TIFF 12 for '12 Preview: The Big Launches

It's kickoff time for one of our very favorite festivals here at ScreenAnarchy! The Toronto International Film Festival gets started next Thursday and we've got a whole week of previews in store for you in our 12 for '12 series. We'll be covering all the fantastic corners of the fest as the series rolls along, but we'll start things off now with a look at 12 films looking to potentially catapult into the awards race with some big buzz out of TIFF.


LOOPER
Expectations are sky high for Rian Johnson's (BRICK) Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt starring time-bending actioner. Based on early buzz, those expectations are about to be met. The film hit screens from Sony TriStar on September 28th.
First Look | Int'l Trailer | Extended Trailer | Teaser


THE MASTER
Few films are as anticipated this fall as Paul Thomas Anderson's follow-up to THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Amy Adams, expectations are sky high, but early reactions from preview screenings have been oddly reserved. The public won't have to wait much longer to decide for themselves as the film will hit screens from The Weinstein Co. starting September 14th.
Clip | Clip | Trailer | Teaser


TO THE WONDER
We've grown accustomed to long waits between Terrence Malick films, so to be given a new one only a year later is a genuine gift. The film stars Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Olga Kurlenko, and Javier Bardem and seems likely to hit screens this holiday season.


ARTHUR NEWMAN
It seems like every year, Colin Firth is catapulted into the best actor race with a hit Fall drama. This year he'll have company from co-star Emily Blunt in Dante Ariola's debut feature about a couple of loners who look to star over and end up finding each other.


THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
Ryan Gosling is back as a criminal stunt driver (but this time with a motorcycle) in Derek Cianfrance's much anticipated follow-up to BLUE VALENTINE. Bradley Cooper, Rose Byrne, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, and Ben Mendelsohn co-star.


ARGO
Ben Affleck looks to follow up his directing success on THE TOWN with a trip to 1980 Tehran for this dramatization of Joshuah Bearman's 2007 Wired Magazine article about the CIA team who pretended to be filming a movie in order to gain access to hidden Americans in the country. Bryan Cranston, Taylor Schilling, John Goodman, Kyle Chandler, and Chris Messina star alongside ol' BenA. Look for it to hit screens via WB on October 12th.
Int'l Trailer


HYDE PARK ON HUDSON
Just about everyone is excited to see Bill Murray take a turn as FDR in this political drama co-starring Laura Linney, Olivia Williams, and Samuel West. Directed by Roger Michell of NOTTING HILL fame, the film will see limited release from Focus on December 7th.


CLOUD ATLAS
One of the most enigmatic projects in Hollywood over the past couple years has been this enormous undertaking from Tom Tykwer (RUN LOLA RUN) and the Wachowskis (THE MATRIX). Based on David Mitchell's multi-threaded novel and starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw, Hugo Weaving, and many others, this film has as much potential as anything on the docket - but it could end up as a bit of a mess, too. WB brings it to screens October 26th.


FRANCES HA
Noah Baumbach's latest is this black and white story of a dancer in NYC starring and co-written by GREENBERG co-star Greta Gerwig. Adam Driver co-stars.


EVERYDAY
Michael Winterbottom's latest is this drama shot over 5 years about a family torn apart by the father's imprisonment.


THE IMPOSSIBLE
Even the trailer for Juan Antonio Bayona's ORPHANAGE follow-up about the Indian Ocean tsunami is a tear jerker. If the finished product delivers, this one will have plenty of steam come Oscar time. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts star in the Summit picture that will roll out December 21st.
Trailer


EMPEROR
Peter Webber of GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING fame directs Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones in this MacArthur-era Japanese war epic.

A few other notable films that will get their jumpstart at TIFF are David Ayer's gritty good guy cop drama with Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena, END OF WATCH, Sony Pictures Classics' Pierce Brosnan starring LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED by Oscar-winning director Susanne Bier, and the David O. Russell mental health romcom THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK.

See you back here tomorrow for a look at some of the top genre flicks gracing the late night Ryerson screen.