Film Fan Fridays for Friday June 17, 2011

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday June 17, 2011! Six new films to choose from hitting Toronto theatres this week and it's odd to say this but that feels like of light. Weird! Even so there are several out of the bunch that I want to see!

In limited release this week we have both emotions and epic choices. Pulling the emotion card we start with Beautiful Boy starring Michael Sheen and Maria Bello as the parents of a son is at the centre of a school tragedy. Then we have Beginners a comedy/drama starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic which has both whimsical and touching feel to it. I'm thinking both of them will be KR (kleenex required) films. If epic is more your pace than True Legend should be right up your alley, the trailer for this martial arts film had me at "Two brothers.... One destiny...". Yep. I'll be seeing that.

In wide release this week we have start with superhero comicness of Green Lantern (odd, I really thought it was 'The' Green Lantern, but it isn't...) which stars Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, a pilot whose given the responsibility through the power of an alien ring to help the safety of the universe. I'm a little skeptical on that one to be honest, even though I usually quite like Ryan Reynolds. We also have Mr. Poppers Penguins, which stars Jim Carrey and you guessed it ... lots of penguins. Last up for wide releases we have The Art of Getting By a sweet looking romance starring Freddie Highmore & Emma Roberts.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Luminato
Toronto Festival of Arts + Creativity
Continues until June 19, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

North by Northeast Music and Film Festival & Conference (NXNE)
Continues until June 19, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

ReelHeART International Film Festival
The Filmmakers Film Festival
June 20 - 25, 2011 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto Youth Shorts Film Festival
June 19, 2011 at Innis Town Hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Special Screening Gekijouban Trigan: Badlands Rumble
Okay, I read a bunch about this animated film but still can't figure out much about it except that it sounds fans will be excited and it's a bit deal. It's showing Wednesday June 22, 2011 at various theatres including Scotiabank & Fairview (see listing here) and find our more by watching the trailer here.

Friday June 17, 2011 Releases

The Art of Getting By
Writer/Dir: Gavin Wiesen - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Elizabeth Reaser
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Beautiful Boy
Dir: Shawn Ku (The American Mall)
Cast: Michael Sheen, Maria Bello, Kyle Gallner, Alan Tudyk, Moon Bloodgood, Austin Nichols
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Beginners
Writer/Dir: Mike Mills (Thumbsucker)
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Green Lantern
Dir: Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, GoldenEye)
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Temuera Morrison
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Mr. Poppers Penguins
Dir: Mark Waters (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, The Spiderwick Chronicles)
Cast: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Angela Lansbury
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

True Legend
Dir: Yuen Woo Ping (Iron Monkey)
Cast: Vincent Zhao , Zhou Xun , Andy On, Guo Xiaodong , Jay Chou, Michelle Yeoh, David Carradine, Gordon Liu, Cung Le
China
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 June 17, 2011**