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TIFF 2011 Roundup: Seven films that we think are bound for box office (or critical) success

For the regular folk in Toronto, TIFF is primarily a time for star spotting, catching films that might not be seen otherwise and soaking up a kind of glitz and glamour that is otherwise rarely seen in Hogtown. But for the film industry, TIFF is big business—it’s where movies get big distribution deals and money (lots of it) exchanges hands. Over 30 titles were picked up from this year’s film festival, and more deals are surely on the way. We picked seven that we think are likely to be good investments, after the jump.

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 11, 2011 | 3:34 pm

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SPOTTED: Willem Dafoe pulls a (semi-terrifying) face

Willem Dafoe with a crazed look on his face (Image: Getty Images)

Willem Dafoe is an incredibly talented actor but he seems to be having bad luck with photos taken at inopportune moments at this year’s TIFF. Case and point: an overly zealous Dafoe was spotted at the Variety Lounge at Holt Renfew earlier today and the resulting photo is semi-terrifying.

Find this story on our Star Spotting Map, where we plot the locations of celebrities spotted around Toronto. Send us your tips: tips@torontolife.com

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 9, 2011 | 1:08 pm

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SPOTTED: Willem Dafoe isn’t happy about something at Pearson International Airport

Willem Dafoe (Image: gdcgraphics)

TIFF is bringing in the good, the bad and the frightening it seems this year: Willem Dafoe arrived this morning at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, scaring away all children in his path with an angry stare. We kid, but seriously—Dafoe is here promoting The Hunter, in which he plays “a mercenary hired by an international biotech company to track and kill an animal long thought extinct.” That’s actually kind of creepy, but we’re happy to have him in our fair city.

Find this story on our Star Spotting Map, where we plot the locations of celebrities spotted around Toronto.

The Hype

TIFF Talk

July 27, 2010 | 1:00 pm

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TIFF announces 50 films starring awesome famous people who might come to Toronto

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Robin Wright, shown here at TIFF last year, stars in Robert Redford's The Conspirator (Image: James Helmer)

Today’s edition of TIFF celebrity stalking is a little meatier, as co-directors Piers Handling and Cameron Bailey announced 50 films (15 galas, 35 special presentations, including 25 world premieres) and the whackitude of celebrities associated with them. We’ve got two Friends (Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer), the Gilmore Girls (Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel), the Mad Men man himself (Jon Hamm), Office favourite Rainn Wilson, the ever-intriguing Winona Ryder, plus Robert Redford, Woody Allen, Helen Mirren, Natalie Portman, Javier Bardem and more. This year might just top 2009’s Oprah-Clooney juggernaut appearances. Too lazy to go through the list? The lowdown, after the jump.

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

July 21, 2010 | 11:59 am

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Celebrity speculation begins: are Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Freida Pinto coming to TIFF?

Colin Firth and A Single Man director Tom Ford (Image: Karon Liu)

We have a preliminary leak of some stars expected to attend TIFF this September. Martin Knelman of the Star dishes that The King’s Speech (starring Mr. Darcy himself, Colin Firth, and Geoffrey Rush) and Miral (Julian Schnabel’s new film starring Slumdog Millionaire beauty Freida Pinto, Vanessa Redgrave and Willem Dafoe) will have their world premieres at the festival.

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

April 16, 2010 | 11:36 am

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Let the TIFF gossip begin: Julian Schnabel picks Toronto over Cannes for Miral premiere

The deliciously creepy Dafoe at TIFF last year (Image: Lindt Red Carpet Moments)

We have our first TIFF post of the year as filmmaker Julian Schnabel told film site Hollywood Elsewhere that he’ll be debuting his historical drama Miral at the Venice and Toronto film festivals this year, rather than Cannes. Hey, Toronto may not be the fashion capital of the world, but the international film industry appreciates Hogtown.

Miral (about a Palestinian woman who opens an orphanage in Jerusalem following the creation of Israel) stars Freida Pinto (who already had major TIFF love with Slumdog Millionaire, which won the people’s choice award in 2008) and TIFF regular Willem Dafoe. Pinto is pretty much guaranteed to show up, since she plays the title character, and there’s also a good chance Dafoe will walk the red carpet, since he’s the only other big name attached to the film.

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 17, 2009 | 2:45 pm

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RED CARPET INTERVIEW: Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill explain why vampires are trendy at the Daybreakers premiere

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 16, 2009 | 10:20 am

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PHOTO GALLERY: Willem Defoe and Sam Neill at the premiere of Daybreakers

Willem Defoe is lit like a vampire at the premiere of Daybreakers (Photo courtesy of Lindt Red Carpet Moments)

Daybreakers, Michael and Peter Spierig‘s new film about a world overrun with vampires, premiered last week at the Toronto International Film Festival. We were there and caught these shots of the directors, and stars Willem Defoe and Sam Neill.

: Willem Defoe is lit like a vampire at the premiere of Daybreakers

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 11, 2009 | 4:55 pm

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The long-distance love of Lars von Trier and Willem Dafoe

Wizard of pause: Lars von Trier's awkward silences charactarize his press conferences as well as his films (Photo by Sarah Nicole Prickett)

Wizard of pause: Lars von Trier's awkward silences characterize his press conferences as well as his films (Photo by Sarah Nicole Prickett)

The Scotiabank Theatre screen used to project Antichrist director Lars von Trier (he refuses to fly, so he appeared at this morning’s press conference via satellite) was massive, yet couldn’t contain the magnitude of the auteur’s depression. He joked brokenly about “being crazy,” about his therapy sessions, about his inability to remember a single positive feeling in weeks. A reporter from CTV who may have seen Lars von Trier films, but has obviously never watched them, asked him what he saw as “the hopeful point of resolution” in “a movie filled with sex, and rape, and all that stuff.”

The awkward refused to pass. Silence.

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 11, 2009 | 2:10 pm

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Willem Dafoe, blueberry cocktails and Salt ’n’ Pepa at W Studio

Not being on the guest list, we were a touch worried that we wouldn’t get in to the W Studio party, so we arrived early. Far too early. We were forced to stand around and watch the crew get ready for the evening to come. Nothing gets one ready for a night of partying like listening to sound checks and waiting for bar service to open. But it was worth the wait.

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

July 22, 2009 | 5:15 pm

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Schlock and awe: Megan Fox and Ethan Hawke among stars at TIFF’s Midnight Madness program

Megan Fox, star of Jennifer's Body, predicts that we will all laugh at gilded butterflies. Some of us already are (Photo by Megan Fox Rules!)

Megan Fox stirred the hearts—and a few other body parts—of millions of men when she donned a pair of tight denim shorts in the two Transformers movies. That they were mediocre films was cause for less celebration. Happily, though, Fox’s Toronto fans will soon have the chance to see her in a movie that promises to be more than a brain-dead ogle-fest: the titillatingly titled Jennifer’s Body, which will open TIFF’s annual Midnight Madness lineup.

Written by Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody and co-starring Adam Brody and Amy Sedaris, Jennifer’s Body represents a turn to the mainstream for the historically esoteric Midnight Madness series. Fox, in the title role, plays a popular high school cheerleader who’s the envy of the school—and boy does she know it. When she becomes possessed by a demon and begins devouring the town’s all-too-willing young men, her nerdy best friend has to step up and save the day. Other titles from Midnight Madness—TIFF’s horror and schlock series—were announced today. More on them after the jump.

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