Full Toronto Preview Series: TIFF 11 for ’11 Live on Twitch!
It’s about that time of year. The Hollywood tentpoles have been taken down and the circus is moving on. Autumn is beginning and that means the award hopeful films start to fill the cinemas. The unofficial beginning of awards season for North American audiences is the Toronto International Film Festival which kicks off TOMORROW! I’ll be going and I’ve just completed my preview series TIFF 11 for ’11 at TWITCHFILM. Check out all six parts at Twitch!
TIFF 11 for ’11 Part 1: The Big Launches
TIFF 11 for ’11 Part 2: The Fantastic Side of Things
TIFF 11 for ’11 Part 3: Pacific Rim Offerings
TIFF 11 for ’11 Part 4: Big Screen Reality
TIFF 11 for ’11 Part 5: The Films That Could
TIFF 11 for ’11 Part 6: The Best from Other Fests
11 of the high profile titles that will be hoping for awards glory as we push towards winter.
THE DESCENDANTS
It’s been seven years since Alexander Payne debuted Sideways at TIFF before going on to score a five-pack of Oscar noms and win Best Adapted Screenplay honors. Payne is looking to replicate that success with his long awaited return to the director’s chair. The film stars George Clooney as a father reexamining his priorities after his wife is involved in a tragic boating accident off Waikiki. Between the meaty role for Clooney and Payne’s writing and directing chops, this will surely be one of the early awards faves when it rolls out Thanksgiving weekend.
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50/50
Jonathan Levine showed his knack for balancing comedy and romantic drama with his 2008 Sundance hit The Wackness. With his latest feature (his 3rd including the tragically unreleased All The Boys Love Mandy Lane), Levine takes this formula to the next level, creating a remarkably enjoyable battle with cancer. The film stars Joseph Gordon Levitt as a 27 year old with a dire prognosis. Bryce Dallas Howard and Anna Kendrick take turns as romantic interests in both of their best roles to date. Seth Rogen plays the comedic relief while Anjelica Huston turns in an Oscar-ready performance as the over bearing mother. Screenwriter Will Reiser based the film on his own battle with the deadly disease and shows remarkable talent in his first produced feature. Dropping from Summit on September 30th, this is one of the fall’s first must-sees.
Trailer 1 | Trailer 2
A DANGEROUS METHOD
Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung battle via wits over an attractive patient in David Cronenberg‘s return to the big screen after a four year absence. Michael Fassbender plays Jung and Cronenberg fave Viggo Mortensen is Freud. The girl in the middle? The lovely Keira Knightley. The film hits theaters during the crowded Thanksgiving frame.
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THE SKIN I LIVE IN
Everyone loves Pedro Almodóvar, especially Sony Pictures Classics who are releasing their sixth consecutive feature by the Spanish auteur. This time Almodóvar trades Peneolpe Cruz for Antonio Banderas who plays a plastic surgeon obsessed with creating the synthetic skin that could have saved his tragically killed wife. The film is set to roll out to theaters on October 14th.
Trailer | Teaser 1 | Teaser 2
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
If anyone missed Andrea Arnold‘s Fish Tank last year then stop reading right now, open up a new tab, log in to Netflix and add it to your queue. Arnold’s story of a girl trying to find her way to adulthood portrayed an honesty too often lacking in coming-of-age stories. Her adaptation of Emily Bronte’s 19th century classic promises the same treatment.
MONEYBALL
Bennett Miller has directed one narrative feature and has one Oscar nom to show for it. Six years after Capote, Miller returns looking for the statue with his Aaron Sorkin/Steve Zaillian scribed baseball drama starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Robin Wright and old pal Philip Seymour Hoffman. Look for it to open wide September 23rd.
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360
Fernando Meirelles‘s last effort Blindness was so critically destroyed I must admit I never bothered to watch it. Did anyone out there give it a thumbs up? Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Foster and, surprise, Eminem star in this tale of love around the world (or something). One bright spot might be that the film is written by Peter Morgan who has penned such recent Oscar bait as The Queen, Frost/Nixon and The Last King of Scotland.
