TIFF Wish List: 30 Films to Watch for in Toronto

by Peter Knegt (July 2, 2009)

The Potential Surprises

As we all know, “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Juno” are just two of the most prominent examples of films that would never have been on the awards season likely list, but they ended up being huge Oscar contenders. So here’s a list of ten less-than-sure bets that could surprise, from bizarre projects from well-respected filmmakers (Herzog’s “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans”), to follow ups to bizarre - and divisive - projects from (once?) promising filmmakers (Kelly’s “The Box”), to first time filmmakers (“Good Night and Good Luck” writer Grant Heslov’s “The Men Who Stare At Goats”; Mark Ruffalo’s debut, “Sympathy For Delicious”).  Many of the listed films don’t have distributors - Oliver Dahan’s “My Own Love Song” and Dagur Kari’s “The Good Heart,” for example, so these could also be the sources of potential bidding wars.
A scene from Richard Kelly’s “The Box.” Image courtesy of Warner Brothers.

All Good Things, directed by Andrew Jarecki

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, directed by Werner Herzog

The Box, directed by Richard Kelly

Crazy Heart, directed by Scott Cooper

Desert Flower, directed by Sherry Hormann

The Good Heart, directed by Dagur Kari

The Last Station, directed by Michael Hoffman

The Men Who Stare At Goats, directed by Grant Heslov

My Own Love Song, directed by Oliver Dahan

Sympathy For Delicious, directed by Mark Ruffalo


The Docs About The Economy

While Michael Moore’s latest, as-yet-untitled project is sure to be the talk of Toronto, Heidi Ewing, Alex Gibney, Rachel Grady, Eugene Jarecki, and Morgan Spurlock’s joint project - an adaptation of the hugely popular economics tome “Freakonomics” - is definitely one to look out for.

Untitled Michael Moore Project, directed by Michael Moore

Freakonomics, directed by Heidi Ewing, Alex Gibney, Rachel Grady, Eugene Jarecki and Morgan Spurlock


The “Juno” Reunion

Two years after “Juno” became the belle of the TIFF ball, there’s likely to be quite the Toronto reunion of folks from the film. Jason Reitman’s follow-up feature “Up In The Air,” starring George Clooney, and Diablo Cody’s second script, “Jennifer’s Body,” starring Megan Fox, are both good bets to be in the lineup, as are new features from Jason Bateman (who stars in both “Up In The Air” and Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson’s “The Invention of Lying”), Jennifer Garner (also in “Lying”), Michael Cera (in Miguel Arteta’s “Youth in Revolt”), and “Juno” herself, Ellen Page, in Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut “Whip It!”

A scene from Karyn Kusama’s “Jennifer’s Body.” Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight.

The Invention of Lying, directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson

Jennifer’s Body, directed by Karyn Kusama

Up In The Air, directed by Jason Reitman

Whip It, directed by Drew Barrymore

Youth In Revolt, directed by Miguel Arteta


The “Wild” Card

Because it doesn’t really belong in any of the categories, and because the pun was just so easy… Will Spike Jonze’s hugely anticipated “Where The Wild Things Are” hit the festival circuit before its October release?:

Where The Wild Things Are, directed by Spike Jonze

Previous Page 2 of 2
posted on July 1, 2009
Films to Snag
Login to Leave a Comment »
AFI Fest
AFI Fest '09
BROKEN EMBRACES
A Film By Almodovar, Starring Penelope Cruz
Opens New York 11/20, Opens Los Angeles 12/11
Opens additional cities 12/25
Where is it opening by you?
www.sonyclassics.com/brokenembraces/dates.html
"Astonishing! A Masterpiece!"
Jeffrey Lyons, KNBC Weekend Today
"Cruz with Almodovar makes BROKEN EMBRACES soar!"
Richard Corliss, TIME
Written and Directed by Pedro Almodovar
www.brokenembracesmovie.com
www.facebook.com/brokenembracesmovie