Is Taylor Swift’s new concert film transforming the theatre industry?

The film's emerging success in unusual theatre etiquette poses the question: What’s next for movie theatres?

By Isabella Iula

 Local Swiftie Isabella Iula at the Cineplex theatre at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto on Oct. 28, 2023. She is leaving the Eras Tour concert film with her new Taylor Swift merch and friendship bracelets. (Isabella Iula/CanCulture)

Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour film is bringing people back to theatres through its new entertainment strategies pinpointed at audience participation. 

The Eras Tour celebrates the infamous singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and her musical journey through the span of 10 albums. Each album represents a different story or ‘era’ in Swift’s life, so she decided to create a concert to honour all the albums that brought her tremendous success in music, and now the film industry. 

The highly anticipated film directed by Sam Wrench follows the one and only Taylor Swift on her live The Eras Tour performances at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., in the United States. The film invites audiences to experience the movie as if it were a live performance. 

Swift encourages audiences to dress up in “Era’s attire,” exchange friendship bracelets, sing and dance along to their favourite songs in the theatre. 

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First-time The Eras Tour film attendee Ally Magbalon said the film’s interactive elements helped her emotionally connect with the audience both on and off-screen. 

“You can tell everyone just loves everyone in that concert and in that theatre,” said Magbalon. “It feels real like I'm in that concert.”.

Three-time Eras Tour movie attendee Hadar Zaidman added how the film gives fellow Swifties like herself a space to embrace their fandom free of judgement. 

“I think it's nice to be able to experience [the film] with other people who feel the same way you do and to not be judged for your obsession with the artist,” said Zaidman.

Victoria Sands, a part-time lecturer and PhD student at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), studies Taylor Swift and her role in media and fan culture. Sands said the movie helps connect audiences to Taylor Swift by involving them in her fan practices.

“[Taylor Swift] has this thing she always does, which is to bring fans into the content itself and the product itself, so that the success of the product is intertwined with fans’ embrace of it and fans’ participation," she said.

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Sands added how engaging with Swift’s fan culture brings movie audiences into her “story-world.”

“[Taylor Swift] divided her content into eras that make up each piece of the film at each piece of the show, so that gives the viewers these different worlds that they can be immersed into,” said Sands.

According to Sands, such fan practices allows movie-goers to understand the film from a Swiftie’s perspective.

“Of course, people will want to see a concert movie of a concert they want to see. That's understandable. But there's also something to it for the ability to participate in this huge cultural phenomenon that is The Eras Tour,” she said.

By encouraging audiences to step outside the traditional theatre etiquette, it helps create a sense of community surrounding the film. Sands said it allows fans to feel seen, heard, and appreciated for their dedication to the artist’s work. 

“Part of this cultural phenomenon is fans' reactions. So The Eras Tour film has to include the Swifties because they've become part of the brand and the story,” said Sands.

Zaidman said The Eras Tour film is a virtual gateway for people to attend the concert without the hassle of finding tickets or spending outrageous amounts of money.

“You still get the whole concert experience, but in a movie theatre,” she said.

Taylor Swift singing Enchanted from her Speak Now album during the Eras Tour film (Isabella Iula/CanCulture)

Since The Eras Tour film debuted back in October, domestic box-office sales reached $92.8 million, setting the record for the highest grossing concert film to date.

Jeff Knoll, the CEO of Film.ca, an independent cinema in Oakville, said the film’s immersive experience brought in locals outside the location’s usual crowd of moviegoers.

“We saw people coming to the theatre who haven’t been to the theatre in years,” said Knoll.

The film’s financial success has audiences wondering if concert films are the next big investment for theatres going forward, especially with Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour film coming out in December.  

According to Knoll, the answer is unclear.

“I'm not sure if it's going to be a long-term sustainable thing or not or whether it's going to become a trend. We'll have to wait and see,” he said. 

However, that is not to say these concert films won’t help drive in customers.

Knoll mentioned how their theatre’s private screening room was booked out for the first two weeks of the film's screening.

“It's really cool to see folks enjoying a movie in a theatre. It's going to be good for the industry,” said Knoll.

