Film Fan Fridays for Friday January 20, 2012

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday January 20, 2012! We are back up to our regular holy-crap-that's-a-lot-of-films number of releases with a whopping 10 new films hitting Toronto theatres. What will you choose to watch this week?

In limited release this week we have 7 films to choose from including the post-apocalyptic thriller The Divide, and I'll tell you it's one hell of a film. Dark and brutal - but brilliant. It's directed by Xavier Gens and it played at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival in 2011 at which point I had the opportunity to interview stars Michael Biehn and Michael Eklund - you can hear that interview here, or read the transcripts here: Michael Biehn interview and Michael Eklund interview. They are spoiler-free interview so you don't have to wait to see the film to dive in! You can also see my review of The Divide as well as videos from The Divide Q&A and Introduction Videos from Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011 with director Xavier Gens and actors Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia and Michael Eklund. More limited release awesomeness comes with Ralph Fiennes directorial debut of the Shakespearean adaptation of Coriolanus, the Hong Kong action flick The Viral Factor starring Jay Chou and Nicholas Tse, the South Korean film The Front Line / Go-ji-jeon from the director of Rough Cut / Yeong-hwa-neun yeong-hwa-da and the highly acclaimed and much-listed Iranian film A Separation / Jodaeiye Nader az Simin, all of which I am really looking forward to seeing. We also have Angelina Jolie's directorial debut with In the Land of Blood and Honey and rounding out the limited releases is Not Since You.

In wide release this week we have 3 films to choose from, all of them with action and thrills to enjoy. First up I'm pretty freaking psyched for Underworld Awakening which looks like it's going back to it's vampire action roots with Kate Beckinsale kicking butt, not taking names and looking awesome. There is also awesome Lycan (aka werewolf) action going on and a fantastic cast including Kris Holden-Ried (Dyson on 'Lost Girl') and Charles Dance (Aliens 3, Ironclad, 'Game of Thrones'). For those not counting and not fans of colon usage with multiple sequel'd films, this is #4 after: Underworld, Underworld: Evolution and the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, although in Underworld-verse-time it appears to be most directly post-Underworld: Evolution. Also action-centric is Haywire with a female lead in MMA superstar Gina Carano and we also have Red Tails with a tagline of "Courage Has No Color" and set during WWII and follows African American pilots who have yet to be given the chance to show what they can really do. That's one heck of a week for films! It's going to be a busy one.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Special Screening

Attack the Bloc: Cold War Science Fiction from Behind the Iron Curtain
At TIFF Lightbox from January 19 - April 6, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario Canada

Friday January 20, 2012 Releases

Coriolanus
Dir: Ralph Fiennes - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave, Jessica Chastain
UK
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Divide
Dir: Xavier Gens (Frontier(s), Hitman)
Cast: Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German, Rosanna Arquette, Ashton Holmes, Courtney B. Vance, Michael Eklund, Iván González
Canada/USA/Germany
Official Film Site, Trailer, IMDb Page

The Front Line / Go-ji-jeon
Dir: Hun Jang (Secret Reunion, Rough Cut / Yeong-hwa-neun yeong-hwa-da)
Cast: Shin Ha-kyun, Ko Soo, Lee Je-hoon, Ryu Seung-soo
South Korea
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Haywire
Dir: Steven Soderbergh (Solaris, Oceans 11, The Girlfriend Experience)
Cast: Gina Carano, Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton
USA/Ireland
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

In the Land of Blood and Honey
Writer/Dir: Angelina Jolie - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Zana Marjanovic, Goran Kostic, Alma Terzic, Rade Šerbedžija, Vanesa Glodjo
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Not Since You
Dir: Jeff Stephenson (Flyerman, Bellini's Drive)
Cast: Desmond Harrington, Kathleen Robertson, Christian Kane, Jon Abrahams, Sunny Mabrey, Will Estes
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Red Tails
Dir: Anthony Hemingway - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Terrence Howard, Bryan Cranston, Cuba Gooding Jr., David Oyelowo, Kevin Phillips, Nate Parker, Daniela Ruah, Michael B. Jordan, Tristan Wilds, Cliff Smith, Rick Otto, Elijah Kelly
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

A Separation / Jodaeiye Nader az Simin
Writer/Dir: Asghar Farhadi (About Elly, Fireworks Wednesday)
Cast: Leila Hatami, Peyman Moadi, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat
Iran
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Underworld Awakening
Dir: Måns Mårlind & Björn Stein (Shelter - podcast review)
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James, India Eisley, Charles Dance
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Viral Factor
Writer/Dir: Dante Lam (Fire of Conscience, Beast Cops)
Cast: Jay Chou, Nicholas Tse
Hong Kong
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 January 20, 2012**