Movie Box Review

It looks like TIFF Spirit is very much in the air with the biggest vote going to 47% saying Yes, it's a yearly ritual and 11% of folks for the first time. Next up are the No's, 17% who wish they are and then 11% Not going this year and 11% are just straight up No.

47% - Yes, it's a yearly ritual
17% - No, but I wish I was
11% - Yes, it's my first time
11% - No, not this year
11% - No

I'm one of the No's the year - I applied for but did not receive press accreditation, here's hoping that 2011 will be the year that I get a yes. I hope everyone has a great time at the festival, I know I'll certainly miss it this year.

Thanks for voting & to the Yes's, enjoy the festival!

It looks like TIFF Spirit is very much in the air with the biggest vote going to 47% saying Yes, it's a yearly ritual and 11% of folks for the first time. Next up are the No's, 17% who wish they are and then 11% Not going this year and 11% are just straight up No.

47% - Yes, it's a yearly ritual
17% - No, but I wish I was
11% - Yes, it's my first time
11% - No, not this year
11% - No

I'm one of the No's the year - I applied for but did not receive press accreditation, here's hoping that 2011 will be the year that I get a yes. I hope everyone has a great time at the festival, I know I'll certainly miss it this year.

Thanks for voting & to the Yes's, enjoy the festival!

I'm a little late to the Midnight Madness party this year, but with the film titles announced just last week and the festival only a few weeks ahead of us, there is still a lot of time to get excited about the 10 films that play at the latest time slot, to the loudest crowds at the Toronto International Film Festival.

I'm thrilled to see the multitude of paranormal, thrilling and just down right creepy looking films are included in this years festival. First off, it's so exciting to see that new work from Jim Mickle & Nick Damici who brought us Mulberry Street have teamed up again as writer/director and writer/actor in the post-apocalyptic Stake Land that is set after a vampire epidemic. Bring it on! More tragic world views with Brad Anderson's Vanishing on 7th Street which looks totally creepy from the trailer, and the film stars Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo is a survivalist themed thriller set in a world where very suddenly very few people kicking around. Legendary director John Carpenter returns with a new film The Ward, set in 1960's in a mental institution with "unseen forces" - that's got to be scary! More scares to terrorize in Insidious, starring Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson as parents who move into an old house with uninvited guests in the form of vengeful spirits, or perhaps they are the uninvited guests! We also have the Hong Kong set urban thriller Red Nights starring Carrie Ng as a seductress and killer. Wow.

For the action fans the program has some very interesting choices this year and my interest was piqued when the first line of the Bunraku description read as "In a world with no guns", that's enough to get me interested! But add young samurai, assassins and a bartender (?!) it just gets better and better. Oh, and better still as it starts Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman and Demi Moore. On the other end of the gun spectrum, there is no 'no gun' clause in Fire of Conscience which from the trailer over at the official website is explosive and fierce, and looks like it might set a freaking record for explosions.

A film that sounds like it defies broad categorizations is The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman / Dao Jian Xiao a kitchen-centric action comedy starring Masanobu Ando (SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO, Nightmare Detective / Akumu Tantei). You had me at "the struggle to own a deadly kitchen cleaver". More films in the program that have unique comedic flair are SUPER featuring Rainn Wilson as a costumed vigilante and Fubar II that is sure to be filled with hoser goodness.

So, that's the good news. The sad news it looks like this will be my last post regarding the Toronto International Film Festival this year. I applied for but did not receive press accreditation, here's hoping that 2011 will be the year that I get a yes. I hope everyone has a great time at the festival, I know I'll certainly miss it this year.

2010 Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival:

Bunraku
It had me at "In a world with no guns"
Dir: Guy Moshe
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, Demi Moore
USA
TIFF Page, Film Facebook Page, IMDB Page

The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman / Dao Jian Xiao
Dir: Wuershan
Cast: Masanobu Ando, Kitty Zhang, You Benchang, Liu Xiaoye, Ashton Xu
Hong Kong, China/USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, No IMDb Page

Fire of Conscience / Huo Long
It had me at "an orchestra of exploding grenades and machine gun rounds"
Dir: Dante Lam
Cast: Leon Lai, Richie Jen, Wan Baoqiang, Vivian Hsu
Hong Kong/China
North American Premiere
TIFF Page, Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDB Page

Insidious
It had me at "vengeful spirits from another realm"
Dir: James Wan
Cast: Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Patrick Wilson
USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, IMDB Page

Red Nights / Les Nuits Rouges du Bourreau de Jade
It had me at "seductive cat-and-mouse thriller set in Hong Kong"
Dir: Julien Carbon & Laurent Courtiaud
Cast: Frédérique Bel, Carrie Ng, Carole Brana, Stephen Wong
Hong Kong/ China/France
World Premiere
TIFF Page, IMDB Page

Stake Land
It had me at "In the aftermath of a vampire epidemic"
Dir: Jim Mickle (Mulberry Street)
Cast: Nick Damici, Connor Paolo, Danielle Harris, Kelly McGillis, Michael Cerveris
USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, Official Film Site, IMDB Page

SUPER
It had me at "costumed vigilante armed with a monkey wrench"
Dir: James Gunn
Cast: Rainn Wilson, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Ellen Page
USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, IMDB Page

Vanishing on 7th Street
It had me at "blackout causes the population to inexplicably vanish"
Dir: Brad Anderson (The Machinest, Transsiberian)
Cast: Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo
USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDB Page

The Ward, John Carpenter's
It had me at "John Carpenter"
Dir: John Carpenter (The Thing, They Live, Big Trouble in Little China, Halloween)
Cast: Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Jared Harris, Lyndsy Fonseca
USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, Official Film Site, IMDB Page

Plus Previously announced:

Fubar II **Midnight Madness Opening Night**
It had me at "hosers"
Dir: Michael Dowse
Cast: Dave Lawrence, Paul J. Spence, Andy Sparacino, Terra Hazelton, Tracy Lawrence
Canada
World Premiere
TIFF Page, Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDB Page

Source: When The Sun Goes Down, The Stars Come Out Festival’s Midnight Madness Line-Up Packed With Big Names, Big Action And Big Thrills

The Toronto International Film Festival 2010 runs from September 9 - 19, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

I'm a little late to the Midnight Madness party this year, but with the film titles announced just last week and the festival only a few weeks ahead of us, there is still a lot of time to get excited about the 10 films that play at the latest time slot, to the loudest crowds at the Toronto International Film Festival.