The Eras Tour film also gives smaller, independent theatres like Film.ca an opportunity to create an event around the film’s premiere. During the film’s release, the theatre hosted photo-ops and sold personalized, collectable merchandise. 

Knoll describes this engagement method as “showmandizing,” an old-fashioned marketing strategy where theatres design events and merchandise specifically for the film and its fanbase. 

“We always find ways to sort of engage the audience beyond just coming to a movie and Taylor Swift offered lots of opportunities to do that,” he said.

For example, Film.ca created a Taylor Swift-inspired promo video to encourage people to experience the Eras Tour film from their screening rooms.

Not only has the Eras Tour brought back audiences to theatres, but unlike most theatrical releases, The Eras Tour film is not backed by a major Hollywood studio. 

According to a press release issued by AMC Theatres, Swift worked out a deal to have the film distributed directly through the movie theatres. The company also worked with sub-distribution partners such as Cineplex to show the film internationally.

Swift’s decision to bypass the Hollywood studios is sparking a trend among celebrities and independent film distribution. For example, Beyoncé already sealed a similar deal with AMC Theatres for her upcoming film. 

Swift’s movie deal also creates new financial opportunities for the theatres themselves. With potential Hollywood blockbusters delayed for another one or two years, The Eras Tour film cuts out the middleman to help theatre businesses stay afloat. 

Knoll mentioned the film’s unique and timely release is currently helping theatres who are struggling to compete with the rise of streaming services and still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was an important product for us to have access to during this very slow period,” said Knoll.

Whether or not other concert films receive the same hype and success rate, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is changing people’s movie-going expectations.

The film strays from the traditional movie-watching experience to give Swifties and theatres something far more rewarding.

“It’s iconic, incredible and everything we know and love Taylor Swift for,” said Zaidman.

TIFF Review: Clara – Manic Pixie Dream Girls IN SPACE

By: Ben Cohen

Grade: C

The typical penultimate chapter – right before the reboot – in many franchises and genres is the port over to outer space. It’s a desperate move, taken by someone working on a worn-out, assembly line plot structure. Think Jason X, Dracula 3000, Moonraker, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Angry Birds Space. Clara is to the manic pixie dream girl genre what all those aforementioned creations are to their respective canons: one last piddling set change before the curtain falls for good.   

The titular character is a globe trotting, rock collecting, spiritualist and painter who decides to take up astrophysics, despite not having any post-secondary education whatsoever, believing strongly that being a quick-learning, hard worker is all it takes.

Ostensibly homeless, she responds to a wanted ad for an unpaid research assistant position with Dr. Isaac Bruno, astronomer, divorcé and disgraced professor, by showing up at his home unannounced.

Bruno rebukes her, but she still makes it into his apartment, with reluctant permission, to get her dog a bowl of water. There, the ex-professor tells Clara, once again, that she is unqualified for the job. She responds by picking up a record from his vinyl collection and asking to play it just once before she goes. The duo then discovers their shared love for the work of Bob Dylan, specifically The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, his second studio album, and that somehow gives them enough common ground for Bruno to not only hire Clara as his assistant, but also let her and her dog move in with him.

From then on, Bruno and Clara spend the film having multiple, nearly identical, sophomoric conversations orbiting the spirituality vs science debate. The team prattle on about it in a manner only slightly more sophisticate than two teenagers in a state of blunt-induced philosophical rambling.

“People are scared of the unknown,” said science-man Bruno. “We basically know nothing, so we make things up, these bedtime stories.”

Clara counters deftly by remarking that Sir Isaac Newton was religious. This fact somehow pierces Bruno’s hull of skepticism and ends the scene.    

The film’s second act drags on in this manner, with Clara acing the pixie muse’s standard programming. She teaches her assigned brilliant broken man, Bruno, social and artistic skills and helps him get over the loss of his son, all the while searching for alien life with him through satellite imaging.

“Finding some other life form isn’t going to bring (our dead son) back,” said Bruno’s ex-wife, Rebecca.

“I know, but it’s all I have,” he responds.

Clara then mutilates the astronomer’s grief with a nice screed about how quantum entanglement and recycled atoms mean that his late son will always be with him.

