Film Fan Fridays for Friday October 14, 2011

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday October 14, 2011!

In limited release this week we have 6 releases to choose from including Take Shelter starring Michael Shannon as a man with post-apocaplytic visions, Canadian horror film Dead Dreams, 2 documentaries including Revenge of the Electric Car and Benda Bilili! documentary about a group of paraplegics plus an able-bodied teenager who "light up the stage in front of an entranced audience of 8000 people" (source) which has got me curious. We also have 2 Bollywood films with action flick Azaan which I think I'm going to try to see, and we also have the drama Khushiyaan.

In wide release this week we have one of my most anticipated films of the year with The Thing (2011), prequel to the The Thing (1982), which was a remake of The Thing From Another World both were based on the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr. It that doesn't give you enough, it's a science fiction/horror film set in Antarctica research station where things go amok starring Joel Edgerton (The Square, The Waiting City), Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ulrich Thomsen (Fear Me Not / Den du frygter), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, "Lost") and Eric Christian Olsen. More retooling this week with Footloose (2011), a remake of the 1984 dance film of the same name and it looks like they are going with the same rebellious feel with the new version directed by Kenny Ortega (High School Musical 1, 2 and 3) and starring Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid. Last up for wide releases is The Big Year starring Steve Martin, Jack Black & Owen Wilson and I honestly this is the first I've heard of it!

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Est Docs
Estonian Documentary Film Festival
October 14 - 18, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
Celebrating works of Indigenous peoples from around the world
October 19 - 23, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Moving Image Film Festival
This festival focus is to welcome fusion and clash of different genres and the experimentation of moving images
October 14 - 16, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Planet in Focus Film Festival
International Environmental Film and Video Festival
Continues until October 16, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto After Dark Film Festival
After 2 bouts of summer fun the Horror, Sci-Fi, Action & Cult Film Festival returns to the month of Halloween and crispy goodness
October 20 - 26, 2011 at the Toronto Underground in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Friday October 14, 2011 Releases

Azaan
Dir: Prashant Chadha (Aap Kaa Surroor: The Moviee - The Real Luv Story)
Cast: Sachiin J Joshi, Candice Boucher, Aarya Babbar, Vijendra Ghatge
India
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Benda Bilili!
Dir: Renaud Barret & Florent de La Tullaye (Victoire Terminus, Kinshasa)
Documentary
Democratic Republic of the Congo/France
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Big Year
Dir: David Frankel (Marley & Me, The Devil Wears Prada)
Cast: Steve Martin, Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Brian Dennehy, Rashida Jones, Rosamund Pike, Dianne Wiest
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Dead Dreams
Dir: Josh Koffman (The Jazzman)
Cast: Corey Sevier, Christian Potenza, Jodie Dowdall
Canada
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Footloose (2011)
Dir: Kenny Ortega (High School Musical 1, 2 and 3)
Cast: Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Khushiyaan
Dir: Tirlok Malik - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Kulbushan Kharbanda, Rama Vij, Jasbir Jassi, Tisca Chopra
India
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Revenge of the Electric Car
Dir: Chris Paine (Who Killed the Electric Car?)
Documentary
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Take Shelter
Writer/Dir: Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories)
Cast: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Katy Mixon, Kathy Baker
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Thing (2011)
Dir: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ulrich Thomsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Eric Christian Olsen
USA/Canada
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of October 14, 2011**