I'm thrilled to see the multitude of paranormal, thrilling and just down right creepy looking films are included in this years festival. First off, it's so exciting to see that new work from Jim Mickle & Nick Damici who brought us Mulberry Street have teamed up again as writer/director and writer/actor in the post-apocalyptic Stake Land that is set after a vampire epidemic. Bring it on! More tragic world views with Brad Anderson's Vanishing on 7th Street which looks totally creepy from the trailer, and the film stars Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo is a survivalist themed thriller set in a world where very suddenly very few people kicking around. Legendary director John Carpenter returns with a new film The Ward, set in 1960's in a mental institution with "unseen forces" - that's got to be scary! More scares to terrorize in Insidious, starring Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson as parents who move into an old house with uninvited guests in the form of vengeful spirits, or perhaps they are the uninvited guests! We also have the Hong Kong set urban thriller Red Nights starring Carrie Ng as a seductress and killer. Wow.

For the action fans the program has some very interesting choices this year and my interest was piqued when the first line of the Bunraku description read as "In a world with no guns", that's enough to get me interested! But add young samurai, assassins and a bartender (?!) it just gets better and better. Oh, and better still as it starts Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman and Demi Moore. On the other end of the gun spectrum, there is no 'no gun' clause in Fire of Conscience which from the trailer over at the official website is explosive and fierce, and looks like it might set a freaking record for explosions.

A film that sounds like it defies broad categorizations is The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman / Dao Jian Xiao a kitchen-centric action comedy starring Masanobu Ando (SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO, Nightmare Detective / Akumu Tantei). You had me at "the struggle to own a deadly kitchen cleaver". More films in the program that have unique comedic flair are SUPER featuring Rainn Wilson as a costumed vigilante and Fubar II that is sure to be filled with hoser goodness.

So, that's the good news. The sad news it looks like this will be my last post regarding the Toronto International Film Festival this year. I applied for but did not receive press accreditation, here's hoping that 2011 will be the year that I get a yes. I hope everyone has a great time at the festival, I know I'll certainly miss it this year.

2010 Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival:

Bunraku
It had me at "In a world with no guns"
Dir: Guy Moshe
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, Demi Moore
USA
TIFF Page, Film Facebook Page, IMDB Page

The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman / Dao Jian Xiao
Dir: Wuershan
Cast: Masanobu Ando, Kitty Zhang, You Benchang, Liu Xiaoye, Ashton Xu
Hong Kong, China/USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, No IMDb Page

Fire of Conscience / Huo Long
It had me at "an orchestra of exploding grenades and machine gun rounds"
Dir: Dante Lam
Cast: Leon Lai, Richie Jen, Wan Baoqiang, Vivian Hsu
Hong Kong/China
North American Premiere
TIFF Page, Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDB Page

Insidious
It had me at "vengeful spirits from another realm"
Dir: James Wan
Cast: Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Patrick Wilson
USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, IMDB Page

Red Nights / Les Nuits Rouges du Bourreau de Jade
It had me at "seductive cat-and-mouse thriller set in Hong Kong"
Dir: Julien Carbon & Laurent Courtiaud
Cast: Frédérique Bel, Carrie Ng, Carole Brana, Stephen Wong
Hong Kong/ China/France
World Premiere
TIFF Page, IMDB Page

Stake Land
It had me at "In the aftermath of a vampire epidemic"
Dir: Jim Mickle (Mulberry Street)
Cast: Nick Damici, Connor Paolo, Danielle Harris, Kelly McGillis, Michael Cerveris
USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, Official Film Site, IMDB Page

SUPER
It had me at "costumed vigilante armed with a monkey wrench"
Dir: James Gunn
Cast: Rainn Wilson, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Ellen Page
USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, IMDB Page

Vanishing on 7th Street
It had me at "blackout causes the population to inexplicably vanish"
Dir: Brad Anderson (The Machinest, Transsiberian)
Cast: Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo
USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDB Page

The Ward, John Carpenter's
It had me at "John Carpenter"
Dir: John Carpenter (The Thing, They Live, Big Trouble in Little China, Halloween)
Cast: Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Jared Harris, Lyndsy Fonseca
USA
World Premiere
TIFF Page, Official Film Site, IMDB Page

Plus Previously announced:

Fubar II **Midnight Madness Opening Night**
It had me at "hosers"
Dir: Michael Dowse
Cast: Dave Lawrence, Paul J. Spence, Andy Sparacino, Terra Hazelton, Tracy Lawrence
Canada
World Premiere
TIFF Page, Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDB Page

Source: When The Sun Goes Down, The Stars Come Out Festival’s Midnight Madness Line-Up Packed With Big Names, Big Action And Big Thrills

The Toronto International Film Festival 2010 runs from September 9 - 19, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Today we were treated to a whole slew of press releases featuring Canadian features, shorts, jury members and Pitch This participants at this years Toronto International Film Festival. I always look forward to the announcement of Canadian films, one of the primary reasons I ever started writing about film at all was to share the love and spread the word on Canadian film and TIFF is one of the best places to see Canadian, especially films from Quebec which rarely grace out regular theatres here in Toronto.

Included in the lists we have the first title released from the Midnight Madness program, and will open this years Midnight Madness program and that is Fubar II. I can't even imagine the craziness that will ensue at that screening! Films that I'm really looking forward include new works from great Canadian directors including Denis Côté with Curling, Denis Villeneuve with Incendies and Xavier Dolan with Les amours imaginaires / Heartbeats. We also have a fair number of thrillers in the mix with Good Neighbours and Repeaters, documentary goodness with Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie and music to our ears with Bruce McDonald's Trigger.

Let's take a look at the full list of titles, and remember that the new premium screenings status is in are in effect this year and may apply to World or North American Premieres and to jog your memory, premium screenings are described as follows: "We have refined our definition of a premium screening around the experience you will have. These are screenings that are World or North American premieres and offer a premium experience including a red carpet event."

Canada First!

