Film critic | Peter Howell Night Vision

"The Trial of the Chicago 7" puts the past on the stand to galvanize the present

Aaron Sorkin psychically links Richard Nixon's paranoia with Donald Trump's megalomania.

"On the Rocks" finds Sofia Coppola coasting with a sleuthing Murray and Jones

Sofia Coppola's infidelity dramedy pairs Bill Murray with Rashida Jones.

Peter Howell's Top 10 films at TIFF 2020

At a Toronto International Film Festival where the pandemic changed almost everything, you could still count on one thing: the films.

Oscars Academy should learn from Bryan Adams "un-Canadian" debacle

A diversifying Academy could discover unintended consequences.

The bug can’t stop the buzz at TIFF 2020

For once this pandemic year, that tingling sensation isn’t the fear of COVID-19.

20 Hot Picks for TIFF 2020

Peter Howell's 20 best bets for TIFF 2020, chosen from the 61 features on offer.

"Tenet" is Christopher Nolan's most challenging film — and also his most satisfying

Obtuse plots are fine, as long as the filmmaker makes us care enough to want to solve them.

Jerry Garcia’s death, 25 years ago, helped popularize the Internet

A story from the sad day in 1995 when cyberspace rippled as Deadheads grieved.

“Hamilton” on film: The Revolution is being televised

Lin-Manuel Miranda's dynamic account of U.S. revolutionary politics boldly presents history in fresh hues and in a hurry.

Spike Lee’s masterpiece “Do the Right Thing” still burns hot with truth and wisdom

Spike Lee’s films never get old because his theme of racial injustice never loses urgency.

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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..."