THE IDES OF MARCH
It’s the Hollywood heartthrob team up we’ve all been waiting for – and I’m not talking about co-stars Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman. No this presidential candidacy drama stars Ryan Gosling alongside TWO-TIME People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive winner George Clooney. Gosling heads into this awards season looking for his first Sexiest Man Alive title – but he’ll have to dethrone the king who also donned the director mantle for this one (a minor achievement after those two awards). The film also stars Marissa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood, both sexy in their own right, but I mean, they’re no Clooney.
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PAGE EIGHT
Since Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is M.I.A., we’ll just have to make do with this year’s other British spy thriller to close out TIFF. Directed by David Hare, the film stars Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Judy Davis, Ralph Fiennes and new Brit babe on the block Felicity Jones.
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MACHINE GUN PREACHER
Gerard Butler and director Marc Forster teaming up tell the story of an ex-biker-gang member who saves African orphans with his own unique form of vigilante justice (spoiler: it’s a machine gun) might sound to some like a fate reserved for a dark corner of Hades. But just remember, one man’s dark corner of Hades is another man’s tolerable Marc Forster movie.
TWIXT
I really don’t know what to expect from Francis Ford Coppola‘s latest narrative experiment, but I’m pretty excited to see what he can do with Elle Fanning playing the undead muse to a ponytailed Val Kilmer‘s frustrated novelist. This one is gonna be strange.
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Other award hopeful flicks looking to score big with auds at TIFF include Maggie Gyllenhaal and Felicity Jones starring in Tanya Wexler‘s clitoral tickler HYSTERIA, Roland Emmerich‘s Elizabethan period drama (yes, you read that correctly) ANONYMOUS starring Rhys Ifans and Vanessa Redgrave, and butter carving competition comedy BUTTER which stars Olivia Wilde, Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman, Alicia Silverstone, Rob Cordry and Kristen Schaal and is directed by Jim Field Smith who directed She’s Out of My League.
Twitch-tastic titles you might want to wander into late at night. Not all of these are in the Midnight Madness section but a number are. Look for a handful to also make their way to Austin at the end of the month for the incomparable FantasticFest!
THE RAID
While you can’t see the trailer quite yet (look for an update very soon), having had the opportunity to see a few minutes of this wall to wall actioner, I can tell you it is not likely to disappoint. Directed by Merantau‘s Gareth Huw Evans, the film stars Indonesian martial arts star Iko Uwais as a cop fighting his way from floor to floor up a criminal infested apartment block. Sounds kinda like a video game, doesn’t it? I can’t wait!
Trailer Soon!
KILL LIST
Ben Wheatley follows up his Fantastic Fest Best Next Wave Feature winning Down Terrace with this psychological thriller that pits a British ex-military assassin against his own psyche. With great performances from Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley and MyAnna Buring, this is a film that is sure to leave you thinking.
Trailer | Teaser 1 | Teaser 2 | Review 1 | Review 2
KILLER JOE
William Friedkin is responsible for such classics as The French Connection, The Exorcist and To Live and Die in LA and here he turns his attention to an extremely off beat action thriller with at least a hint of black comedy. Emile Hirsch plays a white trash meth addict who hires Matthew McConaughey to murder his mom. But things take a turn for the bizarre when McCaunaghey’s Killer Joe takes a shining to Hirsch’s sister played by Juno Temple. Mayhem ensues.
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YOU’RE NEXT
Adam Wingard of A Horrible Way to Die fame returns with this incredible looking ultra-violent home invasion-er starring Sharni Vinson , Joe Swanberg, A.J. Bowen , Nicholas Tucci and Barbara Crampton.
THE DAY
The apocalypse is here in this Midnight Madness thriller starring Lost‘s Dominic Monaghan, Frozen‘s Shawn Ashmore, 40 Days and 40 Nights‘s Shannon Sossamon, Battle LA‘s Cory Hadrict and The Last Exorcism‘s Ashley Bell. The film is directed by veteran 1st AD Douglas Aarniokoski.
SNOWTOWN
I’ve heard many good things about Justin Kurzel‘s Australian murder rampage drama based on true events. The film won a special mention prize at this summer’s Cannes Critics Week and top prize at the Adelaide Film Fest.
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INTRUDERS
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has been near the top of most development executives’ lists of available directors since 28 Weeks Later knocked it out of the park a few years back. His Clive Owen starring follow-up is finally ready for prime time. One look at the trailer for this supernatural thriller and you’ll be lining up.
