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Jennifer Lopez Slays TIFF Red Carpet as She Unveils 'Unstoppable'

Actor and singer Jennifer Lopez arrives for the screening of the movie ‘Unstoppable’ during the 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), in Toronto, Canada, 06 September 2024. EPA/EDUARDO LIMA
Actor and singer Jennifer Lopez arrives for the screening of the movie ‘Unstoppable’ during the 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), in Toronto, Canada, 06 September 2024. EPA/EDUARDO LIMA
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Jennifer Lopez Slays TIFF Red Carpet as She Unveils 'Unstoppable'

Actor and singer Jennifer Lopez arrives for the screening of the movie ‘Unstoppable’ during the 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), in Toronto, Canada, 06 September 2024. EPA/EDUARDO LIMA
Actor and singer Jennifer Lopez arrives for the screening of the movie ‘Unstoppable’ during the 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), in Toronto, Canada, 06 September 2024. EPA/EDUARDO LIMA

Jennifer Lopez infused the Toronto film festival with a dose of A-list glamor Friday at the world premiere of her new movie, true-story sports drama "Unstoppable," which earned a rousing ovation.
The 55-year-old actress, singer and dancer was making her first red carpet appearance since the announcement of her divorce from Ben Affleck, who co-produced the film with best friend Matt Damon but was not in attendance.
And she did not disappoint, wearing a skin-baring metallic silver gown with seemingly nothing but giant black velvet bows holding it together, her hair long and loose. Sky-high silver platform heels finished the look.
In "Unstoppable," Lopez plays Judy, the mother of high school wrestler Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome) who, though born with only one leg, doggedly pursued -- and achieved -- his dream of becoming a US university champion.
Oscar nominee Don Cheadle and Michael Pena play his demanding coaches, and Bobby Cannavale plays his abusive stepfather, who repeatedly puts the family in jeopardy.
"Unstoppable" tells Robles's inspiring story while also delving into the difficulties of his family life, and showcasing his close relationship with his mother.
The film had several applause moments in the buildup to Robles's winning run to a college championship for Arizona State University. Then, as the credits rolled, Robles himself, in the theater, earned a standing ovation from the crowd at Roy Thomson Hall.
"When I read the script, I felt like so many women, including myself, could relate to the struggles that she had gone through in her life," Lopez said in a question-and-answer session after the screening.
"This story being a Latino story, being so inspiring -- it was just something that kind of grabbed me."
Jerome said he trained for five months, including with Robles on the wrestling mat.
"As an actor, it is one of the most daunting tasks to portray somebody that is real," he said.
"Unstoppable" was one of the marquee events of day two at the Toronto International Film Festival, the largest in North America, which offers a mix of Oscar-bait movies, feel-good family fare and searing documentaries.
This year marks a return to normal for the event, after twin strikes by actors and writers kept top talent from promoting their work here last year.
Lopez is just one of the major stars visiting Canada's biggest city for the festival.
Ben Stiller, Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry hit the red carpet on Thursday night. Also expected are Angelina Jolie, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Salma Hayek, Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman.
'The Last Showgirl'
Earlier, Gia Coppola debuted her latest effort behind the camera, "The Last Showgirl," starring Pamela Anderson as veteran Vegas performer Shelley, who is left in despair when her show is abruptly canceled.
After a 30-year run dancing half-naked in sequins and high heels in a traditional Sin City show, Shelley must figure out what the future holds.
Coppola -- the granddaughter of legendary director Francis Ford Coppola -- goes beyond the bright lights of America's favorite gambling playground to show the harsh realities of the entertainment industry and what happens to those it discards, especially women.
"I think I’ve been getting ready my whole life for this role," Anderson told the audience after the screening.
The "Baywatch" actress quipped that it was the first time she'd been offered a script that was "coherent."
Jamie Lee Curtis teared up as she spoke about the film. She plays Annette, a onetime dancer and Shelley's best friend who ends up waitressing to make ends meet -- and frittering away her hard-won earnings on bets.
"It's a movie about dreams and going after your dreams," only to discover they may never be realized, said the Oscar winner.

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Movie Review: Bring Your Global Entry Card — ‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel’s a Soul Train Ride to Comedy Joy 

US actor Michael Keaton arrives for the UK premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" at the Cineworld Leicester Square in London, Britain, 29 August 2024. (EPA)
US actor Michael Keaton arrives for the UK premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" at the Cineworld Leicester Square in London, Britain, 29 August 2024. (EPA)
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Movie Review: Bring Your Global Entry Card — ‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel’s a Soul Train Ride to Comedy Joy 

US actor Michael Keaton arrives for the UK premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" at the Cineworld Leicester Square in London, Britain, 29 August 2024. (EPA)
US actor Michael Keaton arrives for the UK premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" at the Cineworld Leicester Square in London, Britain, 29 August 2024. (EPA)

“I have global entry!”

