Kids love the live-action educational show Odd Squad, and the parents of those kids are in for a treat the week of January 18, when Oscar-nominated actress Toni Collette guest stars on the Emmy-winning PBS Kids program. According to Fatherly, from Fred Rogers Productions, and targeted to viewers ages 6-9, Odd Squad follows young secret agents who aim to save the day using math when odd things occur, and their talents are really put to the test when Toni Collette arrives on the scene as a mysterious new villain called The Sand Queen. Fatherly is pleased to share an exclusive clip that features Collette joyfully chewing the scenery as The Sand Queen cackles madly, unleashes swirls of sand, tries to outrun the heroes in a funhouse, and uses a potato sack to ride down a slide. Collette never seems to play the same role twice, as evidenced by credits spanning from Muriel’s Wedding, The Sixth Sense, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things to About a Boy, Knives Out, and Unbelievable. Her previous family-friendly fare – including The Magic Pudding, The Boxtrolls, and Blinky Bill The Movie – has been of the animated variety. Whatever the reason Collette signed on, we’re excited to see her summon the sand – and the fun – on Odd Squad. You can watch a preview clip below, pictures have been added to the photo gallery.

The great joy of running a fansite/archive is to come across a rare video or appearance that I have never seen, or, even better, never even knew existed. Such is the case for this 1996 video of baby-faced Toni and Ben Mendelsohn promoting their film “Cosi” on the Australian talkshow “Hey Hey It’s Saturday”. If found the video courtesy a wonderful fansite on Mr. Mendelsohn, which you should pay a visit :-) The appearance can be found in the video archive, screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery.

I’ve made good use of the Holidays to sort out magazine scans and articles that haven’t been posted to the site. My own collection has been updated as well with some fantastic additions from my friend Alvaro, so prepare yourself for a massive update – starting in 1992 with reviews on Toni’s theatre peformances with the Sydney Theatre Company to this year’s promotion for Netflix’ “I’m Thinking Of Ending Things”, and pretty much everything in between. For a complete liste of all added magazines, have a look at the previews below.

“I’m Thinking of Ending Things” – or as I’d like to call it “I’m Beginning to Understand Things” – has been on Netflix since last Friday, and I’m sure it has given the majority of us everything from a headscratch to a headache :-) I had a hard time following the story, even when it was told in a linear way, but I lost it once they arrived at the parent’s house. It definately helps to read more about the book – or the book itself – to get hold of what Charlie Kaufman was telling us with his wild, difficult and personally unsatisfying film. The actors have been a highlight though, all four actors were marvelous. Screencaptures from the film, as well as a batch of new posters, have been added to the photo gallery. Many many thanks to Jessie Buckley Fan for the generous contribution of the screencaptures, it’s very appreciated. Please make sure to give Jessie’s fansite a visit, she’s definately one rising star! Enjoy the captures.

For today’s Netflix release of Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”, Backstage Magazine blesses us with a cover story on Toni Collete’s ever-fascinating career, accompanied by a fantastic new editorial: Let’s talk about Toni Collette’s face. Few actors working today have such exacting control over their varied expressions, nor such a distinct capability to reflect every emotion under the sun. But Collette has long proven that in matters of performance, she can often do what others can’t. Who else can claim, for instance, to have their visage embossed on enamel pins decorating film buffs’ backpacks, caps, and collars? (More than just a meme, her mama wolf–like snarl over the dinner table in “Hereditary” is a popular kitsch item in this writer’s Brooklyn neighborhood.) But beyond that horror flick’s wildfire of contorted grief and rage, Collette is a master at capturing all manner of emotions: frenetic shock and joy (her toothy smile and side-eyed tongue bite in “Muriel’s Wedding”), awe and heartbreak (her wide-eyed gasp and quivering chin in “The Sixth Sense”), no-bullshit world-weariness (her furrowed brow and hard-lined jaw on “Unbelievable”), airheaded self-righteousness (her pursed lips and unmoving brow in “Knives Out”), and now, in Charlie Kaufman’s new film “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” violent neuroticism and unsparing maternal attachment. That’s not to mention her uncanny embodiment of various split personalities on “United States of Tara,” a feat that earned her an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the series’ first season. The list truly goes on and on. You can read the complete article over at Backstage Magazine.

Reviews for Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” have been lifted a week ahead of its Netflix premiere. As of today, the surreal horror thriller sits comfortably at a 90% rating at Rotten Tomatoes with praises across the board for its story and acting. Below is a selection of spoiler-free bits from some of the recent reviews. Additionally, new production stills and a press junket interview with Toni Collette have been added to the archives.

The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney (August 27, 2020)
Toni Collette and David Thewlis, both riveting. The tragic grandeur of [Plemons’] performance and the aching burden of Jake’s secrets creep up on you, just like the chilly intimacy, the confronting stillness of the visuals by Żal, the gifted Polish cinematographer who shot Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida and Cold War. I’m Thinking of Ending Things may ultimately withhold as much as it divulges, remaining open to interpretation, but like the thought lodged in Lucy’s head, it lingers.

Parade, Neil Pond (August 27, 2020)
Plemons, so good in so many things—from TV’s Fargo and Breaking Bad to movies like The Irishman and Game Night—has a boyish face that looks like it was made for hiding something else, probably something devious and unsavory, which serves him well here. Buckley, so hugely impressive as a country singer in the movie Wild Rose (2018) and on HBO’s Chernobyl, is about to wow you again in the new season of Fargo. Already acclaimed as one the most promising young actors in her native Ireland, she plays Jake’s girlfriend (unnamed in the novel) as if Lucy is as confused and clueless as we are. And Collette and Thewlis—you can’t take your eyes off them as they create a three-ring circus of master-class crazy, pulling things into a Twilight Zone-ish madhouse swirl of delirium.

Entertainment Weekly, Leah Greenblatt (August 27, 2020)
Buckley and Plemons are left to carry that water for much of I’m Thinking’s 134-minute runtime, and they’re both fantastically game, infusing the movie’s heady concepts with a naturalism that borders on heroic. Their job, they seem to know, is not to be actors so much as ambassadors to this planet: prisms refracting all the strange marvels contained in Kaufman’s great, jittery brain. In moments that portal is genuinely thrilling, but it can be exhausting, too; like being set down and left to wander, without a compass or a map, in the center of someone else’s dream.

The Chicago Tribune, Michael Phillips (August 27, 2020)
Kaufman’s latest comes to Netflix Sept. 4. (It’ll play a theatrical run in Chicago starting Friday at the Landmark Century Centre.) Before writing about it, I went back and revisited certain scenes near the end of this very free adaptation of Iain Reid’s novel. I wanted to see if I thought I saw what I thought I saw. You’ll know what I mean if you see it, too.