Trailer | Teaser
LOVELY MOLLY
The latest from Blair Witch Project co-director Eduardo Sanchez is this psychological horror about woman played by newcomer Gretchen Lodge battling with addiction and a deeply troubled past.
SLEEPLESS NIGHT
This twisting French action-thriller follows a cop played by Tom Sisley as he figts his way through a danger filled nightclub to save his son. The film is directed by Frederic Jardin.
TRESPASS
Oh boy! Now this one is exciting. Nic Cage + Nicole Kidman with a little Joel Schumacher sprinkled on top means this home invasion thriller will either be a complete train wreck or an absolute piece of brilliance. I can’t wait to find out. Animal Kingdom‘s Ben Mendelsohn co-stars.
JUAN OF THE DEAD
It’s a Cuban zombie crisis in Alejandro Brugues‘s sophomore outing (after 2007’s Personal Belongings). Will JFK: Zombie Hunter (I smell a sequel) show up in time to save the day or will the proletariat undead rise up and crush the bourgeois living.
A few other flix falling into the fantastic category include Nacho Vigalondo‘s sci-fi romantic comedy follow up to Timecrimes EXTRATERRESTRIAL, a 1921 set Rebecca Hall and Dominc West starring ghost story thriller THE AWAKENING, and music video director Alexandre Courtes‘s mental institution horror debut THE INCIDENT.
Films from Asia playing Fall’s biggest fest.
SMUGGKER
Seeing Katsuhito Ishii‘s name show up in the TIFF program represents a real treat for fans of Japanese cinema. Ishii has only a handful of features under his belt – but titles like The Taste of Tea and Funky Forest have been some of the most interesting films out of Japan in the last decade. His latest is a comedy about an actor-turned dead body smuggler played by Satoshi Tsumabuki navigating a danger filled underworld. With no Takashi Miike films on offer at this year’s TIFF, it is up to Ishii to fill the void for top notch Japanese wackiness.
Trailer | Teaser
FROM UP ON POPPY HILL
Animation legend Hayao Miyazaki‘s son Goro Miyazaki‘s first feature Tales from Earthsea was a bit of a disappointment when compared to his father’s body of work. Hopes are higher for Goro’s second feature from Studio Ghibli, not coincidentally because it was written by his father. Set around the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the film follows a pair of teens caught up in Japan’s race to modernize.
HEADSHOT
Thai auteur Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Last Life in the Universe, Invisible Waves) returns with this story of a hitman who sees the world upside down after taking a bullet to the noggin.
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ARIRANG
Fresh off its Cannes premiere, Kim Ki-duk‘s autobiographical documentary arose after a suicide scene in his previous film Dream led to near-fatal accident for one of Kim’s actors. Kim retreated to the woods and created this film playing every single role in the production.
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THE SWORD IDENTITY
Hot off the tails of writing Wong Kar Wai‘s The Grandmasters, Xu Haofeng arrives on the scene in a big way with this Ming Dynasty costumer.
3 Clips
HIMIZU
Sion Sono is quite possibly the hottest name in Japanese cinema right now after 2008’s supermovie Love Exposure and last year’s ultra-creepy Cold Fish. His latest follows a personal breakdown between a young couple in the wake of March’s Tohoku earthquake. Talk about a quick turnaround!
COUNTDOWN
South Korean actress Jeon Do-youn (The Housemaid , Secret Sunshine ) stars alongside Jung Jae-Young in this debut caper flick from director Huh Jong-ho.
A LETTER TO MOMO
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade director Hiroyuki Okiura returns with his second animated feature. This adventure story about a young girl searching for the truth about her deceased father screens as part of the TIFF Kids series.
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I WISH
Hirokazu Kore-eda has carved out a niche as Japan’s master of human spirit dramas with his films After Life, Nobody Knows and Still Walking. His latest is about a 12-year old boy creatively trying to reunite his parents after a new bullet train line links opposite ends of their island of Kyushu.
BUNOHAN
This contemplative Malaysian actioner by Dain Said tells the story of three brothers – one a kickboxer, one a business man, and one an assassin – struggling with their relationships with each other and their father over a disputed plot of family land.
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KOTOKO
Japanese genre master Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo, Gemini, Vital) returns to TIFF with this psychological thriller about a woman played by actress/pop star Cocco whose baby is taken away after she is accused of child abuse.
