arts & entertainment
Neighbor To The North
Toronto Film Fest's offerings include many flicks with Jewish connections.
Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News
T
he Toronto International Film
Festival, one of the most impor-
tant and biggest fests in the
world, this year runs Sept. 8-18. Full infor-
mation on schedules, venues, tickets, etc.,
can be found on the official festival site at
http://tiff.net/thefestival.
Our preview divides movies with a
Jewish connection into feature films and
documentaries. The names of Jewish
actors, directors, screenwriters, etc., are
bolded.
FEATURE FILMS
Burning Man: This Australian film is
described as "the reckless, provocative and
moving story of a father and son's journey
back to happiness." It's directed and co-
written by Aussie Jonathan Teplitsky.
Butter: Olivia Wilde and Hugh Jackman
star in this offbeat comedy about a misfit
thrown into "the hostile, high-stakes world
of competitive butter carving." Alicia
Silverstone has a supporting role.
A Dangerous Method: Directed and
co-written for the screen by David
Cronenberg, this historical drama, set
in 1904, is based on a 2002 play and con-
cerns the turbulent relationship between
Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and
Carl Jung as they struggle to treat Sabina
Spielrein (Keira Knightley), a patient who
went on to be a prominent psychoanalyst
herself. There's an excellent short bio of
Spielrein, a largely forgotten figure who
died in the Holocaust, on this link: http://
tinyurl.com/3fq1y56.
Dark Horse: Director and screenwriter
Todd Solondz ( Welcome to the Dollhouse)
has released few details about his new
film. While Justin Bartha, formerly of
West Bloomfield, has a large supporting
role, his character is still a mystery. The
film's main character, 30-something Abe
(Broadway actor Jordan Gelber), lives
with his parents and grudgingly works for
his dad. To lose his "dark horse" status in
his family, he tries sparking a relationship
with Miranda (Southfield native Selma
Blair), who recently has moved home after
a failed literary/academic career. Out of
desperation, Miranda agrees to wed Abe.
The Deep Blue Sea: In a film adapted
from a play by Terence Rattigan, Rachel
Weisz stars as a woman whose obsessive
love alienates the men around her and
destroys her well-being.
50/50: Adam, 27, played by Joseph
Gordon Levitt, is suddenly diagnosed
with cancer. He breaks the news to his
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girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard), his
best friend (Seth Rogen) and his mother
(Anjelica Huston.) Each deals with the
news and Adam's treatment in different
ways. Adam bonds with his young thera-
pist, Katie (Anna Kendrick), and befriends
several older, wisecracking chemotherapy
patients. Directed by Jonathan Levine
(The Wackness).
Friends With Kids: Directed and co-
written by Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing
Jessica Stein), Friends stars Westfeldt and
Adam Scott as a 30-something unmarried
couple whose friends are in the throes of
having children. Seeing the toll that hav-
ing kids has taken on their friends' mari-
tal relationships, they decide to have a
child together and then date other people.
Kristen Wiig and Jon Hamm (Westfeldt's
real-life partner) co-star as the couple's
best friends, and Maya Rudolph has a
supporting role.
Goon: A wacky comedy about a rag-tag
hockey team stars Seann William Scott
and Liev Schreiber as rivals. Eugene
Levy also has a large role.
The Ides Of March: George Clooney
directs and stars in this drama about a
presidential candidate (Clooney) who
schools his idealistic campaign secretary
(Ryan Gosling) in the dubious ways of
politics. Evan Rachel Wood co-stars, with
a screenplay by Clooney and his longtime
writing partner, Grant Heslov. Playing
Clooney's daughter is Talia Akiva of Ann
Arbor.
Jeff Who Lives At Home: When he
leaves his house on a banal errand for his
mother, Jeff (Jason Segel) discovers that
the universe might be sending him mes-
sages about his destiny.
