Movie Box Review

1001 days ago I came up with a list of 101 things I wanted to do in 1001 days ranging from things like drawing a self portrait to trying new foods to going to the zoo. Many of the items were film related and one of them was to see 101 films I can't believe I haven't seen. With the time coming to a close I spend a lot of this week catching up with the last few films and reflecting on the list as a whole.

I finished up by watching Gone with the Wind, which ended just before midnight. I had a few close calls along the way like having a heck of a time tracking down John Woo's The Killer, or Un Zoo la Nuit not having English subtitles, the tracking on The Wicker Man being so bad I could barely watch it and then almost loosing my lunch watching Un Chien Andalou.

Some insights that I had along the way:

It would have been a great idea to note the reason why I chose all the films somewhere. Lots are from the IMDb top 250, Genie winners, critically acclaimed films, genre favourites, etc. But there were times where I was sitting there going "Why am I watching this?"

I love Yul Brynner. From Anastasia to The Magnificent Seven to The King and I. Love everything I've seen him in, even Westworld which totally scares me (and wasn't on the list)!

I do not love comedies, but I seem determined keep trying. Annie Hall and Rushmore left me underwhelmed. Working through this list also reaffirmed that comedies don't always hold up to the test of time, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Grosse Pointe Blank I'm sure I would have enjoyed if I watched them closer to their release but 10 years removed, not so much.

The 100 titles represents a seventh of the films I've seen over the 1001 days (100 films out of 702 films total).

I'm glad I included so much CanCon on the list. There are many new favourites with Eve & the Fire Horse, The Saddest Music in the World and Seducing Dr. Lewis / La Grande Seduction.

I included some films that I knew I might not like, such as Raging Bull and The Graduate. I didn't like them. Yes, I know they are classics but I still didn't like them. There were also films I had no idea I would love so much include Gandhi, The Seventh Seal, The / Det Sjunde Inseglet and Lawrence of Arabia.

The films I left to the very end were all ones I owned. Two were VHS tapes still sealed in plastic that I've had for over 13 years. One of the weirdest things I came across was finding out that I'm the same height as Linda Hunt from The Year of Living Dangerously (which was awesome). It's totally weird to think "If I was standing beside Mel Gibson, that is how tall I would be".

Out of all the films I saw, two had an enormous impact on me. First was The Good, the Bad and the Ugly / Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo I had no idea how freaking awesome this film was. It's three hours long but I watched it twice in the same weekend. It also led to an exploration on westerns last November which was a lot of fun and I ended up making my own list of favourite westerns.

The second film that had a huge impact was Rashômon. How had I not seen an Akira Kurosawa film until 2007? What a brillant and beautiful director. I instantly went on a search to track down and see as many of his films as I could.

Overall I'm thrilled to have made it though and that I saw all of these films. Kudos to the Toronto Public Library for having a vast collection of films, I saw roughly half the films through the library. I will definitely make more lists of films I want to see. However, after that many days of tracking down films, making time to see them, taking notes and updating my film database I'm looking forward to a bit of a list break.

See the complete list of films here.

Tried YesAsia.com for the first time in October, slightly tardy posting this DIY! The reason I strayed from my usual amazon order was the search for the ever elusive John Woo film The Killer. I have had it on request from the Toronto Public Library (after 2 years, I'm 14/110 people for the *VHS* copy). I missed the a showing at the Bloor and finally enquired about it at HMV where I was informed it had no current North American release. On the Criterion site, it's Out of Print too! BOO to that! I needed to see it before December 1, 2008 to complete my 101 films I can't believe I haven't seen list, and I was determine to get it! I heard good things from others that used YesAsia, so I gave it a try. As I'm a sucker for getting free shipping, I picked out 2 other selections snagging Johnny To's Sparrow starring Simon Yam and Wong Kar-Wai's My Blueberry Nights.

Fable of the Fish / Isda
Santa Mesa *
Yanggaw

*indicates co-production

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Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday November 28, 2008! Can you believe it's almost December? I can't!