With so many great looking movies from Asia at this year’s festival, we couldn’t possibly fit them all in here. A few more to keep an eye out for are Joseph Israel Laban‘s Filipino drug mule drama Cuchera, Blue Spring and Nine Souls director Toshiaki Toyoda‘s mail bomber drama Monsters Club, and Johnnie To‘s latest HK crime drama Life Without Principle. Uncle Boonmee director Apichatpong Weerasethakul also has a 2 minute short called Empire playing as part of the Wavelengths 1: Analogue Arcadia program.
Interesting looking documentaries out to inform and entertain at the fest this year.
PEARL JAM TWENTY
This premiere of Cameron Crowe‘s (Elizabethtown) twenty year retrospective of ridiculously influential Seattle rockers Pearl Jam is such a big deal to the band that they have even scheduled their current tour around it – playing two shows in Toronto the opening weekend of the fest. There could be no one better to direct this doc than Crowe whose relationship with the band members goes back to pre-PJ times when he cast them in his seminal Seattle scene drama Singles. This film will be a must-see for anyone with that sentimental flannel still hanging in their closet.
Teaser
COMIC-CON: EPISODE IV – A FAN’S HOPE
Nerd Alert! Anyone who has been to San Diego’s Comic Con is well aware that that event is one of the most… interesting happenings on the planet. Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me and Greatest Movie Ever Sold fame takes his turn pulling back the curtain on SDCC – before quickly dropping it back down at the sight of those pale, emaciated looking legs.
PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY
The third part of Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky‘s ( Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) 18 year epic tale of injustice facing the imprisoned (then) teenagers known as the West Memphis 3 premieres on the heels of the WM3’s release from prison this summer. The filmmakers have announced that the film will screen unedited at TIFF before a version edited to reflect this summer’s conclusion premieres at NYFF.
GIRL MODEL
Veteran doc directors Ashley Sabin & David Redmon‘s latest film takes an in depth look at the unregulated practice of plucking young teenage girls from rural Russia and bringing them to Japan to work as models.
FROM THE SKY DOWN
Davis Guggenheim‘s follow-up to Waiting for Superman sounds remarkably similar to Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam Twenty; a retrospective look at how one of our generation’s most successful rock bands has continued to thrive with a particular focus on the band’s most influential album from 1991. In Guggenheim’s film the album is Achtung Baby and the band is U2. This film opens the fest Thursday – but unlike Pearl Jam, U2 has unfortunately not scheduled dates in Toronto next week.
THE ISLAND PRESIDENT
This fascinating sounding doc takes us inside the presidential offices of Mohamed Nasheed, formerly imprisoned and newly elected president of the Maldives – an island nation facing catastrophe if the sea levels continue to rise. Presented in TIFF’s Mavericks program, the screening will be followed by a discussion with director Jon Shenk (The Lost Boys of Sudan) and Mr. Nasheed himself.
THE LAST GLADIATORS
Oscar winner Alex Gibney has directed so many great documentaries in his career that it is really easier to just point you to IMDB page than to try and list them here. His latest delves into the NHL with a particular focus on Cup winning Canadiens enforcer Chris “Knuckles” Nilan.
LAST CALL AT THE OASIS
Superstar filmmaker Jessica Yu (Protagonist, Ping Pong Playa’) looks to bring attention to the looming world fresh water crisis with her latest doc.
INTO THE ABYSS
Murrrrrder is on the menu for the prolific Werner Herzog as he delves deep into the details of a Texan triple homicide committed by two kids out looking to steal a car. Herzog has made the uncharacteristic decision to forgo his trademark voice-over commentary and let the subjects and victims’ families speak for themselves on this one.
I’M CAROLYN PARKER: THE GOOD, THE MAD, AND THE BEAUTIFUL
Successful dramatic director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia) turned his cameras on New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and ended up following one family from the Lower Ninth Ward. He became so close to the family that he cast two if its members in his 2008 drama Rachel Getting Married. That family’s matriarch Carolyn Parker became the subject of this commentary on what it takes to rebuild. Demme is also screening his follow up to 2006’s Neil Young: Heart of Gold, NEIL YOUNG JOURNEYS at this year’s fest.
