Movies, Films & Flix

I had a great time at the Toronto International Film Festival, and I plan to write longer reviews, but I wanted to quickly review the 17 films I watched during the four days I was there. Overall, TIFF was a big success. It was organized, easy to navigate, and the volunteers were wonderful. I caught all the films on my watchlist, met a bunch of cool people, and watched Canadian films that might’ve gone under my radar if I hadn’t attended the festival. I’d love to go back next year.

​Here are my quick thoughts about the films I watched on 09/10 and 09/11.

Fjord (2026)

• Directed by – Cristian Mungiu – R.M.N., (2022), 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), Graduation (2016)
• Starring – Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Lisa Carlehed
• Why I watched it – It won the Palme d’Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Also, I had to see Stan and Reinsve in a film directed by Mungiu

Quick thoughts:

• Fjord is a wildly divisive film that I really enjoyed. It will annoy many people, but I appreciate the lack of easy answers and lingering questions
• It will be interesting to see how well it works for American audiences not familiar with Norwegian and Romanian politics. Fjord is a super European film.
• Between A Different Man and Fjord, I love the Reinsve/Stan duo.
• Once again, DP Tudor Vladimir Panduru does fine work. The Norwegian landscapes look gorgeous and deadly.
• Mingiu’s “balanced” approach works well as progressive and conservative views are shared. Both sides can be infuriating.
• Communication is important.

Random Awards

• Best “Being There” Moment Award
• Most Frustrating Court Case Award
• Best Interruption of Someone Playing Amazing Grace on a Piano Award

Low Lies the Land

• Director – Emanuele Gerosa
• Starring – The Chiappone, Adamo, Agatiello, and Bertolino families
• Why I watched it – A documentary about Italian wine country sounded too good to pass up. I love Truffle Hunters, so I gave it a shot.

Quick Thoughts

• The doc works best when the camera lingers on the work required to keep a vineyard running.
• There’s a moment in which a young man takes off his shoes and places them under the bench he’s sitting on. Then, he grabs another pair of shoes and puts them on. In theory, the moment is meant to create a relaxed realism, but it feels staged and takes me out of the moment.
• Alvise Tedesco’s cinematography is wonderful because it makes the Northern Italian vineyards look gorgeous, daunting, and a bit arid. He captures the beauty and fragility of the vineyards.
• I’ve never wished for rain more while watching a documentary.
• Excellent vine pruning.

Random Awards

• Best “I Won’t Sell my Winery” Moment of 2026 Award
• Best Flower Purchasing Award
• Best Grandma Lecture About Dating Women Award

In the Heart of the South

• Director – Nyla Innuksuk
• Starring – Anna Lambe and Zorga Qaunaq
• Why I watched it – The synopsis sold me – “In the Heart of the South is what Single White Female would be if it were set in Toronto, with an Inuk protagonist and a dash of supernatural elements, starring North of North’s Anna Lambe.”

Quick Thoughts

• Anna Lambe and Zorga Qaunaq are wonderful. I need to watch North of North.
• I need to watch Slash/Back.
• I like how it approaches ownership and perspective. Who owns the story? Who makes money from it? Why do people need to add genre elements to sell a movie?
• Best 2026 avocado toast.
• There’s a horrifying/funny pitch meeting.
• I know it’s satirized, but the Toronto art scene seems like a nightmare.

Random Awards

• Best Avocado Toast Award
• Best 2026 “Punch-Up” Writer Award
• Best Worst Meeting That Ends With a Successful Pitch That Will Prove to be a Nightmare to Write Award

River

• Director – Joshua Giuliano
• Starring – Jane Levy, Jessica Rothe, Max Mattern and Dane DiLiegro
• Why I watched it – Jane Levy + Jessica Rothe + Aquatic Mayhem = Something I needed to see

Quick Thoughts

• Between Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe, and River, Jane Levy has taken a lot of damage in horror movies.
• The on-location shoot in West Virginia adds a nice layer of authenticity.
• Rothe, Levy and Mattern are wonderful.
• River blends horror, humor, and gore really well. You’ll laugh. You’ll jump. You’ll cringe.
• I love cabinet whiskey.

