Toronto 2010 Rounded Up
Another season of awards mania is kicking off and TIFF’10 is in full swing. Here is a round up of the 70 or so films playing at Toronto that might be worth having on your radar.
Beginners
So far, critics have been very kind to Mike Mills’s (Thumbsucker) second feature which stars Ewan McGregor, Chrisoper Plummer and Melanie Laurent (from Inglourious Basterds). The very intelligent “oddly charming comedy” is a partially autobiographical story about a son dealing with his father’s coming-out a few years before his death.
Trust
David Schwimmer’s directorial follows up to Run Fatboy, Run has a quite different tone and is said to be considerably better in quality as well. Clive Owen and Catherine Keener star in this dark mainstream drama about a 14 year old girl whose 16 year old online bf turns out to be a 40-year old serial pedophile.
Super
Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, and Kevin Bacon star in James Gunn’s violent superhero comedy. While reviews have been mixed, the film has made one of the notable big sales of the fest to IFC.
Cool It
Ondi Timoner (Dig!, We Live in Public) is back with this docu about climate change deniers.
Henry’s Crime
Keanu Reeves stars as a highway toll booth operator who is arrested for a bank robbery he didn’t commit in this Malcolm Venville comedy.
Let Me In
Much to my astonishment, word out of Toronto is that Matt Reeves’s (Cloverfield) remake of Tomas Alfredson’s Let The Right One In might be even better than its predecesor. The film stars the girl from Kick-Ass (Chloe Moretz) and the boy from The Road (Kodi Smit-McPhee) alongside Richard Jenkins.
Stone
John Curran (The Painted Veil) directs Robert De Niro, Edward Notron, and Milla Jovavich in what is said to be a messy thriller with some good performances.
Everything Must Go
Will fucking Ferrell stars as an out of work motivational speaker in commercial and music video director Dan Rush’s feature debut.
The Conspirator
Robert Redford’s first directorial outing since 2000’s Legend of Beggar Vance stars James McAvoy, Tom Wilkinson, Robin Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, Justin Long, and Kevin Kline and follows the events around a woman charged in Lincoln’s assassination.
What’s Wrong Virginia
Milk writer Dustin Lance Black makes his directorial debut in this “uneven” drama which stars Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris.
The Way
Emilio Estevez directs his father Martin Sheen in this film about a father traveling to pickup his son’s remains.
Hereafter
Clint Eastwood’s Matt Damon starrer about death and the afterlife is rumored to be his worst movie in years – even though it is penned by the usually solid Peter Morgan.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Werner Herzog’s latest docu is a 3D look inside French caves that hold some of civilization’s first stories.
Potiche
François Ozon directs Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu in this well received French charmer.
The Illusionist
Sylvain Chomet’s (The Triplets Of Belleville) latest animated feature based on a Jacques Tati script looks just as gorgeous as his last film.
Incendies
Denis Villeneuve’s story of a brother and sister uncovering family roots in the middle east was loved at Venice and Telluride and picked up by Sony Classics at TIFF.
Aftershock
Feng Xiaogang’s (The Banquet, A World Without Thieves) latest is the story of a family devestated by the 1976 Tangshan earthquake. It set the record for highest grossing movie ever in China when it came out this summer.
Daydream Nation
Kat Dennings of Charlie Bartlett fame stars in this off beat comedic-thriller debut from Mike Goldbach. Critics have hailed Dennings’s performance and particularly liked the film.
I Am Slave
This story of modern day slavery in London is written by Jeremy Brock (The Last King of Scotland) and directed by Gabriel Range (Death of a President).
Of Gods and Men
Xavier Beauvois’s emotional story of the massacre of monks in war-torn Algeria had many people saying good things when it premiered at Cannes.
Three
Tom Tykwer returns more to the filmmaking spirit of Run Lola Run with this raw German adventure.
Africa United
A road drama about a group of Rwandan kids who travel over 3000 miles on foot to get to the opening ceremonies of the South Africa World Cup.
Beautiful Boy
Michael Sheen and Maria Bello star in Shawn Ku’s directing debut about a couple who learns their son is a mass murderer.
Inside America
Barabra Eder’s drama is a docu-ish look at a group of teens growing up in a Texan border town.
Barney’s Version
Richard J. Lewis’s comedy has received praises – especially for the performances by Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman.
Last Night
Iranian-born Massy Tadjedin makes her directorial debut in this French-American co-produced relationship drama that stars Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, and Eva Mendes.
Little White Lies
Marion Cottilard co-stars with a bunch of other famous French actors in Guillaume Canet’s follow up to 2006’s heavily praised Tell No One.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Tropical Malady) brings his Palme d’Or winning Thai drama to TIFF.
Dirty Girl
Abe Sylvia’s high school comedy has already garnered buzz for its big money sale to the Weinsteins and for the comedic performances by Milla Jovavich and William H. Macy.
Meek’s Cutoff
Kelly Reichardt’s Oregon Trail follow up to Wendy & Lucy has been derided for it’s glacial pace – but Michelle William’s performance has won many fans.
Tabloid
Errol Morris’s latest docu is said to be quite funny, a total departure from 2008’s Standard Operating Procedure.
127 Hours
Danny Boyle’s new James Franco starrer has received quite positive reviews.
Never Let Me Go
Mark Romanek’s Carey Mulligan starrer opens in theaters this Friday. Here’s my review.