Killer Joe: Emile Hirsch plays a desper-
ate debtor who plots to kill his evil mother
— with the help of his family (Thomas
Haden Church, Gina Gershon)
for the
insurance money. They hire a crooked cop
to do the job (Matthew McConaughey).
Directed by Oscar-winner William
Friedkin (The French Connection).
Like Crazy: Anna (Felicity Jones) notic-
es Jacob (Anton Yelchin) in one of her
college classes. She scribbles a love poem
and leaves it on his car. The pair soon
jump into young love in all its glory: naive,
pure and possibly fleeting.
Melancholia: Kirsten Dunst and
Charlotte Gainsbourg star in this film
about depression, dysfunctional families
and the end of the world. Lars Von Trier,
the Dane who directed and wrote the film,
made headlines when he was asked to
leave the Cannes Film Festival after a news
conference in which he said he had "some
sympathy" for Hitler. He later profusely
—
apologized and said it was a misguided
attempt at humor.
Moneyball: Brad Pitt stars as Billy
Beane, the Oakland Athletics' general
manager whose unorthodox approach
to fielding a team had a major impact
on the game. Directed by Bennett
Miller (Capote), the film co-stars Phillip
Seymour Hoffman and Jonah Hill.
Rampart: This film reunites the
stars (Woody Harrelson and Ben
Foster) and director (Israeli-born Oren
Moverman) of the Oscar-nominated
film The Messenger. Harrelson plays a
dirty cop who becomes entangled in
the LAPD's infamous Rampart scandal,
in which more than 70 police officers
were implicated in misconduct. Foster
co-stars, with Moverman directing and
co-writing the script.
Take This Waltz: Margot (Michelle
Williams) is happily married to Lou
Rubin (Seth Rogen), a top cookbook
author. But then she becomes smit-
ten with a neighbor. Will she or won't
she act on her feelings? With Sarah
Silverman as Lou's sister and Jennifer
Podemski in a supporting role.
360: Rachel Weisz stars with Jude
Law, Anthony Hopkins, and Ben Foster
in this drama about how sexual rela-
tionships can transgress social bound-
aries.
388 Arleta Avenue: Nick Stahl and
Mia Kirshner co-star in this thriller
about a wealthy married couple who
lead a very comfortable life in a fancy
Toronto neighborhood. What neither
James nor Amy knows is that they're
being watched 24 hours a day.
Twixt: Written and directed by
Francis Ford Coppola, this film stars
Val Kilmer as a writer with a declining
career who arrives in a small town as
part of his book tour and gets caught up
in a murder mystery involving a young
girl. Co-stars include David Paymer
and Alden Ehrenreich.
A Dangerous Method, starring Keira
Knightley as Sabina Spielrein and Michael
Fassbender as Carl Jung
50/50, starring Anna Kendrick as Katie and
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Adam
Comic-Con: Episode IV — A Fan's Hope:
Marvel Comics' Stan Lee
DOCUMENTARIES
The Boy Who Would Be King: This
film tells the life story of Simeon, who
became King of Bulgaria in 1943 at age 6;
forced into exile in 1946, he returned to
Bulgaria and was elected prime minister
in 2001. His father, King Boris III, is uni-
versally credited with resisting Nazi pres-
sure and saving most Bulgarian Jews.
Comic-Con: Episode IV — A Fan's
Hope: Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me)
follows fans with diverse aspirations to
the San Diego Comic-Con and interviews
people who turned their passions into
professions, including Marvel Comics'
Stan Lee.
Crazy Horse: Famous documentary
filmmaker Frederick Wiseman takes
a cinema verite look inside Paris' Crazy
Horse cabaret, which boasts the greatest
and most chic nude dancing in the world.
From The Sky Down: Oscar winning
documentary maker Davis Guggenheim
(An Inconvenient Truth) has made a film
about U-2, the famous rock band.
Pink Ribbons: This documentary by
Lea Pool is about the industry and culture
surrounding breast cancer.
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