Daydream Nation
Dir: Mike Goldbach
Cast: Kat Dennings, Andie MacDowell, Josh Lucas, Reece Thompson, Rachel Blanchard
BC, Canada
World Premiere

Amazon Falls
Dir: Katrin Bowen
BC, Canada
World Premiere

High Cost of Living
Dir: Deborah Chow
Cast: Isabelle Blais, Zach Braff
QC, Canada
World Premiere

Jaloux
Dir: Patrick Demers
QC, Canada
North American Premiere

Oliver Sherman
Dir: Ryan Redford
Cast: Donal Logue, Molly Parker, Garret Dillahunt
ON, Canada
World Premiere

You Are Here
Dir: Daniel Cockburn
Cast: Tracy Wright, Nadia Litz
ON, Canada
North American Premiere

Canadian Open Vault

A Married Couple
Dir: Allan King
Canada, 1969

Contemporary World Cinema

À l’origine d’un cri
Dir: Robin Aubert
Canada
World Premiere

MODRA
Dir: Ingrid Veninger
Canada
World Premiere

A Night for Dying Tigers
Dir: Terry Miles
Cast: Jennifer Beals, Gil Bellows, Kathleen Roberston, Lauren Lee Smith, Tygh Runyon, John Pyper-Ferguson
Canada
World Premiere

Route 132
Dir: Louis Bélanger
Canada
English Canadian Premiere

Small Town Murder Songs
Dir: Ed Gass-Donnelly (This Beautiful City)
Cast: Peter Stormare, Jill Hennessy, Aaron Poole, Martha Plimpton
Canada
World Premiere

Galas

A Beginners Guide to Endings
Dir: Jonathan Sobol
Cast: Harvey Keitel, Scott Caan, Paolo Costanzo, Wendy Crewson, Tricia Helfer, Jason Jones, J.K. Simmons
Canada
World Premiere

Midnight Madness

Fubar II **Midnight Madness Opening Night**
Dir: Michael Dowse
Canada
World Premiere

Real to Reel

How to Start Your Own Country
Dir: Jody Shapiro
Canada
World Premiere

The Man of a Thousand Songs
Dir: William D. MacGillivray
Canada
World Premiere

Special Presentations

Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie
Dir: Sturla Gunnarsson
Documentary
Canada
World Premiere

Good Neighbours
Dir: Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky)
Cast: Scott Speedman, Emily Hampshire, Jay Baruchel
Canada
World Premiere

Incendies
Dir: Denis Villeneuve (Polytechnique)
Canada
North American Premiere

Les amours imaginaires / Heartbeats
Dir: Xavier Dolan (J'ai tué ma mère / I Killed My Mother)
Canada
English Canadian Premiere

Repeaters
Dir: Carl Bessai (Normal, Unnatural & Accidental)
Canada
World Premiere

Trigger
Dir: Bruce McDonald (Pontypool)
Cast: Tracy Wright, Sarah Polley, Don McKellar, Callum Keith Rennie
Canada
World Premiere

Visions

Curling
Dir: Denis Côté (Nos vies privées / Our Private Lives)
Canada
North American Premiere

Trois temps après la mort d'Anna
Dir: Catherine Martin
Canada
English Canadian Premiere

See recent press releases regarding Canadian titles at TIFF 2010:

• Oh Canada! Festival Announces Impressive Selection Of Canadian Features
• TIFF Celebrates The Freshest Homegrown Talent With Canada First!
• Short Cuts Canada Lineup Celebrates The Best In Short Film
• Festival Announces Canadian Film Awards And 2010 Jury Members
• Toronto International Film Festival Announces Participants For Seventh Annual Talent Lab, Eleventh Annual Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! And Inaugural Producers Lab Toronto

Today we were treated to a whole slew of press releases featuring Canadian features, shorts, jury members and Pitch This participants at this years Toronto International Film Festival. I always look forward to the announcement of Canadian films, one of the primary reasons I ever started writing about film at all was to share the love and spread the word on Canadian film and TIFF is one of the best places to see Canadian, especially films from Quebec which rarely grace out regular theatres here in Toronto.

Included in the lists we have the first title released from the Midnight Madness program, and will open this years Midnight Madness program and that is Fubar II. I can't even imagine the craziness that will ensue at that screening! Films that I'm really looking forward include new works from great Canadian directors including Denis Côté with Curling, Denis Villeneuve with Incendies and Xavier Dolan with Les amours imaginaires / Heartbeats. We also have a fair number of thrillers in the mix with Good Neighbours and Repeaters, documentary goodness with Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie and music to our ears with Bruce McDonald's Trigger.

Let's take a look at the full list of titles, and remember that the new premium screenings status is in are in effect this year and may apply to World or North American Premieres and to jog your memory, premium screenings are described as follows: "We have refined our definition of a premium screening around the experience you will have. These are screenings that are World or North American premieres and offer a premium experience including a red carpet event."

Canada First!

Daydream Nation
Dir: Mike Goldbach
Cast: Kat Dennings, Andie MacDowell, Josh Lucas, Reece Thompson, Rachel Blanchard
BC, Canada
World Premiere

Amazon Falls
Dir: Katrin Bowen
BC, Canada
World Premiere

High Cost of Living
Dir: Deborah Chow
Cast: Isabelle Blais, Zach Braff
QC, Canada
World Premiere

Jaloux
Dir: Patrick Demers
QC, Canada
North American Premiere

Oliver Sherman
Dir: Ryan Redford
Cast: Donal Logue, Molly Parker, Garret Dillahunt
ON, Canada
World Premiere

You Are Here
Dir: Daniel Cockburn
Cast: Tracy Wright, Nadia Litz
ON, Canada
North American Premiere

Canadian Open Vault

A Married Couple
Dir: Allan King
Canada, 1969

Contemporary World Cinema

À l’origine d’un cri
Dir: Robin Aubert
Canada
World Premiere

MODRA
Dir: Ingrid Veninger
Canada
World Premiere

A Night for Dying Tigers
Dir: Terry Miles
Cast: Jennifer Beals, Gil Bellows, Kathleen Roberston, Lauren Lee Smith, Tygh Runyon, John Pyper-Ferguson
Canada
World Premiere

Route 132
Dir: Louis Bélanger
Canada
English Canadian Premiere

Small Town Murder Songs
Dir: Ed Gass-Donnelly (This Beautiful City)
Cast: Peter Stormare, Jill Hennessy, Aaron Poole, Martha Plimpton
Canada
World Premiere

Galas

A Beginners Guide to Endings
Dir: Jonathan Sobol
Cast: Harvey Keitel, Scott Caan, Paolo Costanzo, Wendy Crewson, Tricia Helfer, Jason Jones, J.K. Simmons
Canada
World Premiere

Midnight Madness

Fubar II **Midnight Madness Opening Night**
Dir: Michael Dowse
Canada
World Premiere

Real to Reel

How to Start Your Own Country
Dir: Jody Shapiro
Canada
World Premiere

The Man of a Thousand Songs
Dir: William D. MacGillivray
Canada
World Premiere

Special Presentations

Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie
Dir: Sturla Gunnarsson
Documentary
Canada
World Premiere

Good Neighbours
Dir: Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky)
Cast: Scott Speedman, Emily Hampshire, Jay Baruchel
Canada
World Premiere

