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Tag: Toronto International Film Festival

  • Viggo Mortensen Begins Venice With “Far From Men” Tomorrow, Then Off To Toronto

    Viggo Mortensen has been dominating the international film festivals this year. Already his movie The Two Faces of January, made waves at the Berlin film festival in February with an 84% critic approval according to Rotten Tomatoes, and Indiewire reported that Magnolia Pictures made a deal to distribute the movie in the United States.

    Then in May, Jauja was released at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard category and managed to claim the FIPRESCI Prize. In September, it moves on promisingly to the Toronto and New York Film Festivals. “Lisandro Alonso has created a work of immense beauty and power that will be studied and talked about and adored for years to come,” Ryan Krivoshey of Cinema Guild told Indiewire, “It’s a film that needs to be seen by as wide an audience as possible and that’s exactly what we intend to do.”

    The movie is set in the 1880s during a genocidal war in Patagonia, but you wouldn’t know that from watching the unconventional trailer:

    Tomorrow, however, marks the beginning of the Venice Film Festival. Mortensen has yet another film in the festival’s opening line up of French language movies, according to Deadline. The David Oelhoffen directed Far From Men will premiere in Venice and then move on to the Toronto International Film Festival in a Special Presentation berth.

    Will Mortensen be in an English language film ever again? The star is currently filming Captain Fantastic, which doesn’t come out until next year. With Steve Zahn, Frank Langella, Kathyrn Hahn, Missi Pyle, and Erin Moriarty, it is sure to be in English, especially since it is set in the Pacific Northwest.

    The Two Faces of January, mentioned above, also is in English. According to Magnolia Pictures’s website, Americans can expect it to be released in theaters September 26th, but you can watch it on demand with iTunes starting on Thursday.

  • 47 Ronin Folktale-Film Adaptation Stars Keanu Reeves

    Universal Pictures is premiering the new UK trailer for the troubled fantasy adventure 47 Ronin, debuting Christmas Day to US audiences (its original release date was to be November 2012). The movie is a Hollywood production of an oft-adapted Japanese folktale about 47 Ronin (leaderless samurai) who avenge the disgracing of their leader. The story is one of the most celebrated in samurai culture. It is attributed to an early 18th century incident that evokes what many believe to be the essential demonstration of the samurai and warrior spirit.

    This variation has the addition of Keanu Reeves, a half-breed whose help is sought by the outcast warriors, as well as a carnival of mythic beasts and other fantasy elements that do not seem to be featured in the original tale. Artistic license.

    Reeves stars alongside an elite cast of Japanese actors, including Tadanobu Asano who is also the character ‘Hogun’ in the Thor film series, Hiroyuki Sanada who played ‘Shingen’ in this summer’s The Wolverine and Rinko Kikuchi whose credits cover such films as Babel (2006) and the Japanese adaptation of the film Sideways (2009).

    This big-budget production, rumored to be amassing a bill reaching $200 million, is the feature-length, directorial debut of Carl Rinsch. Rinsch is reported to be a protege of Ridley Scott and some mixed reporting indicates he may have been shoved aside in the editing studio by Universal execs.

    Reeves made his directorial debut this year, also starring in the martial arts film Man of Tai Chi, which is anticipating its US release the first of November. The new director says of his film at last month’s Toronto International Film Festival, “It’s sophisticated camp… It’s supposed to be fun, but also deep with a nice message.” Reeves also describes it as a cautionary tale, the paradoxical plot being that of a young man who is skilled in Tai Chi being swept into the underworld of the fight club.

    Reeves

    [Images via 47 Ronin and Man of Tai Chi official Facebook.]

  • 12 Years A Slave Wins Toronto Film Festival Award

    For weeks now, the Toronto International Film Festival has been previewing the large lineup of movies that would be shown during the festival. Everything from John Turturro’s racy Fading Gigolo to one of Cory Monteith’s last movie roles (McCanick). The long festival came to an end this weekend, and the Toronto International Film Festival chose several movies to honor with awards.

    The biggest award of the festival, the People’s Choice Award (branded by BlackBerry this year), went to the period drama 12 Years a Slave. Set in the 1840s and 50s, the movie is based on the true story of Solomon Northup. Northup was born free in New York but was kidnapped and sold into slavery.

