Film Fan Fridays for Friday February 17, 2012

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday February 17, 2012! It's another week of exciting release here in Toronto and I'm excited because it's also our 2nd week in a row of Book to Film Club releases as last week we had The Woman in Black (see podcast review here) and this week we have The Secret World of Arrietty / Kari-gurashi no Arietti based on The Borrowers by Mary Norton. But before we get to the super big films, let's have a look at our limited release titles.

This week in limited release this week we have a whole slew of interesting films including Puppet, which really caught my eye as it's a documentary on puppeteering that looks like it takes head on both the love and criticism of the craft. And seriously, I had no idea there was criticism of it, I mean.. really? Who doesn't like puppets? Puppets are awesome. Another film that was already on my radar and now excited to see in release is the Love (2012), a Taiwan/China co-pro that's a really sweet looking romantic comedy which I actually saw the trailer for earlier this year in the theatre when I went to The Viral Factor. I love how many international films we have the opportunity to see here in Toronto, and that continues even mre with this weeks releases of highly acclaimed and Oscar-nominated WWII biopic film In Darkness, South Korean romantic comedy Dancing Queen and Bollywood film Ekk Deewana Tha.

In wide release this week we have our first of the 2012 Book to Film Club releases with The Secret World of Arrietty / Kari-gurashi no Arietti based on the kids book The Borrowers and the film version is from Japan, although it's re-voiced here with North American actors which will be interesting to see, and hear! I'm really looking forward to it and I really enjoyed the book. We also have Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which my first instinct is just to rag on it as I didn't like the first one (and I don't think I was alone in that), but when I honestly take in my own reaction to the trailer to this new one, I have to admit it looks like fun, although it also does look like a frighteningly close possibly pseudo sequel to Drive Angry. Last up for wide releases is This Means War which has some special screening releases for Valentine's Day, but 'officially' opens today.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Reel Artists Film Festival
February 22 - 26, 2012 at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Friday February 17, 2012 Releases

Dancing Queen
Dir: Lee Suk-Hoon
Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Um Jung-Hwa, Jung Sung-Hwa, Ra Mi-Ran
South Korea
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Ekk Deewana Tha
Dir: Gautham Menon
Cast: Prateik Babbar, Amy Jackson, Sachin Khedekar
India
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Dir: Brian Taylor & Mark Neveldine (Gamer, Crank)
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Violante Placido, Ciaran Hinds, Idris Elba, Fergus Riordan, Anthony Stewart Head
USA/United Arab Emirates
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

In Darkness
Dir: Agnieszka Holland (Julie Walking Home, The Secret Garden (1993))
Cast: Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Agnieszka Grochowska
Poland/Germany/France/Canada
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Love (2012)
Dir: Doze Niu (What on Earth Have I Done Wrong?!)
Cast: Wei Zhao, Mark Chao, Eddie Peng, Amber Kuo
Taiwan/China
Limited Release
Official Facebook Page, IMDb Page, Trailer

Puppet
Dir: David Soll
Documentary - feature film directorial debut
Canada/US
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

The Secret World of Arrietty / Kari-gurashi no Arietti
Dir: Hiromasa Yonebayashi - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Bridgit Mendler, Amy Poehler, Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, David Henrie, Moises Arias
Japan
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

This Means War
Dir: McG (Terminator Salvation, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Charlie's Angels)
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, Til Schweiger
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of February 17, 2012**