Film Fan Fridays for Friday March 18, 2011

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday March 18, 2011! Epic week of releases. Count 'em: 12 films. 12! That's crazy! It's mostly limited release but still... 12! Jeepers!

In limited release this week we have the second film of the Book to Film Club Selection with Jane Eyre (2011), the adaptation of the novel by Charlotte Brontë starring Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland (2010)), Michael Fassbender (Fish Tank) and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliott) and I'm so excited for this one as I really loved the book. We have two Canadian films in release this week with Amazon Falls centred on a faded-but-resistant b-movie actress and The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom set in 1976 featuring 11 year old with an identity crisis. Also 70's set if Kill the Irishman crime biopic of Danny Greene starring Ray Stevenson. We also have the South Korean film I Saw the Devil from The Good, the Bad, the Weird director Kim Jee-Woon, but with the tagline "Abandon All Compassion" I'm a little leery, although still curious. Keeping it international we have the China/Hong Kong/USA action comedy The Butcher, The Chef and The Swordsman, an Italian comedy set during the US/Russian space race with Cosmonaut, German drama When We Leave and the Thursday March 17, 2011 release of A Screaming Man.

In wide release this week we have what I referred to on this weeks podcast as the battle of the cute boys with Bradley Cooper in Limitless and Matthew McConaughey in The Lincoln Lawyer - both films are also book to film adaptations. Rounding out the wide releases is the scifi/comedy Paul starring Simon Pegg & Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) as alien affictionatos who actually meet an (animated) alien voiced by Seth Rogen.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

The Female Eye Film Festival
Continues until March 20, 2011 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto Japanese Short Film Festival
March 17 - 20, 2011 at Innis Town Hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Thursday March 17, 2011 Releases

A Screaming Man / Un Homme qui crie
Writer/Dir: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Daratt, Our Father)
Cast: Youssouf Djaoro, Dioucounda Koma, Emile Abossolo M'bo
France/Belgium/Chad
Limited Release
No Official Film Site Found, IMDb Page, Trailer

Friday March 18, 2011 Releases

Amazon Falls
Writer/Dir: Katrin Bowen - feature film directorial debut
Cast: April Telek, Anna Mae Routledge, Zak Santiago, Gabrielle Rose
Canada
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Butcher, The Chef and The Swordsman / Dao Jian Xiao
Dir: Wuershan - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Masanobu Ando, You Benchang, Liu Xiaoye
China/Hong Kong/USA
Limited Release
No Official Film Site Found, IMDb Page, Trailer

Cosmonaut / Cosmonauta
Dir: Susanna Nicchiarelli (Uomini e zanzare)
Cast: Marianna Raschillà, Claudia Pandolfi, Sergio Rubini
Italy
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

I Saw the Devil / Akmareul boatda
Dir: Kim Jee-Woon (The Good, the Bad, the Weird, A Tale of Two Sisters)
Cast: Lee Byung-hyun, Choi Min-Sik, Jeon Ho-jin, Jeon Gook-hwan
South Korea
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Jane Eyre (2011)
Dir: Cary Fukunaga (Sin nombre)
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Judi Dench
UK
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Kill the Irishman
Dir: Jonathan Hensleigh (The Punisher (2004))
Cast: Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken, Vincent D'Onofrio, Val Kilmer, Linda Cardellini, Fionnula Flanagan
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Limitless
Dir: Neil Burger (The Illusionist (2006), The Lucky Ones)
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Abbie Cornish
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Lincoln Lawyer
Dir: Brad Furman (The Take)
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei, William H. Macy, John Leguizamo, Frances Fisher
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Paul
Dir: Greg Mottola (Adventureland, Superbad)
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen (voice), Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman, Sigourney Weaver
Spain/France/UK/USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

When We Leave / Die Fremde
Writer/Dir: Feo Aladag - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Sibel Kekilli, Nizam Schiller, Derya Alabora
Germany
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom
Writer/Dir: Tara Johns - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Macha Grenon, Julia Stone, Gil Bellows
Canada
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

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