It's Toronto time yet again and ScreenAnarchy will be on the scene with our team of reviewers and interviewers getting you all the latest from the diverse array of films making their bows (or North American bows) at the fest. Keep your eyes on ScreenAnarchy's Toronto Home for each day's batch of stories.
We kick things off with a preview of some of the big name films making debuts in the Gala and Special Presentation sections. There are nearly 100 films between these two categories so this is just a small taste of what's headed to screens from the major distribs.
The Dead Lands
Toa Fraser's hotly anticipated Maori warrior epic makes its world premiere at TIFF.
Special Presentation
The Imitation Game
Morten Tyldum stamped his name on Hollywood with the very well received Headhunters. His follow-up is this big cast Alan Turing biopic starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, and Mark Strong.
Special Presentation
Nightcrawler
Jake Gyllenhaal stars in perhaps his all-time creepiest role as a midnight videographer obsessed with becoming a freelance news cameraman. Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, and Riz Ahmed co-star in the feature debut from the writer of Freejack, Real Steel, and Bourne Legacy, Dan Gilroy.
Special Presentation
The Reach
Jean-Baptiste Leonetti's sophomore feature after the stunning Carre Blanc is this Michael Douglas and Jeremy Irvine story of a hunting guide and trip gone wrong.
Special Presentation
Coming Home
Chinese master Zhang Yimou's follow-up to Flowers of War is this Gong Li-starring story of the Cultural Revolution about an amnesiac woman awaiting the return of her husband.
Special Presentation
The Connection
Jean Dujardin (The Artist) stars in this gritty Marseille crime drama directed by the producer of Bangkok Revenge, Cédric Jimenez.
Gala
Rosewater
This is the highly anticipated feature debut from The Daily Show host Jon Stewart about an Iranian-Canadian journalist. It stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Shohreh Aghdashloo.
Special Presentation
The Drop
Michael Roskam makes his much anticipated follow-up to Bullhead in this English-language gangster epic that stars Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, James Gandolfini, and of course, Matthias Schoenaert.
Special Presentation
Maps to the Stars
David Cronenberg's latest is this Hollywood celebrity satire starring Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Williams, Sarah Gadon, John Cusack, and Robert Pattinson. You can Jason's less than raving review from Cannes, now.
Gala
Dearest
Dragon and The Warlords director Peter Ho-Sun Chan takes a turn for the dramatic in this story about a father scouring China for his abducted son.
Special Presentation
Welcome to Me
A woman with questionable mental state wins the lottery in Shira Piven's sophomore follow-up to Fully Loaded. The film is packed with stars, including, Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Wes Bentley, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, Linda Cardellini, and Will Ferrell.
Special Presentation
Manglehorn
David Gordon Green follows-up Joe with this magical journey about a small-town locksmith starring Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, and Chris Messina.
Special Presentation
The Keeping Room
Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld, and Sam Worthington star in this Civil War drama from Daniel Barber about Southern women fighting to save their home from rogue marauding Union soldiers.
Special Presentation
Samba
Omar Sy, star of the hit French film The Intouchables, reunites with directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano for their follow-up to that film. This time, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Tamar Rahim join them.
Gala
The Cobbler
The Station Agent director Thomas McCarthy follows up Win Win with this Adam Sandler starring film about a cobbler who finds a magical trinket that allows him to slip into his customers' lives. Method Man, Ellen Barkin, Melonie Diaz, Dan Stevens, Steve Buscemi, and Dustin Hoffman all co-star.
Special Presentations
While We're Young
Noah Baumbach's follow-up to Frances Ha is this multi-generational couple comedy starring Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried, and Adam Driver.
Special Presentation
Men, Women and Children
Jason Reitman failed to make much of a splash with last year's Labor Day. Perhaps this story about the ways the Internet is changing teenage years will be a return to form. The film stars Jennifer Garner, Adam Sandler, and Judy Greer.
Special Presentation
Revenge of the Green Dragons
HK vet Andrew Lau teams with young director Andrew Loo for 1980s NYC Chinatown epic starring Ray Liotta, Justin Chon, Kevin Wu, Harry Shum Jr. Shuya Chang, and Geoff Pierson.
Special Presentation
Love & Mercy
Prolific producer Bill Pohlad (Into the Wild, Tree of Life, 12 Years A Slave) steps into the director's chair for the second time in his career for this Brian "Beach Boys" Wilson biopic written by Oren Moverman. Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, John Cusack, and Paul Giamatti star.
Special Presentation
Breakup Buddies
Chinese director Hao Ning's latest is this romcom about a recently divorced drunk singer.
Special Presentation
The Humbling
Al Pacino, Mandy Patinkin, Dianne Wiest, and Greta Gerwig star in Barry Levinson's follow-up to The Bay about and aging and suicidal actor who has an affair with a lesbian.
Special Presentation
Ruth & Alex
Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton make an irresistible old Brooklyn married couple in veteran director Richard Loncraine's (Richard III, Wimbledon) latest.
Gala