Incendies
Dir: Denis Villeneuve (Polytechnique)
Canada
North American Premiere

Les amours imaginaires / Heartbeats
Dir: Xavier Dolan (J'ai tué ma mère / I Killed My Mother)
Canada
English Canadian Premiere

Repeaters
Dir: Carl Bessai (Normal, Unnatural & Accidental)
Canada
World Premiere

Trigger
Dir: Bruce McDonald (Pontypool)
Cast: Tracy Wright, Sarah Polley, Don McKellar, Callum Keith Rennie
Canada
World Premiere

Visions

Curling
Dir: Denis Côté (Nos vies privées / Our Private Lives)
Canada
North American Premiere

Trois temps après la mort d'Anna
Dir: Catherine Martin
Canada
English Canadian Premiere

See recent press releases regarding Canadian titles at TIFF 2010:

• Oh Canada! Festival Announces Impressive Selection Of Canadian Features
• TIFF Celebrates The Freshest Homegrown Talent With Canada First!
• Short Cuts Canada Lineup Celebrates The Best In Short Film
• Festival Announces Canadian Film Awards And 2010 Jury Members
• Toronto International Film Festival Announces Participants For Seventh Annual Talent Lab, Eleventh Annual Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS! And Inaugural Producers Lab Toronto

The latest set of films films that have been added to the line up of this years Toronto International Film Festival bring documentary goodness to the fest! Some of films I'm really looking forward to of the newly announced titles include Kim Longinotto (Gaea Girls) film Pink Saris which involves an Indian feminist group and also the Australia film Machete Maidens Unleashed! from director Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood). I never thought I would use the terms Werner Herzog & 3D in the same sentence, which is one of the reasons that it's awesome to know you can always be surprized. His latest film Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a documentary about the earliest images in 3-D.

Music fans will be thrilled to hear about The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town (dir: Thom Zimny) that focuses on Bruce Springsteen and his creative process and Mother of Rock: Lillian Roxon (dir: Paul Clarke) which looks at the Lillian Roxon and the New York punk scene in 1960s & 70s.

Let's take a look at the full list of titles, and remember that the new premium screenings status is in are in effect this year and may apply to World or North American Premieres and to jog your memory, premium screenings are described as follows: "We have refined our definition of a premium screening around the experience you will have. These are screenings that are World or North American premieres and offer a premium experience including a red carpet event."

Gala

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town
Dir: Thom Zimny
USA
World Premiere

Masters

Erotic Man
Dir: Jørgen Leth
Denmark
World Premiere

Nostalgia for the Light
Dir: Patricio Guzmán
France/Germany/Chile
North American Premiere

Real to Reel

ANPO
Dir: Linda Hoaglund
Japan/USA
World Premiere

Armadillo
Dir: Janus Metz
Denmark
North American Premiere

Boxing Gym
Dir: Frederick Wiseman
USA
North American Premiere

Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Dir: Werner Herzog (Encounters at the End of the World, Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979))
USA
World Premiere

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
Dir: Alex Gibney
USA
World Premiere

Cool It
Dir: Ondi Timoner (We Live in Public)
USA
World Premiere

The Game of Death
Dirs: Christophe Nick & Thomas Bornot
France
North American Premiere

Genpin
Dir: Naomi Kawase
Japan
World Premiere

Guest
Dir: Jose Luis Guerin
Spain
North American Premiere
­­­­
Inside Job
Dir: Charles Ferguson
USA
North American Premiere

Machete Maidens Unleashed!
Dir: Mark Hartley
Australia
International Premiere

Mother of Rock: Lillian Roxon
Dir: Paul Clarke
Australia
International Premiere

Pink Saris
Dir: Kim Longinotto (Gaea Girls)
UK
World Premiere

The Pipe
Dir: Risteard Ó Domhnaill
Ireland
International Premiere

Precious Life
Dir: Shlomi Eldar
Israel
International Premiere

The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical
Dir: Sarah McCarthy
United Kingdom
North American Premiere

Tabloid
Dir: Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line)
USA
World Premiere

Tears of Gaza
Dir: Vibeke Løkkeberg
Norway
World Premiere

When My Child is Born
Dir: Guo Jing & Ke Dingding
China
World Premiere

Windfall
Dir: Laura Israel
USA
International Premiere

!Women Art Revolution – A Secret History
Dir: Lynn Hershman Leeson
USA
World Premiere

Sprockets Family Zone

Make Believe
Dir: J. Clay Tweel
USA
International Premiere

See press release: Errol Morris, Bruce Springsteen, Kim Longinotto And Werner Herzog (In 3-D!) Lead A Line-Up Of Documentary All-Stars

The Toronto International Film Festival 2010 runs from September 9 - 19, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The latest set of films films that have been added to the line up of this years Toronto International Film Festival bring documentary goodness to the fest! Some of films I'm really looking forward to of the newly announced titles include Kim Longinotto (Gaea Girls) film Pink Saris which involves an Indian feminist group and also the Australia film Machete Maidens Unleashed! from director Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood). I never thought I would use the terms Werner Herzog & 3D in the same sentence, which is one of the reasons that it's awesome to know you can always be surprized. His latest film Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a documentary about the earliest images in 3-D.

Music fans will be thrilled to hear about The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town (dir: Thom Zimny) that focuses on Bruce Springsteen and his creative process and Mother of Rock: Lillian Roxon (dir: Paul Clarke) which looks at the Lillian Roxon and the New York punk scene in 1960s & 70s.

Let's take a look at the full list of titles, and remember that the new premium screenings status is in are in effect this year and may apply to World or North American Premieres and to jog your memory, premium screenings are described as follows: "We have refined our definition of a premium screening around the experience you will have. These are screenings that are World or North American premieres and offer a premium experience including a red carpet event."

