Films I'm Most Excited to See at the Toronto Film Festival
List activity
386 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
10 titles
- DirectorJames MarshStarsEddie RedmayneFelicity JonesTom PriorStephen Hawking gets unprecedented success in the field of physics despite being diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age of 21. He defeats awful odds as his first wife Jane aids him loyally.The first time I saw Redmayne was at Toronto in the truly awful Hick. His acting shone out, however, even though his character was a vile, abusive psychotic (or maybe because of it). Here, as Hawking, he looks to have landed the kind of biography role that put Daniel Day-Lewis on the map with My Left Foot.
- DirectorNoah BaumbachStarsBen StillerNaomi WattsAdam DriverA middle-aged couple's career and marriage are overturned when a disarming young couple enters their lives.You could think of writer/director Noah Baumbach as the envious little brother (by a few months) of Wes Anderson. Baumbach hasn't had the success of his older, unrelated pseudo-sibling but he's every bit as good and deserves every bit as much attention.
Take for example, the exuberant, knowing Frances Ha or the wise and sad, The Squid and the Whale.
Yes seems to suffer from some of the same prep-school ideas that suffuse both their works but as he's gotten older his films have abandoned merely clever conceits for deeper resonance.
And, geesh, the guy made Frances Ha. - DirectorLone ScherfigStarsSam ClaflinMax IronsDouglas BoothTwo first-year students at Oxford University join the infamous Riot Club, where reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of a single evening.I'm a fan of director Lone Scherfig largely for An Education, which was nominated for three Oscars and which thrust Carey Mulligan onto the world stage. I then missed the much-maligned One Day which came and went without much fanfare but this film, with its talented cast of up-and-coming performers looks like a possible winner.
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsTobey MaguireLiev SchreiberPeter SarsgaardSet during the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers and his own struggles as he challenges the Soviet Empire.Ed Zwick has had a rough go of it, of late. Love and Other Drugs was pilloried. Defiance barely dented the theatrical window. Here, though, Zwick is working with screenwriter Steven Knight, who has the recent triumph of Locke under his belt.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsAva AcresDaniel BrühlKate BeckinsaleBoth a journalist and a documentary filmmaker chase the story of a murder and its prime suspect.I have no choice in this matter. It's from director Michael Winterbottom, the incredibly prolific director who makes the brilliant (too numerous to list) and the well-crafted but awful (THE KILLER INSIDE ME. Italy has treated Winterbottom well (THE TRIP TO ITALY is lovely) but he when he tends to go dark, as this tale, based around the Amanda Knox case, offers up in abundance, he can lose himself as no other otherwise-balanced filmmaker.
- DirectorTom McCarthyStarsAdam SandlerMelonie DiazSteve BuscemiA cobbler, bored of his everyday life, stumbles upon a magical heirloom that allows him to become other people and see the world in a different way.Director Thomas McCarthy's track record shows a filmmaker who enables performers to shine. Witness the recognition of beloved character actor Richard Jenkins in McCarthy's THE VISITOR or giving Peter Dinklage his first true lead role in THE STATION AGENT. Now some of you might say that Adam Sandler is no Jenkins and no Dinklage. I would say yes, he has been allowed to give in to his laziest routines and excesses, but would counter with PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. I'm very excited for this film.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsGong LiDaoming ChenHuiwen ZhangLu and Feng are a devoted couple forced to separate when Lu is arrested and sent to a labor camp as a political prisoner during the Cultural Revolution. He finally returns home only to find that his beloved wife no longer recognizes him.Zhang Yimou's filmography is full of magnificent films from different genres, including the beautiful study of female envy and politics that was RAISE THE RED LANTERN. He's worked with Gong Li eight times (including LANTERN and co-directorial efforts) so this is not to be missed.
- DirectorRichard LaGraveneseStarsAnna KendrickJeremy JordanTamara MintzA struggling actress and her novelist lover each illustrate the struggle and deconstruction of their love affair.To my chagrin I'm unfamiliar with the stage version this musical is based upon. However, I'm extremely familiar with writer/director Richard LaGravenese and his early work as a screenwriter including his original work, THE FISHER KING and the artful salvage job on THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. Plus, even though I've heard she's a bit of a pill, I've only seen the very lovely side of Anna Kendrick
- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsKaitlyn DeverRosemarie DeWittAnsel ElgortA group of high school teenagers and their parents attempt to navigate the many ways the Internet has changed their relationships, their communications, their self-images, and their love lives.I always get a little itchy when I hear about "themed" films. While promoting the theme the characters become means to an end, which is for you to get the import of the theme. With Reitman's cast here though, and a filmography that includes YOUNG ADULT and UP IN THE AIR I will be at this screening early.
- DirectorXavier DolanStarsAnne DorvalAntoine Olivier PilonSuzanne ClémentA widowed single mother, raising her violent son alone, finds new hope when a mysterious neighbor inserts herself into their household.Xavier Dolan continues to draw adherents. He finally snagged me with LAURENCE ANYWAYS which had a keen sense of relationships, both in the gathering in and the drawing apart. Added bonus to this film for winning the Jury Prize in Cannes and for having Suzanne Clement, who is heartbreakingly gorgeous in ANYWAYS.