Trailer for the Coen brothers' "A Serious Man"!

It's about time...

Guillermo Arriaga's "The Burning Plain" finally gets a trailer and release date (September 17th 2009)

Jon Hamm and Rebecca Hall join Ben Affleck's next directing attempt: "The Town"

Source: Slashfilm.com

Prince of Thieves follows Doug McRay (Affleck), a thief from Charlestown, the neighborhood just north of downtown Boston. McRay robs a bank but soon falls for Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), the manager of the bank. She lets things proceed, not realizing that he was under the mask of the guy who robbed and traumatized her. Meanwhile the FBI agent played by Hamm is trying to catch McRay and also seemingly falls for Hall.

That all sounds tidy and contrived, but Affleck told Collider that he’ll use a very realistic take on crime.

Rather than a heist movie it’s very realistic. You see how the guys really operate and what they really do. It’s about their lives, the connection to one another, and the way that where they live is changing. It’s unusual and kind of complicated for a movie that has a conventional genre at its root.

There’s also a big climax in Fenway Park, which Affleck has previously said he’s negotiating to use as a location in the film. If Fenway let Fever Pitch shoot in the stands, lets hope they don’t shy away from this.

Given the sure hand for character Affleck showed in Gone Baby Gone, I’m hoping this will indeed be more than just another crime movie. He was previously able to nail the deep personalities of his Boston characters, and I’m hoping he follows through and hits another home run. Hopefully, the major change that will happen next is to the film’s title. Affleck said The Town may not end up being the final title, and I pray that is the case.

2009 Toronto Film Festival acquires even more titles...

Dorian Gray Oliver Parker, United Kingdom
World Premiere
In Victorian London, the handsome Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes) is swept into a social whirlwind by the charismatic and cunning Lord Wotton (Colin Firth). Immersed in the hedonistic pleasures of the city, Dorian vows he would give anything to keep his youth and beauty – even his soul. Based on the Oscar Wilde novel, Dorian Gray examines the destructive power of beauty, the blind pursuit of pleasure and the darkness that can result from both.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Rebecca Miller, USA
North American Premiere
From all outward appearances, Pippa Lee (Robin Wright Penn) leads a charmed existence. An anchor of feminine serenity, she is the devoted wife of an accomplished publisher (Alan Arkin) 30 years her senior, the proud mother of two grown children, a trusted friend and confidant. But as Pippa dutifully follows her husband to a new life in a staid Connecticut retirement community, her idyllic world and the persona she has built over the course of her marriage will be put to the ultimate test. Adapted from writer-director Rebecca Miller’s novel of the same name, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee presents the complex portrait of the many lives behind a single name.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Werner Herzog, USA
North American Premiere
Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage), a homicide detective with the New Orleans Police Department, is promoted to Lieutenant after he saves a prisoner from drowning in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. However, during his heroic act, he severely injures his back and is put on prescription pain medication. A year later, Terence – struggling with his addictions to sex, Vicodin and cocaine – finds himself in the battle to bring down drug dealer Big Fate, who is suspected of massacring an entire family of African immigrants.

Capitalism: A Love Story Michael Moore, USA
North American Premiere
On the 20-year anniversary of his groundbreaking masterpiece Roger & Me, Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story comes home to the issue he’s been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world). But this time the culprit is much bigger than General Motors, and the crime scene far wider than Flint, Michigan. From Middle America, to the halls of power in Washington, to the global financial epicenter in Manhattan, Michael Moore will once again take film-goers into uncharted territory.

Harry Brown Daniel Barber, United Kingdom
World Premiere
Harry Brown is a provocative and thought-provoking modern urban western featuring a tour-de-force lead performance from two-time Academy Award®-winner Michael Caine. Harry Brown has lived to see his community descend into crime and violence, and ruled over by a gang of teenage thugs. After his best friend is brutally murdered and the gang leader responsible walks free, Harry reaches a breaking point and revenge becomes his only aim.

Perrier’s Bounty Ian Fitzgibbon, Ireland/United Kingdom
World Premiere
When Michael’s (Cillian Murphy) debt to Dublin kingpin Darren Perrier (Brendan Gleeson) is called in and one of Perrier’s goons accidentally ends up dead, Michael escapes to the mountains with his father Jim (Jim Broadbent) and best friend, Brenda. Flat broke, on the run and with only 24 hours to pay up, Michael is forced to confront his true feelings for Brenda and make amends with his father. However, with Perrier and his gang in hot pursuit, time is running out for Michael and only fate, a bit of luck and possibly a gang of savage dogs will save him, in this cracking gangster comedy.