Gala

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town
Dir: Thom Zimny
USA
World Premiere

Masters

Erotic Man
Dir: Jørgen Leth
Denmark
World Premiere

Nostalgia for the Light
Dir: Patricio Guzmán
France/Germany/Chile
North American Premiere

Real to Reel

ANPO
Dir: Linda Hoaglund
Japan/USA
World Premiere

Armadillo
Dir: Janus Metz
Denmark
North American Premiere

Boxing Gym
Dir: Frederick Wiseman
USA
North American Premiere

Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Dir: Werner Herzog (Encounters at the End of the World, Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979))
USA
World Premiere

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
Dir: Alex Gibney
USA
World Premiere

Cool It
Dir: Ondi Timoner (We Live in Public)
USA
World Premiere

The Game of Death
Dirs: Christophe Nick & Thomas Bornot
France
North American Premiere

Genpin
Dir: Naomi Kawase
Japan
World Premiere

Guest
Dir: Jose Luis Guerin
Spain
North American Premiere
­­­­
Inside Job
Dir: Charles Ferguson
USA
North American Premiere

Machete Maidens Unleashed!
Dir: Mark Hartley
Australia
International Premiere

Mother of Rock: Lillian Roxon
Dir: Paul Clarke
Australia
International Premiere

Pink Saris
Dir: Kim Longinotto (Gaea Girls)
UK
World Premiere

The Pipe
Dir: Risteard Ó Domhnaill
Ireland
International Premiere

Precious Life
Dir: Shlomi Eldar
Israel
International Premiere

The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical
Dir: Sarah McCarthy
United Kingdom
North American Premiere

Tabloid
Dir: Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line)
USA
World Premiere

Tears of Gaza
Dir: Vibeke Løkkeberg
Norway
World Premiere

When My Child is Born
Dir: Guo Jing & Ke Dingding
China
World Premiere

Windfall
Dir: Laura Israel
USA
International Premiere

!Women Art Revolution – A Secret History
Dir: Lynn Hershman Leeson
USA
World Premiere

Sprockets Family Zone

Make Believe
Dir: J. Clay Tweel
USA
International Premiere

See press release: Errol Morris, Bruce Springsteen, Kim Longinotto And Werner Herzog (In 3-D!) Lead A Line-Up Of Documentary All-Stars

The Toronto International Film Festival 2010 runs from September 9 - 19, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The first big slew of titles has been announced for TIFF 2010 from the Gala, Special Presentations and Master programmes and there are so many films to get excited about but the one that literally made me jump for joy is Never Let Me Go, directed by Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) and starring Carey Mulligan (An Education), Andrew Garfield (Boy A, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), Keira Knightly, Sally Hawkins and Charlotte Rampling, and is based on the book by Kazuo Ishiguro (see book review here). I highly recommend reading the book as soon as you can, not only because it's one of the best books I've read in years but also because it's such a great story that the less you know the better and the film trailer show way to much. The writing style of the book takes a bit getting used to, but it's well worth it reading.

Some of the other titles that jumped off the screen at me were In A Better World directed by Susanne Bier (After the Wedding / Efter brylluppet) and starring Ulrich Thomsen (Fear Me Not / Den du frygter), Buried from directed Rodrigo Cortés and starring Ryan Reynolds and L'Amour Fou a documentary on Yves Saint Laurent from director Pierre Thoretton.

The Gala announced have some heavy hitters with Black Swan from director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, The Fountain, Pi) and starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey & Winona Ryder and Philip Seymour Hoffman's feature film directorial debut Jack Goes Boating starrring John Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Amy Ryan & Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Acclaimed directors that are hitting the festival this year include Woody Allen with You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Stephen Frears with Tamara Drewe, Michael Winterbottom with The Trip, Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel) with Biutiful and Mike Leigh with Another Year, all a part of the Special Presentations program.

Several actors with multiple titles in the line up including Catherine Deneuve (Potiche, The Big Picture) and Rachelle Lefevre (Casino Jack and Barney's Visions) and Twi-fans will know Barney's Vision as the film that was the source of the schedulling issues and therefore led to her role of Victoria in Twilight and New Moon being recast as Bryce Dallas Howard for Eclipse.

I know we are all getting excited about the titles and want to get into planning mode, and although it really will all come down to the schedule there are a few things to consider when making your choices. Remember that the new premium screenings status is in are in effect this year and may apply to World or North American Premieres and to jog your memory, premium screenings are described as follows: "We have refined our definition of a premium screening around the experience you will have. These are screenings that are World or North American premieres and offer a premium experience including a red carpet event." Another consideration is that several titles have release dates for during the festival including Easy A, The Town, Jack Goes Boating which are currently slated to be released Friday September 17, 2010.

Here is a list of the most recently released titles:

Galas

The Bang Bang Club
Dir: Steven Silver
Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman, Taylor Kitsch, Neels Van Jaarsveld, Frank Rautenbach
Canada/South Africa
World Premiere

Barney's Version
Dir: Richard J. Lewis
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre, Scott Speedman
Canada/Italy
North American Premiere

Black Swan
Dir: Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, The Fountain, Pi)
Cast: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
USA
North American Premiere

Casino Jack
Dir: George Hickenlooper
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston, Rachelle Lefevre, Jon Lovitz
Canada
World Premiere

The Conspirator
Dir: Robert Redford
Cast: James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson
USA
World Premiere

The Debt
Dir: John Madden
Cast: Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington
USA
North American Premiere

The Housemaid
Dir: Im Sang-Soo
South Korea
North American Premiere

Janie Jones
Dir: David M. Rosenthal
USA
World Premiere

The King's Speech
Dir: Tom Hooper
Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush
United Kingdom/Australia
North American Premiere

Little White Lies
Dir: Guillaume Canet (Tell No One)
Cast: François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Jean Dujardin, Laurent Lafitte, Valérie Bonneton, Pascale Arbillot
France
World Premiere

Peep World
Dir: Barry Blaustein
USA
World Premiere

Potiche
Dir: François Ozon,
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Gerard Depardieu
France
North American Premiere

The Town
Dir: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper
USA
North American Premiere

The Way
Dir: Emilio Estevez
Cast: Martin Sheen
USA
World Premiere

West is West
Dir: Andy De Emmony
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Special Presentations

Another Year
Dir: Mike Leigh
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Peter Wight, Oliver Maltman, David Bradley, Karina Fernandez, Martin Savage
United Kingdom
North American Premiere

Beginners
Dir: Mike Mills (Thumbsucker)
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Ewan McGregor
USA
World Premiere

The Big Picture
Dir: Eric Lartigau
Cast: Romain Duris, Marina Foïs, Niels Arestrup, Catherine Deneuve
France
World Premiere

Biutiful
Dir: Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel)
Cast: Javier Bardem
Spain/Mexico
North American Premiere

Blue Valentine
Dir: Derek Cianfrance
Cast: Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling
USA
Canadian Premiere

Brighton Rock
Dri: Rowan Joffe
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Buried
Dir: Rodrigo Cortés
Cast: Ryan Reynolds
Spain/USA
Canadian Premiere

Conviction
Dir: Tony Goldwyn
Cast: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell
USA
World Premiere

Cirkus Columbia
Dir: Danis Tanovic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
International Premiere