    Chiwetel Ejiofor (of Serenity fame) plays Northup, and is joined by some of modern Hollywood’s biggest male stars. Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Michael K. Williams, and Benedict Cumberbatch all make appearances in the movie. Young Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) even makes an appearance in the feature.

    During the 12 Years a Slave panel at the Toronto International Film Festival, director Steve McQueen and actors from the movie chatted about the themes of the flick, as well as the state of race in America. The panel, seen below, is preceded by the trailer for the movie:

  • George Clooney Pals Around with Sandra Bullock’s Son

    George Clooney Pals Around with Sandra Bullock’s Son

    Sandra Bullock’s son Louis may have a future in casting. He’s selected Bullock’s Gravity co-star, George Clooney, as a positive male role model. During press conferences at the Toronto International Film Festival, Bullock revealed, “My son thinks he’s (Clooney) a very cool dude.”

    Louis, 3 ½ years old, will apparently seek out George and other men involved in the film for a little male-bonding-time, leaving doting mom Bullock to the side until they’re finished. “If there was a choice between me and George and Alfonso (Cuarόn), my son will leave to go with George and the guys.” Cuarόn is the film’s director and writer.

    Bullock, 49, is appreciative of the 52-year-old’s willingness to indulge Louis, “George is a good man, and I’m really proud to have known him for this time and the human being he’s become… He’s a good egg.”

    Though the superstars have been long acquainted—pictured here at the Venice Film Festival—this is their first film foray together. “George and I have known each other for over 20 years,” Bullock says, explaining that they share a group of friends since they exited college and, “since we had no work.”

    Bullock also opened up about the experience filming the space thriller, during which she spent long, lonely hours by herself on a sound stage surrounded only by cameras. She said she got to be best friends with the sound man who, “If I was cracking under the pressure he would radio someone to go get Louis to come in.”

    Gravity premiered Sunday at the Festival to rave reviews and awards predictions—as have other TIFF premieres, Dallas Buyers Club for one.

    Clooney was conspicuously absent from the TIFF 2013, at which he’s been a regular installment over preceding years, promoting such films as Up in the Air, The Descendants and Argo. This year, the star is busy filming Tomorrowland, a new Walt Disney Pictures sci-fi mystery by Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol).

    [Image via Venice Film Festival Official Facebook.]

  • Matthew McConaughey Stuns in “Dallas Buyers Club”

    Matthew McConaughey’s latest film, Dallas Buyers Club, was received with a standing ovation at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend. The film was screened Saturday night revealing the full transformation for McConaughey and supporting actor Jared Leto. Both stars impressed sufficiently in the debut to spark some early awards-season buzz.

    Early trailer releases drew McConaughey a lot of attention for the pounds he shed to portray a Texan suffering from the ravages of HIV in the 1980’s. The star portrays the true account of Ron Woodroof who is a hard-drinking, homophobic, frustrated ladies’ man who turns to smuggling drugs when the Food and Drug Administration fails to act fast enough for him.

    Reviewers say the film cuts right to the chase when it comes to defining Woodroof, and McConaughey introduces us to a man who is hostile when diagnosed, reckless in his denial and then determined in staving off death. Through the course of the movie, the actor is being praised for a charming and subtle performance that has its rough edges.

    McConaughey, who is known for a regularly stunning physique, said that losing the weight, “was the easy decision… I would have been embarrassed standing here looking like I do now playing the guy.”

    Leto, who portrays Rayon, a transsexual also suffering with the virus, lost significant weight for the role as well. He says, “I stopped eating,” and says it wasn’t easy. This is Leto’s return to film after a five-year hiatus to focus on fronting the band Thirty Seconds to Mars. He says he was only coming back to film for something, “he fell in love with,” and Buyers Club was it.

    The Hollywood Reporter says that the movie is not about advocating self-medication or trivializing the battle many fought to encourage effective HIV treatment in America. This is a very specific story about an AIDS patient who refused to, “slink off and die quietly,” while the health industry, “dragged their heels.”

    Dallas Buyers Club will be released on 1 November. It is rated R. Screenwriters Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack developed the screenplay from 25 hours of interviews with Woodroof in the early 1990’s. Also receiving praise is the film’s Canadian-born director, Jean-Marc Vallée. Other Buyers Club cast includes Jennifer Garner, Steve Zahn and Griffin Dunne.

    [Image via Focus Features Facebook.]