Movie Box Review

We begin to see the festival take its shape as the first list for films for TIFF'09 have been released, collected and described as the "Best of the Festival Circuit". These 24 titles are allNorth American Premieres and when drilled down to programmes we have 8 Contemporary World Cinema, 6 Discovery, 3 Masters, 1 Vanguard and 6 Visions.

We have many interesting titles to mull over but there are a couple that stood out like shining stars including Hirokazu Kore-eda's Air Doll as a part of the Masters programme. After seeing Hirokazu Kore-eda's film Still Walking / Aruitemo aruitemo last year it was certainly a stand out and I'll be happy to see any of his work, ever. Another film to look forward to is Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Nymph from the Visions programme. The description sounds a little simliar, although possibly a fantasitcal setting, to Ploy but I missed that at it's recent TIFF appearance. But after seeing the beautiful Last Life in the Universe, the first full length film I had seen of Pen-ek Ratanaruang I was blown away by its sensitive beauty alongside a deep darkness. Quite the shift in content but not tone from the shorts Total Bangkok and Luminous Sounds / Seang-Sawang both of which capture and portray people in their own context so aptly.

We have one title released from the Vanguard program, which always shows film that pushes boundries and the description of Fish Tank directed by Andrea Arnold (Red Road) holds true to that. This UK film is a love story about a violent daughter who desires her mothers boyfriend. Yep, that will push buttons, boundries and a lot more.

Brief descriptions of the 24 films released can be found here.

A new programme is also being released this year called City to City. It will be an annual programme focusing on a city through screenings and debate. It's first year the spotlight will be on Tel Aviv which this year is celebrating its 100 birthday. This programme will have it's own ticket package which includes one ticket to each premiere screening - and they have shared the dates! 2 screenings per night from September Sept 13 - 17, 2009. Read more about the new program here.

List of 24 Film Titles Released

Contemporary World Cinema (8)

Eyes Wide Open
Dir: Haim Tabakman
Israel

Huacho
Dir: Alejandro Fernandez Almendras
Chile/France/Germany

Like You Know It All
Dir: Hong Sang-Soo
Republic of Korea

Lourdes
Dir: Jessica Hausner
Austria

Men on the Bridge
Dir: Asli Özge
Germany/Turkey/The Netherlands

Police, Adjective
Dir: Corneliu Porumboiu
Romania

The Time that Remains
Dir: Elia Suleiman
Belgium

The Wind Journeys
Dir: Ciro Guerra
Colombia/Germany/Argentina/The Netherlands

Discovery (6)

Gigante
Dir: Adrian Biniez
Uruguay/Germany/Argentina/The Netherlands

Kelin
Dir: Ermek Tursunov
Kazakhstan

La Pivellina
Dir: Tizza Covi |Rainer Frimmel
Austria

Samson & Delilah
Dir: Warwick Thornton
Australia

Should I Really Do It
Dir: Ismail Necmi
Turkey

The Happiest Girl in the World
Dir: Radu Jude
The Netherlands

Masters (3)

Air Doll
Dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Cast: Bae Doo-na
Japan

Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl
Dir: Manoel de Oliveira
Portugal

Les Herbes Folles
Dir: Alain Resnais
France

Vanguard (1)

Fish Tank
Dir: Andrea Arnold
United Kingdom

Visions (6)

Face
Dir: Tsai Ming-Liang
Belgium

Independencia
Dir: Raya Martin
France

Irène
Dir: Alain Cavalier
France

Karaoke
Dir: Chris Chong Chan Fui
Malaysia

Nymph
Dir: Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Thailand

To Die Like a Man
Dir: Joäo Pedro Rodrigues
Portugal/France

The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10 - 19, 2009 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

courtesy of takungpao.com

The Ken Hung Cheuk Lap, Michelle Wai (Si Nga), Chan Ka Lok starred HAPPILY EVER AFTER (HUNG SEUNG WOR NEI JOI YUT HEI) will be released in the summer. On the first day of production, Ken and Si Nga shot a romantic scene on the roof when they suddenly suffered heat stroke. The crew immediately came to their rescue.

Looking back, Si Nga said, "That day at work I already saw the director drank pack after pack of salt water. He said it was because he got heat stroke easily. At the time we thought how weak the director was. Soon after I was 'nailed', I got nauseous and dizzy. Finally the crew had to carry me downstairs to rest. I recovered soon after. Ken was frightened and even accompanied me downstairs to 'dodge the heat'. When Ken asked me if I was fine, he suddenly fainted in front of me." Ken said, "Wow! I finally know how heat stroke feels like! I was really nauseous and very dizzy. The worst part was I really had to go to the bathroom."

