Film Fan Fridays for Friday November 21, 2008

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**