VIFF 2023: Les Filles du Roi

Canadian Premiere 1665. Louis XIV has seen fit to send a gift to the New World: surplus women to bring succor and support to French settlers in what is now Quebec. Among them is Marie-Jeanne (Julie McIsaac), who immediately falls foul of the matronly Madame Savoie (Claire Johnstone) by making nice with a native Mohawk … Read more

VIFF 2023: Robot Dreams

Living a solitary existence in Manhattan, Dog is tired of being alone, and mail orders a friend he can assemble himself: Robot. Their friendship blooms while exploring all that 1980s New York City has to offer. Capturing the fantastical possibilities of animated storytelling, director Pablo Berger (Blancanieves) balances the loveable duo’s quirky antics, such as … Read more

Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd

Cult icon, enigma, recluse… the life of Syd Barrett, founding member of Pink Floyd, is full of unanswered questions. Until now. Piecing together his comet-like rise to pop stardom, his creative and destructive impulses,breakdown, exit from the band and subsequent life alone, this feature length documentary is set against the social context of the explosive … Read more

Grease 2

The Rio Theatre‘s Friday Late Night Movie series continues on August 25 with one that is sure to please all the “cool riders” out there – GREASE 2! Even better…? Late Night Date Night! Bring a your favourite Pink Lady, fellow Jock, or that T-Bird you’ve been lusting after and get two-for-one entry! Stephanie Zinone … Read more

Little Richard: I Am Everything

LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator — the originator — Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard’s complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon’s … Read more

Chevalier

Inspired by the incredible true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr. in a tour de force performance) rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and … Read more

Josie and the Pussycats

The Rio Theatre‘s deep-dive into Y2K classics continues on August 28 with the locally-lensed cult-classic musical comedy, JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS. Josie (Rachael Leigh Cook), Melody (Tara Reid) and Val (Rosario Dawson) are three small-town girl musicians determined to take their rock band out of their garage and straight to the top, while remaining true … Read more

Elvis

Elvis is an epic, big-screen spectacle from  visionary, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann that explores the life and music of Elvis Presley, starring Austin Butler (in a Golden Globe and BAFTA-winning an also Oscar-nominated performance) and Tom Hanks. A thoroughly cinematic drama, Elvis’s (Butler) story is seen through the lens of his complicated relationship with his … Read more

TÁR

From writer-producer-director Todd Field comes TÁR, starring Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tár, the groundbreaking conductor of a major German Orchestra. We meet Tár at the height of her career, as she’s preparing both a book launch and much-anticipated live performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. Over the ensuing weeks her life begins to unravel in a … Read more

High Fidelity #MusicMonday

Top Five Anti-Romance Romantic Comedies Set in a Record Store… Go. The Rio Theatre is embracing the Valentine’s Day-ish spirit with a #MusicMonday screening of the 2000 slacker comedy HIGH FIDELITY. Adapted from Nick Hornby‘s novel (he also co-penned the script) of the same name, director Stephen Frears deftly balances the source material’s wry, sarcastic … Read more