The third act abandons the alien hunting plot until the climax. This forces us to spend time with our two watered-down cliché composite leads butting heads over intelligent design for the umpteenth time.

Clara finally coaxes Bruno into having some sort of cosmological vision with the help of one of her magic rocks. This ends up leading to the discovery of alien life right at the very end of the film, but not before the audience is treated to the line of the night:

“You spend all this time looking at stars, you’re going to miss what’s right in front of you.”

Goodness gracious.

Clara isn’t all awful. The score features exciting orchestral tunes and some classic Dylan yowls. The cinematography is at times breathtaking, specifically the views of the cosmos the audience is treated to during scene transitions. Shots around Toronto and in TTC are a warm reminder of the staunch Canadianity of film’s cast and crew. The ending is surprisingly satisfying, with first contact being made and Clara’s devout spiritualism being ratified. It’s just a shame this pleasing payoff took so long to arrive and was so brief.

TIFF 2018 Review: Edge of the Knife

By: Isabelle Kirkwood

Grade: A

Edge of the Knife is a 2018 Canadian drama film co-directed by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown. It is the first feature film spoken only in dialects of the Haida language. Set in 19th-century Haida Gwaii, it tells the classic Haida story of the traumatized and stranded man transformed to Gaagiixiid, the wildman.

Gwaii Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown’s Edge of the Knife (Haida: SG̲aawaay Ḵ'uuna) forges a new method of storytelling from a long since unheard corner of Canadian cinema. Set in the 19th century Haida Gwaii archipelago in the vividly rugged Pacific Northwest, the film centres around a small 19th century Haida community.

More pointedly, the film follows a narrative that draws parallels from a moral era akin to Crime and Punishment. The death of a local child drives our implicated protagonist, Adiits’ii, into torment and grief, as he absconds his people into the unforgiving wilderness. We follow his descent into madness as he is, in a sense, ‘swallowed whole’ by the wilderness that soon becomes his own hell.

The dramatic coastal landscape sits on what seems like the edge of the Earth. Vast temperate rainforest and rugged, inhospitable shoreline epitomize the brutal and violent forces of nature and guilt that possess the protagonist, transforming him into a feral pariah. 

Adiits'ii’s character begins as incredulously charming, but as he descends into insanity, his character becomes more convincing. After the death of Adiitsi’ii’s young nephew, the film’s pace changes dramatically – the rather measured pacing of the community’s scenes breaths a sense of calm into the film. But the film abruptly kicks into action, as we see our now untamed protagonist tearing through harsh wilderness, covered in his own blood.

The film’s rather lurid imagery was able to effectively shock and disgust. By the time Adiits’ii returns to his community, every inch of his body is etched by dirt and blood trails. Urchin needles are protruding from his lips. The wilderness has turned the initially charming nobleman into a beast.

The acting throughout this film is rather strained, with many communal scenes opening with forced and prolonged laughter. The dialogue, too, is hard to relish – tone is lost in the actors’ ostensibly modest grasp of the challenging Haida language. 

The film is the first to be scripted entirely in Haida. For this reason, it only seems to fair to cut the actors some slack for a seemingly rudimentary grasp of the dialect. Often times, tone is difficult to read, and dialogue is spoken with a trace of vacillation. I wish I could say this didn’t take away from the film, but it did.

 The sound design is overbearing and often hyperbolic – Foley which should be ambient resonates more obnoxiously than it does evocatively. However, the sound design’s true victory is in its use of score. The rich percussive beat is an unfortunate dramatic trope in modern cinema, but works impeccably in Edge of the Knife. The unnerving turtle rattles, the haunting water drum and the rich vocal hums and whirrs seem to conduct Adiits’ii through his decline into a dark and otherworldly possession, and his community into a spell of grief and despair, without taking audience from its setting. Despite some of the paranormal elements of the film, many of its elements allow the story to maintain its realism.

This is an Indigenous film with an Indigenous cast and crew. It masterfully revives tradition and lore that remains culturally and historically relevant to Indigenous peoples in Canada. The fundamental clash between man and nature are omnipresent, themes of the turmoil of grief and one’s delivery from it are central. In this film, we are offered a dark and unnerving chronicle, where Indigeneity is not offered as a prop, trope or sideshow. Indigeneity is the main act.

