Film Fan Fridays for Friday July 30, 2010

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday July 30, 2010! This may truly be the first week of the year where I'm not wanting to race out the door to see a particular film! Well, it took us more than half of the year to get to that... but that's where I'm at this week! Although I'm not super hyped for the releases this week there is still lots of news kicking around and I'm thrilled to share my news of the debut of the Movie Moxie Podcast! A 100% spoiler free film podcast! Episode 1 is up here and I talk about Salt, The Sorcerer's Apprentice and The Kids Are All Right. You can subscribe to the podcast through RSS feed here and through iTunes here. Have a listen & I really hope you enjoy it!

In limited release this week we have just one release and that is Countdown to Zero, a documentary on the nuclear arms race from award winning director Lucy Walker (Waste Land, Blindsight).

In wide release this week we have four releases including the latest 3D film, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore and it's the feature film directorial debut from Brad Peyton, who directed the fantastically morbid short Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl. We also have the drama Charlie St. Cloud starring Zac Efron and from 17 Again director Burr Steers. The comedy entry of the week is Dinner for Schmucks, a remake of the 1998 French film The Dinner Game, with a premise similar to Dogfight, but in this case it's who can bring the craziest loser to the dinner party. Last entry of the week is the Bollywood film Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, which is 70's set retro chic and has taglines like "In the Age of Chocolate Boys - Rewind to the Era of Real Men", which cracked me up and might just bump it up to the most interesting release of the week.

Although I'm not over the moon about the film releases this week we are warming up to festival fever here in Toronto with announcements of the Toronto After Dark 2010 Line Up and the first big list of titles for the Toronto International Film Festival.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Caribbean Tales Film Festival
July 30 - August 2, 2010, at Harbourfront in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Friday July 30, 2010 Releases

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
Dir: Brad Peyton - feature film directorial debut
Voices: Chris O’Donnell, Paul Rodriguez, Christina Applegate, James Marsden, Leslie Mann, Ray Liotta, Katt Williams
USA/Australia
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Charlie St. Cloud
Dir: Burr Steers (17 Again, Igby Goes Down)
Cast: Zac Efron, Amanda Crew, Donal Logue, Charlie Tahan, Kim Basinger, Ray Liotta
USA/Canada
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Countdown to Zero
Dir: Lucy Walker (Waste Land, Blindsight)
Documentary
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Dinner for Schmucks
Dir: Jay Roach (Meet the Fockers, Meet the Parents, Mystery, Alaska)
Cast: Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, Zach Galifianakis, Stephanie Szostak, Bruce Greenwood
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai
Dir: Milan Luthria (Hattrick, Chori Chori)
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut
India
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of July 30, 2010**

Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2010: Schedule & Line Up Announced!

Toronto After Dark is one of the big highlights of the festival year here in Toronto, where all the cult, genre, zombie and horror fans come out of the woodwork and are treated to a cinematic buffet of epic proportions. It has grown over the years and always has an exciting line up films along with fantastically enthusiastic audiences filled with great people. With the festival just over 2 weeks away, we finally have the film line up and schedule in our hot little hands... or rather viewed from our wide eyed... eyes.

I'm over the moon excited to see Centurion listed in the line up. It's directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent), a Roman epic, ensemble cast including Michael Fassbender (Hunger, Fish Tank), few-against-many-ness and a woman kicking butt. This is a yes, yes, yes! Actually Centurion was on my wishful thinking 2010 Most Anticipated Releases list, but I had a feeling that it wouldn't make it to regular theatres, and it still might - but I know that I'll be seeing it here! Continuing the epicness, we also Black Death starring Sean Bean in medieval/horror flick which a dash of witchcraft, but more of the witch hunting variety. Switching gears to the outer layer, one film that looks freaking fantastic is from Switzerland and set out even further than that: Cargo is set during a long term space flight hauling cargo with a medic attending the flight and I'm sure it must 'all go wrong' at some point, but it looks freaking beautiful and has a female protagonist - yay!

Getting a little scarier we keep trekking across the globe to Thailand for Phobia 2, a sequel from the directors 4bia / Phobia / See Prang, and I'm all for crazy scary Thai horror omnibuses! Bring 'em on! I've also heard fantastic things about the French film Rubber, which is literally about Robert, the sentient, killer tire. It looks hilarious from the trailer. Keeping it dark, we also have Heartless, which although I'm not a big 'darkness within' fan, I am a big fan of Jim Sturgess and this one looks like it's got a very interesting premise and very polished look although the trailer a little spoilery.

If you'd rather giggle your way through some films there certainly is a fair amount of comedy to choose from, whether it be in the form of a gorefest with Robogeisha, or ode to horror filsm with All About Evil. I'm not the first person to go for the drug comedy-ish selection, but HIGH School looks hilarious, and I love that the trailer doesn't give away too much and it has cast including Michael Chiklis, Adrien Brody & Colin Hanks.

