From the list of films on schedule for show at the Toronto International Film Festival 2010, I have selected a few movies which I feel are worthy of some consideration. These are U.S. made films (no worries, the international list will follow) and based on what I am reading and seeing should get some buzz here and there.
1. BEGINNERS by Mike Mills: A story about a dying seventy-one-year-old father (Christopher Plummer) who comes out of the closet causing his son, Oliver (Ewan McGregor) to question his life and realationshiip
2. BLACK SWAN – Darren Aronofsky: A psychological thriller set in the world of New York City ballet, Black Swan stars Natalie Portman as Nina, a featured dancer who finds herself locked in a web of competitive intrigue with a new rival at the company. Black Swan takes a thrilling and at times terrifying journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous swan queen turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect. Black Swan also stars Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder.(TIFF site)
3. RABBIT HOLE – John Cameron Mitchell: A family navigates the deepest form of loss in John Cameron Mitchell’s screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning play by David Lindsay-Abaire. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart deliver captivating performances as a husband and wife who fight to save their marriage in the life that begins again after tragedy. (TIFF website)
4. THE TOWN – Ben Affleck: The Town is a dramatic thriller about robbers and cops, friendship and betrayal, love and hope, and escaping a past that has no future. In the Boston neighbourhood of Charlestown, Doug MacCray is the leader of a crew of ruthless bank robbers. But everything changed on the gang’s last job when they took bank manager Claire Keesey hostage. Questioning what she saw, Doug seeks out Claire. As their relationship deepens, Doug wants out of this life and the town, but now he must choose whether to betray his friends or lose the woman he loves. (TIFF website)
5. ****THE WAY – Emilio Estevez:Martin Sheen plays Tom, an American doctor who comes to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to collect the remains of his adult son, killed in the Pyrenees in a storm while walking The Camino de Santiago. Driven by his profound sadness and desire to understand his son better, Tom decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage. Along the way he learns what it means to be a citizen of the world again and discovers the difference between “The life we live and the life we choose.” (TIFF Website)
B-lot buzz 