All the new releases are limited releases! Out of what we are looking at I'm most likely to check out the French thriller The Killer / Le Tueur. We also have the rather disturbing looking Restless. The biggest buzz for this weeks limited release is definitely for A Christmas Tale / Un conte de Noël, a Cannes charmer starring Bond's latest baddie Mathieu Amalric in a family drama. Oddly, even though it's gotten great buzz, no one I know personally liked it and I'm also a little leery consider for another reason: the film is French, but the trailer has a English voice over to 'walk you through' the set up. Weird.

There are no wide release this week hot off the coals are the mid week releases of Australia, Four Christmases and Transporter 3 all in wide release; or Milk in limited release.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

aluCine
Toronto Latin Media Festival
Continues until November 29, 2008 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Brazil Film Fest
Continues until November 30, 2008 at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Eh!U European Film Festival
Continues until November 30, 2008 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Special Screenings

Free Japanese Films at the Bloor!
Arrive early to check out films presented by the Japan Foundation at The Bloor this weekend:
Shangri-La (Dir: Takashi Miiki) Friday November 28, 2008 at 7pm
Breather In, Breathe Out (Dir: Tetsuo Shinohara) Saturday November 29, 2008 at 4:30pm
Half A Confession (Dir: Kiyoshi Sasabe) Saturday November 29, 2008 at 7:00pm

Wednesday November 26, 2008 Releases

Australia
Dir: Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet, Strictly Ballroom)
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Bryan Brown
Australia/USA
Official Film Site (autoplays trailer), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer site unseen - spoiler sensitive beware!

Four Christmases
Dir: Seth Gordon (The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters)
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn, Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, Mary Steenburgen
USA/Germany
Official Film Site(autoplays trailer), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer is spoiler free

Milk
Dir: Gus Van Sant (Gerry, Paranoid Park, Good Will Hunting)
Cast: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Alison Pill, Diego Luna
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
You get the gist of the film by the halfway point

Transporter 3
Dir: Olivier Megaton (La Sirène rouge)
Cast: Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova, François Berléand, Robert Knepper
France
Official Film Site (autoplays clips from film), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer 2a spoiler free until 2/3rds of the way through

Friday November 28, 2008 Releases

A Christmas Tale / Un conte de Noël
Dir: Arnaud Desplechin (Kings & Queens / Rois et reine)
Cast: Mathieu Amalric, Catherine Deneuve
France
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Killer / Le Tueur
Writer/Dir: Cédric Anger - directorial debut
Cast: Grégoire Colin, Gilbert Melki
France
Limited Release
Film info on Evokative Films Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
You get the gist of the film at halfway point

Restless
Writer/Dir: Amos Kollek (Nowhere to Go But Up, Bridget)
Cast: Moshe Ivgy, Ran Danker
Israel/Germany/France/Canada/Belgium
Limited Release
Film MySpace Page, IMDb Page, Trailer (includes mature content)
Trailer is spoiler free

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of November 28, 2008**

There has been a bunch of big film stuff going on recently! I spent a glorious 5 days at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival which continues to impress with its selection of fantastic Asian film. See my complete coverage of the festival here.

Although I caught up on a several new releases, including heading out to catch JCVD in it's theatrical release, I think it is safe to say that *the* film of the moment is none other than Twilight (click through for full review). I went on opening night with my sister Jamie and it was one heck of a fun time. We were originally going to go to a mid afternoon show, but when I noticed it was in theatre 14 (at Scotiabank - good theatre, but one of if not the smallest there), I asked if there we tickets still available for the prime time showing. And there were. And it was in theatre 1 - the biggest house. I exchanged those suckers right then and there and then heard something I've not heard at a regular theatre for a while:

"It's going to be pretty crazy. I'd recommend coming 45 minutes early."

