So was I. Until I found the details over at 1st Thursday and Indiewire (PDF).
Update as of 3:10pm -
Official Film List Press Release, which doesn't actually include the list of 312 films (249 features) but you can find the film list is on the TIFF site here.
Who will be there? Check here for the list on the Press Release of 500+ Guests.
Update 7:40pm:
Search & sortable film list over at TOFilmFest
The Toronto International Film Festival 2008 runs from September 4-13/08 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Looking for the TIFF'08 line up?
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My Week in Film - Life is Sweet
Headed out to the theatre this week to catch up on some releases from the weekend before last. Choices were: Amal and The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2. Double win this week, both films were a hit. I was happy to finally catch up with Amal which has been on the festival track since TIFF last year and has received across the board good reviews. Those reviews are well deserved, the film is very touching and speaks many truths of human nature be they good, bad or somewhere in between. Set in India, it follows a autorickshaw driver Amal through his daily and chance encounters which shape his world and that of those around him. After the film there was a surprize treat was waiting for the audience as Richie Mehta (director/co-writer), Rupinder Nagra (star) and two of the producers were there for an impromtu Q&A. It was clear that the audience loved the film as they expressed their encouragement for the film to be shown in multiple settings. Amal will continue to have an expanded release in the next few weeks. Next up for theatrical releases is The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2. Now, I do think they could have made a better title but other than that I knew I would likely see it considering how much I enjoyed the first film. I can say with confidence that I really enjoyed the second one as well. I thought individual stories of the 4 characters were all believable and really got the awkward, smooth or overconfident 'next steps' of flying the coop. I also love films about friendship. Not only do the 4 main characters do a great job but the supporting cast was brilliant.
It's been a while since I've taking part in a blogathon, and that needed to change. With the challenge posed for the Sight Unseen blogathon over at Cinexcellence I couldn't resist: pick up a DVD that you would normallly pass by on to watch & review. Game on! My selection was Legionnaire, click through for full review.
Now we get to the super sweet films, both of which are stars on screen with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in The Game Plan and Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard. Both selections came from being on available on the library shelf. I picked The Bodyguard because I had never seen it before, and I remember when it came back in '92 and everyone had seen it and the song "I Will Always Love You" was played everywhere. My expectations were not high and it was fun in a way, as you could easily tell what would happen next. I wouldn't say it would hold up for repeat watchings due to the fact that there is very little chemistry between the two leads and that is what holds a film like this together. Next up is The Game Plan, which I was looking forward to as it looked like a fun sport type film and then an unexpected family member gets thrown in the mix. Fun premise! Then the film opened and I saw the Disney symbol. Ah, okay - this will be complete family fare, which could be fine and it almost was. I did enjoy the numerous charming moments but I felt overall it was a kids movie with not a lot of content that was engaging as an adult.
Trailer madness. Watching The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2 and two of the trailers were: High School Musical 3 and The House Bunny. What does this say about their demographic? I don't think people who would be interested in Sisterhood 2 would go to The House Bunny, Sisterhood is about friendship, being and finding yourself, not pretending to be something else.
High School Musical 3 Trailer - spoiler free
The House Bunny Trailer - spoiler free until 3/4 the way through, offensive throughout
If those are too saccharine for you check out the Trailer for Burn at Twitch a horror/thriller about people who spontaneous combustion. Disturbing images in the last third of the trailer.
With seeing a fair amount of DVDs and yes, VHS tapes I took the opportunity to pick up a new knitting project. I was at the point where everything needed finishing touches which I can't do while watching film. So, a new hat is in the works. I can now say I'm comfortable with both yo (yarn over) and SK2P (slip, knit 2 together, pass over slipped stitch - it's a double decrease). I did have to watch a demo for the last one.
See how far along it is after just 4 films?
What did you see this week?
Poll Results: Summer Movies in 2008 Have Been...
50% - Some Hits, Some Misses
14% - Better Than Expected
14% - Disappointing
14% - Didn't See Any
7% - Awesome!
The results are in and looks like most of us liked at least some of what we saw with 78% choosing either Awesome!, Better Than Expected and the most popular answer Some Hits, Some Misses. I choose Better Than Expected myself, for specific films that were better than I expected: Wall-E, Get Smart, Hancock Mamma Mia! and The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2.
Check out the sidebar to your right latest poll where you can vote for your favourite action/adventure film of the summer!
