The comedy drama “Green Book” secured itself as an award season contender this weekend, winning top honors at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film, directed by Peter Farrelly, won the Grolsch People’s Choice Audience Award. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Green Book” took the top spot, while director Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” earned runner-up. Jenkins’ 2016 film “Moonlight” went on to win the Best Picture Oscar.
The People’s Choice honors are voted on by fest attendees. THR reports that previous TIFF audience award winners include “Room,” “La La Land” and “12 Years a Slave.” All three of those movies went on to have Academy Award success.
The most recent winner follows an Italian-American bouncer (Viggo Mortensen) who becomes a chauffeur for a black pianist (Mahershala Ali) on a concert tour in the 1960s.
The name “Green Book,” according to THR, refers to a guide book of the hotels and restaurants that accepted African-Americans at that time.
The official TIFF website has the full list of award winners.
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At the weekend box office, it was “The Predator” taking the top spot with $24 million. The amount was more than enough to take No. 1 over “The Nun.”
The full top five over the weekend was:
1. The Predator – $24,000,000
2. The Nun – $18,200,000
3. A Simple Favor – $16,050,000
4. White Boy Rick – $8,800,000
5. Crazy Rich Asians – $8,700,000
For the upcoming weekend, new releases include the family supernatural film “The House with a Clock in its Walls,” the drama “Life Itself” and the action flick “Assassination Nation.”
On the small screen, movies now available for home video include:
- Ocean’s 8, my rating: 3 out of 5, the Large Association of Movie Blogs rating: 3.25 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 68%.
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, my rating: 1.5 out of 5, the Large Association of Movie Blogs rating: 2.61 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 50%.
Matthew Liedke on Film 