Barry Hertz
@hertzbarry.bsky.social
Film Editor, The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada). Author of Welcome to the Family: The Explosive Story Behind Fast & Furious. https://linktr.ee/barryhertz
NEW: TIFF reveals inaugural Market stats, though helps to have context:
-7K industry delegates (6K reported in 2025; TIFF subsidized travel this year for 200; fest aims for 12K by 2030)
-196 market screenings (TIFF originally advertised 650 slots; unclear if that included press screenings)
#TIFF26
-7K industry delegates (6K reported in 2025; TIFF subsidized travel this year for 200; fest aims for 12K by 2030)
-196 market screenings (TIFF originally advertised 650 slots; unclear if that included press screenings)
#TIFF26
September 18, 2026 at 12:57 PM
NEW: TIFF reveals inaugural Market stats, though helps to have context:
-7K industry delegates (6K reported in 2025; TIFF subsidized travel this year for 200; fest aims for 12K by 2030)
-196 market screenings (TIFF originally advertised 650 slots; unclear if that included press screenings)
#TIFF26
-7K industry delegates (6K reported in 2025; TIFF subsidized travel this year for 200; fest aims for 12K by 2030)
-196 market screenings (TIFF originally advertised 650 slots; unclear if that included press screenings)
#TIFF26
When I ask if there are tickets left for the TIFF Hudson Williams panel
September 17, 2026 at 6:27 PM
When I ask if there are tickets left for the TIFF Hudson Williams panel
Cregger's RESIDENT EVIL is worth burning down my cherished memories of Milla Jovovich scaling up the side of Toronto City Hall. Hell, the synthesis of gore and gags here is worth burning all Toronto landmarks down to the ground. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...
Resident Evil reboot is as funny as it is disgusting, which is a good thing
Zach Cregger’s gory video-game adaptation moves into a wildly entertaining new direction
www.theglobeandmail.com
September 17, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Cregger's RESIDENT EVIL is worth burning down my cherished memories of Milla Jovovich scaling up the side of Toronto City Hall. Hell, the synthesis of gore and gags here is worth burning all Toronto landmarks down to the ground. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...
LA GRADIVA: To borrow words of the teacher corralling French high-school seniors in Pompeii, there's "seismic activity" here, and then some. Excepting a finale that insists on moment of unnecessary drama, Marine Atlan's debut makes the tectonic look deceptively easy. #TIFF26
September 16, 2026 at 7:52 PM
LA GRADIVA: To borrow words of the teacher corralling French high-school seniors in Pompeii, there's "seismic activity" here, and then some. Excepting a finale that insists on moment of unnecessary drama, Marine Atlan's debut makes the tectonic look deceptively easy. #TIFF26
TENZING: In DEEP IMPACT/ARMAGEDDON terms, the first of TIFF's two Mount Everest movies is firmly in the Mimi Leder camp — conventional, well-cast polite period piece that aims for the heart more than the eye. Why Apple made a mountain flick that you'll watch on a phone is their business. #TIFF26
September 16, 2026 at 4:21 AM
TENZING: In DEEP IMPACT/ARMAGEDDON terms, the first of TIFF's two Mount Everest movies is firmly in the Mimi Leder camp — conventional, well-cast polite period piece that aims for the heart more than the eye. Why Apple made a mountain flick that you'll watch on a phone is their business. #TIFF26
WILD HORSE NINE: Malkovich is great in The White Lotus: Easter Island — and Buscemi gets one killer line — but this isn’t nearly as airtight as McDonagh might think. I do enjoy, though, a film-festival-tilted movie that baldly declares its love for Venice, over and over. #TIFF26
September 16, 2026 at 3:49 AM
WILD HORSE NINE: Malkovich is great in The White Lotus: Easter Island — and Buscemi gets one killer line — but this isn’t nearly as airtight as McDonagh might think. I do enjoy, though, a film-festival-tilted movie that baldly declares its love for Venice, over and over. #TIFF26
