“Contrary to critics’ easy characterization, Maps To The Stars doesn’t have a satirical bone in its elegiac, messy, hysterical body. I’ve given you the lay of the land as I see it, saw it, and lived it. Maps is the saga of a doomed actress, haunted by the spectre of her legendary mother; of a child star ruined by early celebrity, fallen prey to addiction and the hallucination of phantoms; of the mutilation, both real and metaphorical, sometimes caused by fame and its attendants–riches, shame and nightmare.”

“Contrary to critics’ easy characterization, Maps To The Stars doesn’t have a satirical bone in its elegiac, messy, hysterical body. I’ve given you the lay of the land as I see it, saw it, and lived it. Maps is the saga of a doomed actress, haunted by the spectre of her legendary mother; of a…

Pete Hammond Counts Down The Quality Pics Without Distribution That Are Running Out Of Time For A 2014 Awards Season Release

Pete Hammond Counts Down The Quality Pics Without Distribution That Are Running Out Of Time For A 2014 Awards Season Release With – Fleming On New Purchasing Powers At Toronto

The Torontonian reviews This Is Where I Leave You

Like a middling episode of House-“Arrested Development,” Shawn Levy’s This Is Where I Leave You—adapted from the Jonathan Tropper novel of the same name—is a dysfunctional family dramedy lacking in laughs and an emotional punch to really bring it home. The film gets by on its likable cast, but the fact that this film merely passes despite such a talented crop of comedic talent should speak to a general failure, or at least a sense of disappointment.

How Par Plucked Chris Rock’s Top Five At TIFF, Plus Notes On Other Acquisitions

How Par Plucked Chris Rock’s Top Five At TIFF, Plus Notes On Other Acquisitions

TIFF-Preemed 99 Homes Listed By New Distrib Broad Green

BROAD GREEN TAKES US RIGHTS TO HYDE PARK – IMAGE NATION’S ’99 HOMES’ BY RAMIN BAHRANI AND STARRING ANDREW GARFIELD, MICHAEL SHANNON AND LAURA DERN LOS ANGELES (September 16, 2014) – Broad Green Pictures (BGP) announced today that they have acquired all US rights to Ramin Bahrani’s feature 99 HOMES. BGP plans to release the film,…

Alison Willmore Outlines How Baumbach’s Latest Is Really A Twist On Catfish

Alison Willmore Outlines How Baumbach’s Latest Is Really A Twist On Catfish

Wrapping TIFF 2014

It was a really good TIFF. Solid.

What was missing, really, were the home run hitting feature films. (Great docs… but we expect that.)

Confessions of a Film Festival Junkie: It’s a Wrap

Officially there were 366 features shown at the just completed edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. I saw about 30. So it should come as no surprise that few of this year’s public and jury prize winners managed to elude my grasp.

The Torontonian reviews It Follows

One of the most enjoyable aspects of David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows—alongside its brilliant cinematography and chilling scares—is the inventive premise, which is as much to fun to describe as it is to watch (tell your friends about the “sexually-transmitted ghost” movie and watch their faces turn from disgusted to wildly amused).

At Toronto, SPC Takes Still Alice For North America

  NEW YORK (September 12, 2014) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they acquired North American rights to STILL ALICE, starring Julianne Moore, Kristen Stewart, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish. The film reunites Co-Directors and Co-Writers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland (THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD) with Sony Pictures Classics, who worked together…

SPC Buys Into Julianne Moore-Starrer Still Alice At Toronto

SPC Buys Into Julianne Moore-Starrer Still Alice At Toronto

At TIFF 14, Michael Moore Proposes A 13-Point Doc Manifesto

At TIFF 14, Michael Moore Proposes A 13-Point Doc Manifesto

The Torontonian reviews Good Kill

Written and directed by Andrew Nicoll and riddled with all the appropriate military jargon like “rules of engagement” and “painting the target,” his script compliments the disconnected horrors of these drone strikes by underlining the ironies of this cyclical, cynical conflict

HBO Doc Films Takes Broomfield’s Tales Of The Grim Sleeper At Toronto

HBO DOCUMENTARY FILMS TAKES NICK BROOMFIELD’S TALES OF THE GRIM SLEEPER CRITICAL FAVORITE CLOSES US DEAL FOLLOWING FIRST TORONTO SCREENING Toronto, ON (September 10, 2014) – Submarine announced today from the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival that HBO Documentary Films is acquiring US rights to veteran Nick Broomfield’s highly acclaimed TALES OF THE GRIM SLEEPER….

In Toronto, Michael Moore Reminds Documentarians To Entertain

“People want to go home and have sex after your movie. Don’t make them feel urggghh. Don’t do that to your fellow sexually active people.” In Toronto, Michael Moore Reminds Documentarians To Entertain 

Avers Jeffrey Wells

“I’m telling you straight and true that Paul Dano‘s performance as the youngish Brian Wilson in Bill Pohlad‘s Love and Mercy is almost spookily great.” Avers Jeff Wells

“Yummy” Benedict Cumberbatch Seduces Toronto

“Yummy” Benedict Cumberbatch Seduces Toronto

Confessions of a Film Festival Junkie

It’s kinda official. To be honest I really haven’t noticed anyone taking notice of the fact that Toronto mayor Rob Ford hasn’t shown his face at the Toronto International Film Festival. Granted the local attendees don’t appear to be his constituency and there is a mayoral race coming up before the end of the year. In fact, there either was a debate scheduled (there are three others on the ballot) or one that went forward that Ford opted out of without extending much of a reason.

Imitation Game Screenwriter Champed To Tell Alan Turing Tale Since He Was 14

Imitation Game Screenwriter Champed To Tell Alan Turing Tale Since He Was 14

Cieply Listens Into SPC’s Toronto Dinner To Get Some Award Season Cues

Cieply Listens Into SPC’s Toronto Dinner To Get Some Award Season Cues