Posted on: Friday, September 19, 2008
Some of Toronto fest's best on their way to U.S. theaters
By Harlan Jacobson
USA Today
TORONTO — There was no Oscar-worthy crop of films looking for a boost heading into awards season this year. But a few biggies did emerge at the Toronto International Film Festival, with "Slumdog Millionaire" not only winning the people's prize, but also generating considerable critical praise. Acting showcases "The Wrestler "(Mickey Rourke) and "Rachel Getting Married" (Anne Hathaway) also got a lot of ink. But other films made their marks, too. Here are just a few that will see the inside of American theaters over the coming months:
"Religulous." Bill Maher takes his "ya gotta be kidding me" shtick on the road to religious shrines and shriners from Jerusalem to Salt Lake, the Vatican to Amsterdam. Larry Charles ("Borat") directs. (Due Oct. 3 from Lionsgate)
"Happy Go Lucky." Mike Leigh ("Secrets & Lies") directs Sally Hawkins playing a thirtysomething teacher in London who inadvertently takes a tour of male anger and lives to laugh about it. (Oct. 10, Miramax)
"JCVD." Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in Mabrouk El Mechri's brooding, French-language hostage film set in Van Damme's Belgian hometown. His sharply edged humorous role calls for him to stand outside his persona as the Muscles from Brussels and wax tragic about the traps of celebrity. (November, Peace Arch Entertainment)
"Summer Hours." "Irma Vep" director Olivier Assayas' elegant film, starring Juliette Binoche and Charles Berling, zeroes in on the French swapping real art for artifice and global mass production. (2009, IFC Films)
"The Hurt Locker." The story of a U.S. bomb-defusing team in Iraq gets career-making performances from Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie. From Kathryn Bigelow ("Blue Steel"). (2009, Summit Entertainment)
"Everlasting Moments." Swedish director Jan Troell ("The New Land," "Hamsun") begins his story in 1907. The beset wife (Maria Heiskanen) of a laborer picks up a camera and uses it to show the future to her children. (2009, IFC)
"$5 a Day." A father-son reconciliation road trip, with Christopher Walken and Alessandro Nivola. (Image Entertainment)