TIFF 2018 Review: Giant Little Ones

Grade: B-

By Julianna Perkins

Giant Little Ones, a new film from Canadian director Keith Behrman, successfully completed its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. 

Giant Little Ones is the latest from Behrman, who’s previous film Flower & Garnet won the 2002 Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature. It’s clear the Saskatchewan native intends to keep strong performances coming. 

Right from the start, the film invites us to get lost in a close up of protagonist Franky’s soft and boyish face. We’re drawn in to observe his subtle freckles and cheeky smile – we watch as his hair tousles in the wind. There’s very little doubt about what you’re going to see; this is a coming-of-age movie. 

The next thing to hit you is the music. The entire film is excellently scored and incorporates upbeat, electronic compositions with deep bass into the most unlikely scenes. The sound alone is one of the biggest factors that keep Giant Little Ones from collapsing into melancholic mush.

The movie, filmed in Sault Ste. Marie, centres on Franky (Josh Wiggins), a 17-year-old boy whose family life becomes exceptionally complicated after his father (Kyle MacLachlan) comes out as gay and his parents separate. Franky is resentful and channels his frustration into swimming and by falling deeper into the arms of old friends and new girlfriends.

In true coming-of-age film fashion, on the night of his 17th birthday, Franky has a sexual encounter that immediately jeopardizes every close relationship he has. He’s thrown into the bowels of bullying, social isolation and tough conversations. But going against the stereotypical grain of most other coming-of-age films, Giant Little Ones delves deeper into the nuances of sexuality in the millennial age, toxic masculinity and the idea that sometimes being okay is the best you can hope for.

Wiggins’ performance, and indeed the performances of the entire cast, are truly the legs on which the film stands. Thanks to the depth and sincerity of the actor’s performances, Giant Little Ones avoids becoming a cheeseball teenage pity-fest and instead creates beautiful little moments in even the saddest circumstances. Genuine emotion is allowed to come through because the actors don’t over-act; their subtlety is their greatest strength.

The film would have been stronger, however, if the admirable acting hadn’t been cut down by subpar writing. Much of the dialogue, probably intended to provide comedic relief, ended up instead garnering a collective audience eye-roll. Such gems included the teenage classics “no, I’m totally into you,” “it never would’ve happened if we weren’t wasted” and my personal favourite, “my mom is ruining my life!” 

The messy writing translates further into a messy plot, as the movie somehow feels both fast-paced and slow burning, ultimately lacking focus. You’re never sure if the main theme was Franky’s bullying, Franky coming to terms with his identity, Franky learning he’s not the only person facing tough situations, or a combination of all three.

Throw in a queer-best-friend character that materializes out of nowhere and disappears just as quickly, and an irrelevant, completely comedically-gratuitous scene about three-quarters of the way in and you’re left wanting to take a red pen to the script to preserve its sensitivity.

Writing aside, Behrman’s directorial hand paints the screen in a constant palette of blues, which complement the film’s clean cinematography and soft focus. Our eyes are never bored and intention is translated repeatedly through visual action, sparing unnecessary dialogue. Visually, Giant Little Ones is an underrated success.

Even if the film is a mixed bag in the mechanical sense, Giant Little Ones’ intentions and acting put it a notch above any stereotypical coming-of-age movie. The characters are genuine, the storyline is complex and at its core, there is a complicated takeaway for everyone. You might just see a little bit of yourself in Franky’s matured gaze as the film fades out of one final close-up.

TIFF 2018 Review: First Man

By Luke Elisio           

Damien Chazelle’s First Man is one small step towards Oscar gold, one giant leap for the director’s already impressive resume.

The biopic, starring Canada’s leading man Ryan Gosling, recounts the personal and professional life of astronaut Neil Armstrong leading up to the legendary 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

For those who doubted that the historically-musical Chazelle (director of 2014’s Whiplash and 2016’s almost-best-picture-winner La La Land) would be incapable of delivering a high-stakes thrill ride, rest assured that within the film’s first five minutes, he more than delivers. During those five minutes, Chazelle lifts audiences off the ground with a POV-shot test flight that is as exhilarating as it is realistic. To capture that indescribable sensation of rocketing to outer space is true movie magic. If you’re not watching this film in a theatre seat gazing up at the big screen, you’re not watching it properly.