When I intentionally break embargo
September 16, 2026 at 1:32 AM
When I intentionally break embargo
INK: O'Connell delivers his second-best Boyle villain, and direction sporadically breaks free of stage origins to deliver firecracker bursts of muckraking energy. But errors both unforced (generative AI, c'mon guys) and inherent (Murdoch would love this) spike the story. #TIFF26
September 15, 2026 at 9:12 PM
INK: O'Connell delivers his second-best Boyle villain, and direction sporadically breaks free of stage origins to deliver firecracker bursts of muckraking energy. But errors both unforced (generative AI, c'mon guys) and inherent (Murdoch would love this) spike the story. #TIFF26
POSSIBLE LOVE: You could crassly reduce this to PARASITE without the genre trappings, but Lee Chang-dong’s DEKALOG-inspired journey into the depths of yearning is so much deeper and knottier, building up to a true fight against the tides of misplaced desire. Superb stuff. #TIFF26
September 15, 2026 at 1:25 AM
POSSIBLE LOVE: You could crassly reduce this to PARASITE without the genre trappings, but Lee Chang-dong’s DEKALOG-inspired journey into the depths of yearning is so much deeper and knottier, building up to a true fight against the tides of misplaced desire. Superb stuff. #TIFF26
There are a lot of actors double dipping with movies at TIFF, but my vote for festival breakout is Eldar Isgandarov, who injects pure joy into CLUB KID and THE DEBUT. This generation’s Hank Azaria, perhaps. #TIFF26
September 14, 2026 at 7:51 PM
There are a lot of actors double dipping with movies at TIFF, but my vote for festival breakout is Eldar Isgandarov, who injects pure joy into CLUB KID and THE DEBUT. This generation’s Hank Azaria, perhaps. #TIFF26
ELSINORE: There’s a magnificent Andrew Scott performance if you can ignore Simon Stone’s utter lack of trust in both his leading man and audience, the director papering over any patience with swollen montages and feel-this-now-dammit score. What’s the soul of wit, again? #TIFF26
September 14, 2026 at 6:17 PM
ELSINORE: There’s a magnificent Andrew Scott performance if you can ignore Simon Stone’s utter lack of trust in both his leading man and audience, the director papering over any patience with swollen montages and feel-this-now-dammit score. What’s the soul of wit, again? #TIFF26
NEW: My deep dive into the state of Quebecois cinema, which thrives inside its own provincial borders, rarely makes a dent outside of them, and has now become crucial to the existential battle for Canadian cultural sovereignty writ large. #TIFF26 www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...
At TIFF, and in Washington, Quebec’s film industry finds itself in the hot seat
Rarely making a dent outside of the province, it has now become crucial to the existential battle for Canadian cultural sovereignty
www.theglobeandmail.com
September 14, 2026 at 12:19 PM
NEW: My deep dive into the state of Quebecois cinema, which thrives inside its own provincial borders, rarely makes a dent outside of them, and has now become crucial to the existential battle for Canadian cultural sovereignty writ large. #TIFF26 www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...
EXCLUSIVE: In Toronto for launch of TIFF Market, I sat down with Culture Minister Marc Miller to talk about state of C11, the yet-to-be-delivered $600M cultural sector stimulus, and Ottawa’s response to Trump’s federal tax incentive for film production. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...
Ottawa must be smarter about how it supports Canadian film and TV industry, Miller says
Top of mind for Canadian producers is uncertain state of Online Streaming Act during trade war with U.S.
www.theglobeandmail.com
September 14, 2026 at 11:53 AM
EXCLUSIVE: In Toronto for launch of TIFF Market, I sat down with Culture Minister Marc Miller to talk about state of C11, the yet-to-be-delivered $600M cultural sector stimulus, and Ottawa’s response to Trump’s federal tax incentive for film production. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...
THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH: Snyder’s version of The Quiet American represents a certain nadir for TIFF programming. But don’t worry — this lurid, turgid, and not a little bit racist tour up river will likely never escape Toronto in its current form. #TIFF26
September 14, 2026 at 4:09 AM
THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH: Snyder’s version of The Quiet American represents a certain nadir for TIFF programming. But don’t worry — this lurid, turgid, and not a little bit racist tour up river will likely never escape Toronto in its current form. #TIFF26
THE DEBUT: Eisenberg's "A Streetcar Named Marge" filtered through feature-length Shouts & Murmurs essay — best not to think about reality of it all and submit to deep pleasures of watching Moore and Giamatti spar, including the *scene* of the year, which demands a crowd. #TIFF26
September 14, 2026 at 1:04 AM
THE DEBUT: Eisenberg's "A Streetcar Named Marge" filtered through feature-length Shouts & Murmurs essay — best not to think about reality of it all and submit to deep pleasures of watching Moore and Giamatti spar, including the *scene* of the year, which demands a crowd. #TIFF26
JOSEPHINE: Likely the best evidence yet that we might want to rethink the whole hiring-child-actors element of filmmaking. I'm simply unsure how Mason Reeves can possibly emerge from this (effectively) harrowing drama emotionally and psychogically unscathed. #TIFF26
September 13, 2026 at 8:57 PM
JOSEPHINE: Likely the best evidence yet that we might want to rethink the whole hiring-child-actors element of filmmaking. I'm simply unsure how Mason Reeves can possibly emerge from this (effectively) harrowing drama emotionally and psychogically unscathed. #TIFF26
The breadth of TIFF is such that the festival can host Barbara Kopple’s fierce doc UNION TOWN the same week it premieres I PLAY ROCKY, which goes out of its way to vilify unions as mobbed-up boogeymen. That’s range! #TIFF26
September 13, 2026 at 1:20 PM
The breadth of TIFF is such that the festival can host Barbara Kopple’s fierce doc UNION TOWN the same week it premieres I PLAY ROCKY, which goes out of its way to vilify unions as mobbed-up boogeymen. That’s range! #TIFF26
MISTY GREEN: For film about how Hollywood uses people, Rock doesn't quite know how to use his cast. Eleazar is perfect; Kaluuya is aces but in too-small role; Kendrick is totally wrong (and you won't find bigger Kendrick fan); and Rock should've let Driver step in for him #TIFF26
September 13, 2026 at 3:46 AM
MISTY GREEN: For film about how Hollywood uses people, Rock doesn't quite know how to use his cast. Eleazar is perfect; Kaluuya is aces but in too-small role; Kendrick is totally wrong (and you won't find bigger Kendrick fan); and Rock should've let Driver step in for him #TIFF26
Leigh tallies up the little things so delicately, but not preciously, that by point it all adds up, you’re left gobsmacked by the weight of the everyday. “Walk past the street, and for every 10 people there are 10 films,” as Leigh tells TIFF crowd. #TIFF26
September 12, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Leigh tallies up the little things so delicately, but not preciously, that by point it all adds up, you’re left gobsmacked by the weight of the everyday. “Walk past the street, and for every 10 people there are 10 films,” as Leigh tells TIFF crowd. #TIFF26
YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER: If only all abandoned MCU projects evolved into something as electric and enjoyably confounding as Tariq & Ali's LONE WOLF AND CUB riff on righteousness, halal porn, and how all paths lead to Hell. Also: John Cho is on another planet. #TIFF26
September 12, 2026 at 3:32 PM
YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER: If only all abandoned MCU projects evolved into something as electric and enjoyably confounding as Tariq & Ali's LONE WOLF AND CUB riff on righteousness, halal porn, and how all paths lead to Hell. Also: John Cho is on another planet. #TIFF26
At TIFF for an OBSESSION victory lap, Curry Barker split a pizza with me (cheese for him, pepp on my half) to talk about the bidding war that felt “like an episode of Entourage,” industry expectations, and his vision for TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. #TIFF26 www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...
Curry Barker, the obsession of Hollywood, returns to TIFF for film festival victory lap
Barker recounts his journey from budding filmmaker to creator of a cultural craze
www.theglobeandmail.com
September 11, 2026 at 8:40 PM
At TIFF for an OBSESSION victory lap, Curry Barker split a pizza with me (cheese for him, pepp on my half) to talk about the bidding war that felt “like an episode of Entourage,” industry expectations, and his vision for TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. #TIFF26 www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...
With four titles at TIFF, plus COYOTE VS. ACME in theatres, Canadian Joe Cobden is going for the Brady Corbet TIFF Record of '14. I talked with the STUNT DRIVER/AMERICAN HOSTAGE/BEING HEUMANN/VILLENEUVE: RISE OF A LEGEND costar about a stealth #TIFF26 run. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...
With four premieres, Canadian actor Joe Cobden might be TIFF’s stealth MVP
Cobden is walking into Toronto feeling like decades of hard work have paid off
www.theglobeandmail.com
September 11, 2026 at 4:17 PM
With four titles at TIFF, plus COYOTE VS. ACME in theatres, Canadian Joe Cobden is going for the Brady Corbet TIFF Record of '14. I talked with the STUNT DRIVER/AMERICAN HOSTAGE/BEING HEUMANN/VILLENEUVE: RISE OF A LEGEND costar about a stealth #TIFF26 run. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...