Film Fan Fridays for Friday January 13, 2012

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday January 13, 2012! Our quiet start off of releases this year is not trend as today we are back up to a whopping 9 films in comparison to last weeks measly 2. Let's have a look at what we have in store here in Toronto.

In limited release this week we have The Swell Season following Once actors/musicians and couple Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová in their post-film tour. We also have the indie sweetheart film Pariah following a late-teen lesbian which I've heard amazing things about. Getting international we have the Beijing-set Red Light Revolution and Nanban from India.

In wide release this week we have David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method starring Michael Fassbender as Carl Jung, Viggo Mortensen and Freud and Keira Knightly as a volatile patient; there is a lot of excitement around this one and it was chose as a part of Canada's Top Ten 2011. This week also brings up Contraband has the 'one last job' heist-film formula written all over it, but considering it's from Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur who directed the brilliant White Night Wedding / Brúðguminn I can't wait to see it; and I do also happen to be a fan of Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter). Also hitting theatres but one I only just found out about is Joyful Noise starring Queen Latifah & Dolly Parton and with a tagline of "Dream a Whole Lot Louder" I know I have to check it out, plus it's from Todd Graff the director of Bandslam which coincidentally I'm watching as I write this! What are the chances. Rounding out the wide releases we have The Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher and a re-release of the 1991 Disney film The Beauty and the Beast in 3D.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Special Screenings

Full Metal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos
Janaury 15, 2012 at 12:45PM and January 19, 2012 at 7:30PM at various locations

Design for Living Trilogy: Gary Hustwit's Design Trilogy
Helvetica, Urbanized & Objectified play January 13 - 17, 2012 at TIFF Lightbox

Shorts Are Not Pants
Friday January 13, 2012 at 7PM at the NFB in Toronto, Ontario, Canad

Friday January 13, 2012 Releases

Beauty and the Beast 3D
Dir: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise (The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Cast: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson Richard White, Angela Lansbury
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Contraband
Dir: Baltasar Kormákur (White Night Wedding / Brúðguminn)
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, Caleb Landry Jones, Lukas Haas, Diego Luna, J.K. Simmons
USA/UK/France
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

A Dangerous Method
Dir: David Cronenberg (Cosmopolis, Eastern Promises, Naked Lunch, The Fly, The Dead Zone)
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, Sarah Gadon, Vincent Cassel
Canada/UK/Switzerland/Germany
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Iron Lady
Dir: Phylida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!)
Cast: Meryl Streep, Harry Lloyd, Jim Broadbent, Alexandra Roach
UK/France
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Joyful Noise
Writer/Dir: Todd Graff (Bandslam, Camp)
Cast: Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan, Courtney B. Vance, Dexter Darden, Kris Kristofferson
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Nanban
Dir: S. Shankar (Enthiran, Sivaji)
Cast: Vijay, Jeeva, Srikanth, Ileana D'Cruz
India
Limited Release
Official Film Wikipedia Page, Film Site & Trailer, Sadly I couldn't find an IMDb Page for Nanban!

Pariah
Writer/Dir: Dee Rees
Cast: Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell, Aasha Davis
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Red Light Revolution
Writer/Dir: Sam Voutas (Shanghai Bride, Crash Test)
Cast: Jun Zhao, Vivid Wang, Xiduo Jiang, Masanobu Otsuka
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

The Swell Season
Dir: Nick August-Perna, Chris Dapkins, Carlo Mirabella-Davis - feature film directorial debuts
Documentary
USA/Czech Republic/Ireland
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 January 13, 2012**