Dhobi Ghat
Dir: Kiran Rao
India
World Premiere

Easy A
Dir: Will Gluck
Cast: Emma Stone
USA
World Premiere

Henry's Crime
Dir: Malcolm Venville
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga, James Caan, Fisher Stevens, Peter Stormare, Danny Hoch, Bill Duke
USA
World Premiere

The Illusionist
Dir: Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville)
United Kingdom
North American Premiere

In A Better World
Dir: Susanne Bier (After the Wedding / Efter brylluppet, Open Hearts)
Cast: Ulrich Thomsen, Mikael Persbrandt
Denmark/Sweden
International Premiere

I Saw the Devil
Dir: Kim Jee-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters, The Good, The Bad, The Weird)
South Korea
North American Premiere

It's Kind of a Funny Story
Dirs: Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden,
Cast: Keir Gilchrist, Emma Roberts, Zach Galifianakis
USA
World Premiere

Jack Goes Boating
Dir: Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Cast: John Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Amy Ryan, Philip Seymour Hoffman
USA
International Premiere

L'Amour Fou
Dir: Pierre Thoretton
Documentary on Yves Saint Laurent
France
World Premiere

The Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
Dir: Andrew Lau
Hong Kong
North American Premiere

Lope
Dir: Andrucha Waddington
Brazil/Spain
World Premiere

Love Crime
Dir: Alain Corneau
Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Ludivine Sagnier
France
International Premiere

Made in Dagenham
Dir: Nigel Cole
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike United Kingdom
World Premiere

Miral
Dir: Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
United Kingdom/Israel/France
North American Premiere

Never Let Me Go
Dir: Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo)
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightly, Sally Hawkins, Charlotte Rampling
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Norwegian Wood
Dir: Tran Anh Hung
Cast: Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi, Kiko Mizuhara
Japan
North American Premiere

Outside the Law
Dir: Rachid Bouchareb
France/Algeria/Tunisia/Italy/Belgium
North American Premiere

Rabbit Hole
Dir: John Cameron Mitchell
Cast: David Lindsay-Abaire. Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart
USA
World Premiere

A Screaming Man
Dir: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
France/Belgium/Chad
North American Premiere

Stone
Dir: John Curran
Cast: Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich, Frances Conroy
USA
World Premiere

Submarine
Dir: Richard Ayoade
United Kingdom
World Premiere

That Girl in Yellow Boots
Dir: Anurag Kashyap
India
North American Premiere

Tamara Drewe
Dir: Stephen Frears
United Kingdom
North American Premiere

The Trip
Dir: Michael Winterbottom
Cat: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Trust
Dir: David Schwimmer
Cast: Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Tom McCarthy
USA
World Premiere

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Dir: Woody Allen
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Lucy Punch, Naomi Watts
United Kingdom/USA/Spain
North American Premiere

Masters

Mysteries of Lisbon
Dir: Raul Ruiz
Portugal/France
World Premiere

See Press Release: Celebrated Actors And Filmmakers Take Centre Stage As TIFF Announces Stellar Lineup Of Galas And Special Presentations

The Toronto International Film Festival 2010 runs from September 9 - 19, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The first big slew of titles has been announced for TIFF 2010 from the Gala, Special Presentations and Master programmes and there are so many films to get excited about but the one that literally made me jump for joy is Never Let Me Go, directed by Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) and starring Carey Mulligan (An Education), Andrew Garfield (Boy A, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), Keira Knightly, Sally Hawkins and Charlotte Rampling, and is based on the book by Kazuo Ishiguro (see book review here). I highly recommend reading the book as soon as you can, not only because it's one of the best books I've read in years but also because it's such a great story that the less you know the better and the film trailer show way to much. The writing style of the book takes a bit getting used to, but it's well worth it reading.

Some of the other titles that jumped off the screen at me were In A Better World directed by Susanne Bier (After the Wedding / Efter brylluppet) and starring Ulrich Thomsen (Fear Me Not / Den du frygter), Buried from directed Rodrigo Cortés and starring Ryan Reynolds and L'Amour Fou a documentary on Yves Saint Laurent from director Pierre Thoretton.

The Gala announced have some heavy hitters with Black Swan from director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, The Fountain, Pi) and starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey & Winona Ryder and Philip Seymour Hoffman's feature film directorial debut Jack Goes Boating starrring John Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Amy Ryan & Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Acclaimed directors that are hitting the festival this year include Woody Allen with You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Stephen Frears with Tamara Drewe, Michael Winterbottom with The Trip, Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel) with Biutiful and Mike Leigh with Another Year, all a part of the Special Presentations program.

Several actors with multiple titles in the line up including Catherine Deneuve (Potiche, The Big Picture) and Rachelle Lefevre (Casino Jack and Barney's Visions) and Twi-fans will know Barney's Vision as the film that was the source of the schedulling issues and therefore led to her role of Victoria in Twilight and New Moon being recast as Bryce Dallas Howard for Eclipse.

I know we are all getting excited about the titles and want to get into planning mode, and although it really will all come down to the schedule there are a few things to consider when making your choices. Remember that the new premium screenings status is in are in effect this year and may apply to World or North American Premieres and to jog your memory, premium screenings are described as follows: "We have refined our definition of a premium screening around the experience you will have. These are screenings that are World or North American premieres and offer a premium experience including a red carpet event." Another consideration is that several titles have release dates for during the festival including Easy A, The Town, Jack Goes Boating which are currently slated to be released Friday September 17, 2010.

Here is a list of the most recently released titles:

Galas

The Bang Bang Club
Dir: Steven Silver
Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman, Taylor Kitsch, Neels Van Jaarsveld, Frank Rautenbach
Canada/South Africa
World Premiere

Barney's Version
Dir: Richard J. Lewis
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre, Scott Speedman
Canada/Italy
North American Premiere

Black Swan
Dir: Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, The Fountain, Pi)
Cast: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
USA
North American Premiere

Casino Jack
Dir: George Hickenlooper
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston, Rachelle Lefevre, Jon Lovitz
Canada
World Premiere

The Conspirator
Dir: Robert Redford
Cast: James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson
USA
World Premiere

The Debt
Dir: John Madden
Cast: Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington
USA
North American Premiere

The Housemaid
Dir: Im Sang-Soo
South Korea
North American Premiere

Janie Jones
Dir: David M. Rosenthal
USA
World Premiere

The King's Speech
Dir: Tom Hooper
Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush
United Kingdom/Australia
North American Premiere

Little White Lies
Dir: Guillaume Canet (Tell No One)
Cast: François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Jean Dujardin, Laurent Lafitte, Valérie Bonneton, Pascale Arbillot
France
World Premiere