However, the roof scene reminded them and Ka Lok a lot of sweet memories from their school days. A teacher caught Si Nga in a romance during form 3 and unintentionally spread it around. However she was not punished and thought the teacher was very understanding. She said, "Dating during school was very sweet, romance on the roof was frequent! I always thought if Hong Kong had a version of BOYS OVER FLOWERS, I feel Ken and Ka Lok would work. When Ken smiles sometimes he looked a little like Teppei Koike, he's pretty cute." Ken added, "Right! I also felt that Si Ngai looked a little like Masami Nagasawa."

It that time of year again - time to get to know everything there is to know about TIFF as we head into TIFF'09. What's new, what's changed and if anything has stayed the same. This handy dandy brochure came in the mail full of dates, prices, urls and definitions of festivalisms (PDF of brochure here). The festival has a new look this year along with a new site (www.tiff.net) so make sure you reset your bookmarks! Another big change this year is another move of the location of the Festival Box Office which will be at Nathan Phillips Square, 100 Queen Street West (in the white tent, on the west side of the square).

One thing that is great about TIFF is that they listen to customer feedback and let you know. Check out the press release that highlights the changes made. I'm thrilled they are increasing access for ticket-package holders for repeat Gala screenings and screenings at the Elgin. That one really had people up in arms last year. They are also having the ticket package pick up / ticket exchange at a time other than the Labour Day weekend which is nice for the local folks who usually spend that weekend camping out TIFF style. I'm thrilled to hear of that change. The only one that is a bit foggy to me is that thye have "added 3 additional days (6 total) for you to make ticket selections withour Programme Book and schedule" and "There are 4 additional days (5 total) of single tickets sales prior to Opening Night". Um. Yeah. I don't get that one. Yet.

Buying a package?
An important date is right around the corner as tickets package go on sale to Visa cardholders this Monday July 6, 2009 at 10am. Cash and Debit sales will go on sale one week after on Monday July 13, 2009.

More Important Dates:
Tuesday July 21, 2009 at 10am: Midnight Madness and Wavelengths Programme information announced
Thursday August 20, 2009 at 10am: Full film list online
Tuesday August 25, 2009 at 10am: Programme Book available
Tuesday August 25, 2009 at 10am: Ticket package order drop off begins
Monday August 31, 2009 at 1pm: Ticket package drop off deadline
Thursday September 3, 2009 at 7am: Ticket package pick up and ticket exchange begins
Friday September 4, 2009 at 7am: Single tickets go on sale
Thursday September 10 - Saturday 19, 2009: Festival time!

I didn't including the info about if you are a donor, which comes with some perks but Richard over at TIFF Talk has all the goods for you right here on the benefits including information on the effect similar changes had on the festival last year. Thanks Richard!

Important Links:
Important Dates, Film List (24 Titles released so far), Box Office Infomation, How To Buy Tickets, Ticket Informations, Festival Map, Hotel Package Information and General Policies.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10 - 19, 2009 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday July 3, 2009! Quiet week here to usher in the month of July with only 3 new releases and all of them limited releases at that and not even any film festivals to ponder. Oh my.

At least the limited releases certainly look interesting. I'm looking forward to catching Moon, a science fiction flick starring Sam Rockwell ever since seeing the trailer, or at least the beginning of the trailer - turned it off almost immediately as it feels like it gives to much away. But, Sci Fi + Sam Rockwell = interesting in my book. It is exciting to see that the trailer for Kambakkht Ishq was easy to find, it's been a while since we've had a Bollywood release and here is one that plays on the lifestyles of stuntmen and super models with a dash of War of the Roses. It even includes Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards alongside headliners Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. Our final limited release is Empty Nest / El Nido vacío which saw at TIFF'08 and has a strong emotional core to it.

No new releases in wide release, but both Public Enemies and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs hit the screens earlier this week on Canada Day.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Friday July 3, 2009 Releases

Empty Nest / El Nido vacío
Writer/Dir: Daniel Burman (Family Law, Lost Embrace)
Cast: Oscar Martínez, Cecilia Roth, Arturo Goetz, Inés Efron, Eugenia Capizzano
Argentina/Spain/France/Italy
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Kambakkht Ishq
Dir: Sabbir Khan - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Aftab Shivdasani, Amrita Arora, Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards
India
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Moon
Dir: Duncan Jones - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Sam Rockwell
UK
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 July 3, 2009**

courtesy of mingpao.com

courtesy of takungpao.com