SAMSARA
The team behind Baraka and Chronos Ron Fricke & Mark Magidson deliver their latest 65mm montage of photographic humanity to the world of cinema with Samsara, a Tibetan word meaning “the ever turning wheel of life.”
Other docus on display at TIFF include forgotten musician story PAUL WILLIAMS STILL ALIVE by Stephen Kessler, Mathieu Roy Harold Crooks‘s big picture societal collapse doc SURVIVING PROGRESS, a documentary by Nick Broomfield & Joan Churchill on an even scarier subject SARAH PALIN – YOU BETCHA!, and an interesting sounding look at prostitution in Thailand, Bangladesh, and Mexico from Michael Glawogger called WHORE’S GLORY.
Indies with a bit lower profiles (some much lower than others) looking to break out at this year’s fest.
TRISHNA
I’m a pretty enormous fan of anything the prolific Michael Winterbottom does from his immigration epic In This World to this summer’s English countryside laugher The Trip. His latest sets Thomas Hardy’s tragic love story Tess of the D’Urbervilles in contemporary Jaipur with Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed as the lovers.
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RAMPART
Oren Moverman scored a hit with his 2009 directorial debut The Messenger which was nominated for both Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor for Woody Harrelson. Both Woody and Ben Foster are back in Moverman’s latest which centers around the LAPD’s infamous corruption scandal of the same name. Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Ned Beatty and Ice Cube co-star.
JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME
Jay & Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair, Cyrus) are back with this wacky family comedy starring Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon.
DAMSELS IN DISTRESS
Greta Gerwig and Adam Brody star in American indie director Whit Stillman‘s (Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco) hiatus-breaker about a group of privileged undergrads at a liberal arts university.
THE LADY
Michelle Yeoh stars as Burmese leader and political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi in Luc Besson‘s sweeping epic.
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EDWIN BOYD
Director Nathan Morlando marks his feature debut with this Scott Speedman and Brian Cox starring story of the Canadian Butch Cassidy who cut a swath across Canadian banks after the Second World War.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Comedian-turned-director Bobcat Goldthwait has established himself as one of the most interesting indie directors after impressive outings Windy City Heat and Sleeping Dogs Lie. His latest is this bloody black comedy about a teenage girl and middle aged man who cross the country on a Badlands-esque killing spree. Character actor Joel Murray whose long resume includes playing Rumsen on Mad Men and Tara Lynne Barr star.
HICK
Chloe Moretz plays a teenage runaway with a .45 who teams up with Blake Lively in the road trip sophomore effort from Derick Martini (Lymelife). The impressive list of co-stars includes Juliette Lewis, Alec Baldwin, Rory Culkin and Eddie Redmayne.
PEACE, LOVE, & MISUNDERSTANDING
Martha Marcy May Marlene‘s rising star Lizzie Olsen plays alongside Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener in this family drama about a girl meeting her hippie grandmother for the first time. Longtime pro Bruce Beresford (Tender Mercies, Driving Miss Daisy, Black Robe) directs an all-star cast that also includes Kyle MacLachlan, Rosanna Arquette, Chace Crawford and Nat Wolff.
TAKE THIS WALTZ
Sarah Polley‘s follow-up to 2006’s critically acclaimed Away from Her is this bittersweet drama that stars Michelle Williams as a woman caught between her husband Seth Rogen and new man Luke Kirby. Sarah Silverman co-stars.
YOUR SISTER’S SISTER
Lynne Shelton‘s Humpday impressed many with its quirky and honest look at male friendship. Star Mark Duplass is back in Shelton’s latest that casts that same gaze on a maybe-not-so-platonic relationship between a man and his dead brother’s ex and her sister. Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt fill out the cast.
This section could go on to describe pretty much every other film at the loaded festival. Just a few more worth a mention are Todd Solondz‘s (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness) latest quirkfest DARK HORSE which stars Justin Bartha, Selma Blair, Mia Farrow and Christopher Walken, the directorial debut from Oscar-winning Precious writer Geoffrey Fletcher about a pair of teenage assassins played by Saoirse Ronan and Alexis Bledel and co-sarring James Gandolfini and Danny Trejo called VIOLET & DAISY, Glenn Close‘s Oscar bait cross dressing period drama from director Rodrigo Garcia ALBERT NOBBS which co-stars Mia Wasikowska and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Gerardo Naranjo‘s (Drama/Mex) Mexican beauty pageant/drug war drama MISS BALA
Films playing at TIFF that have already proven themselves at fests from earlier in the year. These films have got to be good bets since the TIFF programmers simply couldn’t say no.
