Film Fan Fridays for Friday February 18, 2011

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday February 18, 2011! I think the could be the first weekend of the year where I feel like a movie magpie! So many of the films are ones I'm looking forward to and keep drawing my attention, but having *too* much exciting film to see is a problem I'm welcome to have again!

In limited release this week we have have four films hitting screens this week starting with the Small Town Murder Songs, set around a crime in small town Ontario. It stars Peter Stormare & Aaron Poole and is without a doubt the first perfect film of 2011. It's absolutely phenomenal and I highly recommend checking it out and Toronto folks have lucked out as director Ed Gass-Donnelly will be at the Friday & Saturday screenings this weekend that the Royal. I had a chance to interview both Ed Gass-Donnelly and Aaron Poole on which you can listen to on Episode 25 of the Movie Moxie Podcast. Our second Canadian release of the week is A Wake, a drama starring Nicholas Campbell ("DaVinci's Inquest) and Raoul Bhaneja. We also have two documentaries in limited release with Lemmy, which is about... you guessed it the one and only Lemmy from Motörhead and we also have the bio-doc Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune.

In wide release this week we have one of my most anticipated films of the year I Am Number Four, which is the first 2011 Book to Film Club release of the year! I'm so excited and curious to see this science fiction film based on the young adult book I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (pseudonym) and starring Alex Pettyfer (Wild Child, Beastly), Timothy Olyphant (High Life) and Dianna Agron ("Glee"). Also awesome looking is action with a mystery feel with Unknown starring Liam Neeson (Taken, Chloe, After.Life) from director Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan) and is quite the co-pro from UK/Germany/France/Canada/Japan/USA! Wow. That's a lot of involvement found the world! We also have the Bollywood release of 7 Khoon Maaf which follows a woman who kills her 7 husbands and the comedy-via-fat-suits with Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son.

For folks heading out to see I Am Number Four who have read, or planning on reading, the book you can join the 2011 Book to Film Club at any time! Our next book to film selection is Jane Eyre.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Special Screening

Back to the 80's at TIFF Lightbox
Continues and this weeks 80s selection is: The Monster Squad playing Saturday February 19, 2011 at 2pm.

Bell Free Weekend
Check out these selection of titles being screened Feb 20-21, 2011 at TIFF Lightbox in celebration of Family Day

Festival Watch

Reel Artists Film Festival
February 23 - 27, 2011 at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto Human Rights Watch Film Festival
February 22 - March 4, 2011 at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Friday February 18, 2011 Releases

7 Khoon Maaf / 7 Sins Unforgiven
Dir: Vishal Bhardwaj (Kaminey: The Scoundrels, Omkara)
Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Irrfan Khan, Aleksandr Dyachenko, Annu Kapoor
India
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son
Dir: John Whitesell (Big Momma's House 2, Deck the Halls)
Cast: Martin Lawrence, Brandon T. Jackson, Jessica Lucas, Michelle Ang, Portia Doubleday, Emily Rios
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

I Am Number Four
Dir: D. J. Caruso (Eagle Eye, The Salton Sea)
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron, Kevin Durand, Callan McAuliffe
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Lemmy
Dir: Greg Olliver & Wes Orshoski - feature film directorial debuts
Documentary
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune
Writer/Dir: Kenneth Bowser (Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood)
Documentary
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Small Town Murder Songs
Writer/Dir: Ed Gass-Donnelly (This Beautiful City)
Cast: Peter Stormare, Aaron Poole, Jill Hennessey, Martha Plimpton, Stephen Eric McIntyre, Ari Cohen, Alexandria Benoit
Canada
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Unknown
Dir: Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, House of Wax (2005))
Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn
UK/Germany/France/Canada/Japan/USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

A Wake
Dir: Penelope Buitenhuis ("Paradise Falls", Dangerous Attraction)
Cast: Nicholas Campbell, Graham Abbey, Raoul Bhaneja, Sarain Boylan, Martha Burns,
Canada
Limited Release
More info at Breakthrough Entertainment, IMDb Page, Trailer

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of February 18, 2011**