Film Fan Fridays for Friday April 11, 2008!

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday April 11, 2008!

In limited release this week we have the Ryan Reynolds drama Chaos Theory and the English dubbed verson of Persepolis featuring the voices of Chiara Mastroianni & Catherine Deneuve (reprising French language roles) along with Sean Penn, Gena Rowlands, Iggy Pop. See my review of the original French Language Persepolis here.

In wide release we have one film from almost every genre: Bella which looks like a touching romantic film, Smart People for comedy/drama, Street Kings for action and finally Prom Night for thrills and chills.

Throughout the month of April I have and will continue to be attending film festivals. Most recently, the Toronto Singapore Film Festival which had an absolutely wonderful set of films over the past weekend, very impressive for only being three years in the running. I'm currently covering the Images Festival which really stretches the boundaries and brings us the best in experimental film. Up next is Hot Docs which I am very much looking forward to and starts next Thursday April 17/08. Look for my pre festival Hot Docs run down early next week here at Movie Moxie, Toronto Singapore Film Festival coverage here and Images coverage here.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Images Festival
21st annual Images Festival of independent film, video and other time-based media
Continues until April 13/08 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Sprockets
Toronto International Film Festival for Children
Saturday April 12 - Friday 18/08, at Canada Square in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Hot Docs
Canadian International Documentary Film Festival
Thurs April 17 - Sun April 27/08, at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada


Special Screening

Inside / À l'intérieur
Dir: Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury - directorial debuts
Cast: Alysson Paradis, Béatrice Dalle
Wednesday April 16, 2008 at 9:30PM at The Bloor, presented by Rue Morgue
See French trailer here at Bloody Disgusting, trailer includes disturbing images, link includes film synopsis (including spoilers)

Friday April 11, 2008 Releases

Bella
Writer/Dir: Alejandro Gomez Monteverde - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Tammy Blanchard, Eduardo Verástegui, Manny Perez, Ali Landry
USA/Mexico
Official Film Site (autoplays trailer), IMDb Page (has spoilers), Trailer
Wow, the trailer got me all teary eyed! Has spoilers all over it though: at the 1/3rd, 1/2 way point and right before the end.

Chaos Theory
Dir: Marcos Siega (Underclassman, Pretty Persuasion)
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Emily Mortimer, Stuart Townsend
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site (autoplays trailer), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer feels oddly spoiler free, however I was distracted as it's the same music as King of Kong

Persepolis (dubbed in English)
Writers/Dirs: Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud - feature film directorial debuts
Voices: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Sean Penn, Gena Rowlands, Iggy Pop
France/USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site (autoplays French trailer), IMDb Page, Unable to find English dubbed trailer

Prom Night
Dir: Nelson McCormick (For Which He Stands)
Cast: Brittany Snow, Scott Porter, Jessica Stroup, Dana Davis, Collins Pennie
USA
Official Film Site (autoplays trailer), IMDb Page, Trailer
You get the gist of the film by the 1/2 way point after that it's pretty spoilerific

Smart People
Dir: Noam Murro - directorial debut
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Ellen Page, Thomas Haden Church, Sarah Jessica Parker
USA
Official Film Site (autoplays trailer), IMDb Page, Trailer
You get the gist of the film by the 1/2 way point, after that it has some mild spoilers

Street Kings
Dir: David Ayer (Harsh Times)
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
Considering the trailer barely tells you what the films is about, I would have to say it's spoiler free.

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of April 11, 2008**