Peep World
Dir: Barry Blaustein
USA
World Premiere

Potiche
Dir: François Ozon,
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Gerard Depardieu
France
North American Premiere

The Town
Dir: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper
USA
North American Premiere

The Way
Dir: Emilio Estevez
Cast: Martin Sheen
USA
World Premiere

West is West
Dir: Andy De Emmony
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Special Presentations

Another Year
Dir: Mike Leigh
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Peter Wight, Oliver Maltman, David Bradley, Karina Fernandez, Martin Savage
United Kingdom
North American Premiere

Beginners
Dir: Mike Mills (Thumbsucker)
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Ewan McGregor
USA
World Premiere

The Big Picture
Dir: Eric Lartigau
Cast: Romain Duris, Marina Foïs, Niels Arestrup, Catherine Deneuve
France
World Premiere

Biutiful
Dir: Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel)
Cast: Javier Bardem
Spain/Mexico
North American Premiere

Blue Valentine
Dir: Derek Cianfrance
Cast: Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling
USA
Canadian Premiere

Brighton Rock
Dri: Rowan Joffe
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Buried
Dir: Rodrigo Cortés
Cast: Ryan Reynolds
Spain/USA
Canadian Premiere

Conviction
Dir: Tony Goldwyn
Cast: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell
USA
World Premiere

Cirkus Columbia
Dir: Danis Tanovic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
International Premiere

Dhobi Ghat
Dir: Kiran Rao
India
World Premiere

Easy A
Dir: Will Gluck
Cast: Emma Stone
USA
World Premiere

Henry's Crime
Dir: Malcolm Venville
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga, James Caan, Fisher Stevens, Peter Stormare, Danny Hoch, Bill Duke
USA
World Premiere

The Illusionist
Dir: Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville)
United Kingdom
North American Premiere

In A Better World
Dir: Susanne Bier (After the Wedding / Efter brylluppet, Open Hearts)
Cast: Ulrich Thomsen, Mikael Persbrandt
Denmark/Sweden
International Premiere

I Saw the Devil
Dir: Kim Jee-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters, The Good, The Bad, The Weird)
South Korea
North American Premiere

It's Kind of a Funny Story
Dirs: Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden,
Cast: Keir Gilchrist, Emma Roberts, Zach Galifianakis
USA
World Premiere

Jack Goes Boating
Dir: Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Cast: John Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Amy Ryan, Philip Seymour Hoffman
USA
International Premiere

L'Amour Fou
Dir: Pierre Thoretton
Documentary on Yves Saint Laurent
France
World Premiere

The Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
Dir: Andrew Lau
Hong Kong
North American Premiere

Lope
Dir: Andrucha Waddington
Brazil/Spain
World Premiere

Love Crime
Dir: Alain Corneau
Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Ludivine Sagnier
France
International Premiere

Made in Dagenham
Dir: Nigel Cole
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike United Kingdom
World Premiere

Miral
Dir: Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
United Kingdom/Israel/France
North American Premiere

Never Let Me Go
Dir: Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo)
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightly, Sally Hawkins, Charlotte Rampling
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Norwegian Wood
Dir: Tran Anh Hung
Cast: Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi, Kiko Mizuhara
Japan
North American Premiere

Outside the Law
Dir: Rachid Bouchareb
France/Algeria/Tunisia/Italy/Belgium
North American Premiere

Rabbit Hole
Dir: John Cameron Mitchell
Cast: David Lindsay-Abaire. Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart
USA
World Premiere

A Screaming Man
Dir: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
France/Belgium/Chad
North American Premiere

Stone
Dir: John Curran
Cast: Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich, Frances Conroy
USA
World Premiere

Submarine
Dir: Richard Ayoade
United Kingdom
World Premiere

That Girl in Yellow Boots
Dir: Anurag Kashyap
India
North American Premiere

Tamara Drewe
Dir: Stephen Frears
United Kingdom
North American Premiere

The Trip
Dir: Michael Winterbottom
Cat: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Trust
Dir: David Schwimmer
Cast: Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Tom McCarthy
USA
World Premiere

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Dir: Woody Allen
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Lucy Punch, Naomi Watts
United Kingdom/USA/Spain
North American Premiere

Masters

Mysteries of Lisbon
Dir: Raul Ruiz
Portugal/France
World Premiere

See Press Release: Celebrated Actors And Filmmakers Take Centre Stage As TIFF Announces Stellar Lineup Of Galas And Special Presentations

The Toronto International Film Festival 2010 runs from September 9 - 19, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

You know it's getting closer and closer to TIFF time when we actually start hearing not just rumours (some funny speculations on Twitter recently on Midnight Madness possibilities), but actual *titles* of films that are being released! First up in traditional style we get to hear what the Opening Night Selection is:

Score: A Hockey Musical
Writer/Dir: Michael McGowan (One Week, Saint Ralph)
Cast: Olivia Newton-John, Marc Jordan, Noah Reid, Allie MacDonald + many cameos
Canada

I'm so thrilled that we have not only a Canadian film opening the festival this year, but one that is not only Canadian-centric but also bridge our national pastime with there performing arts. If it sounds like it can't get any better than that, hold on to your seat because it does. One look at the extensive cast list shows everyone from Stephen McHattie (Pontypool, The Rocket / Maurice Richard) to George Stroumboulopoulos to Nelly Furtado, uping it's Canadian coolness with every step of the way. Game on!

Score: A Hockey Musical is part of the Gala Presentation program at TIFF 2010.

Read the press release here. Watch the press conference held at the Hockey Hall of Fame on July 14, 2010 here.

The Toronto International Film Festival 2010 runs from September 9 - 19, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

You know it's getting closer and closer to TIFF time when we actually start hearing not just rumours (some funny speculations on Twitter recently on Midnight Madness possibilities), but actual *titles* of films that are being released! First up in traditional style we get to hear what the Opening Night Selection is:

Score: A Hockey Musical
Writer/Dir: Michael McGowan (One Week, Saint Ralph)
Cast: Olivia Newton-John, Marc Jordan, Noah Reid, Allie MacDonald + many cameos
Canada

I'm so thrilled that we have not only a Canadian film opening the festival this year, but one that is not only Canadian-centric but also bridge our national pastime with there performing arts. If it sounds like it can't get any better than that, hold on to your seat because it does. One look at the extensive cast list shows everyone from Stephen McHattie (Pontypool, The Rocket / Maurice Richard) to George Stroumboulopoulos to Nelly Furtado, uping it's Canadian coolness with every step of the way. Game on!

