Searching for Treasures at TIFF: A Top Dozen List

Hey Everyone. Amir here to preview the Toronto International Film Festival. There's less than a month to go before opening night. Those of you who follow the festival’s news regularly probably know that yesterday marked the completion of most of the festival’s strands, so we can officially start salivating all over the program book. Making a “Most Anticipated Films” list is a fool’s errand; TIFF’s lineup is so vast that the list would basically equate to everything that’s left to be screened in 2012 and then some. Titles like The Master, Anna Karenina, Argo (the latter of which I'm anticipating and dreading) and Cloud Atlas will feature on everyone’s list. There are also Cannes leftovers such as Rust & Bone, Reality, No and The Paperboy to be excited for, but I’m dedicating this list, to the pleasure of discovery which is the lifeblood of festivals.

Last year Nathaniel made a similar list of sixteen potential gems in advance of the festival. Some of those were films I would not have watched had he not suggested them, and I’m glad to say that one of them ended up not only as my top film of the festival, but the best film I saw all year. Here’s hoping we can strike gold again with any of these:

The Suicide Shop

12. A Liar’s Biography/The Suicide Shop

Yes, I hate "ties" as much as you when it comes to list-making but I wanted to round things out with an animated film and couldn’t decide between them. We've got a 3D fictionalized telling of Graham Chapman’s life through the perspective of the Monty Python gang or a Patrice Leconte musical about a family who help people take their own lives. Can you blame me for the indecision ?!?

12. The ABCs of Death

The Midnight Madness program is the one I’ve attended the least over the years, mostly because I see too many films in a day to have the energy at midnight. Yet this omnibus film seems like the perfect campy end to a festival day. Twenty-six directors from all over the world (including Ti West and Ben Wheatley) give us twenty-six alphabet inspired ways to die in a horror film.

10. Barbara

Barbara already screened at Berlinale to terrific reactions, but given that it has no Canadian distributor I’m watching. Director Christian Petzold netted a Silver Bear in Berlin and Nina Hoss, terrific in his last two films, returns to star in a third consecutive. The 80s-set story concerns a scientist forced to stay in a rural hospital as punishment by the East German government.

Isabelle Huppert, Terrence Malick, and Seven (or more) Pyschopaths after the jump.

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Links: Vocal Mimicry, Fearless Reprises, and Kick Lines

Web Slinging hear Tom Hiddleston's impressions of Samuel L Jackson, Owen Wilson and Chris Evans. He's a talented mimic. And funny, too.
My New Plaid Pants gratuitous Byung-hun Lee
Pajiba acknowledging the nameless lineless secretaries on Mad Men. Hey, at least they get to wear the insanely great costumes of Janie Bryant.
LoveFilm asks which Brad Pitt film haircut is the most iconic? How to choose? Surely the best male follicles in Hollywood.

Monkey See on long term investments in TV shows and whether or not they pay off (via New Girl and Smash) 
Boy Culture has the rumored set list for Madonna's MDNA tour. Sad I'm not going but it'll be fun to read about and see clips from
Rope of Silicon Care to see a sneak peak of The Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man? I'm avoiding spoilers which is frankly silly since we're in reboot territory but whatevs. I love Spider-Man, easily my favorite superhero film franchise. Though I'm still not excited about this one. 
Daily Musto The Avengers when they were young
Cinema Blend release date shuffling strikes. No Gravity in 2012. Sniffle. Guess I have to update my Oscar charts asap 

Playbill Yes, Julianne Moore accepted the Piper Laurie "Margaret White" part in the new film version of Carrie. She's brave that one, but stepping into another actor's iconic shoes (slippers in this case?) is tough work. See also Julianne Moore in Hannibal. I'm not sure she shoulda done it but now I have to see the movie. Damn you Juli, you fearless minx!
The Film Experience <--- yes, we already discussed this.
 Movie|Line has a candid interview with 90s teen star Devon Sawa... hadn't heard that name in awhile
The Incredible Suit 'is it just me or...' (seeing double) 
Empire Channing Tatum may star in Roland Emmerich's next noisy action picture (oh dear) White House Down 
The Wrap Hollywood learned nothing about Taylor Lautner's lack of film-carrying talent from Abduction (oy) and he's getting another action picture called  Tracers.
The Film Experience <--- yes, I actually wrote about Abduction. I am a masochist. 

