Film Fan Fridays for Friday April 1, 2011

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday April 1, 2011!

In limited release this week we have lots of films to choose from, 8 films in fact! And out of those we have a 3 feature film directorial debuts: Exit 67 / Sortie 67 from Bastien Jephté, HappyThankYouMorePlease from director Josh Radnor and Wrecked from director Michael Greenspan. We also have the comedy The Last Godfather starring Harvey Keitel, drama Monogamy starring Chris Messina & Rashida Jones, Italian film La Nostra Vita / Our Life and WWII set Dutch film Winter in Wartime / Oorlogswinter. Rounding out the limited releases is the Thursday March 31, 2011 release of Essential Killing starring Vincent Gallo.

In wide release this week we have four releases including the supernatural horror flick Insidious from Saw director James Wan, but the word is it's not a gore fest but scary tension-centric film and I know I'm going to see it although I fear the trailers have shown too much. I should make a macro to type that out for me, I write it far too often! We also science fiction thriller Source Code and I'm really looking forward to seeing what this second film from Duncan Jones is like, because I absolutely adored Moon and the fact that it stars Jake Gyllenhaal is icing on the cake. Also out in wide release is the combination live action & animated film Hop about a one-day-to-be Easter Bunny decides to think outside of the basket and look for adventure in life. Rounding out our wide releases is the Bollywood film Game. Wowzers. Another jam-packed week of film! How the heck to decide what to see?

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Cinéfranco
14th Annual Celebration of International Francophone Cinema
Continues until April 3, 2011 at TIFF Lightbox Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Images Festival
24th Annual festival of independent film, video and other time-based media
March 31 - April 9, 2011 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Reel World Film Festival
11th annual festival celebrating diversity in film, video, and new media
April 6 - 10, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Sprockets
Toronto International Film Festival for Children and Youth
April 5 - 17, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto Silent Film Festival
Continues until April 7, 2011 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Thursday March 31, 2011 Releases

Essential Killing
Dir: Jerzy Skolimowski (Four Nights with Anna, The Adventures of Gerard)
Cast: Vincent Gallo, Emmanuelle Seigner, Zach Cohen
Poland/Norway/Ireland/Hungary
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Friday April 1, 2011 Releases

Exit 67 / Sortie 67
Writer/Dir: Bastien Jephté - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Henri Pardo, Natacha Noël, Benz Antoine, Jacquy Bidjeck
Canada
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Game
Dir: Abhinay Deo - feature film directorial debut
Cast: bhishek Bachchan, Sarah-Jane Dias, Shahana Goswami, Boman Irani, Gauhar Khan
India
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

HappyThankYouMorePlease
Writer/Dir: Josh Radnor - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Josh Radnor, Malin Akerman, Zoe Kazan, Kate Mara, Tony Hale, Pablo Schreiber, Richard Jenkins
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Hop
Director: Tim Hill (Alvin and the Chipmucks, Muppets from Space)
Cast: James Marsden, Kaley Cuoco, Elizabeth Perkins, Gary Cole, Chelsea Handler
Voices: Russell Brand, Hank Azaria, Hugh Laurie
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Insidious
Dir: James Wan (Saw)
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, Andrew Astor, Leigh Whannell
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Last Godfather
Writer/Dir: Hyung-rae Shim (Reptile 2001, Dragon Tuka, Tirannoui baltob )
Cast: Harvey Keitel, Jason Mewes, Blake Clark, Hyung-rae Shim, Jon Polito, Jocelin Donahue
USA/South Korea
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Monogamy
Dir: Dana Adam Shapiro (Murderball)
Cast: Chris Messina, Rashida Jones, Meital Dohan
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

La Nostra Vita / Our Life
Dir: Daniele Luchetti (My Brother is an Only Child, Ginger and Cinnamon)
Cast: Elio Germano, Isabella Ragonese, Raoul Bova
Italy/France
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Source Code
Dir: Duncan Jones (Moon)
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Academy Award® nominee Vera Farmiga, Russell Peters, Jeffrey Wright
USA/France
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Winter in Wartime / Oorlogswinter
Dir: Martin Koolhoven (AmnesiA, Het schnitzelparadijs)
Cast: Martijn Lakemeier, Jamie Campbell Bower, Yorick van Wageningen
The Netherlands/Belgium
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Wrecked
Dir: Michael Greenspan - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Adrien Brody, Caroline Dhavernas, Ryan Robbins
USA/Canada
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of April 1, 2011**