Comedy continues with zombie films which included Zombie comedy Doghouse which has a new spin a la men are from England and women are from Venus - if Venus was covered in zombies! Completing the zombie double bill of the festival is Evil in the Time of Heroes, from Greece.

There is usually one film per year that gets me a bit leery, and often due to the films sexual content. In 2008, it was Donkey Punch, which actually ended up being one of the best films I've seen at the festival through the years. In 2009, it was Embodiment of Evil / Encarnação do Demônio which was completely messed up but 100% consensual so I just file that under 'not for me', and leave it at that. This year, I'm sure I won't be the only one decided on whether or not to see I Spit On Your Grave (2010), a remake of the 1978 film of the same name and both are brutal rape/revenge tales. My initial reaction was to have it be my miss this year, as I'm not a fan of any sexual violence nor revenge and I have no clue why this film would be remake. But, then I read that director Steven R. Monroe will be in attendance at the screening which flips my decision back to being curious as to what he has to say about the film, and I don't think that is a Q&A that I can miss.

I do have to say that I love a festival where the CLOSING GALA is The Human Centipede, which is literally one of the ickyest sounding films I've heard of in years. I'll admit that I didn't watch the trailer for because I don't want to deter myself from seeing it and considering the grossness of the premise (read the TADFF Page if you want to know the specifics of the surgical creation grossness). I have a feeling knowing any more might put me off seeing it, and I hate not seeing everything.

And this is just the feature films! There is also a fantastic looking shorts programs of Canadian and International magnitude which I'll chat in more detail before the festival.

16 Day and counting! See you there :)

Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2010 Feature Film Line Up

Alien vs Ninja
Writer/Dir: Seiji Chiba
Cast: Mika Hijii, Ben Hiura, Shuuji Kashiwabara, Masanori Mimoto, Yûki Ogoe, Donpei Tsuchihira
Japan
TADFF Page, IMDb Page, Trailer

All About Evil
Dir: Joshua Grannell
Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Thomas Dekkar, Noah Segan, Mink Stole, Cassandra Peterson
USA

TADFF Page, Official Website & Trailer, IMDb Page

Black Death
Dir: Christopher Smith (Severance)
Cast: Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Carice van Houten
UK
TADFF Page, Official Website & Trailer, IMDb Page

Cargo
Dir: Ivan Engler
Cast: Anna-Katharina Schwabroh
Switzerland
TADFF Page, Official Website, IMDb Page, Trailer

Centurion
Dir: Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent, Doomsday)
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Olga Kyrylenko, Dominic West
UK
TADFF Page, Official Website, IMDb Page, Trailer

Doghouse
Dir: Jake West (Evil Aliens)
Cast: Stephen Graham, Danny Dyer, Noel Clarke, Christina Cole
UK
TADFF Page, Official Website, IMDb Page, Trailer

Evil in The Time of Heroes / To kako - Stin epohi ton iroon
Dir: Yorgos Noussias (Evil)
Cast: Billy Zane, Dinos Avgoustidis, Orfeas Avgoustidis
Greece
TADFF Page, Official Website, IMDb Page, Trailer

Heartless
Writer/Dir: Philip Ridley
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Clémence Poésy, Noel Clarke, Luke Treadaway
UK
TADFF Page, Official Website, IMDb Page, Trailer

HIGH School
Dir: John Stalberg
Cast: Michael Chiklis, Adrien Brody, Colin Hanks, Matt Bush, Sean Marquette, Adhir Kalyan, Mykelti Williamson
USA
TADFF Page, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Human Centipede ** Closing Gala Film **
Dir: Tom Six
Cast: Dieter Laser, Ashley C. Williams, Ashlynn Yennie, Akihiro Kitamura
The Netherlands
TADFF Page, Official Website, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Last Exorcism
Dir: Daniel Stamm (A Necessary Death)
Cast: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Louis Herthum, Iris Bahr, Caleb Landry Jones, Tony Bentley
USA
TADFF Page, Official Website, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu ** Opening Gala Film **
Dir: Henry Saine
Cast: Kyle Davis, Devin McGinn, Gregg Lawrence
USA
TADFF Page, Official Website & Trailer, IMDb Page

I Spit on Your Grave (2010)
Dir: Steven R. Monroe
Cast: Sarah Butler, Chad Lindberg, Tracey Walter, Daniel Franzese, Jeff Branson, Rodney Eastman, Andrew Howard
USA
TADFF Page, Official Website & Trailer, IMDb Page

Phobia 2 / Ha phraeng
Dirs: Banjong Pisanthanakun, Paween Purikitpanya, Songyos Sugmakanan, Parkpoom Wongpoom
Thailand
TADFF Page, Official Website, IMDb Page, Trailer

Robogeisha
Writer/Dir: Noboru Iguchi (Machine Girl)
Cast: Aya Kiguchi, Naoto Takenaka, Takumi Saitô, Suzuki Matsuo, Yoshihiro Nishimura
Japan
TADFF Page, Official Website, IMDb Page, Trailer