Random Awards

• Best 2026 Beer Can Catch Award
• Best Foot Chase Award
• Best Bicycle Accident Award
• Best Scene Involving Siblings Bonding While One of Them Pees Award

In Alaska

• Directors – Jaap van Heusden and Vinnie Karetak
• Starring – Leo Matthew Temela, Noomi Rapace, Yin Wang, Zorga Qaunaq.
• Why I Watched It – The TIFF synopsis sold me – “When a suicidal Inuk teen accidentally pierces an oil pipeline with a bullet, the FBI launches a full-scale manhunt across the northern wilderness in this drama starring Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and newcomer Leo Matthew Temela.”

Quick Thoughts:

• The film builds to a powerful ending that really connected with me.
• The on-location shoot in British Columbia.
• Noomi Rapace makes some interesting choices for her character, and they work. Her section of the film isn’t necessary, but it’s safe to assume her presence helped the directors find funding.
• Leo Matthew Temela is an actor to watch.
• It’s an interesting watch because the pacing is languid (in a good and bad way), but it builds to something beautiful.
• It features my favorite line of 2026.

Random Awards

1. Best 2026 Snowmobiling Award
2. Best Usage of Rugged Canadian Locations Award
3. Best Raw Fish Eating Award
4. Best Worst Attempt to Plug a Hole in an Oil Pipeline Award

Bucking Fastard

• Director – Werner Herzog
• Starring – Kate Mara, Rooney Mara, Orlando Bloom, Domhnall Gleeson
• Why I Watched It – Werner Herzog wrote and directed it. I needed to see it.

​Quick Thoughts:

1. Werner Herzog loves caves.
2. It won’t happen, but Kate and Rooney Mara should get Oscar nominations.
3. I’m a big fan of Orlando Bloom becoming a character actor.
4. A vacuuming scene made me very happy.
5. Bucking Fastard is my favorite TIFF film that I watched. Pure joy.

Random Awards

• Best Gas Station Scene Award
• Best Fox Award
• Best Cave Award
• Best Tunneling Award
• Best Slippery Soap Award
• Best Courtroom Scene Award

Turtle Island Rap

• Director – Alexandra Lazarowich
• Starring – A$h Da Hunter, Wiidaaseh, and Travis Thompson
• Why I Watched It – I had a good feeling about it. The feeling paid off because the doc is excellent

Quick Thoughts

• I’d love to talk to director Alexandra Lazarowich because her direction is perfect.
• A$h, Wiidaaseh, and Travis are super likable. I like how comfortable and open they are.
• A$H should’ve won the rap battle.
• The cinéma vérité style is successfully employed.
• I want a Spam burrito.
• Watch it.

Random Awards

• Most Likable Doc Subjects Award
• Best 2026 Live Show Award
• Best Worst Vinyl Record Deal Award
• Best Doc I Watched a TIFF Award

The Stunt Driver

• Director – Michael Dowse
• Starring – Jay Baruchel, Laurence Leboeuf, Ed Helms, Ben Foster, Marc Beaupré,
• Why I Watched It – The Michael Dowse-directed Goon is one of my favorite films, so I had to see Jay Baruchel and Dowse reunite for another sports comedy.

Quick Thoughts

• Jay Baruchel is excellent.
• I like the distinction between “Stunt Driver” and “Daredevil.”
• It starts hot and eventually loses momentum. However, the experience is still enjoyable.
• The Goon reunion made me happy.
• Ben Foster makes everything better.
• It made me want to rewatch Shoresy again. I like knowing Laurence Leboeuf is in it.

Random Awards

• Best Headshot Photo Award
• Best Worst Concrete Award
• Best “Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader” Joke Award
• Best Reaction to Driving At Speeds Surpassing 200 MPH Award.
• Best Bank Run Award

Quick Thoughts:

1. Ethan Hawke is 100% believable. He delivers a physically impressive performance.
2. It’s nice seeing a film shot on location. The German locations aren’t exactly the Pacific Northwest, but they look nice.
3. I love rickety bridge scenes.
4. Julia Jones should get bigger roles.
5. Director Padraic McKinley and Ethan Hawke have been doing good work together.
6. Best 2026 boulder moving.

