Film Fan Fridays for Friday November 27, 2009!

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday November 27, 2009! I have to admit I'm a little jealous of our American friends as they are likely in blissful tryptophan recovery mode. Ah, turkey. We'll it's less than a month until Christmas so the day will come. Oh my. That means we are really getting down to wire with 2009 releases. Let's see what we have this week.

Most of the Friday releases are in limited release this week with a selection of 5 films to choose from. Two picks of the week that I can recommend are the Taiwanese drama Parking which is beautifully shot and has compelling performances. Also for consideration, Big Fan starring Patton Oswalt as a die hard New York Giants fan from the writer of The Wrestler. We also have festive cheer in full force with Cooper's Camera, a Canadian film that is a found footage-esque comedy about a family Christmas in the 80's caught on a VHS camcorder. Also in release is New York, I Love You and omnibus film in the same vein as Paris, je t'aime and the comedy Absurdistan.

In wide release this week we have just one release with the long time coming yet still highly anticipated, The Road, based on the post-apocolyptic book of the same name by Cormac McCarthy ("No Country for Old Men"), directed by John Hillcoat (The Proposition) and starring Viggo Mortenson. The release has shifted a few times, and there had been awards buzz on it for a while although when I saw it at TIFF the reaction was rather mixed.

Already in wide release from Wednesday November 25, 2009 are Fantastic Mr. Fox, Old Dogs and the bloody good time that is Ninja Assassin.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

aluCine
Toronto Latin Media Festival
Continues until November 28, 2009 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Canadian Labour International Film Festival
Continues until November 25, 2009 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

European Film Festival
Continues until December 3, 2009 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Wednesday November 25, 2009 Releases

Fantastic Mr. Fox
Dir: Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums)
Voices: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston
USA/UK
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Ninja Assassin
Dir: James McTeigue (V for Vendetta)
Cast: Rain, Naomie Harris, Shô Kosugi, Rick Yune, Ben Miles, Randall Duk Kim, Sung Kang
USA/Germany
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Old Dogs
Dir: Walt Becker (Wild Hogs, Van Wilder)
Cast: John Travolta, Robin Williams, Kelly Preston, Matt Dinnon, Seth Green, Bernie Mac
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Friday November 27, 2009 Releases

Absurdistan
Dir: Veit Helmer (Gate to Heaven)
Cast: Kristyna Malérová,Maximillian Mauff
Germany
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Big Fan
Writer/Dir: Robert D. Siegel - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Jonathan Hamm, Gino Cafarelli, Michael Rapaport
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Cooper's Camera
Dir: Warren P. Sonoda (5ive Girls)
Cast: Jason Jones, Samantha Bee, Mike Beaver, Dave Foley, Peter Keleghan
Canada
Limited Release
No Official Film Site Found, IMDb Page, Trailer on YouTube

New York, I Love You
Dirs: Fatih Akin, Yvan Attal, Allen Hughes, Shunji Iwai, Wen Jiang, Joshua Marston, Mira Nair, Brett Ratner, Randall Balsmeyer, Shekhar Kapur, Natalie Portman
Cast: Natalie Portman, Shia LaBeouf, Robin Wright Penn, Christina Ricci, Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen, Julie Christie
France/USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Parking / Ting Che
Writer/Dir: Chung Mong-Hong - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Chang Chen, Lu-Mei Kwai, Leon Dai, Chapman To, Jack Kao, Peggy Tseng
Taiwan
Limited Release
More info at Evokative Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Road
Dir: John Hillcoat (The Proposition)
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of November 27, 2009**