Oh course, I wouldn't have expected something other than craziness but being in a full theatre in a non festival setting happens to me so infrequently that it got me nostalgic and added to the fun of the experience. For the record, we ended up going 30 minutes early and sat 3rd row up on the side and those seats are just fine. It's exactly where I sat when I watched Mongol.

Other films I've taken in are the latest Bond instalment Quantum of Solace which I enjoyed a fair amount, likely due to revisiting many of the classic Bond films from Dr. No to Live and Let Die over the summer. I felt Quantum of Solace holds up well and it's refreshing to see that it continues where Casino Royale left off and that they chose to break the formula by showing the effects of events over time.

The last trip to the regular theatre lead me to what may very well be the best US release of 2008 that I've seen so far: Rachel Getting Married. The acting is was absolutely fantastic not only by Anne Hathaway but the entire cast, the story is compelling and the setting feels so real. For me it was a kleenex required screening and at one point I had pools of tears in my clavicles, and was hoping for a loud scene so I could sniffle away unnoticed. A stunning film that I highly recommend.

Hey, that's my 55 cents! Ticket prices have increased at some of the Toronto downtown theatres recently. From trekking to the theatre I found out that Varsity and Scotiabank tickets have gone from $11.95 to $12.50 and the Carlton lists new prices as $10.50 from $9.95. It does feel like ages since the price has been raised but those feel like odd numbers for tickets. But, 2 for $25 is a very convenience pocket price.

Odd to note is after the preshow (read: cycling adds) at the Twilight screening they actually had a slide that went up saying 'Thanks for watching the preshow'. I didn't know anyone but me referred to it as that. Weird!

How was your week?


One of the few times I've actually pre purchased tickets! Of course it was on the day of the first big snow.


Twilight crowd on opening night. Were you there?

Dir: Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown, The Nativity Story)
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Cam Gigandet, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Kellan Lutz, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Anna Kendrick, Rachelle Lefevre, Gil Birmingham
USA, 2008

Seen: Opening Night! Friday November 21, 2008 at Scotiabank

Reason to see: Teen vampire drama romance - of course I'm going to see it. Plus, I loved the book.

The theatre was certainly bustling on opening night of Twilight, the film adaptation of the novel by Stephenie Meyer that has taken people by storm. Were their screaming fans at the screening? Sure there were. Giddy laughter? You bet. But it wasn't all for Robert Pattinson who plays the male lead, Edward. There was a fair share of screaming for Peter Facinelli in his entrance as Carlisle. On the flip side the woman beside me that kept saying things like "oh, please!" and "settle yourselves!" during the audience eruptions.

The film itself is a faithful adaptation that is a sure to please its audience. I found the strength in the film to be the performance from Kristen Stewart as the protagonist Bella. A character that is amidst a time of great change yet shows a grace and strenght we do not often see in film. She is true to herself, kind to her friends and of course falls for the bad boy. Don't we all want to be her? Robert Pattinson does a solid job playing Edward, but falls to my only criticism of the film which would be the choice of some the special effects. I found they had the tendency to break the illusion of the world and when this occurred it affected his character, which is a shame. Also, the PG rating explains why the romance itself feels a little quieter than the book although I feel the relationship does come through strongly.

Another joy of the film is the supporting cast, who do a great job creating natural relationships. I particularly enjoyed Anna Kendrick as Jessica, Billy Burke as Bella's father Charlie, Taylor Lautner as Jacob (although looked a little older than should have) and Gil Birmingham as Billy. The casting for James (Cam Gigandet) and Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre) were brilliant choices, they had strong screen presence every time they appeared. Even though the supporting cast didn't get a lot of screen time, what they did with it was memorable with an understated beauty.

Overall, it was just what I was hoped the film would be. It is a film made for its fans, and if you are one of them you will be delighted with the result.

Shannon's Overall View:
I loved it
I'd buy it
I'd recommend to fans of the book and fans of vampire drama/romance.

