The first round of titles premiering in the Galas and Special Presentations programs of the 39th Toronto International Film Festival has been announced. The 2014 Toronto Festival runs from September 4-14.
Of the 13 Galas and 46 Special Presentations announced, this initial 2014 lineup includes 37 world premieres from directors including Noah Baumbach, Susanne Bier, Peter Ho-Sun Chan, David Dobkin, Philippe Falardeau, Mia Hansen-Løve, Ning Hao, François Ozon, Christian Petzold, Lone Scherfig and Chris Rock.
The closing night film will be A Little Chaos directed by Alan Rickman. Kate Winslet stars as a landscape gardener who is invited to design one of the fountains of the Palace of Versailles. As she battles with the weather, the rivalries at the court of Louis XIV and her own private demons, she finds herself drawn closer to the architect who hired her.
The Gala films include: Black and White directed by Mike Binder, The Equalizer (a big screen adaptation of the cult 1980s TV show) directed bM Antoine Fuqua, the already much lauded Foxcatcher directed by Bennett Miller, The Judge helmed by David Dobkin, Haemoo directed by Shim Sung-bo, Pawn Sacrifice directed by Ed Zwick, The Riot Club helmed by Lone Scherfig, Samba from filmmakers Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, Wild by Jean-Marc Vallee, and This Is Where I Leave You, a dramatic comedy directed by Shawn Levy (who is interviewed in SHOOT’s Chat Room, coming out in the 7/25 print issue and concurrent SHOOT>e.dition.).
Among the Special Presentations are: 99 Homes directed by Ramin Bahrani, American Heist from director Sarik Andreasyan, Before We Go helmed by Chris Evans, Breakup Buddies from Ning Hao, Cake directed by Daniel Barnz, Coming Home from Zhang Yimou, The Dead Lands (Hautoa) helmed by Toa Fraser, Dearest Peter from Ho-Sunm Chan, The Drop directed by Michael R. Roskam, Eden from Mia Hansen-Love, Far From Men (Loin des Hommes) helmed by David Oelhoffen, Force Majeure directed by Ruben Ostlund, The Gate from Regis Wargnier, Good Kill directed by Andrew Niccol, The Good Lie from Philippe Farlardeau, Hector and the Search for Happiness directed by Peter Chelsom, The Humbling directed by Barry Levinson, Hungry Hearts from Saverio Costanzo, The Imitation Game helmed by Morten Tyldum, Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (created by animators and artists around the world), The Keeping Room directed by Daniel Barber, The Last Five Years from Richard LaGravenese, Learning to Drive helmed by Isabel Coixet, Love & Mercy directed by Bill Pohlad, Manglehorn directed by David Gordon Green, Mary Kom helmed by Omung Kumar, Men, Women and Children directed by Jason Reitman, Miss Julie helmed by Liv Ullmann, Mr. Turner directed by Mike Leigh, My Old Lady from Israel Horovitz, Ned Rifle directed by Hal Hartley, Nightcrawler from Dan Gilroy, Pasolini directed by Abel Ferrara, Phoenix helmed by Christian Petzold, The Reach from Jean-Baptiste Leonetti, Red Amnesia (Chuangru Zhe) from Wang Xiaoshuai, Return to Ithaca directed by Laurent Cantet, Rosewater directed by Jon Stewart (marking The Daily Show host’s directorial debut), A Second Chance (En chance til) from Susanne Bier, Still Alice from filmmakers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, The Theory of Everything helmed by James Marsh, Time Out of Mind directed by Oren Moverman, Top Five helmed by Chris Rock, While We’re Young directed by Noah Baumbach, Whiplash from Damien Chazelle, and Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes) directed by Damian Szifron.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More