Film Fan Fridays for Friday April 8, 2011

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday April 8, 2011! Another packed week of releases with 10 films hitting theatres including huge front runner for most anticipated April release: Hanna.

In limited release this week we have the festival sweetheart film Rubber, and believe you-me this one is not to be missed for genre film fans as it's smart, funny and knows it's audience. We have two Canadian releases this week with dramas The Bend and Son of the Sunshine, plus the highly acclaimed Littlerock and college-set sci-fi comedy Kaboom. Last up for limited releases is the documentary Born to Be Wild, which I was hesitant to include in the list as it's only 40 minutes and technically more like a short film than a feature... but it's playing daily in several theatres so for that, I'm keeping it on the list!

In wide release this week we have the highly anticipated Hanna starring Saoirse Ronan as a teen girl trained as an assassin and feels like quite the tonal change for director Joe Wright, who previously brought us the period piece Atonement. More fantastic femmeness with inspiring story/surfing biopic Soul Surfer starring AnnaSophia Robb. We also have a remake of the Dudley Moore film Arthur, which time starring Russell Brand in the title role and I have to admit it actually looks rather charming. Last up we have the Bollywood release Thank You - which has some scenes shot here in Toronto! And I almost forgot... well I did forget which might be a first -- we also have the period-set comedy Your Highness starring Danny McBride, James Franco and Natalie Portman - which continues the time honoured tradition of the first post-Oscar win film feeling like a really, really odd choice.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Images Festival
24th Annual festival of independent film, video and other time-based media
Continues until April 9, 2011 at various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Sprockets
Toronto International Film Festival for Children and Youth
Continues until April 17, 2011 in various locations Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Reel World Film Festival
11th annual festival celebrating diversity in film, video, and new media
Continues until April 10, 2011 in various locations Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Friday April 8, 2011 Releases

Arthur
Dir: Jason Winer ("Modern Family")
Cast: Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Greta Gerwig, Jennifer Garner, Luis Guzman, Nick Nolte
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

The Bend
Writer/Dir: Jennifer Kierans - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Adam Butcher, Sophie Traub, Tommy Lioutas
Canada
Limited Release
No Official Film Site or Trailer found, IMDb Page

Born to Be Wild
Dir: David Lickley (Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees)
Narrator: Morgan Freeman
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Hanna
Dir: Joe Wright (Atonement)
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana
USA/UK/Germany
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Kaboom
Writer/Dir: Gregg Araki (Smiley Face, The Doom Generation)
Cast: Haley Bennett, Thomas Dekker, James Duval
USA/France
Limited Release
Official Film Site & Trailer, IMDb Page

Littlerock
Dir: Mike Ott (Analog Days)
Cast: Atsuko Okatsuka, Cory Zacharia, Rintaro Sawamoto, Roberto 'Sanz' Sanchez
USA
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Rubber
Writer/Dir: Quentin Dupieux (Steak, Nonfilm)
Cast: Stephen Spinella, Thomas F. Duffy, Roxane Mesquida, Remy Thorne, Wings Hauser
France
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Son of the Sunshine
Dir: Ryan Ward - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Ryan Ward, Rebecca McMahon, Shantelle Canzanese, JoAnn Nordstrom
Canada
Limited Release
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Soul Surfer
Dir: Sean McNamara (Bratz, Raise Your Voice)
Cast: AnnaSophia Robb, Helen Hunt, Dennis Quaid, Carrie Underwood
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Thank You
Dir: Anees Bazmee (No Problem, Singh Is Kinng)
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Sonam Kapoor, Suniel Shetty, Irrfan Khan, Celina Jaitley, Rimi Sen
India
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

Your Highness
Dir: David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, All the Real Girls, Snow Angels)
Cast: Danny McBride, Natalie Portman, James Franco, Zooey Deschanel
USA
Official Film Site, IMDb Page, Trailer

**please note this list of releases reflects first run film released in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of April 8, 2011**