Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Two of Netflix's most-prized 2021 festival movies have leaked online after debuting as part of the at-home digital offerings of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Jane Campion's drama "The Power of the Dog," starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and the Antoine Fuqua thriller "The Guilty," led by Jake Gyllenhaal, both appeared on pirate websites as of early Monday.
It was not immediately clear if TIFF showings were the source of the pirated copies or if they came from elsewhere. However, both movies premiered over the weekend as part of TIFF's hybrid festival model with screenings in theatres as well as virtually in homes across the country.
Representatives for Netflix and TIFF did not immediately respond for comment.
The leaks are a nightmare scenario for Netflix which opted to sit out most of last year's film festivals but returned in recent months with some of their buzziest upcoming movies.
Piracy can erode a film's prospects at the box office and derail some of the buzz that builds ahead of awards season for festival titles. For movies still looking for distribution, it can also affect the chances of a lucrative sale.
Many in the Hollywood film community have worried that making high-definition copies available through digital festival platforms almost guarantees those titles could show up on the black market.
But those same filmmakers and distributors have few options if they want to premiere their new films amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when many cinephiles are reluctant to gather en masse as the Delta variant spreads.
Virtual screenings at home became one solution but the model has been disliked by many major international film festivals that thrive on the mass gathering of film lovers.
Cannes, Venice, Telluride and the New York Film Festival, have all opted to hold only in-person screenings this year with COVID-19 testing and safety measures in place. Sundance introduced a virtual element last January, a practice it intends to continue next year at a hybrid edition.
Organizers at TIFF were put in a tougher spot as Toronto only emerged from one of the world's longest lockdowns over the summer, and its virtual component offered one way to ensure the festival wouldn't be cancelled if case numbers skyrocketed.
Not all filmmakers and distributors were on board with the idea. Some of the festival's biggest titles, including "Last Night in Soho" and "Dune," opted out of the digital component.
Organizers at TIFF took various measures to discourage piracy with warnings before all in-person and digital screenings that recording is strictly prohibited and violators could face legal action.
Digital screenings at home included personally identifiable watermarks that appeared at various points throughout the film.
A separate screening portal for accredited press and industry uses a different watermark system that includes each user's name and email address.
A copy of "The Power of the Dog" that spread on torrent sites did not include the opening Netflix logo, nor any visible watermarks. It was tagged as a "webscreener" by the pirates, suggesting it was pulled from an online source.
Both Netflix titles have release dates -- "The Guilty" is set to debut Oct. 1 on the streaming service after a limited theatrical release while "The Power of the Dog" is also expected to hit theatres before shifting to the small screen in December.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2021.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
Winnipeg police say they have arrested two people in their 20s after a large amount of explosives were found in a home outside of Winnipeg, Man.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Spain scrapped an annual bullfighting award on Friday, prompting a rebuke from conservatives over a backlash against a centuries-old tradition they see as an art form but which has run into growing concern for animal welfare.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.