The well-paced drama is the antithesis of Chazelle’s previous films, trading in themes of artistry and romance for two hours of utterly realistic tension and anguish. Chazelle manages to capture that realism by expertly utilizing the narrative tool of showing rather than telling. Whether it’s the heart-breaking look of mourners as they watch a casket descend into the ground, or a NASA physicist humorously assigning astronauts a simple 600 pages of equations to memorize, Chazelle knows how to punctuate a scene with masterful subtlety.

The star of the film, in every sense, is Gosling as Neil Armstrong. Completely stripped of any glamour or charm, Gosling’s portrayal as an everyday man who is called to exhibit emotional and physical strength of the greatest caliber, is mesmerizing to watch. If anything, see this film simply for Gosling’s gut-wrenchingly realistic portrayal of a man wrestling for control over his life while simultaneously writing his name in the stars as an American hero. Gosling will pull you in with all the force of a black hole.

Get it? Cause’ space.

Sharing the screen with Gosling is Claire Foy as Janet Shearon, Armstrong’s first wife. Foy displays an incredible range as she portrays a woman who celebrates in her husband’s greatest achievements, supports him through tragedy, and berates him when she knows he is wrong. For those familiar with Foy mostly for her role as Queen Elizabeth II on Netflix’s The Crown, she is physically unrecognizable. However, she brings the same unyielding strength and heart to Janet as she does to the Queen. A nomination for Best Supporting Actress is undoubtedly hers. This is easily a game-changing role for Foy and hopefully Chazelle will include her in his troupe of repertory actors.

In an era dominated by movies filled with video-game-level amounts of CGI, it was transcendent to watch a director utilize practical effects and sleight of hand filmmaking to craft a truly breathtaking piece of film. With First Man, Chazelle proves himself to be a director that studios should just unequivocally trust. Give him the money to make whatever kind of film he wants, and audiences will be anything but disappointed.

22 Blockbusters You Never Knew Were Filmed in Canada

By Brent Smyth

While Canada may not have its own version of Hollywood, many blockbusters choose their northern neighbours to film key scenes and even entire movies! Whether to save money or the incredible scenery, here are the top 22 films to have been shot in Canada, and just wait for 16 and 21.

#1- Titanic (1997)

During the true sinking of the Titanic in 1912, Halifax was the closest port to the catastrophe, and the first to receive the distress signal. The ocean scenes in the film, which was in 1997 the most successful of all time- were shot near where the 1912 event occurred. In Halifax today over 100 victims of the sinking are buried near the port.

#2- Twilight (2008)

Forks High School in the Twilight films in real life is the David Fraser Secondary School in Vancouver. Throughout the Lower Mainland and Vancouver play host to the setting in three of the four movies in the series.

(The Hollywood Reporter)

#3- Good Will Hunting (1997)

Shot in only five months, this movie was created in Boston and Toronto, and all the movie’s famous classroom scenes were filmed at the University of Toronto and Central Technical School, not Harvard and MIT.

#4- Interstellar (2014)

While a solid ¾ of the film is in space, the initial farm scenes and opening locations are all found in Alberta. Including Calgary, Canmore, Okotoks, Fort Macleod and outlying areas.

(MTV UK)

#5- Mean Girls (2004)

Set in Illinois, a majority of the movie was shot in Toronto at Malvern Collegiate Institute and Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, and the famous Jungle mall scene was shot in Etobicoke, in Sherway Gardens.

#6- Inception (2010)

Truly a movie of international locations, inception takes place in England, Morocco and France. However the Fortress Mountain Ski Resort in the Canadian Rockies at Kananaskis, just outside of Calgary served as the snowy mountain fortress sequence, the deepest dream level.