Rubber
Writer/Dir: Quentin Dupieux
Cast: Thomas F. Duffy
France
TADFF Page, Official Website, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2010 runs from August 13 - 20,2010 at the Bloor Cinema, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Inception Digs to a Deeper Level: Canadian, North American, UK & Australian Box Office July 23, 2010 Weekend

Inception stays at top of the box office in both North America and Canada in it's second week and soars to the #1 spot in Australia on it's opening weekend there. New releases this week include Salt opening at #2 in both Canada & North America and Ramona and Beezus opening at #8 in Canada #6 in North America. But, what really nailed it out of the park was Toy Story 3 which opened in the UK at £21M, which easily puts it as the #1 gross of 2010 leaving The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in the dust with it's just newly set record at £13. Heck it's even more than the 2009 record of £19 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ! I can't believe it!

Top 20 Movies in Canada for the July 23, 2010 weekend
1. Inception
2. Salt *
3. Despicable Me
4. Toy Story 3
5. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
6. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
7. Grown Ups
8. Ramona and Beezus *
9. The Last Airbender
10. Predators
11. Piché : Entre ciel et terre
12. The Kids Are All Right
13. Knight and Day
14. Mel Karade Rabba
15. The Karate Kid
16. Cabotins *
17. IMAX: Hubble 3D
18. Khatta Meetha *
19. The Girl Who Played With Fire
20. I Am Love

Top 20 Movies in North America for the July 23, 2010 weekend
1. Inception
2. Salt *
3. Despicable Me
4. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
5. Toy Story 3
6. Ramona and Beezus *
7. Grown Ups
8. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
9. The Last Airbender
10. Predators
11. The Kids Are All Right
12. Knight and Day
13. The Karate Kid
14. Cyrus
15. The Girl Who Played With Fire
16. Iron Man 2
17. Winter's Bone
18. IMAX: Hubble 3D
19. Khatta Meetha *
20. The A-Team

Top 10 Movies in the UK for the July 23, 2010 weekend
1. Toy Story 3 *
2. Inception
3. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
4. Shrek Forever After
5. The Rebound *
6. Predators
7. Khatta Meetha *
8. Get Him to the Greek
9. Splice *
10. Leaving

Top 20 Movies in Australia for the July 22 - 25, 2010 weekend
1. Inception *
2. Knight & Day
3. Toy Story 3
4. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
5. The Karate Kid
6. Shrek Forever After
7. Predators
8. Grown Ups
9. Marmaduke
10. Animal Kingdom
11. Get Him to the Greek
12. The Waiting City
13. I Am Love
14. Creation
15. The Runaways
16. Mel Karade Rabba
17. Greenberg *
18. Khatta Meetha *
19. The Hedgehog
20. Sex and the City 2

* indicates opening weekend in noted location

Source: Canada & North America info, UK info, Australia Info

TIFF 2010: First Big List of Titles Announced!

The first big slew of titles has been announced for TIFF 2010 from the Gala, Special Presentations and Master programmes and there are so many films to get excited about but the one that literally made me jump for joy is Never Let Me Go, directed by Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) and starring Carey Mulligan (An Education), Andrew Garfield (Boy A, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), Keira Knightly, Sally Hawkins and Charlotte Rampling, and is based on the book by Kazuo Ishiguro (see book review here). I highly recommend reading the book as soon as you can, not only because it's one of the best books I've read in years but also because it's such a great story that the less you know the better and the film trailer show way to much. The writing style of the book takes a bit getting used to, but it's well worth it reading.

Some of the other titles that jumped off the screen at me were In A Better World directed by Susanne Bier (After the Wedding / Efter brylluppet) and starring Ulrich Thomsen (Fear Me Not / Den du frygter), Buried from directed Rodrigo Cortés and starring Ryan Reynolds and L'Amour Fou a documentary on Yves Saint Laurent from director Pierre Thoretton.

The Gala announced have some heavy hitters with Black Swan from director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, The Fountain, Pi) and starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey & Winona Ryder and Philip Seymour Hoffman's feature film directorial debut Jack Goes Boating starrring John Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Amy Ryan & Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Acclaimed directors that are hitting the festival this year include Woody Allen with You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Stephen Frears with Tamara Drewe, Michael Winterbottom with The Trip, Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel) with Biutiful and Mike Leigh with Another Year, all a part of the Special Presentations program.

Several actors with multiple titles in the line up including Catherine Deneuve (Potiche, The Big Picture) and Rachelle Lefevre (Casino Jack and Barney's Visions) and Twi-fans will know Barney's Vision as the film that was the source of the schedulling issues and therefore led to her role of Victoria in Twilight and New Moon being recast as Bryce Dallas Howard for Eclipse.

