Film Fan Fridays for Friday February 29, 2008!

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday February 29, 2008! We have lots of excitement this week. First off, The Oscars! Although it was a pretty calm show, it was still a lot of fun to watch and with no clear sweeper the most awards went to No Country for Old Men whom picked up 4 statues (see all winners here). Enjoyable overall, but I will admit I was not so thrilled that the Canadian nominee's didn't have any wins. Canada has its turn to shine with week with the Genie's. Sandra Oh is set to host and the Genies and the broadcast will be this Monday March 3rd, 2008 at 10pm EST on E! and IFC.

Speaking of Genies, out in limited release this week is Continental, un Film sans Fusil / Continental, a Film Without Guns which received 5 Genie nominations including Best Picture, it is also part of Canada's Top Ten 2007 and one of my favourite films of 2008 so far. We also have The Counterfeiters, Oscar winner for this year for Foreign Language film, City of Men, a remake of a mini series of the same name and from the producers of the highly acclaimed City of God. The last of our limited releases is the 70's set swingers film, Viva.

The wide releases for this week include Penelope which looks like a Disney inspired Twilight Zone episode, Will Ferrell sports comedy Semi-Pro and The Other Boleyn Girl, which is the same premise as the television series "The Tudor's".

Have a great week!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
Human Rights Oriented films including Taxi to the Dark Side, Chop Shop and others
February 28-March 5, 2008 at various locations, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Special Screenings

Music for the Screen
Series of music films showing Canada Music Week
Including: Great World of Sounds, The Golem, Songs from the Soul, D Tour
March 5-8, 2008 at The Royal, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

World's Best Commercials
2007 London International Advertising Awards
March 1 & 2, 2008 at The Bloor Cinema

Friday February 29, 2008 Releases

City of Men / Cidade dos Homens
Dir: Paulo Morelli (Viva Voz / Speaker Phone, O Preço da Paz)
Cast: Douglas Silva, Darland Cunha, Jonathan Haagensen, Rodrigo dos Santos
Brazil
Limited Release
Official Film Site (autoplays trailer), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer spoiler-free until 1/2 way point

Continental, un film sans fusil / Continental, a Film Without Guns
Writer/Dir: Stéphane LaFleur - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Réal Bossé, Marie-Ginette Guay, Fanny Mallette, Pauline Martin, Gilbert Sicotte, Marie Brassard, Dominique Quesnel
Canada
Limited Release
Official Film Site (French, autoplays trailer), Telefilm Link, IMDb Page, French Trailer

The Counterfeiters / Die Fälscher
Dir: Stefan Ruzowitzky (All the King's Men, Anatomie / Anatomy)
Cast: Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Martin Brambach
Austria/Germany
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
You get the gist of the film by the 2/3rds point

The Other Boleyn Girl
Dir: Justin Chadwick (Sleeping with the Fishes)
Cast: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jim Sturgess
UK/USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer shows a fair amount, I stopped watching 1/3rd of the way in and felt like I knew too much

Penelope
Dir: Mark Palansky - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Reese Witherspoon
UK/USA
Official Film Site (autoplays trailer), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer spoiler free until 3/4 way through

Semi-Pro
Dir: Kent Alterman - directorial debut
Cast: Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin, Maura Tierney
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
You get the gist of the film by the 1/2 way point

Viva
Writer/Dir: Anna Biller (The Hypnotist)
Cast: Anna Biller, Bridget Brno, Jared Sanford, Chad England
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer (select 'View Trailer' at top left)
Trailer & Site are pretty racy.

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of February 29, 2008**