Film critic | Peter Howell Night Vision

10 Sundance Festival films you should watch for in 2021

The best films of Sundance 2021, as selected by Peter Howell.

Sundancing through the pandemic

Tabitha Jackson, new director of the Sundance Film Festival, wants a "festival of discovery."

REEL BRIEF: Mini reviews of "Promising Young Woman," "Soul," "News of the World" +

Short 'n' snappy takes on current films.

"One Night in Miami" finds the humanity inside four 1960s supermen

Black icons get the spotlight in a speculative drama by Oscar winner Regina King.

Michael Apted: The life journey ended at "63 Up" — but he had plans to go on

Michael Apted and I had a deal: If we lived another seven years, we'd do an interview.

Peter Howell's Top 10 for 2020: Finding human connections in a socially distant year

The coronavirus kept us apart, but movies still had the power to bring us together.

In "Wonder Woman 1984" Gal Gadot’s superhero antics are still a wonder to behold

“Be careful what you wish for” is both a plot synopsis and snappy critical verdict.

Sparks fly and Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman ignite in "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom"

Here's why Black musicians really do have reason to sing the blues in a white world.

The peace and love 1960s come to a violent end at Altamont '69 in "Gimme Shelter"

The worst Rolling Stones concert sparked the best (and most infamous) rock documentary.

David Fincher's "Mank" ably gets "Citizen Kane" — and also Hollywood's dark heart

David Fincher's "Mank" comes as a corrective of sorts to "Citizen Kane" mania.

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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..."