Miral
Julian Schnabel’s follow up to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly stars Frieda Pinto and received pretty negative marks at Venice.
The King’s Speech
It has been a total love fest for Tom Hooper’s Colin Firth starrer.
Black Swan
Fresh off it’s debut at Venice, Aronofsky’s dark ballet drama continues its pre-awards tour at TIFF.
13 Assassins
Said to be the best Samurai movie in decades, Takashi Miike’s Koji Yakusho starrer has me very excited.
Film Socialism
Jean-Luc Godard brings his latest to Toronto. He’s rumored to be a pretty good filmmaker but we’ll have to see if any of his films will ever be seen as anything more than popcorn-fare.
Route Irish
Heavily decorated director Ken Loach ventures into thriller territory with this Iraq-war drama.
The First Grader
Justin Chadwick follows-up The Other Boleyn Girl with a film about a Kenyan man in his 80s who goes back to elementary school to both learn and to teach.
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
Andrew Lau takes up the helm of this sort-of sequel to Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury with Donnie Yen as the martial arts master Chen Zhen. Super hot superstar Shu Qi co-stars.
Outside the Law
Rachid Bouchareb was hailed for his oscar nom’d Days of Glory. His follow up, a French-Algerian gangster epic, looks great.
Monsters
Scoot McNairy and Whitney Abe star in this understated sci-fi flick about a couple trying to get across an alien infested Mexico. I caught Gareth Edwards’s feature debut at LAFF and felt it was a very impressive effort for the tiny budget and stripped down crew.
Bunraku
Woody Harrelson, Josh Hartnett, Demi Moore, and Ron Perlman star in Guy Moshe’s highly stylized actioner that takes place in a world without guns.
Armadillo
Janus Metz’s Cannes Critic’s Week winning docu follows a group of Danish troops in Afghanistan.
The Debt
Oscar winner John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) directs Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, and Sam Worthington in this thriller about a group of Israeli Mossad agents tracking down a Nazi war criminal in 1965.
Even The Rain
Gael Garcia Bernal stars in female director Icíar Bollaín’s story of a filmmaker who travels to Bolivia to stage a reenactment of Spain’s conquest.
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Tony Leung Kar-fai stars in Chinese master Tsui Hark’s (Once Upon a Time in China, many more) latest costume drama set in the Tang Dynasty.
A Beginner’s Guide to Endings
Jonthan’s Sobol’s directorial debut stars Harvey Keitel as degenerative gambler. J.K. Simmons and Scott Caan co-star in this comedy.
Another Year
Mike Leigh’s latest makes its way to Toronto after a very favorable premiere at Cannes. Many have mentioned Lesley Manville in the Oscar Best Actress conversation.
The Housemaid
Ip Sang-soo directs Secret Sunshine‘s Jeon Do-youn in this kinky Korean thriller about an adulterous housemaid. Reviews have been very positive.
Tracker
Ray Winstone stars in this beautifuly looking drama set in 1902 New Zealand about a man tracking an outlaw.
Griff the Invisible
Ryan Kwanten (aka Jason Stackhouse) stars as an office worker who moonlights as a superhero in this offbeat Aussie comedy.
Casino Jack
Kevin Spacey stars as Jack Abramoff in George Hickenlooper’s dramatization.
Inside Job
Charles Ferguson’s (No End In Sight) investigation of the current global financial crisis screens ahead of its early October release.
Cold Fish
Sion Sono follows up his game changing 4-hour Love Exposure with this very dark crime comedy.
Good Neighbours
Jacob Tierney re-teams with Jay Baruchel in his more twisted follow-up to last year’s festival darling The Trotsky.
Balada Triste (The Last Circus)
Alex de la Iglesias’s dark Spanish comedy about clowns was praised at Venice.
Biutiful
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s follow-up to Babel stars Javier Bardem as a man on the ropes.
Norwegian Wood
Rinko Kikuchi and Kenichi Matsuyama star in Tran Anh Hung (The Scent of Green Papaya) adaptation of the Haruki Murakami novel.
Fire of Conscience
Dante Lam returns with his latest high octane HK-actioner.
Tamara Drewe
Stephen Frears’s latest is a comedy about a minor celebreity who returns to her small village.
Rabbit Hole
A lot of good things are being said about Nicole Kidman in John Cameron Mitchell’s (Hedwig, Shortbus) drama about loss which co-stars Aaron Eckhart.
The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman
Inner Mongolian-born Wuershan makes his directorial debut in this stylish looking food-infused kung fu comedy.
Passion Play
Mitch Glazer makes his directorial debut with this Mickey Rourke, Megan Fox, Bill Murray starrer which has critics a bit more baffled then bowled over.
Confessions
This highly successful and controversial Japanese drama by Tetsuya Nakashima explores violence and prejudice in Japanese schools.
The Trip
Prolific fave Michael Winterbottom returns to laughs with this Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon starring road comedy.
Blue Valentine
Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in Derek Cianfrance’s relationship drama which I loved at Sundance.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have made two of the last few years’ most impressive movies in Half Nelson and Sugar. Unfortunately, word out of Toronto is that their latest – which stars Zach Galifianakis – is disappointingly unfunny and too odd for its own good. Too bad – as the trailer looks hilarious.
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Woody Allen’s latest stars Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, and Naomi Watts as Woody Allen characters in a Woody Allen movie.