BKonthescene

By The BKONTHESCENE Team

We started our day with the In Conversation With Andy Lau, who is an icon in the global Chinese community, entertaining the world with his singing and acting talent spanning over four decades. He is one of the “Four Heavenly Kings” of Cantopop music and has performed in over 160 films since the 1990s.

In Conversation With series at TIFF invited Lau, who was the recipient of this year’s TIFF Tribute Award, to talk about how he started in the film and music scenes in Hong Kong, later moved onto collaborations with mainland China and asked whether he was ready for Hollywood as well as his new film The Movie Emperor, which is a Gala Presentation at this year’s Festival. 

Lau is well-loved in Toronto as the venue was filled with fans who brought large Andy Lau posters and neon light signs, excited to shoot their hands up hoping to be chosen to ask their idol a question during the live audience Q&A session. At the end of the talk, they wished him an early “Happy Birthday” as it was a week away and hoped he would return to Toronto soon with his world tour concert.

The Movie Emperor at the Scotiabank Theater

Andy Lau plays the Hong Kong actor Lau Wai-Chi, who is widely adored by a dedicated fan base, and constantly keeps an eye on his competition. His fame has led him into an increasingly exclusive circle, where his concerns revolve around maintaining his physical perfection and anxiously monitoring which fellow celebrities are winning awards or securing essential roles that he believes should be his.

Feeling the need for a fresh image, Lau stumbles into a pig farm and decides to take on the lead role in an independent drama portraying a local pig farmer. This decision was made in collaboration with the film’s director, played by Ning Hao himself, as they both believe this venture will lead to a more somber style of cinema, aligning with the preferences of international film festivals.

Lau embarks on the challenging journey of honing the acting skills required for this role, leading to a series of clever critiques of the pretentiousness generally in the movie industry.

As the film premiered the day before in the sold-out gala presentation at Roy Thomson Hall, it was not announced that the director would be present nor taking questions at the beginning of the movie at the Scotiabank Theatre. Therefore, it was a pleasant surprise that Director Ning appeared and enthusiastically engaged with the Toronto audience, eagerly receiving their reactions, comments, and questions.

We arrived at Roy Thomson Hall for Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, by directors Carlos López Estrada, Zac Manuel

Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero is a documentary film with lots of concert footage.  Montero’s rise to fame happened very quickly after the Old Town Road song.  We see his fans who idolize him, being a role model for the Black gay community, for those who come from modest backgrounds and who achieve their goals – in this case, make it big in the music industry.

We see the challenges of being a performer… a huge star… prior to performances when not feeling well and then having to go on stage to perform before tens of thousands of fans. The realities of live performance.

A great film for those interested in how concert performances are run with all the preparations, rehearsals and all the involvement of people and especially for fans of Lil Nas X.  Great concert footage and backstage clips make this a must for Lil Nas X and music fans in general. 

We attended the “Sly” Sylvester Stallone Red Carpet, with Sylvester Stallone himself, director Thom Zimny, his model wife of over 25 years, Jennifer Flavin Stallone, his brother, Frankie Stallone, and other members of this film.

The screening of film “SLY” was held at Roy Thomson Hall  (we attended with a rush ticket!)

Sly – the documentary, directed by Thom Zimny, goes into the history of Sylvester “Sly” Stallone, with a concentration on his Rocky and Rambo filmography accentuated with a lively post-closing-night gala Q&A in front of a packed Roy Thomson Hall full of his appreciative adoring fans.

All his life, he has had to prove to the world that he’s more than the underdog actor, famously known for his roles as Rocky Balboa, Rambo and one of the Expendables. But at Roy Thompson Hall, full of adulation for Sly, he had nothing to prove.

TIFF 2023 highlighted his acting career plus his artistic endeavours as an artist, showcasing his unexpected talent as a painter in the special Sly Exhibit at the TIFF Bell Lightbox library.  Just like his character Rocky Balboa, the underdog Sly has come out on top!