Film Fan Fridays for Friday September 30, 2011

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday September 30, 2011! It's another record high week of releases. 14 films. If you wanted to see everything you'd have to go to 2 a day! Personally, I would love to do that.

In limited release this week we have the majority of our titles with 8 films playing on just a few screens and I'm surprized to see Machine Gun Preacher in limited release, it's the biopic starring Gerard Butler as Sam Childers a biker preacher-defender of Sudanese orphans and was one premise I almost didn't when I heard it but it's true. Keeping it we have 2 documentaries We Were Here and Sleep Furiously. Making things go boom we have the indie sweetheart film Bellflower following two friends who literally like to blow cars up and it's been winning the hearts of many and it has a total hipster feel to it. We finally have Gus Van Sant's Restless (2011) coming out (I remember the trailers last summer!) a melancholy looking drama centred on mortality and love, starring Henry Hopper and Mia Wasikowska and I'm sure that one will have tears. There is also the South Korean film Poetry, Chang-dong Lee's follow up to the well received Secret Sunshine. Also out is the comedy The Last Circus / Balada triste de trompeta, and wow we've had a few circus movies this year! And last but not least the Thursday September 29, 2011 release of documentary A Matter of Taste: Serving up Paul Liebrandt.

In wide release this week we have 6 titles to choose from including spooky looking Dream House starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz & Naomi Watts and from the poster I bet there are some kids in that one too. We have the comedy/drama 50/50 following a twenty-something battling cancer (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and is a semi-autobiographical story from screenwriter Will Reiser. What's Your Number? stars Anna Faris and is based on book 20 Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak and follows her journey as she looks back at her past 20 relationships to see if any of them could have been "The One", along with the help of neighbour Chris Evans. We also have the Canadian/Punjabi comedy-drama Breakaway / Speedy Singhs starring Vinay Virmani, Russell Peters and Rob Lowe, Force a Bollywood remake of the Tamil film Kaakha Kaakha and the Christian drama Courageous. That truly is a little bit of everything.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Brazilian Film Festival of Toronto
September 29 - October, 2011 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto Palestine Film Festival
September 30 - October 7, 2011 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Thursday September 29, 2011 Releases

A Matter of Taste: Serving up Paul Liebrandt
Dir: Sally Rowe - feature film directorial debut
Documentary
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Friday September 30, 2011

50/50 (2011)
Dir: Jonathan Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, The Wackness)
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Bellflower
Writer/Dir: Evan Glodell - feature film directorical debut
Cast: Evan Glodell, Jessie Wiseman, Tyler Dawson, Rebekah Brandes, Vincent Grashaw
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Breakaway / Speedy Singhs
Dir: Robert Lieberman (NetForce, The Tortured (2010)
Cast: Vinay Virmani, Russell Peters, Camilla Belle, Rob Lowe, Anupam Kher
Canada
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Courageous
Dir: Alex Kendrick (Fireproof (2008))
Cast: Alex Kendrick, Ken Bevel, Kevin Downes, Ben Davies
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Dream House
Dir: Jim Sheridan (In America, In the Name of the Father, My Left Foot)
Cast: Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz, Elias Koteas, Marton Csokas, Taylor Geare
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Force
Dir: Nishikant Kamat (Mumbai Meri Jaan, Evano Oruvan)
Cast: John Abraham, Genelia D'Souza, Raj Babbar, Mohnish Bahl
India
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

The Last Circus / Balada triste de trompeta
Writer/Dir: Álex de la Iglesia (The Oxford Murders, The Day of the Beast, La comunidad)
Cast: Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Carolina Bang, Manuel Tallafé
Spain/France
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Machine Gun Preacher
Dir: Marc Forster (Stranger Than Fiction, The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace)
Cast: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Poetry
Writer/Dir: Chang-dong Lee (Secret Sunshine)
Cast: Jeong-hie Yun, Nae-sang Ahn, Da-wit Lee
South Korea
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer.

Restless (2011)
Dir: Gus Van Sant (Gerry, Good Will Hunting, Paranoid Park)
Cast: Henry Hopper, Mia Wasikowska
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Sleep Furiously
Dir: Gideon Koppel (A Sketchbook for the Library Van)
Documentary
UK
Limited Release
No Official Film Site Found, IMDb Page, Trailer

We Were Here
Dir: David Weissman & Bill Weber (The Cockettes)
Documentary
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

What's Your Number?
Dir: Mark Mylod ("Entourage")
Cast: Anna Faris, Chris Evans
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of September 30, 2011**