Now, does that sound like a funny line? Of course it doesn’t. Whatever in the history of mankind and airport lines could be funny about global entry?

But put it in the mouth of comedy goddess Catherine O’Hara, and place it in the singularly inventive world of Tim Burton and that wacky afterlife waiting room from “Beetlejuice,” and it may become the one blessed time in your life you'll ever guffaw about global entry.

It likely won't be the only thing you'll guffaw about. Burton is back — and, more significantly, he is BACK — with “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” 36 years after the original. And for once, the question “Why a sequel?” is moot.

Not because we know the answer. (Do we?) But, who cares? It’s funny. It may even make you feel better about, well, death, though not “death death.” And Michael Keaton somehow looks exactly the same as he did in 1988 (to be fair, it helps that his character was already dead.)

Returning to his tale of Keaton's ghostly, fiendish “bio-exorcist,” director Burton brings back much of the team behind the original, including, alongside O’Hara and Keaton, the still-lovely Winona Ryder as Lydia the Goth Girl (also, Bob the shrunken-head guy).

And we've gained Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, and for the younger generation, Jenna Ortega, who, as a relatively normal figure, serves as an appealing anchor, her story moving the plot along.

Speaking of plot: if you didn’t see the original, not to worry. It all gets explained (as much as it should be) in time. We begin in Winter River, Connecticut, still home to Lydia Deetz (Ryder), who came as a teenager with batty stepmom Delia and dad Charles, only to learn her new house was haunted by the recently deceased Adam and Barbara (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, alas not back).

Lydia looks much the same — dressed all in black, with spiky bangs and pale skin — but is now a widowed mother, a psychic mediator, and host of a cheesy reality show, “Ghost House,” in which she sees ghosts and asks, “Can the living and the dead co-exist?”

But one day she sees something in the audience that scares her: visions of Beetlejuice, who wrought havoc when she was a teen and who, when we last left him, was wasting away in the afterlife waiting room (apparently, HE did not have global entry.)

Waiting just off set to comfort Lydia after this terrifying vision is her manager and boyfriend, Rory (Theroux), who has a little ponytail almost as smarmy as himself.

Lydia then gets a concerning message from Delia (O’Hara), an artist of questionable talent and unquestionable ego, who’s mounting a gallery show in which she herself is the canvas. There, Delia tells Lydia that she’s lost Charles. “Is he divorcing you?” gasps Lydia. “What a horrible thought!” replies Delia. “No, he’s dead.” (Such lines are catnip for O’Hara, a genius of comic timing).

Lydia calls her daughter, Astrid (Ortega), at boarding school. Astrid lists Lydia in her contacts as “Alleged Mom,” which tells you much of what you need to know about their fraught relationship.

But let’s pause this account of the living, because we also have to catch you up on the dead. Down where Beetlejuice is stuck, where the dead live — but not the “dead dead” —- Delores, Beetlejuice’s ex-wife, has escaped from the crates (emphasis on plural) in which her body has resided. Watching the glamorous Bellucci literally staple herself together is just one of the glorious creative moments Burton and crew give us here. Alas, Delores doesn't have much else to do, but this is rather spectacular.

We're approaching spoiler territory, so let’s just say that things really get complicated when Astrid goes home to Winter River for her father’s funeral. There, she watches as Mom accepts a marriage proposal from smarmy Rory. Racing off to escape, Astrid runs into a cute young guy reading Dostoyevsky.

A relationship begins, one that will lead to unexpected mayhem. Let’s just say Lydia will need to call upon — gasp! — Beetlejuice, who will exact a fearsome price for his services, as he is wont to do.

And he appears none too soon. Keaton, in his white caked makeup and blackened eyes and hair that looks like he is perpetually sticking his hand into a plug in the wall, slips remarkably smoothly into his old role. “The juice is loose,” as he likes to say.

But you know who’s also got the juice flowing? Burton. It’s his inimitable energy that infuses this movie — a joyously rendered sequel that sometimes makes sense, and sometimes doesn’t, but just keeps rollicking. Among the ridiculous delights along the way: A “soul train” in the afterlife, which is not only literally a train of souls, but a replica of the variety show “Soul Train,” with people in Afros dancing their way to wherever they are going.

And if we don't have the lip-synced “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” from the original, we do have a lip-synced “MacArthur Park,” the Donna Summer version. “Someone left the cake out in the rain,” go the ridiculous words of the disco classic. “I don’t think that I can take it, ’cause it took so long to bake it, and I’ll never have that recipe again.”

In the Burtonian spirit, let's just say it took a long time to bake it, yes, but the director has recovered the recipe — at least enough to make us smile, chortle, even guffaw, for 104 minutes. And we can be happy with that.