This week in August 20 years ago, a small independent horror film called “The Sixth Sense” became one of the biggest hits of the year, a classic masterpiece for cinema, and also the trajectory to create and maintain this website for the last 15 years. I feel incredibly old thinking that I was one of the many moviegoers 20 years ago, sitting in the audience and being stunned by the film’s twist ending. But even more so, I was stunned by Toni Collette. I had seen her for the very first time just mere weeks earlier when “Muriel’s Wedding” was shown on tv, and was delighted by her performance. So when the opening credits for “The Sixth Sense” rolled in the cinema, I thought, “I know that Toni Collette”. When the end credits rolled and the packed theatre was stunned by the film’s ending, I was (probably the only one) stunned where the heck Toni Collette was. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea that the young woman playing Muriel was supposed to be the same actress playing the mother on the verge of a breakdown in “The Sixth Sense”. It was a total immersion into character, and I was hooked. Toni received an Academy Award nomination for her performance, which was a surprise back then because she hadn’t been nominated for any precedent awards – something I had hoped would repeat with “Hereditary” – but with or without awards glory (“The Sixth Sense” was nominated for 5 Academy Awards but went home empty-handed), the film stood the test of time and is a highlight in the CV of everyone involved.

For the film’s 20th anniversary, many outlets are writing about the film, reflecting on its impact and talking to its makers. Among the most insightful is Variety’s look back, in which director M. Night Shyamalan remembers Toni’s audition for the film and being hesitant to show it to Disney:

I had seen “Muriel’s Wedding” and Toni came in and her head was shaved, and I forget if it was for fun or if it was for a movie. She did such a beautiful job. I didn’t want to show the video to the studio for fear that they would be concerned with her appearance, and I said “I want to cast the woman from ‘Muriel’s Wedding’” and then Bruce backed me and said “Oh, I love ‘Muriel’s Wedding,’” so we kind of got it without the studio seeing the audition, and I was so lucky. Toni is actually wearing a wig throughout all of “The Sixth Sense,” and I think it’s a wig from “Velvet Goldmine.” We didn’t even have the wig! (M. Night Shyamalan, Variety, August 02, 2019)

Below is a list o annivery articles, to which I will add any articles that will be published over the course of the next week.

The first round of movies for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival have been announced and there are some major surprises, as well as some potential Oscar hopefuls. The batch includes more than 50 movies. “Joker”, the upcoming R-rated DC Comics adaptation starring Joaquin Phoenix as the famed Batman villain, is indeed playing at the prestigious festival, as had been previously reported. Other surprises include the Jennifer Lopez stripper movie “Hustlers” and Rian Johnson’s ensemble murder mystery “Knives Out”, starring Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Daniel Craig, Katherine Langford, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Jaeden Martell, Riki Lindhome, LaKeith Stanfield, Christopher Plummer and Don Johnson. This year’s Toronto International Film Festival kicks off on September 5 and runs through September 15.

Toni Collette sure loves her Netflix, and so do we! After “Wanderlust” and “Velvet Buzzsaw”, Toni and Jesse Plemons are among the stars who have signed up for a new psychological thriller Netflix film directed by Charlie Kaufman. They will be joined by Jessie Buckley and David Thewlis in “I’m Thinking Of Ending Things”, which is based on the best-selling 2016 debut novel of the same name by Iain Reid. Kaufman, who wrote the films Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, will also write the screen adaptation, and Reid will co-produce alongside Anthony Bregman. Exploring the fragility of the psyche and the limitations of solitude, the novel tells the story of Jake and his girlfriend, who go on a road trip to meet his parents on their secluded farm. The girlfriend, who is not named, is thinking of ending things, but is left stranded when Jake takes an unexpected detour, leading to a disturbing series of events. The last time news broke about Charlie Kaufman’s film (his first directorial outing since 2015’s Anomalisa), it was that Brie Larson had joined the cast. She’s no longer part of the film. From the sounds of it, Buckley will swap in for Larson as the girlfriend, while Collette and Thewlis are likely as his parents. There’s no word on when we might see the film, but the casting announcement means Kaufman has already kicked off shooting or is about to start.

Toni Collette will be a special guest at New York’s CORE Club on March 20. In partnership with Hudson Union Society, she will talk about her career. More information can be found here. With a proven ability to transform into the characters she plays, Toni Collette has impressed audiences and the entertainment industry alike throughout the last two decades. She made an indelible impression on moviegoers worldwide with her breakout performance as the title character in P.J. Hogan’s Muriel’s Wedding, which brought her a Golden Globe Award nomination. More recently, she won a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for her portrayal of a woman with multiple personalities on the television series United States of Tara, which ran for three seasons.

Ms Collette most recently starred in the independent films: Please Stand By with Dakota Fanning, Yellow Birds with Jennifer Aniston, and Fun Mom Dinner with Molly Shannon as well as Madame with Harvey Keitel. Collette went onto star in the highly anticipated thriller film Hereditary, which got her rave reviews out of Sundance and was A24’s top grossing film of all time. Hereditary was released at the same time in June 2018 as the heartfelt indie Hearts Beat Loud that Collette starred in with Nick Offerman. Collette can currently be scene in the Netflix mini-series Wanderlustwhich was written by the award winning play write Nick Payne. Born and raised in Australia, she was a student at Australia’s prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).

Everything Now is proud to present a more IN DEPTH advance look at “Money + Love,” a double video directed by David Wilson, written by David Wilson and Arcade Fire, and starring Arcade Fire and Toni Collette. “Money + Love” will be released March 15. The new teaser is now live, see above. “Money + Love” opens in the aftermath of Arcade Fire’s 360-degree deal with global media and e-commerce platform Everything Now, and features a narrative that unfolds over the course of full performances of “Put Your Money on Me” and “We Don’t Deserve Love” from the Grammy-nominated global #1 album Everything Now (Sonovox/Columbia). Win Butler commented on the ambitious scope of the two-song short film, “The concept of a double video really appealed to us, we’d always loved songs being put together as A and B sides… and these songs seemed perfect together. David has been a great collaborator for us since Reflektor and we were finally able to work with Toni whom we’d been wanting to work with for some time”. Toni Collette said of her role, “Arcade Fire is on of my all time favorite bands. I was blown away when they asked me to be part of their video. It was a total pleasure acting with them and an even greater pleasure getting to know them. They continue to inspire and I continue to admire. I mean, who gets to do that? I am so lucky!” For further information, go to arcadefire.com.

In case you’re wondering whatever has happened to “The Yellow Birds” – the highly anticipated Iraq war drama, destined by the online community to become a frontrunner at the Oscars until its Sundance world-premiere to disastrous reviews – well, here’s your news: DirecTV is partnering with Saban Films to release Alexandre Moors’ “The Yellow Birds” in North America. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017 and will be released in spring 2018. It will debut day-and-date in theaters and on demand. The film received mixed reviews when it screened at Sundance, but did draw interest from buyers due a cast of rising stars that includes Tye Sheridan, Alden Ehrenreich, and Jack Husto. Jennifer Aniston and Toni Collette co-star in the film. “The Yellow Birds” follows two young soldiers, Bartle (Ehrenreich) and Murph (Sheridan), as they navigate the frontlines of the Iraq War. As the story progresses, Bartle becomes haunted by a promise he made to Murph’s mother before their deployment. The war drama is written by David Lowery and R.F.I. Porto, and based on the best-selling novel by Kevin Powers. It was produced by Courtney Solomon and Mark Canton for Cinelou Films, and Jeff Sharp for Story Mining & Supply Company.