Film Fan Fridays for Friday January 15, 2010

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday January 15, 2010! Now this week we are back to what feels like a regular number of releases. It might even be too many, I can't fit in seeing all the films I want to see out of the nine, count 'em nine, selections. What will make your list?

In limited release this week we have 5 releases, first on my list is Crazy Heart because I want to see it before the Golden Globes on Sunday as Jeff Bridges is nominated in his role as a down on his luck country singer who going to give it one more shot and the trailer alone had me almost in tears. We also have High Life, a crime-comedy about a ragtag group of junkies who plan to rob a band starring Timothy Olyphant. Next up are two highly acclaimed foreign films that are hitting Toronto in limited release, the Romanian film Police, Adjective from writer/director Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 East of Bucharest) and The White Ribbon / Das weiße Band (dir: Michael Haneke of Caché, Funny Games), set in 1913 in a rural school in north Germany. Last of the limited releases is The Memsahib, which I'm little surprized to see it hit theatres as the DVD is available for purchase directly from the films website.

In wide release this week it's a week of the 4 'The's'! First up we have Denzel Washington kicking post apocalyptic butt in The Book of Eli. Then we have Saiorise Ronan, Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci star in the The Lovely Bones, a crime/thriller from Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings Trilogy) with what looks like a supernatural/religious flair to it. Next is Jackie Chan taking on the dangerous assignment of taking care of the neighbours kids in The Spy Next Door. And finally we have the Bollywood release of Chance Pe Danse / The Dance of Life.

Also up this weekend is the Golden Globes, which will be presented Sunday January 17th, 2010 at 8pm EST / 5pm PST live on NBC. Need a refresher on the nominees? Check out lists in various formats: detailed list, film list with nominations detailed or film list by # of nominations, titles only.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Special Screenings

Canada's Top Ten
Continues until January 21, 2010 at Cinematheque Ontario in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. See the best in Canadian film from 2009 as selected by the Toronto International Film Festival Group. See more infomation on scheduling and tickets here.

Last Train Home
Wednesday January 20, 2010 at 6:30 and 9:15PM at The Bloor
Monthly Doc Soup screening by Hot Docs

Friday January 15, 2010 Releases

The Book of Eli
Dir: The Hughes Brothers (From Hell, Menace II Society)
Cast: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunas, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Chance Pe Dance / The Dance of Life
Dir: Ken Ghosh (Fida, Ishq Vishk)
Cast: Genelia D'Souza, Shahid Kapur
India
No Official Film Site Found, IMDb Page, Trailer

Crazy Heart
Dir: Scott Cooper - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

High Life
Dir: Gary Yates (Niagara Motel)
Cast: Timothy Olyphant, Joe Anderson, Rossif Sutherland, Stephen Eric McIntyre
Canada/USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

The Lovely Bones
Dir: Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings Trilogy)
Cast: Saiorise Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon, Rose McIver, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci
USA/UK/Australia
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Memsahib
Writer/Dir: Kruti Majmudar - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Emily Hamilton, Parvin Dabas, Glenn Fitzgerald, Sweta Keswani
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Police, Adjective
Writer/Dir: Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 East of Bucharest)
Cast: Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Irina Saulescu, Ion Stoica
Romania
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Spy Next Door
Dir: Brian Levant (Snow Dogs, Are We There Yet?)
Cast: Jackie Chan, Amber Valletta, Madeline Carroll, Will Shadley, Alina Foley
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The White Ribbon / Das weiße Band
Dir: Michael Haneke (Caché, Funny Games)
Cast: Christian Friedel, Leonie Benesch, Ulrich Tukur
Austria/Germany/France/Italy
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer (German), IMDb Page

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of January 15, 2010**