14 minutes of preshow including 2 commercial and 5 previews: Confessions of a Shopaholic, Dance Flick, Inkheart, Fired Up and Know1ng

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© Shannon Ridler, 2008

Pre-Festival Coverage
November 11, 2008

Daily Coverage
Day 1 - Wednesday November 12, 2008: Write-Up, Vlog
Day 2 - Thursday November 13, 2008: Write-Up, Vlog
Day 3 - Friday November 14, 2008: Write-Up, Vlog
Day 4 - Saturday November 15, 2008: Write-Up, Vlog
Day 5 - Sunday November 16, 2008: Write-Up, Vlog

Film Reviews - Features and Mid-length Films
Adrift in Tokyo / Tenten
Confessions of a Salesman
Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D
Drummer, The
Everybody's Children
Flower in the Pocket
Hansel and Gretel
Long Story Short
Oh Saigon
Santa Mesa
Tiger Spirit
Twelve
West 32nd
Wonderful Town

Film Reviews - Shorts
Around the Corner from Solitude
Audience, The
Catalogue
Damn the Past
Discopedia
Machine with Wishbone (WSFF'08 Review)
Others, The
Parallel Adele
Playgrounded, The
Running (Heart, Mind, Body, Spirit)
Self Portrait
Summer Afternoon
What You Eat

Videos - Q&A's, Introductions, Awards
Lester Alfonso: Selections from Twelve
Kenneth Bi: Selections from The Drummer Intro and Q&A
Christine Choy and Jody Long: Selections from Long Story Short Q&A
Aram Siu Wai Collier: Selections from The Others Q&A
Selections from Q&A for Daddy Tran: My Life in 3-D
Selections from Full Boat Program Q&A
Michael Kang: Selections from West 32nd Q&A
Min Sook Lee: Selections from Tiger Spirit Q&A
Ron Morales: Selections from Santa Mesa Q&A
Randall Okita: Selections from Machine with Wishbone Q&A
Raging Asian Women Taiko Drummers Performance on Opening Night
Selections from Closing Night Awards Ceremony

Post Festival Coverage
Wrap Up
Awards

The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008 ran from November 12-16, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

I'm thrilled that in comparison to last year, this year I saw many of Reel Asian Award Winning Films. I agree with many of the selections but also have a few films I'd like to highlight, and because there were so many amazing films I could rarely narrow it down to just one.

Best Features: Adrift in Tokyo / Tenten, Flower in the Pocket

Best Mid-length: Oh Saigon, Twelve

Best Shorts (live action): Catalogue, The Others, Summer Afternoon

Best Short (animated): Running (Heart, Mind, Body, Spirit)

Best Experimental: Confessions of a Salesman

Best Program: Oh Vietnam on Day 5. Beautiful collection of documentaries. Definitely got me teary eyed though!

Best Q&A's: Micheal Kang at the West 32nd Q&A, the packed audience had great questions. Also Christine Choy and Jodi Long were very entertaining at the Long Story Short Q&A.

Best Experience: Seeing all the happy people during the Awards ceremony and then getting to see the lovely closing night film Adrift in Tokyo / Tenten

Fullest Screenings: The Drummer, West 32nd, Adrift in Tokyo / Tenten

Repeating themes: Portraits (self or others), bringing families together, reunification, home, use of found images from the Internet

Funnest collective experience: The rat toss yet really got people going, there were some competitive catchers out there! Especially for the make up / perfume prizes.

Wish I hadn't missed: Paul Wong spotlight

The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008 ran from November 12-16, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The following video clips are from the Awards Ceremony on Sunday November 16, 2008 at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. See a listing of all of the awards here.