McKinley described the shoot as fast, scrappy, and rough around the edges, and he crafted the film to feel like Deliverance, Sorcerer, and Jeremiah Johnson. The result is a low-budget action film that features another excellent Ethan Hawke performance. There are rickety bridges, gold blocks, dangerous country folk, and a lot of walking (which Ethan Hawke is familiar with). The bare-bones plot is refreshingly straightforward, and it’s nice to watch a resourceful man up against impossible odds (and rogue floating logs).

The Weight kicks off with World War I veteran Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) pushing his 1930s Ford to its limits along Pacific Northwest dirt roads to entertain his young daughter Penny (Avy Berry). Murphy is pretending to be chased by cops, and his reckless driving makes sense when we learn he’s a mechanic who can repair any damage their joyride causes to the stressed vehicle. The veteran Murphy is also a widower who struggles to make money during the Great Depression. His lack of repair jobs leads to eviction from their shabby apartment, which forces them to look for a new place to live. While apartment hunting, he gets into a fight with a group of thuggish cops who arrest him and send him to hard labor under the watchful eye of warden Clancy (Russell Crowe), a stern-but-fair(ish) man who bonds with Murphy over their love of cars (and Murphy’s ability to fix them). When Murphy proves himself to be a capable engineer, Clancy recruits him for a mission that will grant him immediate freedom and reunite him with his daughter before she becomes a ward of the state. Murphy is tasked with recruiting three reliable prisoners, and they’ll travel to a gold mine in the Oregon wilderness where they collect backpacks stuffed with gold bars and transport them through treacherous mountain terrain. They’re trekking with the gold bars because of President Franklin D. Roosevelt passing Executive Order 6102, which required all Americans to turn in their gold to the government. Their job is to keep the gold safe and out of the government’s hands.

What follows is a 72-hour hike in which Murphy, alongside his prisoner buddies Rankin (Austin Amelio), Singh (Avi Nash), and Olson (Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen), cover many miles while being watched by mining company guards Amis (Sam Hazeldine) and Letender (George Burgess – a physically imposing former Rugby player turned actor). They are joined by Anna (Julia Jones), who catches them leaving the mining camp and joins them for protection and a way out of Oregon. During their trek, they come across shady hunters, dangerous rivers, and tall mountains that make carrying large quantities of gold almost impossible.

In the press notes, Hawke mentions that he signed on for the project because he wanted to make a simple film about a “good person who values things like integrity, decency, and hard work.” His performance anchors the film, and it’s nice seeing Hawke play a physically capable man who can catch heavy gold bars while standing on a wooden-planked bridge that’s falling apart (excellent scene). His presence makes the film feel special because it’s nice following a capable man who is really good at walking, hunting, fighting, driving, and surviving.

Costume designer Esther Walz drew inspiration from The Grapes of Wrath and created denim-heavy outfits that look authentic and practical. Cinematographer Matteo Cocco attempted to blend the artistic look of Train Dreams and the grittiness of Sorcerer, with some success. Cocco shot the film with an ARRI ALEXA 35, which can capture low-light shots with its enhanced sensitivity modes. This saved director McKinley from time-wasting lighting setups that wasted the natural light.

The MVPs of the production are the southeastern German forests, home to lush green trees and an endless terrain. They don’t exactly mimic the Pacific Northwest wilderness (the film was shot in Germany because of tax credits and production partnerships); instead, they provide welcome realism, and it’s nice knowing the crew battled the wilderness to make the film feel dangerous and authentic.

Final thoughts – Watch it for Ethan Hawke’s performance. He’s great.

We recently published an episode focusing on the sublimely under-the-radar cult classic Heavyweights (1995). We were struck by how Ben Stiller’s character, Tony Perkis, was decades ahead of his time. The business model he built around his personality and promise of transformation looks remarkably familiar in today’s creator economy, and we need to give credit to this forward-thinking character from the summer camp movie genre.

For a quick summary, the story follows a group of overweight kids who arrive at Camp Hope expecting a fun summer, only to discover that the camp was sold by the beloved owners, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, to Tony Perkis, a maniac fitness and lifestyle guru who brought a cameraman and sought to feature the kids as a success story in “the No. 1 weight loss infomercial in the country.”

