News

• Sandra Bullock, who just picked up a SAG nomination for her work in Gravity, is in early talks to star in the comedy Our Brand Is Crisis for producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’s Peter Straughan wrote a script based on a 2005 documentary about the use of American political campaign techniques in the 2002 Bolivian presidential election. EW’s Entertainer of the Year is currently voicing the lead role in The Minions, set for a July 2015 release. [The Wrap]

• Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) and Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) are attached to star in The End of the Tour,...

Okay, the last round of updates for the week.

Snowmageddon, Syfy's Christmas movie with Magda Apanowicz and Michael Hogan saving the world, premieres tonight at 9 pm Et.

You can also catch Magda on Robot Chicken tomorrow at 11:30 pm on Adult Swim. She will be voicing Gladys/Mother/Herman's Wife according to the IMDb. And, speaking of Michael Hogan, he will be playing a "lethal werewolf hunter" in the second season of Teen Wolf. TV Guide reported the news earlier this month.

Press release, teaser and sneak peeks from Snowmageddon:

To usher in the holiday season, Syfy will present a snow globe with the power to destroy the world in the Saturday Original Movie Snowmageddon, airing Saturday, December 10 at 9Pm (Et/Pt) during the channel’s second annual Countdown to Christmas Week.

Starring Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica), David Cubitt (Medium) and Magda Apanowicz (Caprica), the Christmas-themed Snowmageddon is about...

As someone who worked through my teen years, I can always appreciate industrious youth who go out of their way to make a little money but this is going a little overboard. With an idea that was sparked after reading an article about a teen bookie who went collecting from the family of a young man who owed a large chunk of money, Simon Davidson's The Odds focuses on a high school gambling operation that gets out of hand.

Continue reading...

The Toronto International Film Festival media blurb for Simon Davidson’s debut feature, The Odds, likens it to a combination of Rounders and Brick. While this statement is true to a point, the comparisons remain solely on the surface. Poker plays a very small role—as gambling in general looms large—and while the plot concerns teenagers who are way over their heads in adult matters and murder, the hyper-reality of Rian Johnson’s contemporary classic is nowhere to be seen. Such broad generalizations end up doing the film a disservice by trying to pigeonhole it into a set of parameters the target audience will be familiar with. Unfortunately, The Odds can’t live up to those lofty expectations, but that doesn’t mean Davidson hasn’t crafted an entertaining thriller worth a look. Just like its lead character Desson Orr, though, it deserves a chance to stand on its own two feet.

With the Toronto International Film Festival just around the corner, many of us are busy trying to plan our schedules and prepare ourselves mentally for the onslaught. blogTO writer Julian Carrington is one of the lucky folks out there with full press credentials, and he asked if we would be interested in publishing some of his capsule reviews from the festival. How could we say no to more Tiff coverage? Julian got things started early by catching advance screenings for a handful of this year's films. After the jump, check out his thoughts on some noteworthy flicks including Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive, Lars von Trier's Melancholia, and Sarah Polley's Take This Waltz. Stay tuned for plenty more updates starting next week! Take This Waltz A Tiff sensation in 2000, it's fitting that Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love seems to have served as potent inspiration for two wunderkinds of Canadian filmmaking.

Yesterday, the Toronto International Film Festival, which will take place between September 8 and 18, unveiled the list of Canadian films that will be screened.

Galas

A Dangerous Method Director: David Cronenberg Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley and Sarah Gadon

Starbuck

Director: Ken Scott

Cast: Patrick Huard, Antoine Bertrand and Patrick Labbé

Take This Waltz Director: Sarah Polley Cast: Seth Rogen, Michelle Williams and Sarah Silverman

Canada First

Marécages Director: Guy Édoin Cast: Pascale Bussières, Luc Picard, Gabriel Maillé and François Papineau

Amy George Directors: Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas Cast: Gabriel del Castillo Mullally, Claudia Dey, Don Kerr and Natasha Allan

Nuit #1 Director: Anne Émond Cast: Catherine de Léan and Dimitri Storoge

The Odds Directors: Simon Davidson Cast: Tyler Johnston, Calum Worthy and Julia Maxwell

The Patron Saints Directors: Melanie Shatzky and Brian M. Cassidy

Roméo Onze Director: Ivan Grbovic Cast: Ali Ammar, Joseph Bou Nassar, Eleonore Millier, May Hilal...

The Toronto International Film Festival put the spotlight on its home country on Tuesday, announcing more than two dozen Canadian films and 43 shorts to its lineup. The Canada First! section consists of seven films, including "Leave It On the Floor," an indie musical set in the world of drag balls and featuring songs by Beyonce's music director, Kim Burse; "The Odds," Simon Davidson's murder mystery set in the world of illegal teenage gambling; and the opening-night film, Guy Edoin's "Wetlands" (Marecages"), about a family living on a dairy farm in...

There are a lot of Canadian films screening at the Toronto International Film Festival to be excited about, including works from our favourite filmmakers Guy Maddin, Bruce McDonald,Vincenzo Natali and Jean Marc Vallee. Below is the list of films in the Canada First selections as well as other CanCon movies scattered through the main programs.

Toronto – The Toronto International Film Festival® boasts a strong lineup of Canadian features including new works by acclaimed Canadian filmmakers Carl Bessai, Mike Clattenburg, Michael Dowse, Philippe Falardeau, Guy Maddin, Bruce McDonald, Léa Pool, Jean-Marc Vallée and Ingrid Veninger, and onscreen appearances by Jay Baruchel, Camilla Belle, Anupam Kher, Akshay Kumar, Mia Kirshner, Rob Lowe, Vanessa Paradis, Jason Patric, Alison Pill, Russell Peters, Isabella Rossellini, Liev Schreiber, Sean William Scott, Scott Speedman and Nick Stahl.

“This year saw many Canadian filmmakers address a wide range of pressing social issues including the dangers of progress...

News is rolling out of Toronto for this year's festival, with the Galas and the Special Presentations sections announced.  As always with Tiff, the sheer number of films can seem overwhelming, but with new films by David Cronenberg (A Dangerous Method, pictured above), Terence Davies (!), Francis Ford Coppola, Wang Xiaoshuai, Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud, and William Friedkin added to big names that premiered already this year (including Almodóvar, Von Trier, Nanni Moretti, and Nicolas Winding Refn) it looks like the 2011 iteration will be as packed with must-see cinema as ever before.  We'll be updating this listing as new lineups are announced.  See Tiff's official website for details.

Galas

Albert Nobbs (Rodrigo Garcia, Ireland) Butter (Jim Field Smith, USA) A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, France/Ireland/UK/Germany/Canada) From the Sky Down (Davis Guggenheim, USA) A Happy Event (Rémi Bezançon, France) The Ides of March (George Clooney, USA) The Lady (Luc Besson,...