TIFF 2022 Day 4: ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,’ ‘Wendell & Wild,’ and the Royal Ontario Museum

By Jake Skubish and Peter Coutu

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JS: Peter and I started the day bright and early for a 9 a.m. screening of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, my most anticipated movie of the festival. We were in rough shape on the way over to the theater. I was a walking zombie until I was able to get a pastry and some scalding-hot coffee before entering Princess of Wales Theatre.

Thankfully, Glass Onion brought our energy back. What a total delight! Everyone in the new cast was terrific. The Knives Out films are great because they are a blast even aside from the whodunnit mystery; Rian Johnson knows better than nearly anyone in Hollywood how to make a fun movie that doesn’t feel flimsy or propped up by CGI.

PC: As a brief aside, we got to the nearby train station to head over to the theater and guess what, trains here don’t start until like 9 a.m., or so we were told. Outrageous. Jake was an absolute dead man walking to this early showing — a zombie stumbling through downtown Toronto. The hits kept coming as he spilled more coffee on his shirt than he ended up drinking before the showing. The movie itself was so, so much fun though. I really could not believe the twist at the end. When it was revealed that [redacted] killed [redacted], my jaw was on the floor!!!

The cast of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

JS: After the film the cast came out for a Q&A after the movie, which we were not expecting for a 9 a.m. screening. In fact, Daniel Craig professed to being very hungover, so we weren’t too far off base. Janelle Monáe looked incredible, and Jessica Henwick called out Johnson for never responding to the fan mail she sent him as a teen. What a time! Glass Onion is my pick so far for the People’s Choice Award, although we have plenty of promising movies left to see.

PC: I love Daniel Craig. He’s so dreamy. I thought of approaching him after the showing to chat about the time I saw him on Broadway, but he seemed to be in rough shape. I’ll see you back in New York, buddy!

JS: After the Q&A let out, we had a very short window of time before our next screening. We walked across the street to a hot dog stand, where Peter and I housed a couple of delicious Polish sausages and I once again got swindled for paying with U.S. cash. I am not sure when the last time was that either of us consumed a vegetable on this trip.

We rushed back into the Princess of Wales Theatre for the premiere screening of Wendell & Wild, a new animated film from Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline). We immediately defied our bodies’ cry for healthy food and ordered popcorn and soda, which Peter continues to scarf down before these movies even start.

PC: Jake may be financially ruined after this trip because of all the exchange rate issues. A slight correction re: vegetables. I ordered a salad earlier on this trip, treating my body like the machine it is. But I could go for some more baby carrots, to be honest. I just can’t help myself from housing half a bag of popcorn before a flick starts. It’s who I am.

The cast of Wendell & Wild

JS: Wendell & Wild was good, even if it didn’t reach the same heights as some of Selick’s best films. The film is pretty overstuffed with plot. Still, the meticulous stop-motion animation that Selick’s team puts together always looks amazing. After the screening Selick came on stage, along with Wendell & Wild voice actors Lyric Ross, Keegan-Michael Key, and Jordan Peele! Peele was crushing a sky blue suit, and the audience questions weren’t that dumb, which is always a risk.

PC: Wendell & Wild was good, not great. It looked very pretty, and the voice actors were great, but it didn’t fully land. I imagine I may have liked it more if I watched it in the fall around Halloween, when it’s a bit chillier and the mood fits better.

Jake at the Royal Ontario Museum

JS: By early afternoon, our film screenings were done for the day. Peter and I walked over to the Royal Ontario Museum, a collection of beautiful historic artifacts one can only presume Canada stole from other nations. Still, it was a neat little museum. Toronto is turning out to be quite a nice little town.

PC: We also walked through the University of Toronto, which probably has the city’s most interesting architecture. Our dear friend Noah said the city’s buildings stink before we arrived. And I sadly have to agree. My biggest critique of Canada’s largest metropolis.

JS: After the museum we headed back to the Airbnb, at which point the high I was coasting on after Glass Onion began to fade. We may not have made it back had we not stopped at a market for some crunchy green grapes, the popcorn of fruit. Peter bullied me for my feeble state as we finally made it back to the Airbnb. Nap time.

PC: Jake’s stamina is, at times, worrying. He told me before the trip that he eats about a dozen meals a day. I didn’t believe him then, but I’m seeing now that he does need to in order to function.

JS: After resting up, we grabbed dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant, Banjara Bloor. A very good meal, although we should have gone higher on the spicy scale. I had to pay for the meal because I once again lost the competition Peter and I have to bet on the weekend movie box office winners, which also made the meal a little less tasty.

PC: The hits keep coming for Jake! I can’t remember the last time I had to pay for a meal when we were together. I’m the best in the business. After the dinner, we got back to the house to watch Tom Brady dice up the Cowboys. No better way to end a night.

JS: It was a much-needed relaxing end to the evening: We were set for three film screenings the next day. It’s a tough task to watch a bunch of good movies and blog about them, but someone has to do it.