The Toronto International Film Festival turned out to be the who’s who of Hollywood this year with everyone from Brad Pitt to Dakota Fanning on the scene for the parties and promotion surrounding their latest projects.
Hollywood.com made the trek to Canada to meet with the casts of some of the hottest films due out this fall. Despite our best efforts we couldn’t get to everything, but here’s a sneak peek at some of our favorite films from the fest.
Burn After Reading: Sept. 12, 2008
Who’s in it: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and John Malkovich
Who directed it: Joel and Ethan Coen
What’s it about: When employees at Hardbodies Fitness Center (McDormand and Pitt) stumble across a CD of what they believe to be top secret CIA files, chaos ensues.
What you’ll love: Eye candy in the form of Pitt and Clooney along with laugh out loud funny situational comedy provided by the Coen brothers.
Ethan Coen says: “It’s not a comment about other people; it’s just a part of ourselves that we would disavow. It’s certainly not about George Bush or anything specific politically, or other people we’re laughing at, or find amusing. We’ve all got the inner knucklehead. It’s again good fodder for stories.”
Next: Ghost Town
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Ghost Town: Sept. 19, 2008
Who’s in it: Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear and Tea Leoni
Who directed it: David Koepp
What’s it about: A dentist named Dr. Pincus (Gervais) starts seeing dead people after dying for seven minutes during a routine doctor’s exam. When a ghost named Frank (Kinnear) finds out that Pincus can communicate with the dead, he convinces him to help make things right with his widow Gwen (Leoni).
What you’ll love: Gervais makes for an unconventional romantic lead, grounded by the more traditional comedy of Kinnear and Leoni – that and a surprisingly good soundtrack.
Greg Kinnear says: “[Tea] is fantastic. She is someone I always wanted to work with and I finally do a movie with her and she’s not allowed to make eye contact with me.”
Next: Appaloosa
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Appaloosa: Sept. 19, 2008
Who’s in it: Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Iron
Who directed it: Ed Harris
What’s it about: Appaloosa hires Virgil Cole (Harris) and Everett Hitch (Mortensen), two contract lawmen, to bring order to their town after a vagabond named Bragg (Irons) threatens the peace. Meanwhile Cole finds himself distracted when Mrs. French (Zellweger) moves to town.
What you’ll love: Sweeping landscapes, a strong female lead and a whole lot of bro love.
Ed Harris says: “I just knew [Viggo would] be perfect. The guys had to communicate a lot about the knowledge of who they were without really talking about it. I mean they talk about stuff, but they don’t’ talk about their inner feelings…I wanted a guy I could ride next to on a horse for ten hours and never say a word.”
Next: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
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Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist: Oct. 3, 2008
Who’s in it: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Ari Graynor and Aaron Yoo
Who directed it: Pete Sollett
What’s it about: Two awkward teens (Cera and Dennings) meet by chance at a New York City night club and spend the night trying to wrangle their drunk friends and find clues to the whereabouts of their favorite band.
What you’ll love: Young love, Nick’s yellow Yugo and lots of fun and racy cameos.
Michael Cera says: “When I like a book and it is made into a movie I think of them as two separate things. When you read a book you project your life onto it, it is so personal and intimate. You are one on one with the author and there is no way that you can make a movie that is exactly how everyone pictured the book…when making a movie I think you just have to think of it as a movie.”
Next: RocknRolla
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RocknRolla: Oct. 8, 2008
Who’s in it: Tom Wilkinson, Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Toby Kebbell, Ludacris, Jeremy Piven and Idris Elba
Who directed it: Guy Ritchie
What’s it about: London’s criminal underworld turns to real estate as the next big money maker everyone wants a piece, from the small time gangsters to the big time mobsters.
What you’ll love: Butler’s sweet dance moves along with his sexless sex scene with Newton and Ritchie’s new twist on his own genre.
Guy Ritchie says: “I sort of became aware that there is a phrase generated – if someone says someone is a RocknRolla it seems to inspire a certain picture and I suppose that picture is someone who lives life very large and is also very volatile. It is usually someone who is very creative and has a large desire for life. The trouble is there are consequences to that desire and often they end up putting their finger in the socket.”
Next: Secret Life of Bees
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Secret Life of Bees: Oct. 17, 2008
Who’s in it: Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo
Who directed it: Gina Prince-Bythewood
What’s it about: In the midst of the civil rights movement, a teen (Fanning) and her caregiver (Hudson) flee trouble in their hometown and find solace at the home of a beekeeper (Latifah) and her sisters (Keys and Okonedo).
Why you’ll love it: A tearjerker from start to finish, addresses the issues of the era while leaving you with a sense of hope and trust in humanity.
Alicia Keys says: “Somewhere inside one of those characters you find yourself. Someone. No matter if you are a man or a female or if you are black or if you are white or however you were raised, whatever religion. You know, it’s not really about those specifics. It’s about this general feeling of the human experience you know? And how you find yourself through it all.”
Next: The Brothers Bloom
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The Brothers Bloom: Dec. 19, 2008
Who’s in it: Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, Mark Ruffalo and Rinko Kikuchi
Who directed it: Rian Johnson
What’s it about: Brothers Steven (Ruffalo) and Bloom (Brody) are two of the best con artists around, but when Bloom decides to quit the family business, Steven won’t stand for it. They agree to one final scam, but when they choose an eccentric millionaire named Penelope (Weisz) as their final mark it turns out they’ve met their match.
Why you’ll love it: Steven’s theatrical cons with character arcs and hired actors, Penelope’s extensive number of hobbies (juggling, unicycle riding and card tricks just to name a few) and the brothers silent sidekick Bang Bang (Kikuchi) – who can steal a scene with just a glance.
Adrien Brody says: “It is a very unique story and it was unchartered territory for me. I was inspired by it. I had decided to do it right at the end of Darjeeling Limited and I was in India and I think although they are very different in tone, that film helped send me down a path of wanting to play more comedic stuff even though this is a dramatic role there are all these comedic elements that you are kind of playing the straight man but they exist within that.”