I know we are all getting excited about the titles and want to get into planning mode, and although it really will all come down to the schedule there are a few things to consider when making your choices. Remember that the new premium screenings status is in are in effect this year and may apply to World or North American Premieres and to jog your memory, premium screenings are described as follows: "We have refined our definition of a premium screening around the experience you will have. These are screenings that are World or North American premieres and offer a premium experience including a red carpet event." Another consideration is that several titles have release dates for during the festival including Easy A, The Town, Jack Goes Boating which are currently slated to be released Friday September 17, 2010.

Here is a list of the most recently released titles:

Galas

The Bang Bang Club
Dir: Steven Silver
Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman, Taylor Kitsch, Neels Van Jaarsveld, Frank Rautenbach
Canada/South Africa
World Premiere

Barney's Version
Dir: Richard J. Lewis
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre, Scott Speedman
Canada/Italy
North American Premiere

Black Swan
Dir: Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, The Fountain, Pi)
Cast: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
USA
North American Premiere

Casino Jack
Dir: George Hickenlooper
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston, Rachelle Lefevre, Jon Lovitz
Canada
World Premiere

The Conspirator
Dir: Robert Redford
Cast: James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson
USA
World Premiere

The Debt
Dir: John Madden
Cast: Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington
USA
North American Premiere

The Housemaid
Dir: Im Sang-Soo
South Korea
North American Premiere

Janie Jones
Dir: David M. Rosenthal
USA
World Premiere

The King's Speech
Dir: Tom Hooper
Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush
United Kingdom/Australia
North American Premiere

Little White Lies
Dir: Guillaume Canet (Tell No One)
Cast: François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Jean Dujardin, Laurent Lafitte, Valérie Bonneton, Pascale Arbillot
France
World Premiere

Peep World
Dir: Barry Blaustein
USA
World Premiere

Potiche
Dir: François Ozon,
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Gerard Depardieu
France
North American Premiere

The Town
Dir: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper
USA
North American Premiere

The Way
Dir: Emilio Estevez
Cast: Martin Sheen
USA
World Premiere

West is West
Dir: Andy De Emmony
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Special Presentations

Another Year
Dir: Mike Leigh
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Peter Wight, Oliver Maltman, David Bradley, Karina Fernandez, Martin Savage
United Kingdom
North American Premiere

Beginners
Dir: Mike Mills (Thumbsucker)
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Ewan McGregor
USA
World Premiere

The Big Picture
Dir: Eric Lartigau
Cast: Romain Duris, Marina Foïs, Niels Arestrup, Catherine Deneuve
France
World Premiere

Biutiful
Dir: Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel)
Cast: Javier Bardem
Spain/Mexico
North American Premiere

Blue Valentine
Dir: Derek Cianfrance
Cast: Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling
USA
Canadian Premiere

Brighton Rock
Dri: Rowan Joffe
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Buried
Dir: Rodrigo Cortés
Cast: Ryan Reynolds
Spain/USA
Canadian Premiere

Conviction
Dir: Tony Goldwyn
Cast: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell
USA
World Premiere

Cirkus Columbia
Dir: Danis Tanovic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
International Premiere

Dhobi Ghat
Dir: Kiran Rao
India
World Premiere

Easy A
Dir: Will Gluck
Cast: Emma Stone
USA
World Premiere

Henry's Crime
Dir: Malcolm Venville
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga, James Caan, Fisher Stevens, Peter Stormare, Danny Hoch, Bill Duke
USA
World Premiere

The Illusionist
Dir: Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville)
United Kingdom
North American Premiere

In A Better World
Dir: Susanne Bier (After the Wedding / Efter brylluppet, Open Hearts)
Cast: Ulrich Thomsen, Mikael Persbrandt
Denmark/Sweden
International Premiere

I Saw the Devil
Dir: Kim Jee-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters, The Good, The Bad, The Weird)
South Korea
North American Premiere

It's Kind of a Funny Story
Dirs: Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden,
Cast: Keir Gilchrist, Emma Roberts, Zach Galifianakis
USA
World Premiere

Jack Goes Boating
Dir: Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Cast: John Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Amy Ryan, Philip Seymour Hoffman
USA
International Premiere

L'Amour Fou
Dir: Pierre Thoretton
Documentary on Yves Saint Laurent
France
World Premiere

The Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
Dir: Andrew Lau
Hong Kong
North American Premiere

Lope
Dir: Andrucha Waddington
Brazil/Spain
World Premiere

Love Crime
Dir: Alain Corneau
Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Ludivine Sagnier
France
International Premiere

Made in Dagenham
Dir: Nigel Cole
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike United Kingdom
World Premiere

Miral
Dir: Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
United Kingdom/Israel/France
North American Premiere

Never Let Me Go
Dir: Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo)
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightly, Sally Hawkins, Charlotte Rampling
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Norwegian Wood
Dir: Tran Anh Hung
Cast: Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi, Kiko Mizuhara
Japan
North American Premiere

Outside the Law
Dir: Rachid Bouchareb
France/Algeria/Tunisia/Italy/Belgium
North American Premiere

Rabbit Hole
Dir: John Cameron Mitchell
Cast: David Lindsay-Abaire. Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart
USA
World Premiere