Trinity Square Video Visionary Video Award presented to Aram Siu Wai Collier for The Others:


Doug Pringle and Chi-hui Yang present Centennial College @ Wallace Studios Most Innovative Film Production Award to Randall Lloyd Okita for Machine with Wishbone:


Presentation of the NFB Best Canadian Film or Video Award to Paul Wong for Perfect Day:


Lesley Loksi Chan announces the winner of the Animasian Award - Asa Mori's Up the Rabbit Hole:


Megan McPhee, Lesley Loksi Chan announce the winner of the Kim Orr Barristers P.C. Best Narrative Feature Film or Video Award – Liew Seng Tat's Flower in the Pocket:


So You Think You Can Pitch? Introduction by Nobu Adilman and presentation of the Charles Street Video and Reel Asian Pitch Emerging Artist Award to Ian Tuason for Continuity Problems:


Nobu Adilman presents the Charles Street Video and Reel Asian Pitch Professional Artist Award to June Chua and Christine Alexiou for Travels with My Brother:


Reel Asian Artistic Director Heather Keung and the final Rat Toss for the festival:


The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008 ran from November 12-16, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The following video clips are from the screening of Tiger Spirit on Sunday November 16, 2008 at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. See my review of Tiger Spirit here.

Tiger Spirit director Min Sook Lee introduces the film:


Min Sook Lee discusses the theme of the film:


Min Sook Lee responds to audience question on the possibility of a reunified Korea:


The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008 ran from November 12-16, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The following video clips are from the screening of Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D as a part of the Oh Vietnam program on Sunday November 16, 2008 at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. See my review of Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D here.

Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D director Siu Ta and cinematographer John Minh Tran discuss how the film came to be:


Hai (Daddy) Tran responds to question regarding his favourite things to shoot:


Hai (Daddy) Tran dicusses further his love of photography:

The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008 ran from November 12-16, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The following video clips are from the screening of Santa Mesa on Sunday November 16, 2008 at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. See my review of Santa Mesa here.

Santa Mesa director Ron Morales discusses casting


Ron Morales discusses inspiration of the film:


The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008 ran from November 12-16, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The following video clips are from the screening of West 32nd on Saturday November 15, 2008 at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. See my review of West 32nd here.

West 32nd director Michael Kang discusses casting:


Michael Kang discusses choice of character and focus (includes plot spoilers):


Michael Kang responds to audience question on influences:


Michael Kang discusses different possible endings ideas (includes spoilers):


Michael Kang discusses subplots and CJ Entertainment's involvement:


Michael Kang responses to audience question about how CJ Entertainment got involvement:


The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008 ran from November 12-16, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The following video clips are from the screening of Long Story Short on Saturday November 15, 2008 at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. See my review of Long Story Short here.

Long Story Short writer Jodi Long introduces the film and gives background on the films origins:


Long Story Short director Christine Choy and writer Jodi Long discuss the creation of the narrative structure of the film:


Jodi Long discusses acting and roles for Asian actors:


The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008 ran from November 12-16, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The following video clips are from the screening of Twelve as a part of the Everybody Else Program on Friday November 14, 2008 at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. See my review of Twelve here.

Twelve director Lester Alfonso and producer Lea Marin discuss how the film came to be:


Lester Alfonso responds to audience question regarding representing a film that is so personal, and also discusses upcoming projects:


The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008 ran from November 12-16, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The following video clip is from the screening of the Full Boat Program on Thursday November 13, 2008 at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. See my review of Machine with Wishbone here.

Machine with Wishbone director Randall Okita discusses where the idea for the film came from:


Randall Okita responds to audience question regarding budget & time:


The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008 ran from November 12-16, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The following video clip is from the screening of the Full Boat Program on Thursday November 13, 2008 at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. See my reviews of films in the Full Boat Program here.

Filmmakers from the Full Boat program respond to an audience question regarding how their non film backgrounds helped affected the film making process. Vid is a little dark, so here is the order of speakers:
Stefanie Wong dir: Around the Corner From Solitude
Ann Marie Fleming dir: Running (Heart, Mind, Body, Spirit)
Blair Fukumura dir: Catalogue
Khanhthuan Tran dir: Self-Portrait
Randall Okita dir: Machine with Wishbone



The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008 ran from November 12-16, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday November 21, 2008! Chilly enough for you? We just got our first snowfall here in Toronto and the cold feels like it is here to stay for the winter.

