sushi and Come Back Anytime are both excellent examples. In The Pursuit of Perfection, director Toshimichi Saito looks to continue this tradition by highlighting four of today’s leading chefs in Japan and uncovering Tokyo’s…

The story of Maurice Flitcroft is what one would label as “stranger than fiction.”

A shipyard crane-operator from Barrow-in-Furness, a port town in Northern England, Flitcroft gained notoriety when he entered the 1976 British Open after taking up golf only a couple years prior. He would go on to shoot a score of 121, the worst recorded score in the history of the Open. After the tournament, his (very) amateur status was discovered and he was banned from re-entering the…

The metaphor of an ugly duckling blossoming into a beautiful swan fuels the transgender character study Midnight Swan. This winner of three 2021 Japanese Academy Awards including Best Film and Best Actor debuts at the Toronto Japanese Film Festival. This understated drama explores the prejudice that transgender people face in Japan. The film stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi as Nagisa, a transgender woman from Hiroshima who moved to Tokyo for a better life. She dances in a local cabaret where patrons get…