Score: A Hockey Musical is part of the Gala Presentation program at TIFF 2010.

Read the press release here. Watch the press conference held at the Hockey Hall of Fame on July 14, 2010 here.

The Toronto International Film Festival 2010 runs from September 9 - 19, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Packages go on sale today for Visa cardholders for TIFF 2010. This is the day that always feels like the beginning of the TIFF season to me, although titles are still a mystery it's when the planning wheels start turning in my head.

We have a few changes this year and the biggest one is an extra day of festival! That's right, it's gone from it's regular 10 day Thursday to 2nd Saturday format to an 11 day Thursday to 2nd Sunday format. In some ways, I'm not surprized as getting that extra day in there means more festivalling, especially for locals and this 11 day format is used but several other festivals here in Toronto, namely Hot Docs and Inside Out. I always look forward to sleeping that second Sunday after packing in 40+ films over the festival, but I know that's a little on the high side of film consumption volume.

For the new-to-TIFF, packages are available for purchase now but the film lists and schedule are not yet released. There are many packages available and this year they've split them into My Choice (you make the selections) and TIFF Choice (they make the selection).

My Choice packages range from the mammoth 50-ticket package t0 10-ticket package, and read the details carefully as different packages have different limitations from number of tickets per screening per pass, or time of day (i.e. Daytime packs are for screenings that start before 5:01pm).

TIFF Choice packages can be specified by program, like the 10-ticket Midnight Madness Pack or 6 Film City-to-City Pass; by time with the Evening & Weekend and Daytime Packs, or even by experience with the VISA Screening Room and Roy Thompson Hall passes. New this year is The Canadian, a 5 film package to regular screenings of Canadian films. TIFF is a great place to see Canadian film, I'm so curious to what will be included in that pass this year!

Also to note this year, is the differentiation of Regular and Premium screenings. Premium screenings are described as follows: "We have refined our definition of a premium screening around the experience you will have. These are screenings that are World or North American premieres and offer a premium experience including a red carpet event." All My Choice packages are for regular screenings only, no premium screenings. TIFF Choice package have some that are all regular, some that are all premium, and some that are a combination of both.

This is just a taste the packages available, you can see full listing of packages with prices and descriptions here. Read everything carefully to make sure you are getting the package that will fit with the TIFF experience you want to have! There is a great outline of the package purchasing process here, as it is a multi-step process. Also check out the FAQ for handy details and it's always a good idea to familiarize yourself with festival policies as well.

You can purchase TIFF 2010 packages here with VISA.

Not a Visa cardholder? Don't despair - you can purchase packages as of next Monday July 12, 2010. Get more information on ticketing and box office here.

Don't want to get a pass? Then you have lots of time on your hands and can rest until September 3, 2010 when single tickets go on sale. Prices for single tickets are similar to last year with regular tickets at around $20, but premium screenings are around $40.

So, it does feel like it all begins today. But what happens next? Here are some key dates:
August 18, 2010: Film list available online
August 24, 2010: Film schedule available online
August 24, 2010: Program Book available for pick up
August 24, 2010: Advance Order book available
August 30, 2010: before 1pm Drop off advance Order Book (film selection)
August 30, 2010: at 1pm Draw day
September 2, 2010: Ticket Pick Up begins
September 2, 2010: Ticket Exchange begins
September 9 - 19, 2010: The Festival Dates!

The Toronto International Film Festival 2010 runs from September 9 - 19, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Packages go on sale today for Visa cardholders for TIFF 2010. This is the day that always feels like the beginning of the TIFF season to me, although titles are still a mystery it's when the planning wheels start turning in my head.

We have a few changes this year and the biggest one is an extra day of festival! That's right, it's gone from it's regular 10 day Thursday to 2nd Saturday format to an 11 day Thursday to 2nd Sunday format. In some ways, I'm not surprized as getting that extra day in there means more festivalling, especially for locals and this 11 day format is used but several other festivals here in Toronto, namely Hot Docs and Inside Out. I always look forward to sleeping that second Sunday after packing in 40+ films over the festival, but I know that's a little on the high side of film consumption volume.

For the new-to-TIFF, packages are available for purchase now but the film lists and schedule are not yet released. There are many packages available and this year they've split them into My Choice (you make the selections) and TIFF Choice (they make the selection).

My Choice packages range from the mammoth 50-ticket package t0 10-ticket package, and read the details carefully as different packages have different limitations from number of tickets per screening per pass, or time of day (i.e. Daytime packs are for screenings that start before 5:01pm).

TIFF Choice packages can be specified by program, like the 10-ticket Midnight Madness Pack or 6 Film City-to-City Pass; by time with the Evening & Weekend and Daytime Packs, or even by experience with the VISA Screening Room and Roy Thompson Hall passes. New this year is The Canadian, a 5 film package to regular screenings of Canadian films. TIFF is a great place to see Canadian film, I'm so curious to what will be included in that pass this year!

Also to note this year, is the differentiation of Regular and Premium screenings. Premium screenings are described as follows: "We have refined our definition of a premium screening around the experience you will have. These are screenings that are World or North American premieres and offer a premium experience including a red carpet event." All My Choice packages are for regular screenings only, no premium screenings. TIFF Choice package have some that are all regular, some that are all premium, and some that are a combination of both.

This is just a taste the packages available, you can see full listing of packages with prices and descriptions here. Read everything carefully to make sure you are getting the package that will fit with the TIFF experience you want to have! There is a great outline of the package purchasing process here, as it is a multi-step process. Also check out the FAQ for handy details and it's always a good idea to familiarize yourself with festival policies as well.

You can purchase TIFF 2010 packages here with VISA.

Not a Visa cardholder? Don't despair - you can purchase packages as of next Monday July 12, 2010. Get more information on ticketing and box office here.

Don't want to get a pass? Then you have lots of time on your hands and can rest until September 3, 2010 when single tickets go on sale. Prices for single tickets are similar to last year with regular tickets at around $20, but premium screenings are around $40.

So, it does feel like it all begins today. But what happens next? Here are some key dates:
August 18, 2010: Film list available online
August 24, 2010: Film schedule available online
August 24, 2010: Program Book available for pick up
August 24, 2010: Advance Order book available
August 30, 2010: before 1pm Drop off advance Order Book (film selection)
August 30, 2010: at 1pm Draw day
September 2, 2010: Ticket Pick Up begins
September 2, 2010: Ticket Exchange begins
September 9 - 19, 2010: The Festival Dates!

The Toronto International Film Festival 2010 runs from September 9 - 19, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.