DRIVE
Well this is simple enough. GO SEE IT!! Nicolas Refn has shown up on the Hollywood scene in a big big way after shocking European audiences with The Pusher Trilogy and Bronson. Drive is a love letter to 70s heist cinema through the lens of someone whose vision of Los Angeles was obviously formed on 80s depictions of a crime filled metropolis. But Refn has his own style in abundance and it never feels dated even for a second. It’s a bit of a slow burn – but when the action pops off… oh boy, watch out. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks and Ron Perlman. It comes out in the states next Friday September 16th.
Review
LIKE CRAZY
Now this is just starting to read like my likely 2011 Top 10 list. Drake Doremus‘s long distance romancer was just about everyone’s favorite film of Sundance 2011, winning the top dramatic prize and scoring an acting award for Felicity Jones who is truly the film’s big revelation in her role opposite Anton Yelchin. Jennifer Lawrence co-stars. I just dare you not to fall in love.
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OSLO, AUGUST 31ST
Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier returns at long last with his follow up to 2006’s Reprise. Again starring Anders Danielsen Lie, this drama has a ‘brilliant but heavy’ buzz after premiering at Cannes.
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SHAME
The nets have been buzz buzz buzzin after Steve McQueen‘s Hunger follow-up left audiences extremely impressed at both Venice and Telluride. The film, centered around sex addiction, stars Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan.
LE HAVRE
The immigration dramedy from Finnish master Aki Kaurismaki was a front runner for Cannes’s Palme d’Or – but lost out in the end to The Tree of Life.
MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE
Sean Durkin‘s psychological identity thriller about a girl trying to get a grip on reality after escaping a cult has made the rounds, playing to grand applause at Sundance, Cannes, Melbourne and Sydney. Up and coming Superstar Lizzie Olsen stars alongside impressive performances from John Hawkes and Sarah Paulson. Fox Searchlight rolls the film out October 21st.
Trailer | Teasers
MELANCHOLIA
Lars von Trier‘s latest about the apocalypse gets another run out after a controversial premiere at Cannes. Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander Skarsgaard and Kiefer Sutherland star in this film that launches stateside November 11th.
Review | US Trailer | UK Trailer | Teaser
THE ARTIST
It’s been nothing but good buzz for Michael Hazanavicius silent b&w comedy about the early days of cinema. French star Jean Dujardin lit up audiences at Cannes and Telluride. John Goodman, Malcolm McDowell, Missi Pyle and James Cromwell fill out the cast. The Weinsteins are rolling the dice on this one, releasing it slowly starting Thanksgiving.
Review | Trailer
THE KID WITH A BIKE
Belgian auteur brothers Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne have long impressed art house audiences with their honest and touching portrayals of modern life. Their latest, which premiered at Cannes, is the story of a young boy struggling to understand his abandonment by his parents.
RESTLESS
Gus Van Sant‘s latest delicate love story revolves around death obsessed pair Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hopper navigating the travails of young adult doldrums by crashing strangers’ funerals. The film opened the Cannes Un Certain Regard section and Sony Classics is rolling it out September 16th.
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WHERE DO WE GO NOW?
Lebanese director Nadine Labaki impressed audiences with her 2007 hair salon debut Caramel. Her latest might be a bit more serious as it is set against the backdrop of sectarian violence where a village of women must come together to answer the film’s titular question.
Other films making a second (or third) splash on the festival circuit at TIFF this year include Julia Leigh‘s controversial Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) starring sex drama SLEEPING BEAUTY, the continually impressive Michael Shannon tour de force psychological drama TAKE SHELTER directed by Jeff Nichols, Paddy Considine‘s directorial debut Sundance hit TYRANNOSAUR starring Peter Mullan, and Lynne Ramsay‘s Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly starring family drama WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN.
That wraps things up for our Toronto preview series TIFF 11 for ’11. Of course we couldn’t cover everything so be sure to check out the festival website for more, keep your eyes glued to TWITCHFILM for news and reviews, and follow us on twitter @twitchfilm and @RylandAldrich for up to the minute updates and quick reviews. Let us know what you’d like to see!