Finally via SuperPunch, which always finds neat things to share, a supercut of just the kicking from Jean Claude Van Damme's Kickboxer...

Misleading Headline Of the Week!

Saw this on my google reader feed via Coming Soon yesterday and giggled.

It's technically true but if it were literally true -- Julianne Moore AS Carrie - I'd have to rethink my preemptory distaste for the movie. Dear god (aka Julianne), I'd have to quit scoffing altogether! I'm suddenly picturing a completely different completely unfaithful reimagined Carrie in which a shy 51 year old fire-haired virgin goes telekinetically mental on her town. What would prompt it? And which 70something actress could play Julianne's crazy bible-thumping mother?

Though it seems patently ridiculous to imagine a better Margaret White performance than the one Piper Laurie took to an Oscar nomination in the Seventies, Moore is no slouch when it comes to maternal mania. I am therefore, forced to be intrigued a tiny bit. If Julianne takes the role that is...

Will she or won't she? Should she?

Red Carpet Convos: Hungry Premieres

After a brief glamour break post-Oscar it's time to walk the red again as 2012 heats up. To kick off a new season of Red Carpet Convos, I nabbed Guy Lodge for a moment before we were both due to jet off to previous appointments. Let's discuss the Hunger Games premiere looks and other recent premiere looks.

Nathaniel: Hi Guy, we haven't talked since ‪I don't know when ... Oscars? And Jennifer Lawrence is already Best Actress campaigning at the premiere for Hunger Games.‬ What else can a gold dress mean?

Guy: ‪I was about to say -- she's clearly taken a leaf from Meryl‬. Are those figures all in proportion? Looks like you've given Lil' Josh Hutcherson a boost.

Cato, Effie, Peeta, Katniss and Gale

Nathaniel: H‪ee. I didn't meant to give Josh a boost as remove the high heels from Katniss and Effie but I think I did push it a little. You know on set they'll give him boxes to stand on or some such.

Guy:  ‪Aha! Either way, he still ends up as his own pocketable action figure.‬

Nathaniel: He comes from a long proud tradition of short leading men. Although it's trending away from the pocket-sized hunks with people like the Hemsworth boys and Alexander Ludwig (far left) and so on.‬

Guy:  ‪Which Hemsworth boy is this? I can't keep up. I only learned to distinguish Thor Hemsworth from the other Chrisses last year.‬

Nathaniel: ‪This is Liam to the far right.‬ Who also auditioned for Thor if I recall.

Guy:  ‪Looking very junior copywriter at Sterling Cooper, which is always a good thing‬

Nathaniel: Mmmm Sterling Cooper. If I didn't love Hiddlesloki so much i would suggest that maybe it would have been cool to cast actual brothers as Loki and Thor.‬

Guy:  ‪I'm amazed they resisted!‬

Nathaniel:  ‪but wait. WRONG FRANCHISE. back to Hunger Games. Have you read it?‬ (Guy's answer and more conversation after the jump)

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A "Game Change" for Julianne Moore

When celebrities play celebrities, the anticipation is half of the buzz.

Will they nail the voice? Will they smile and move like the other famous person? If other celebrities have played this celebrity will they surpass previous incarnations? Will the transformation be all surface or will it dig deep? Can anyone notice the difference since all high profile biopics win acting kudos? How many reviews will work some variation on "________ IS _________ !!!" as the reviewer falls under the actor's spell?

Since most famous actors who are cast in biopics can act, they usually succeed at their impersonations and we move from "will they?" regarding the performance to "will they?" regarding awards wins. In both cases the answer is generally "yes". For reasons The Film Experience has never quite pinned down, these metamorphoses surprise the world each time as if we've never seen their like. Occasionally we even doubt the answer to the first "will they?"

But for all the familiarity of this showbiz narrative, in Julianne Moore's case Game Change may actually be a game change. Her work as Sarah Palin was one of the true nail biters in the realm of modern biographical star turns and here's why...

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