Film critic | Peter Howell Night Vision

Here’s who will win the Oscars — and who should — after the strangest year in film

Peter Howell's annual forecast of the golden and unchosen at the Academy Awards.

The waiting is over for "Nomadland," a superb film that ponders what home means

Is home a place we reside at, or do we carry it with us everywhere?

Oscar gets a short, sharp dose of reality from a world beset by woes

Oscar-nominated shorts always have a lot to say, this year all the more so.

The Canadian Film Fest went virtual in a hurry — but now it's ready for a close-up

Festival of Canuck indie cinema runs from April 1 - 18 on Super Channel

Screwball meets surreal in "French Exit" as Michelle Pfeiffer spends and rages in City of Lights

Pfeiffer is a marvel as a disaffected socialite out to blow an inheritance.

"Godzilla vs. Kong" is a heavyweight title bout with a flyweight story, but it rocks

It's like eating a bag of Cheetos before dinner: You know it's bad, but you can't help it.

Bob Odenkirk remembers to take out the trash and Rachel Sennott shakes up a shiva

REEL BRIEF reviews of new releases "Nobody" and "Shiva Baby"

People of colour and women make historic breakthroughs, but Oscar diversity remains elusive

This year's Academy Awards will be remembered as a year of qualified triumph.

Kevin Smith lets it all hang out in "Clerk," a SXSW documentary about his turbulent career

Malcolm Ingram's unflinching doc about his pal Kevin Smith gets a belated SXSW premiere.

"Anne at 13,000 ft" soars, wins TFCA's $100,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award

Kazik Radwanski's sky-high drama is the Rogers Best Canadian Film winner for 2020.

{"items":["60806bd69765f50057b3ca4c","6070886c8b98d700150b3084","606929e9d59e510015fabbf3","606634e23dd0d80015eb838c","606533665cd4520015c46434","6064bc900fb58f0015c16ed8","605e56204fc71b0015ce310a","605e52cf7540580015ccd87d","6058111a51f5b700151b5e36","603af32eb2e64b005983db45"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"max","cubeRatio":1.7777777777777777,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":32,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":0,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":3,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":0,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":true,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_BELOW","galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":176,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":1,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":350,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"themeName":"color_13","value":"rgba(205,205,201,1)"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"calculateTextBoxHeightMode":"MANUAL","textsVerticalPadding":-15,"targetItemSize":350,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|max|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":true,"externalInfoHeight":176,"externalInfoWidth":0},"container":{"width":700,"galleryWidth":732,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}

3 4 5

Movies I can't live without

Toronto Star movie critic Peter Howell has written a book about his 25 favourite movies, with highly personal reviews from Apocalypse Now to The Wizard of Oz.

Here's a sample of his review of 2001: A Space Odyssey, his all-time favourite film:

"It was billed as The Ultimate Trip and the hyperbole was justified, then as now.

Stanley Kubrick's space opus still seems like the future, 52 years after its release and 19 years after its significant title year. It never gets old and I never tire of seeing it, even after 50-plus viewings..."