(Rolling Stone)

#7- Billy Madison (1995)

Sandler’s character in the film progresses through all the grades of school, and the movie itself progresses through quite a few locations in Toronto, including Northern Secondary School, John Ross Robertson Junior Public School, the Parkwood Estate in Oshawa and several other locations around Toronto, Oshawa and Stouffville.

#8- Blades of Glory (2007)

Putting the city’s Olympic history to use, the film used the Montreal Olympic Stadium for the outdoor skating scenes, and the movie’s signature chase scene was shot in Montreal’s Olympic Village.

(El Parana)

#9- IT (2017)

The remake of Stephen King’s clown horror finds its home in Port Hope, Ont. The local Queen Street Tattoo parlour was transformed to Derry Ice Cream for the film.

(Pop Geeks)

#10- The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Seemingly filmed in New York City, for four nights in downtown Toronto Yonge Street was closed for filming. And because of how accommodating Toronto’s mayor at the time had been, the Eaton Centre and the University of Toronto also play a role in the film.

(Mental Floss)

#11- Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Instead of flying to France for the European scenes, film crews travelled to Montreal and Quebec City to avoid breaking the bank while still getting the european feel.

(Nerdist)

#12- The Neverending Story (1984)

Although most of the movie was shot in Germany, the alleyway Bastian finds himself chased into is Vancouver’s Blood Alley in Gastown. And at the very end of the movie, Flying Luck Dragon Falcor does a Vancouver fly-by.

(Time Out)

#13- Capote (2005)

It may have been set in the flatlands of Kansas, but Capote was instead shot in Winnipeg and Selkirk, Manitoba. Some notable sites to see are the Manitoba Legislative Building, Gilbart’s Funeral Home and Stony Mountain Institution, which plays a prominent role in the film.

(Mental Floss)

#14- My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Starring Canadian actress Nia Vardalos, the film may have been set in Chicago, but the filming didn't draw Vardalos far from home. A number of downtown spots including Toronto’s Greek Town played home to the film.

(The Telegraph)

#15- Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Although set in Wyoming, it is clear the Canadian Rockies are the breathtaking backdrop seen in the film. Sites where the filming actually took place include Calgary, Elbow Falls, Cowley and Fort Macleod.

(The Ace Black Blog)

#16- Chicago (2002)

Iconic Toronto locales such as Osgoode Hall, Queen’s Park, Elgin Theatre and Union Station all had roles in the film, and Toronto has frequently played the part of Chicago in blockbuster films, and this musical was no exception.

(Addicted2Success)

#17- Cool Runnings (1993)

Loosely based on the 1988 Jamaican national bobsled team that competed in the Olympics in Calgary, this movie stays true to its real-life counterparts and had a majority of its filmign done in Calgary.

(Hollywood Reporter)

#18- Juno (2007)

Although set in Minnesota, Juno was actually shot in various locations throughout Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam and White Rock, and this American-Canadian comedy has gone down as a Canadian classic.

(Hollywood Reporter)

#19- The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

The highest-grossing Hollywood movie ever to be filmed in Canada, this American action film finds its locations in Toronto and Montreal, as well as globally in places such as Tokyo, Hawaii and Scotland.

(The Telegraph)

#20- Total Recall (2012)

Using the aid of CGI, Guelph, Ont. was converted into a post-apocalyptic London, and Toronto location such as the  University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus and Roy Thomson Hall stood in for stations within the planet’s internal transit system, The Fall. Total Recall remains one of the largest budget films shot in Toronto.

(PLay

#21- American Psycho (2000)

Considering the word ‘American’ is in the title, don't be alarmed when it is revealed Bateman’s office is in the TD Centre, serving as a substitute for the Seagram Building in New York City, which were both designed by architect Mies Van der Rohe. Additionally, The Phoenix Concert Theatre, The King Edward Hotel’s Consort Bar, The Senator diner and several more of the city’s now-defunct restaurants and clubs played host to Patrick Bateman and his friends on film.

(The Telegraph)

#22- The Revenant (2015)

Shot in Alberta, the winter it was being filmed proved difficult for the crew, as the snow started to melt before production was complete. This forced the final fight scene in the film to be shot in Argentina. Also due to the odd winter, Burnaby, B.C. was used for a few scenes.