A Serious Man Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, USA
World Premiere
Imaginatively exploring questions of faith, familial responsibility, delinquent behaviour, dental phenomena, academia, mortality and Judaism – and intersections thereof – A Serious Man is the new film from Academy Award®-winning writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen.

Triage Danis Tanovic, Ireland/Spain
World Premiere
Mark (Colin Farrell), a war photographer, returns home from Kurdistan without his friend and colleague David (Jamie Sives). As time goes on, it becomes clear that Mark holds the key to the truth of David’s disappearance.

Whip It Drew Barrymore, USA
World Premiere
Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut stars Ellen Page (Juno) as Bliss, a rebellious Texas teen who throws in her small-town beauty pageant crown for the rowdy world of roller-derby. Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River, Pollock) plays Bliss’s disapproving mother, while Drew Barrymore, Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live) and Juliette Lewis (Old School) play roller-derby stars. Whip It also stars Eve, Jimmy Fallon, Daniel Stern, Alia Shawkat, Ari Graynor, Andrew Wilson, Zoe Bell and singer-songwriter Landon Pigg.

Women Without Men Shirin Neshat, Germany/France/Austria
North American Premiere
Shirin Neshat’s first feature-length film is based on a magic-realist novel written by Iranian author Sharnush Parsipur. The narrative interweaves the lives of four Iranian women during the summer of 1953, a pivotal moment in Iranian history when an American led coup d’état brought down the democratically elected prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh and reinstalled the Shah to power. The film chronicles each woman’s quest for change and their mysterious encounter in a magical orchard.

Two new stills from "Prince of Persia" (2010)

This film is actually starting to look halfway decent, which is a bit of a relief...

My overdue Halfway Awards for 2009....

I know that most of what you're about to see will have changed dramatically by the time the Oscars draw near, but hell, it's fun to do this now to have something to compare. It's as simple as it sounds: I'm going to reveal where my personal Oscars (the Texans) would go at this point in the year (I waited a little longer, so that now I'm judging out of 30 films total). I'm just putting up the nominations (and I won't do 10 Best Picture nominees until my lineups are just about finalized in early 2010). So, without further adieu, your current (picture-free) slate of nominees for the 2009 Texan Awards ("winners" will be revealed later this week)...

Best Picture:

(500) Days of Summer

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Moon

Star Trek

Best Director:

JJ Abrams - Star Trek

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

Duncan Jones - Moon

Marc Webb - (500) Days of Summer

David Yates - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Best Actor:

Johnny Depp - Public Enemies

Jesse Eisenberg - Adventureland

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - (500) Days of Summer

Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Sam Rockwell - Moon

Best Actress:

Amy Adams - Sunshine Cleaning

Emily Blunt - Sunshine Cleaning

Zooey Deschanel - (500) Days of Summer

Michelle Pfeiffer - Cheri

Maya Rudolph - Away We Go

Best Supporting Actor:

Michael Gambon - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Jackie Earle Hayley - Watchmen

Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker

Jeffrey Dean Morgan - Watchmen

Zachary Quinto - Star Trek

Best Supporting Actress:

Marion Cotillard - Public Enemies

Eva Green - Franklyn

Maggie Gyllenhaal - Away We Go

Kristin Scott Thomas - Easy Virtue

Rachel Weisz - The Brothers Bloom

Best Original Screenplay:

(500) Days of Summer

Adventureland

Away We Go

The Hurt Locker

Sunshine Cleaning

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Cheri

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Star Trek

State of Play

Watchmen

Best Editing:

(500) Days of Summer

Franklyn

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Star Trek

Best Cinematography:

Cheri

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Public Enemies

Watchmen

Best Art Direction:

Cheri

Easy Virtue

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Franklyn

Watchmen

Best Costume Design:

Cheri

Easy Virtue

Franklyn

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Watchmen

Best Original Score:

Alexandre Desplat - Cheri

Michael Giacchino - Up

Elliot Goldenthal - Public Enemies

Clint Mansell - Moon

Hans Zimmer - Angels and Demons

Best Original Song:

N/A

Best Animated Film:

Coraline

Up

Best Foreign Language Film:

N/A

Best Makeup:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Star Trek

Watchmen

Angels and Demons

Best Visual Effects:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Star Trek

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen

Watchmen

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

International teaser trailer for "Dorian Gray" starring Ben Barnes and Colin Firth