A Screaming Man
Dir: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
France/Belgium/Chad
North American Premiere

Stone
Dir: John Curran
Cast: Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich, Frances Conroy
USA
World Premiere

Submarine
Dir: Richard Ayoade
United Kingdom
World Premiere

That Girl in Yellow Boots
Dir: Anurag Kashyap
India
North American Premiere

Tamara Drewe
Dir: Stephen Frears
United Kingdom
North American Premiere

The Trip
Dir: Michael Winterbottom
Cat: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon
United Kingdom
World Premiere

Trust
Dir: David Schwimmer
Cast: Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Tom McCarthy
USA
World Premiere

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Dir: Woody Allen
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Lucy Punch, Naomi Watts
United Kingdom/USA/Spain
North American Premiere

Masters

Mysteries of Lisbon
Dir: Raul Ruiz
Portugal/France
World Premiere

See Press Release: Celebrated Actors And Filmmakers Take Centre Stage As TIFF Announces Stellar Lineup Of Galas And Special Presentations

The Toronto International Film Festival 2010 runs from September 9 - 19, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Movie Moxie Podcast: Episode 1

I've been talking about, hoping for and waxing poetically about having my very own film podcast for a very long time and the day has finally come! On this first episode of the Movie Moxie Podcast I stick to my spoiler-free guns as I review current theatrical releases of Salt, The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) and The Kids Are All Right as well as reviewing new to DVD release of Espion(s). I hope you enjoy this first episode!

Time Details:
0:00 – 1:30 - Introduction
1:30 –10:10 - Salt
10:10 – 17:10 - The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
17:10 – 21:40 - The Kids Are All Right
21:40 – 23:30 - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre
23:30 – 26:25 - Trailers: The Expendables & Red
26:25 – 27:35 - DVD Releases July 27, 2010
27:35 – 29:50 - DVD Review: Espion(s)
29:50 – 31:15 - Coming Up Next Week
31:15 – 31:52 - Outro

Show notes

• Trailers Mentioned: The Expendables (trailer) & Red (trailer)
• Espion(s) review
• DVD Releases for Tuesday July 27, 2010
• Remember to Vote on the Poll for What August Release You Are Most Looking Forward To ------------->

Podcast should be up on iTunes shortly.
You can also subscribe to the Movie Moxie Podcast here:

Questions & comments on the podcast are welcome, feel free to comment on this post or contact me directly by email

DVD Releases for July 27, 2010

It's Tuesday which means it's DVD release day! Let's see what July 27, 2010 has for DVD releases.

The biggies of the week is Clash of the Titans (2010), which is being released on DVD as well as with a BluRay/DVD Combo which has an alternate ending (but only on the BluRay). That might the first time I've actually wished I had a BluRay player! Next up is the romantically charged French spy thriller Espion(s) / Spy(ies), we also have Helen which played at Sundance and stars Ashley Judd. Also have 2 Asian historical films out this week with The Warlords / Tau ming chong starring Jet Li, Andy Lau & Takeshi Kaneshiro and IP Man starring Donnie Yen.

Also have a set of different kind of geekdar films including Don't Look Up directed by Fruit Chan and starring Eli Roth and Henry Thomas, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Metropolis (1927) which DVD release has an accompanying T-Shirt. That's a new one! We also have the documentary Fuel. A couple Criterion releases includes The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus.

Lots of TV on DVD this week including lots of Season 2's. Weird! We have Life After People Season 2, Red vs Blue: Reconstruction Season 6, Paranormal State Season 2 and Durham County Season 2.

We also have the comedy Acceptance and pregnancy romantic comedy The Back-Up Plan starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin.

Titles on Amazon.ca(Canada):


Titles on Amazon.com (US):

• Espion(s) / Spy(ies) & Durham Country Season 2 are not currently available on Amazon.com
• Helen will be released on Amazon.com on August 10, 2010

Espion(s) / Spy(ies) - DVD Review

Courtesy of E1 Entertainment

Writer/Dir: Nicolas Saada - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Guillaume Canet, Géraldine Pailhas, Stephen Rea, Vincent Regan, Alexander Siddig, Vincent Regan, Hippolyte Girardot, Hiam Abbass, Jamie Harding
France/UK, 2009

Reason to see: DVD cover image completely piqued my curiosity

Espion(s) was a real treat to watch. As the titles infers, and also known as Spy(ies), we head into the land of espionage. But, it's from a completely fresh perspective because we follow Vincent, played beautifully by Guillaume Canet, who one day works in airport security and then gets pulled into larger picture of international espionage.

Now, he isn't all of a sudden tearing down helicopters with a pocket knife, but rather using a softer touch and being a part of one piece in larger whole. It's a very interesting choice to hone in on a smaller scale here, and it really works because it stays firmly centred in the human factor and honest reactions to being placed in a heightened scenario. Vincent is actually a caring and very accessible character, so we certainly feel for him being but in an odd situations. Then factor in a romantic element with the character Claire (played by Géraldine Pailhas), we have something very different that what you would normally see in a spy film.