Legionnaire
Dir: Peter MacDonald (Rambo III, The Neverending Story III)
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Paul Kynman, Steven Berkoff, Nicholas Farrell, Ana Sofrenovic
USA, 1998
Seen: August 16, 2008
Reason to see: A challenge! Cinexcellence is hosting a Sight Unseen Blog-a-thon, where the idea is to buy, watch and review a film that is on sale for $5 or so. The trick is, you pick a film you would normally pass on by.
I have to say, picking the film was the hard part. I went to HMV as they usually have DVDs for sale in the suggested price range. But then I looked at the choices (see below) and knew I was in trouble. First off, I had seen almost everything! But after those, the ones left I actively didn't want to see. I really wanted to participate so I kept looking. I settled on Legionnaire as it stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, and since I'm really hyped for his film JVCD which will be at TIFF'08 I felt like this could be a rekindling to his work.
Right from the beginning I was intrigued. The idea of the Legion, a place where you can sign up as a mercenary, no questions are asked and the benefit is the possibility to get a second chance on life. This is a great theme for a film. But, then it started in 1925 Marseilles in a club with can-can girls. Hmmm. That isn't the desert, is it? I was expecting training, fighting, bonding and harsh times - and there is all that but somehow they manage to get in romance, drama and even a little gangster-ness. It felt like the film was trying to get too much in it and spent a fair amount time getting to where it said it would be. The film did have some great characters including Van Damme's Alain Lefevre and Luther played by the delightful Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. There are a few fighting scenes, but no where near the amount I thought there would be. Overall, it plays mostly as a drama, where the story and characters are the highlight. The score really adds to the film, with majestic music bringing in moments to really hit home.
Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I'd watch it again
I'd recommend it light historical war drama
Return to Film Reviews
© Shannon Ridler, 2008
19 Discovery, 6 Vanguard, 5 Visions titles announced for TIFF'08, Plus Future Projections
The film list for this years Toronto International Film Festival just keeps growing and growing! Announced recently were selections added to the Discovery program, Visions & Vanguard program as well as selections for Future Projections. With all of the choices growing exponentially, I may wait until the full film list is released on Tuesday August 19, 2008 before sitting down and making tiered priority to see lists.
Here are the newly released list of films, sorted by program then sorted alphabetically:
Discovery
$9.99
Dir: Tatia Rosenthal
Animation (stop-motion)
Voices: Geoffrey Rush, Anthony LaPaglia
Israel/Australia
Apron Strings
Dir: Sima Urale
New Zealand
Better Things
Dir: Duane Hopkins
United Kingdom
Cold Lunch
Dir: Eva Sørhaug
Norway
Daytime Drinking
Dir: Young-seok Noh
South Korea
Gigantic
Dir: Matt Aselton
Cast: Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, John Goodman
USA
Hooked
Dir: Adrian Sitaru
Romania/France
Jesus and the Giant
Dir: Akin Omotoso
South Africa
short film, will be shown with Medicine for Melancholy
Kabuli Kid
Dir: Barmak Akram
France/Afghanistan
Lovely, Still
Dir: Nik Fackler
Cast: Martin Landau, Elizabeth Banks, Adam Scott
USA
Lymelife
Dir: Derick Martini
Cast: Rory Culkin, Alec Baldwin, Jill Hennessy, Timothy Hutton, Kieran Culkin, Emma Roberts and Cynthia Nixon
USA
Rain
Dir: Maria Govan
Bahamas
Parc
Dir: Arnaud des Pallières
Cast: Sergi López, Jean-Marc Barr
France
Snow
Dir: Aida Begic
Bosnia and Herzegovina/Germany/France/Iran
The Stoning of Soraya
Dir: M. Cyrus Nowrasteh
Cast: Shohreh Aghdashloo
USA
Tale 52
Dir: Alexis Alexiou
Greece
Vacation
Dir: Hajime Kadoi
Japan
What Doesn't Kill You
Dir: Brian Goodman
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Mark Ruffalo, Amanda Peet, Donnie Wahlberg
USA
Winds of September
Dir: Tom Shu-Yu Lin
Taiwan
Zift
Dir: Javor Gardev
Bulgaria
Vanguard
Afterwards
Dir: Gilles Bourdos
Cast: Romain Duris, John Malkovich, Evangeline Lilly, Reece Thompson
France/Canada/Germany
Kisses
Dir: Lance Daly
Ireland/Sweden
PA-RA-DA
Dir: Marco Pontecorvo
Italy/France/Romania
Sauna
Dir: Antti-Jussi Annila
Finland
Tears for Sale
Dir: Uroš Stojanovic
Serbia/Croatia
Universalove
Dir: Thomas Woschitz
Austria/Luxembourg
Visions
Expectations
Dir: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
South Korea/France
short film, will be shown with Je veux voir
Je veux voir
Dirs: Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Rabih Mroué
Lebanon
Süt
Dir: Semih Kaplanoglu
Turkey/France/Germany
Uncertainty
Dirs: Scott McGehee and David Siegel
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Olivia Thirlby, Lynn Collins
USA
Unspoken
Dir: Fien Troch
Belgium
World Premiere
Vinyan
Dir: Fabrice du Welz
Cast: Emmanuelle Béart, Rufus Sewell,
France/United Kingdom/Belgium
The Toronto International Film Festival 2008 runs from September 4-13/08 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Film Fan Fridays for Friday August 15, 2008!
Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!
Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday August 15, 2008! We have another Friday sandwiched by Wednesday releases week - it feels as though the whole month of August will continue like this! However, there are many options to choose from just make sure to confirm showtimes before heading to the theatre. In film news, just two weeks after the trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released, the release date has been pushed from the November 2008 until July 2009. How am I to wear my Gryffindor scarf in July, I ask you, how?
In limited release this week we have an assortment of genres including the Canadian Tkaronto about finding yourself though meeting someone else which looks quite touching, we also have the music documentary 'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris and the 3D animated family film Fly Me to the Moon.
In wide release this week we have a completely different set of genres with the latest horror from Alexandra Aja with Mirrors, Woody Allen's new romantic comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona and the animated science fiction Star Wars film Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
We also have a few special releases including the re-release of the powerful documentary Up the Yangtze/ 沿江⽽上 in a limited run. There is a special screening of Midnight Meat Train in its Toronto premiere. Midnight Meat Train was adapted from a Clive Barker novel and has been surrounded by controversy of the past few months due to having its release pushed to fewer and fewer theatres. Catch them while you can!
Have a great weekend!
Shannon
Festival Watch
Filmi
South Asian Film Festival
Continues until August 18, 2008 at the Bloor Cinema and the Royal Cinema in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Special Screening
Dir: Ryuhei Kitamura (Alive, LoveDeath)
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Vinnie, Jones, Leslie Bibb, Roger Bart, Brooke Shields
USA, 2008
Official Film Site (autoplays trailer), IMDb Page, Trailer (Spoiler free for first half, scary images)
Thursday August 21, 2008 at 9:30PM at The Bloor, presented by Rue Morgue
Tropic Thunder
Dir: Ben Stiller (Zoolander, The Cable Guy, Reality Bites)
Cast: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Jay Baruchel
USA/Germany
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer spoiler free until halfway point
Friday August 15, 2008 Releases
Fly Me to the Moon
Dir: Ben Stassen - feature film directorial debut
Animated, 3D
Voices: Tim Curry, Robert Patrick, Kelly Ripa, Buzz Aldrin, Trevor Gagnon
Belgium
Official Film Site and trailer, IMDb Page
Trailer spoiler free until the half way point
Mirrors
Dir: Alexandra Aja (The Hills Have Eyes)
Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Cameron Boyce, Erica Gluck, Amy Smart
USA
Official Film Site (autoplays sound), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer 'E' spoiler free until half way point, scary images throughout
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Dir: Dave Filoni - feature film directorial debut
Animated
Voices: Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, Tom Kane, Anthony Daniels, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee
Trailer '1' spoiler free until 2/3rds through
'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris
Writer/Dir: Raymond De Felitta (The Thing About My Folks, Two Family House)
Documentary on jazz vocalist Jack Paris
USA
Trailer spoiler free until 2/3rds through
Tkaronto
Writer/Dir: Shane Anthony Belcourt - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Melanie McLaren, Duane Murray, Mike McPhaden, Lorne Cardinal, Jeff Geddis
Canada
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer is spoiler free
Vicky Cristine Barcelona
Writer/Dir: Woody Allen (Cassandra's Dream, Mighty Aphrodite, Manhattan)
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Patricia Clarkson
USA/Spain
Official Film Site, IMDb Page,
Trailer shows a lot of the film, you get the gist of the film by the 1/2 way point.
Dir: Peter Cattaneo (Lucky Break, The Full Monty)
Cast:Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Emma Stone, Teddy Geiger, Josh Gad
USA
Official Film Site (autoplays audio), IMDb Page, Trailer
Trailer spoiler free until 2/3rds through
**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of August 20, 2008**
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