For those of you who may not know about “infomercials” (information + commercial) from the 90s, they were long-form television programs, 30 minutes in length, and dedicated entirely to demonstrating, pitching, and selling a product. The closest equivalent is probably TikTok/Instagram/YouTube “direct-response content” that blends entertainment with an aggressive sales pitch. Think of a buff guy working out and talking into the camera, saying something like, “I used to struggle to get enough protein, then I found XYZ product. One scoop has 25g of protein, and it tastes great. I’ve been using it for three months and see noticeable gains. Tap below to get your first order for 20% off.”

Tony pushes his extreme program on the campers until they mutiny, and the movie ends with a competition victory over a rival camp on the other side of the lake. The kids love the freedom and friendship of having a great summer after all.

While watching the film, several big points jumped out at us three decades after its unheralded release in theaters.

First, the movie definitely holds up. It respects kids, has interesting/edgy humor, and remains positive without cynicism. It’s streaming on Disney+, and we highly recommend it.

Second, and most importantly, Tony Perkis’ concept was impressively far ahead of its time. We now see versions of his business model everywhere, with creators who build audiences around a personality and lifestyle, then turn those audiences into customers for their own products, programs, and brands.

Alix Earle, for example, went from promoting other products on livestreams to building her own product ecosystem. Mat Fraser, a five-time “Fittest Man on Earth” CrossFit champion, built HWPO (Hard Work Pays Off), a training brand based around his approach to fitness. Nick Bare has built a business around the hybrid athlete trend and his supplement company.

In Heavyweights, everything is built around Tony Perkis’ image as an expert who has discovered the secret to changing people’s lives. He understood the value of turning one’s personality into a business long before social media made that model commonplace.

Here’s a quick summary:

Brand: Perkis Power, an entire business built around Tony Perkis

Platform: Camp Hope served as the setting for the health transformations

Lifestyle: “Perkisizing” or the “PerkiSystem”

Slogan: “I’m Tony Perkis, and I’m your motivation!” An actual quote from Tony Perkis is “Kids, at age 12, I weighed 319 pounds… Now, I eat success for breakfast, with skim milk.”

Logo: A direct parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous “Vitruvian Man” drawing that maps out the mathematical “ideal proportions” of the human body.

What He’s Selling: Transformation. Essentially, he’s selling how to become a different person. An actual quote: “Today is evaluation day. The key word here is value. Do you have any? Not yet. But by the end of the summer this camp will be full of skinny winners. You think I’m crazy? I’m not crazy. I just believe in you.”

Yes, this is extreme, and we’re not saying all content creators are like this. The similarity is the promise that you’ll become a more successful version of yourself by buying into these types of systems.

Content: A dedicated crew onsite (aka Kenny the Cameraman) to document daily routines, meals, and interactions. He was essentially shooting the equivalent of daily “Vlogs,” “Day in the Life” content, and “Get Ready With Me” videos decades before they were popularized. The heavily edited content, before & after photos, and testimonial footage were supposed to prove that Perkis Power works.

Merchandise: A full ecosystem of merch from the camp, vocabulary, branding, fitness tapes, and more to pull customers deep into the Perkis Universe.

Summary

Tony Perkis understood the scalable creator-business model before smartphones and social channels existed. This got us thinking: What would Tony Perkis look like today?

We’d love to tune into the Perkis Podcast, subscribe to Perkis+, and order some Perkis Protein Powder.

You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).

If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome.

Mark and Niall discuss the 2026 science fiction film Project Hail Mary. Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller and starring Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz, and a comfy sweater, the movie follows two unlikely heroes as they try to save their planets from a mysterious threat. In this episode, they also talk about successful book adaptations, saving the world, and practical effects.

If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!

Quick Thoughts:

1. The world needs more straightforward and efficient 90-minute genre films.
2. Between You’re Next, The Guest, and Onslaught, I really like Adam Wingard’s action horror films.
3. Adria Arjona is legit.
4. Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall, Drew Starkey, Reginald VelJohnson, and Eric Wareheim are clearly having a blast.
5. The “G.I. Joes from Hell” are wonderful villains who exist to smash through doors and look cool. Their tactics are a bit suspect, but they are zombie soldiers who’ve gone rogue, so their horror-inspired tactics make sense.
6. It’s not the most ambitious of projects and feels like Wingard needed a palate cleanser after the Godzilla films.
7. I don’t see it becoming a cult classic like You’re Next or The Guest, but I appreciate the world-building and likable characters.