The emotional journey of the characters in Espion(s) are just as if not more important that the actual plot of the film, which is why I loved it. It really kept the humanness of the situations present and acknowledged throughout the film. The chemistry between Vincent & Claire was fantastic and their actions and reactions very believable. I felt for them every step of the way. I really enjoyed this different take on a spy film and would love to see more films like it.

DVD Extras: English Subtitles, French Closed Captioning

Espion(s) is available on DVD as of July 27, 2010. Check it out over at Amazon.ca

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I've already watched it again
I'd recommend it as fans of dramas, thriller and darker set romance

Return to Film Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2010

Poll Results: Inception Impression....

I'm not that suprized to see that 50% Saw & Loved Inception! I wonder if it will be the film of the summer? Next most popular vote is actually a tie at 18% which goes to both Saw it & Enjoyed it and Still Planning on Seeing It. Very low % goes to Not Planning on Seeing it (9%) and Saw It & Didn't Love It (4%).

50% - Saw It. Loved It.
18% - Tie: Saw It. Enjoyed It. & Still Planning on Seeing It.
9% - Not Planning on Seeing It.
4% - Saw It. Didn't Love It.

Thanks for voting!

Before the Dawn - Episode 61: News to July 23, 2010

Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast - Episode 61 is up!

This week at Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast, and we are oddly without much news on the recent release of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, but Marina & I still have lots to chat about from Breaking Dawn news and speculation, cast & crew film updates and upcoming appearances.

Check it out over at Before the Dawn.

Friday Happy: The Good The Bad The Weird comes to DVD Aug 17, 2010

I literally leapt out of my chair with a squeal of joy earlier this week when I ran across this earlier this week:

The Good The Bad The Weird hits DVD on August 17, 2010!

I have been over the moon excited to see this film for OVER 2 YEARS now! The first time I wrote about it was back in June 2008 when the fantastic trailer first appeared online showing us a freaking stylish, funny South Korean western full on with guns, horses and trains. I watched the trailer a record amount of times, probably the most times of any film every (with the Mirageman trailer as a close second).

The Good The Bad The Weird was in Toronto as a Gala Presentation during the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, but regular TIFF goers will remember that years as the one was the year of the premium tickets kerfuffle and therefore wasn't available on regular passes and was $40 (twice as much as regular tickets). And I was like "I"m not paying that! That's unfair!" Oh, boy - I regretted it. I had no idea it would take over 2 years before I would have the opportunity to see the film. But here it is! As of August 17, 2010 the Kim Jee-woon film starring Woo-Sung Jung, Byung-hun Lee and Kang-ho Song will be available on DVD in just a few short weeks.

I for one, can't wait. But I will. Less than a month isn't that long after waiting 2 years and it makes me so happy. That's why I'm sharing this on Friday as my sister Jamie hosts the The Next Chapter: The Happy Book, a book blogging group and they are sharing their happy every Friday, and you can too over at the site right here. What made you happy this week? It's fun to share our happys!

I usually don't embed trailers, but this one is really my favourite trailer ever so I'm breaking the rules. It's not the highest quality visually but it's the 'right' one.


Looking for a way to get the film yourself? Check out The Good The Bad The Weird at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com

Film Fan Fridays for Friday July 23, 2010

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday July 23, 2010! Oh, now that is a particularly awesome day for a Friday! Not that every Friday isn't awesome, but I like this one the best... because this one is my birthday! WOOHOO! I love it when my birthday is a Friday! New movies and birthday goodness - the more celebrations the better! Ye-haw :)

In limited release this week we have just one release, and that is the highly acclaimed documentary Gasland which played at this years Hot Docs and I've only heard good things about.

In wide release this week we have 3 films to choose from. Fans of action & Angelina Jolie can rejoice as today's big release has both in Salt. I'm actually quite looking forward to that one (although I think I figured it out - saw the trailer too many times, le sigh..). Also out in wide release is Ramona and Beezus, based on the kids book Ramona Forever from the Ramona series by author Beverly Cleary, and I have to say it looks pretty cute. Last release of the week is Bollywood comedy Khatta Meetha.

If you are a fan of Japanese film, be sure to check out the Shinsedai Cinema Festival that runs through to July 25. See my preview of the festival and reviews of films at the festival.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Human Rights Doc Fest
July 23 - 25, 2010 at The NFB, 150 John St., in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Shinsedai Cinema Festival
The New Generation of Japanese Film Festival
July 22 - 25, 2010 at The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Special Screening

House / Hansu
The wacky 1977 Japanese horror/comedy House is coming to the Bloor this week for several screenings. I've heard that it's so crazy it must be seen to be believed. Sounds good to me! Check here for show times.

Grease Sing-a-Long
"Summer loving.. had me a blast.... Summer loving.. happened so fast...." C'mon. Admit it... you know all the words! The Grease Sing-a-Long hits theatres this weekend (Friday/Saturday). Check here for show times.

