Barry Hertz

2026 Oscars predictions: Who will win, and who should win From Sinners to One Battle After Another to Jessie Buckley and Rose Byrne, here are our best guesses and hopes

Ignore Polymarket, I'm your one-man Oscars betting machine: Who will win, who should win, and who shoulda been a contender at this Sunday's Academy Awards. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

Trenchant observations on Hollywood’s increasingly bland corporate culture and how studios’ allegiances have shifted from the filmmaking community to Wall Street in this book … from
1999.

For English-language Canadian movies, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie earned $5.95M in Canadian theatres in 2023. But for live-action, the last film to cross the $1M mark was … Johnson’s BLACKBERRY ($1.08M in 2023).

Great Scott! NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE crosses the $1-million mark at the Canadian box office (with more than $3.4-million in North America).

Feeling like Indiana Jones during the final few minutes of THE LAST CRUSADE

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s gonzo Frankenstein riff The Bride! is ferociously alive − it’s allliiiiiive! The Bride! is the kind of big-budget swing that everybody in Hollywood secretly wishes that they could make

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s THE BRIDE! is just the kind of extravagant swing that will baffle David Ellison, so best to lick it all up now. I’m confident Peter Boyle would’ve loved it. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

NEW: Statement from Toronto Film Critics Association president Johanna Schneller, announcing her resignation, following Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers' decision to return her Toronto Film Critics Association award for Best Supporting Performance after the organization censored her taped acceptance speech.

How Canada’s Iranian filmmaking diaspora is reckoning with war As conflict escalates in Iran, filmmakers in Canada navigate grief, division and cautious hope

"As filmmakers, we're not saving lives. But I think we are giving people a reason to live": I'm grateful to everyone from Canada's Iranian filmmaking diaspora who spoke with me about how their community is reckoning with the war. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

On movie listings & showtimes A chat with Don Marks of Torontoplex.

Fun interview with @torontoplex.bsky.social, who is our modern-day Kramer-as-Moviefone one-stop shop for Toronto cinema listings. open.substack.com/pub/thedownt...

We need to talk about Kevin: How O’Leary went from TV supervillain to Hollywood’s Oscars darling The Dragons’ Den judge, and Marty Supreme actor, has been pushing his enemy-of-the-people shtick in a new arena: Hollywood

The photographer got a pic of #KevinOLeary as a vampire! And here's the opening line of this 🔥 piece by @hertzbarry.bsky.social: "Kevin O’Leary isn’t a blood-sucking creature of the night, but he realizes that sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference." www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

We need to talk about Kevin: How O’Leary went from TV supervillain to Hollywood’s Oscars darling The Dragons’ Den judge, and Marty Supreme actor, has been pushing his enemy-of-the-people shtick in a new arena: Hollywood

We Need to Talk About Kevin: How O'Leary Went from Canadian Dragon to Hollywood Vampire. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

Getting ready for tonight’s Toronto Film Critics Association Awards Gala

Season 5 of INDUSTRY should be vaguely about Paramount.

Oh yeah, I’m not excusing Paramount here. It’s just that any company (or writer) expects to wring sympathy out of this deal, or the lack of a deal. I have no room for that.

Shaw’s reporting feels as if it has long been calibrated in Netflix’s corner. And the sympathetic opening suggests that Netflix’s team knew it would encounter such sentiment. But I’m eager to see how many more interviews will be proffered.

Fair. But it’s not hard to see how that interview was procured.

Cry me a river, Netflix

Very true.

A truly great interview that offers unparalleled access into Spielberg’s creative process. Likely more informative than sitting down with the director himself.

Paramount’s Warner Bros. deal is a full-blown Hollywood inferno Viewers may find fewer choices - and fewer independent voices - on their screens if Paramount buys Warner Bros. Discovery

If the Netflix deal to swallow Warner Bros. felt like a five-alarm fire for the film industry, then the Paramount acquisition is a full-blown Hollywood inferno. If now isn't the time to panic, then when? www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

Author @hertzbarry.bsky.social explores the fascinating evolution of a film franchise, from its B-movie roots to globetrotting spy adventures. Hertz discusses the unprecedented behind-the-scenes drama, public disputes, and tragic events that shaped its growth on this week's episode of the podcast.

Wonder how TIFF feels about Doug Ford calling the Metro Toronto Convention Centre “one of the worst convention centres anywhere in the world,” as the festival stakes its upcoming multi-million-dollar content market on ... the attractiveness of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Explore the groundbreaking, organic diversity in early Fast & Furious films. Discover how authentic casting and character representation resonated with audiences, making it a global phenomenon.

@hertzbarry.bsky.social @grandcentralpub.bsky.social

In Toronto, actor Sung Kang revs up his own fast, if not quite so furious, future Kang’s forthcoming directorial debut, Drifter, isn’t designed as a Fast & Furious knockoff, but a grittier, more intimate story

“I'd wake up hopeless. You start to question what is your purpose, is it just to be leaning up against a car and eating snacks?": I sat down with Sung Kang to talk FAST & FURIOUS, his directorial debut DRIFTER, and keeping Hollywood expectations in check. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

Interesting, I’d like to see the results of those U.S. experiments

Author @hertzbarry.bsky.social discusses the surprising cultural significance and strategic genius behind the Fast & Furious franchise on this week's episode. He explores its impact on film history and why it deserves more than just a casual glance. It wasn't accidental, but intentional.

#270: Barry Hertz - Author of Welcome to the Family This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes Barry Hertz to discuss his book Welcome to the Family and more!

This week on Episode 270 of the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes author Barry Hertz to the podcast to discuss his book Welcome to the Family: The Explosive Story Behind Fast & Furious and more!

@hertzbarry.bsky.social

Canadian movies are tanking at the box office, but there’s a twist that could save our cinema If Canada want to support its filmmakers, it needs to stop treating promotional efforts as an afterthought

According to a new Telefilm report, Canadian films fell off the box-office cliff in 2025. But we do not have a Canadian movie crisis. We have a Canadian movie *awareness* crisis. And here's how to fix it. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/film...

The best soundtrack of 2026 belongs to S4E07 of INDUSTRY.

I know two guys who can fix this