For 20+ years, director/writer Adam Wingard and writer/producer Simon Barrett have smashed genres together to create wonderful films like The Guest and You’re Next. With Onslaught, they put a bunch of films into a blender, added their sensibilities, and created a brisk romp. After finishing up work on Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, Wingard wanted to make “a really crazy, violent action-slasher film that’s paying homage to John Carpenter and James Cameron.” His low-budget film, shot in 35 days, combines elements from Assault on Precinct 13, The Terminator, The Fog, Halloween, and Aliens to create straightforward action films. He also tossed in elements from Universal Soldier (out-of-control super soldiers), Jurassic World (the bunker escape), and Tremors (likable trailer park crew) to fill out the running time and build the world. Onslaught isn’t the most ambitious of projects, but the idea is marketable, and it must’ve been easy for Wingard to sell the high-concept film to A24.

Onslaught revolves around what happens when a high-heel-licking Nazi scientist named Hans Kammler (Dan Stevens – amazing) and his super evil wife Hanna (Rebecca Hall – wonderful) attempt to create super soldiers in a secretive New Mexico bunker. Their experiments are too successful, as they reanimate a trio of maniacs into hulking beasts who quickly escape the isolated bunker and tear through rural New Mexico. After a brutal truck stop massacre, their murderous journey leads them to a trailer park managed by Celeste (Adria Arjona), a retired military sniper who deals with crippling PTSD and post-war injuries. Once there, the trio attacks the unsuspecting residents and kills them in a variety of grisly ways. The onslaught forces Celeste, Vietnam vet Josiah (Reginald VelJohnson), and a goofy/brave cop (Eric Wareheim) to protect the trailer park and keep Celeste’s seven-year-old daughter Daisy (Blake Kennedy) safe. What follows is a bloodbath involving chainsaws, butcher knives, charcoal grills, sniper rifles, and many smashed doors.

After the escape, a local “janitor” named Cyrus (Drew Starkey) is summoned by Hanna (from a high-class sex party) to clean up the murders and track the exploits of the super soldiers. His scenes help build the world and extend the film’s running time as he witnesses the aftermath of the chaotic encounters. It’s a smart budgetary decision as locations are reused and Cyrus’s conversations/calls help build the secretive private-contractors network. Aside from being under the influence of MDMA, Cyrus is a relatively chill agent who occasionally slips on blood and casually jumps over corpses. The nice thing about Drew Starkey’s performance is that he doesn’t overload the quirky character with too many quirks. His performance creates a nice middle ground between the insanity of Dan Stevevens (and Rebecca Hall) and Arjona’s grounded realism.

On the performance front, Arjona does a fine job of creating a three-dimensional human who suffers from PTSD, went through a divorce, and doesn’t have the capabilities to deal with her trauma. So, she lives in a trailer park where she collects rent and fixes the often-malfunctioning trailers. She also must love carving pumpkins because the opening of the film features her using carved pumpkins as shooting practice to establish her sniper credentials. The addition of Reginald ValJohnson means that audiences will immediately cheer for the likable actor as he battles the super soldiers played by Alex Pereira (MMA Legend), Dave Campbell, and Tyler Hall (who worked on Splitsville with Arjona).

Production designer Tom Hammock (Pearl, Weapons) does excellent work building a realistic trailer park in the vast New Mexico desert. The on-location shoot helps authenticity as wind sweeps through the park and everything seems beaten down by the blazing hot sun. Instead of lining up the trailers in a neat row, Hammock and Wingard organized them in a circle to create a gladiatorial ring where the final confrontation between Celeste and The Butcher (Alex Pereira – MMA legend) takes place. Cinematographer Oren Soffer (The Creator – great work) does a fine job capturing the mayhem and adding in enough low-budget spice (inspired crane and dolly shots) to make the film look ambitious and expansive.