Friday July 23, 2010 Releases

Gasland
Writer/Dir: Josh Fox (Memorial Day)
Documentary
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Khatta Meetha
Writer/Dir: Priyadarshan (De Dana Dan, Billu)
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Trisha Krishnan, Makrand Deshpande
India
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Ramona and Beezus
Dir: Elizabeth Allen (Aquamarine)
Cast: Joey King, Selena Gomez, John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Duhamel, Sandra Oh
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Salt
Dir: Phillip Noyce (The Quiet American, Rabbit-Proof Fence)
Cast: Angelina Jolie,Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski, Andre Braugher, Olek Krupa
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of July 23, 2010**

Wolfathon in Completathon Vlog

It's vlogging madness this week! It's been a bit since the Wolfathon came to completion, which means it's time to look back and go through all of the films I've seen for the marathon from the ones I loved, to ones I didn't love so much. From discussed themes, effects, what I learned about werewolf films & myself along the way and of course my favourites werewolf films.

You can see all the werewolf films I've reviewed for the wolfathon and beyond here.
I also mentioned the Vampathon, the vampire film marathon I did last year.

Triple Inception: Canadian, North American, UK & Australian Box Office July 16, 2010 Weekend

Not surprized to see Inception top the charts on it's debut weekend landing at #1 in the Canadian, North American and UK charts (it will open in Australia soon: July 22, 2010). This week the Canadian and North American box office have the exact same top 5 films, including another film debut The Sorcerer's Apprentice landing at #3, and with Despicable Me taking the #2 spot in it's second week, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse at #4 and Toy Story 3 at #5.

In Australia, Knight & Day opens at #1 and there are quite a few debuts down under, with The Runaways at #11 (and it just came out on DVD here), The Waiting City an Australian film starring Radha Mitchell & Joel Edgerton at #12, Darwin biopic Creation at #14 and Mel Karade Rabba at #16.

Top 20 Movies in Canada for the July 16, 2010 weekend
1. Inception *
2. Despicable Me
3. The Sorcerer's Apprentice *
4. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
5. Toy Story 3
6. Grown Ups
7. Predators
8. The Last Airbender
9. Piché : Entre ciel et terre
10. Knight and Day
11. The Karate Kid
12. Mel Karade Rabba *
13. The Girl Who Played With Fire
14. The Kids Are All Right
15. Get Him to the Greek
16. Cyrus
17. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
18. The A-Team
19. IMAX: Hubble 3D
20. Iron Man 2

Top 20 Movies in North America for the July 16, 2010 weekend
1. Inception *
2. Despicable Me
3. The Sorcerer's Apprentice *
4. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
5. Toy Story 3
6. Grown Ups
7. The Last Airbender
8. Predators
9. Knight and Day
10. The Karate Kid
11. Cyrus
12. The Kids Are All Right
13. The Girl Who Played With Fire
14. Iron Man 2
15. The A-Team
16. I Am Love
17. Winter's Bone
18. Standing Ovation *
19. IMAX: Hubble 3D
20. Shrek Forever After

Top 10 Movies in the UK for the July 16, 2010 wee. span>
1. Inception *
2. Shrek Forever After
3. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
4. Predators
5. Get Him to the Greek
6. Killers
7. Heartbreaker
8. Sex and the City 2
9. Leaving
10. The Concert *

Top 20 Movies in Australia for the July 15 - 18 2010 weekend
1. Knight & Day *
2. Toy Story 3
3. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
4. The Karate Kid
5. Shrek Forever After
6. Predators
7. Grown Ups
8. Marmaduke
9. Get Him to the Greek
10. Animal Kingdom
11. The Runaways *
12. The Waiting City *
13. I Am Love
14. Creation *
15. Sex and the City 2
16. Mel Karade Rabba *
17. The Hedgehog
18. The A-Team
19. Farewell
20. Mother and Child

* indicates opening weekend in noted location

Source: Canada & North America info, UK info, Australia Info

DVD Releases for July 20, 2010

It's a pretty awesome day for DVD releases, so lets not wait another moment to look at what DVDs are hitting shelves on Tuesday July 20, 2010.

First up is the music biopic based on the band of the same name, The Runaways (DVD Review) starring Kristen Stewart (Twilight) as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning (The Twilight Saga: New Moon) as Cherie Currie. The movie is a lot of fund and the DVD extras are pretty great, including a commentary with Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning and Joan Jett! Also out this week and my favourite action films of the year so far, is The Losers, which follows a bunch of good natured and skilled misfits through the challenge of clearing their name. Also out this week is the futuristic gore-fest Repo Men, phenomenal South Korean crime drama Mother and the highly acclaimed animated flick A Town Called Panic.

A few new to me titles this week included Entre nos / Between Us, a drama film taking new updated take on the new immigrant experience. In a completely different vein we have Ultimate Heist / Le premier cercle, a (shock!) heist film starring Jean Reno (yay!). I'm always up for Jean Reno films.

