Atom Egoyan's Latest Among the Latest Unveiling for Toronto 09

While I knew the homegrown titles had yet to be announced for this year's Toronto International Film Festival, another round of additions to the line-up kinda makes you (really) wish everything had come in one big swoop. Atom Egoyan's Chloe, which stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried and sounds an awful lot like Anne Fontaine's awful Nathalie... [correction: it is a remake of Nathalie..., as if I couldn't be any less excited about a new Atom Egoyan film], will make its world premiere in the Gala section. Xavier Dolan's J'ai tué ma mère, which everyone expected to play considering the accolades from Cannes and because, well, it's Canadian, will play in the Special Presentations section, and Jean-Marc Vallée's The Young Victoria, with Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria, will close the fest, even though it already hit the DVD market in the UK last month. The titles are listed below. (Sorry for some of these bootleg-lookin' pics I found, but they were the best I had to work with).

[additional note: I'm too tired to fix the redundant use of "latest" in the title.]

Gala

- Chloe - d. Atom Egoyan
- Cooking with Stella - d. Dilip Mehta (brother of Deepa) - w. Don McKellar
- The Immaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - d. Terry Gilliam

Special Presentations

- Cairo Time - d. Ruba Nadda (Sabah) - w. Patricia Clarkson, Alexander Siddig, Elena Anaya
- Defendor - d. Peter Stebbings (directorial debut) - w. Kat Dennings, Woody Harrelson, Elias Koteas, Sandra Oh
- Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel - d. Brigitte Berman
- J'ai tué ma mère [I Killed My Mother] - d. Xavier Dolan
- The Trotsky - Jacob Tierney (Twist) - w. Jay Baruchel, Saul Rubinek, Colm Feore, Jessica Paré, Genviève Bujold

Contemporary World Cinema

- A Gun to the Head - d. Blaine Thurier
- Cole - d. Carl Bessai (Emile, Mothers&Daughters)
- Excited - d. Bruce Sweeney (Last Wedding)
- High Life - d. Gary Yates
- Passenger Side - d. Matt Bissonnette - w. Adam Scott, Robin Tunney
- Suck - d. Rob Stefaniuk - w. Malcolm McDowell, Dave Foley, Henry Rollins, Jessica Paré, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Moby, Paul Anthony

Canada First!

- Year of the Carnivore - d. Sook-Yin Lee (Shortbus actress)
- All Fall Down - d. Philip Hoffman
- Crackie - d. Sherry White
- George Ryga's Hungry Hills - d. Rob King
- Machotaildrop - d. Corey Adams, Alex Craig
- The Wild Hunt - d. Alexandre Franchi

The Rest...

- La donation - d Bernard Émond (La femme qui boit) [part of the Masters section]
- Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould - d. Peter Raymont, Michele Hozer [part of the Reel to Reel section]
- Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands - d. Peter Mettler [part of the Reel to Reel section]
- Reel Injun - d. Neil Diamond [part of the Reel to Reel section]
- Carcasses - d. Denis Côté (Les états nordiques) [part of the Vanguard section]
- Leslie, My Name Is Evil - d. Reginald Harkema [part of the Vanguard section]

Quotables

Me (on Hans-Christian Schmid's Requiem): "Neither chamber drama nor horror film, [Requiem] is the holy union of Through a Glass Darkly giving The Exorcist the friendly reach-around."
Me (on seeing Black Snake Moan out of early morning boredom): "Seriously lacking in the sizzle and bang I needed to start my day... and why the fuck couldn't they overdub Sam Jackson's wretched singing voice?"

Customer at video store (on Tideland): "I guess it's official that Terry Gilliam has lost his mind."

On For Your Consideration:
Cindy: "What a disappointment, I know they can do better."
Nathan: "So uninspired, it hurts..."
Mike: "If this is what Guest plans on doing from now on, he may as well go make Almost Heroes 2."



Mike (on He Say, She Say, but What Does God Say?): "My sentiments exactly."
Mike (on Night of the Living Dorks): "It's just a German teenage sex comedy that happens to include the undead."
Mike (on Frankenhooker): "It's as good as it sounds."
Mike (on B.A.P.s): "Hi, Oscar winner Halle Berry, I think this was even less enjoyable than A Hole in My Heart."
Mike (on Running with Scissors): "I'd rather chug cock than have to watch this again."

Chris M. (on Clean, Shaven): "Hey, learn how to shave, you removed your scalp, you weirdo."
Chris M. (on The Gospel According to St. Matthew): "Sexiest Jesus ever represented on film, hands down."

Tom B. (on Jesus Camp): "If you want some McGod, you gotta do some cookin! Dreadful documentary, though."
Tom B. (on his two-star Ghost Rider rating): "An extra star because my girlfriend and I downed a whole bottle of champagne while watching this in the theatre."
Tom B. (on Notes on a Scandal): "Not good, but oh so deliciously cruel!"

Josh (on Half Nelson): "With the death of my beloved Anna Nicole, I didn't think life was worth living any more. But this movie makes it so."

I didn't have the surplus of wonderfully clever quotes as I did last time, but expect to see Requiem and Half Nelson featured on my Neglected Films of 2006 list that I'm working on now.