In limited release this week we have a series of directorial debuts lined up. The highly acclaimed Ballast, and Canadian coming of age in a pot world Growing Op are both by first time feature film directors. I Can't Think Straight seemed a little familiar to me being directed by Shamim Sarif and starring both Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth, in a striking coincidence, all three worked together on The World Unseen which was released just three weeks ago. For limited releases I'd to say the pick of the week is Repo! The Genetic Opera which opens at The Bloor this week, and director Darren Bousman will be in attendance on opening night for a intro the film 6:45 PM and also Q&A moderated by Richard Crouse.

In wide release this week we have animated animals run wild in Bolt but the big release this week is Twilight. Based on Stephenie Meyer's novel, this teen vampire romance phenomenon has become a force to be reckoned with. I already have my tickets for Friday and when I picked them up they advised me to arrive early for the screening as it would be "a little crazy". I haven't heard that for a while. It will be an interesting experience!

We also have numerous midweek releases for next Wednesday November 26, 2008 which means it's time to say Happy Thanksgiving to film fans south of the border. The films making an appearance will be the highly anticipated Australia and Milk, holidays come early with Four Christmases and action will be cubed in Transporter 3.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

aluCine
Toronto Latin Media Festival
November 20 - 29, 2008 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Brazil Film Fest
November 27 - 30, 2008 at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Breast Fest
The World's First Breast Cancer Film Festival
November 21 - 22, 2008 at the ROM in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Eh!U European Film Festival
Continues until November 30, 2008 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Special Screening

Cubers
Documentary on the World Rubik's Cube Championship
Saturday November 23, 2008 at 3pm at The Royal in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
See trailer on the Official Film Site

Friday November 21, 2008 Releases

Ballast
Writer/Dir: Lance Hammer - feature film directorial debut
Cast: JimMyron Ross, Michael J. Smith Sr., Tarra Riggs,
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
Spoiler free until halfway point

Bolt
Dir: Bryon Howard & Chris Williams - feature film directorial debuts
Voices: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcom McDowell, James Lipton
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer is spoiler free

Growing Op
Writer/Dir: Michael Melski - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Steven Yaffee, Rosanna Arquette, Katie Boland, Wallace Langham, Rachel Blanchard, Denis Theriault, Jon Cor
Canada
Limited Release
IMDb Page, YouTube Trailer
You get the gist of the film by the halfway point

I Can't Think Straight
Dir: Shamim Sarif (The World Unseen)
Cast: Lisa Ray, Sheetal Sheth, Antonia Frering, Dalip Tahil
UK
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
Spoiler free until halfway point

Repo! The Genetic Opera
Dir: Darren Bousman (Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV)
Cast: Anthony Stewart Head, Alexa Vega, Sarah Brightman, Paul Sorvino, Terrance Zdunich, Bill Mosely, Paris Hilton, Nivek Ogre
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer is spoiler free

Twilight
Dir: Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown, The Nativity Story)
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Cam Gigandet, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Kellan Lutz, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene
USA
Official Film Site (autoplays trailer), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer site unseen - spoiler sensitive beware!

Wednesday November 26, 2008 Releases

Australia
Dir: Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet, Strictly Ballroom)
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Bryan Brown
Australia/USA
Official Film Site (autoplays trailer), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer site unseen - spoiler sensitive beware!

Four Christmases
Dir: Seth Gordon (The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters)
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn, Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, Mary Steenburgen
USA/Germany
Official Film Site(autoplays trailer), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer is spoiler free

Milk
Dir: Gus Van Sant (Gerry, Paranoid Park, Good Will Hunting)
Cast: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Alison Pill, Diego Luna
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
You get the gist of the film by the halfway point

Transporter 3
Dir: Olivier Megaton (La Sirène rouge)
Cast: Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova, François Berléand, Robert Knepper
France
Official Film Site (autoplays clips from film), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer 2a spoiler free until 2/3rds of the way through

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of November 26, 2008**