If you loved Mother & can't get enough of Bong Joon-Ho, you can check out the Bong Joon-Ho Collection which includes the fantastic monster film The Host along with Mother & Barking Dogs Never Bite. Keeping it a bit retro, we also have a release of the 1982 horror/SciFi film Roger Cormon''s The Forbidden World.

Last up is the documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America and Kevin Smith's buddy cop comedy Cop Out.

Titles on Amazon.ca(Canada):


Titles on Amazon.com (US):

The Runaways (DVD Review)

Courtesy of E1 Entertainment

Writer/Dir: Floria Sigismondi - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Stella Maeve, Alia Shawkat, Scout Taylor-Compton, Riley Keough
USA, 2010

Reason to see: Biopic on the band The Runaways starring Kristen Stewart & Dakota Fanning? You couldn't keep me away.

The moment images from The Runaways started popping up online, I had a feeling we were headed for a good ride. I know looks aren't everything, but a film that's willing to be authentic on the mullet like hair has got the guts to go far. The Runaways has got guts. They go for it. I love how it didn't gloss over anything. Things what would be messy were messy, what you'd expect to be dirty was dirty. Of course there is fair share of glitzy and gloss - where it should be, like on stage, but it doesn't shy away from the gritty realities. It feels like a really honest take on things, sure there are frustrations and barriers of being an the first all-girl band of it's kind, but it also embraces the franticness of life at the time.

With the film being based on a book by Cherie Currie and executive produced by Joan Jett, you have to feel confident that the film presents an honest vision from the biographical point of view. One of the things I love about it is that it doesn't shy away from the flaws of life, that how even with the best of intentions, life can run it's own course and throw you curve balls along the way. People reactions can be different to the curve balls, because everyone is different. In a lot of ways it's a beautiful tale of persistence, resilience and what you can do if you've got drive.

The casting is genius, having two talented women in the forefront with Kristen Stewart (Twilight) playing Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning (The Twilight Saga: New Moon) as Cherie Currie, who make up two of the core members of the rock band this biopic film follows. Both provide stellar performances. I'm continued to be impressed with Kristen Stewart, whose roster of films keeps getting more and more varied providing us with strong performances every step of the way. Dakota Fanning is amazing in the role of Cherie, providing a stunning performance of a character which a range from drive to vulnerable to everything in between. Together they make up the heart and human connection in the film, we see their friendship grow over time and they also showcases how the same journey can taken yet received so differently by different people. Michael Shannon is also a shining star in the film, in a very memorable performance of the supporting character Kim Fowley.

Overall, it's a keeper. I'm already looking forward to seeing it again. It's a great story with strong performances and fantastic music to rock the house.

Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go listen to Crimson and Clover one more time....

DVD Extras:

• Commentary with Joan Jett and actors Kristen Stewart (Joan Jett) & Dakota Fanning (Cherie Currie) - I love film commentaries and I was over the moon to hear that The Runaways would have one, but I totally freaked when I found out that it included Joan Jett. *The* Joan Jett! OMG! What an amazing thing to here her perspective on the film which is in part a biopic on her, plus Kristen Stewart talk about playing Joan and giving context on not only what it was like to do the scenes, but if changes were made from what really happened in real life and commentary on what they thought about that. Awesome. Plus, it's interesting to hear Dakota Fanning discuss her character, and also get to hear her & Kristen talk about working together which is fun because there is also the wild parallel that they've worked on several films together now and in some ways feels like there is a parallel between them & their characters. Un-freaking-believable.
• Plugged in: Making the Film (15 minutes) - nice accompanying behind the scenes extra that through interviews details the band, the character, the music, production design, often discussing it in context of it being based on real people, the bands influence and effect and the fact that it is a period piece. Includes interviews with writer/director Floria Sigismondi, actors Kristen Stewart (Joan Jett), Dakota Fanning (Cherie Currie), Michael Shannon (Kim Fowley), the real Cherie Currie, music supervisor George Drakoulias, production designer Eugenio Caballero and producers John Linson & Bill Pohlad. It's a great watch and they even ask each of the interviewees what their favourite The Runaways song it which is a awesome touch.
• The Runaways Featurette (2 minutes) - combination of film footage with interviews from Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart, Michael Shannon, Cherie Currie & Floria Sigismondi discussing the film & characters. It's like a combination of an trailer and interviews from Plugged in: Making of the Film.

The Runaways is available on DVD as of July 20, 2010. Check it out over at Amazon.ca & Amazon.com

Shannon's Overall View:
I loved it & watch it repeatedly
I own it
I highly recommend it

Return to Film Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2010
Originally reviewed for Theatrical Release - March 16, 2010


Kristen Stewart & Dakota Fanning in The Runaways Courtesy of E1 Entertainment


Joan Jett and Director Floria Sigismondi Courtesy of E1 Entertainment