A number of big name titles have been added to the line-up of enxt months’ Toronto Film Festival. There’s going to be some overlap with the just-announced NYFF, including Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, and Che, which the festival’s Cameron Bailey says will be shown “the first time as two separate films on two separate nights. People also will get to see it as one back-to-back epic with a 15- minute intermission. You can choose your Che.” One of the few Cannes holdovers passed over by NYFF, Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York, will also screen at TIFF.
Prior to seeing Then She Found Me, I heedlessly referred to it as “that Helen Hunt movie” and cynically prejudged it as yet another celebrity pet project that was sure to be a misguided and perhaps freewheeling bore. Well, I stand corrected: I absolutely love the film, which was written and directed by the Oscar-winning actress (yeah, I forgot she won one, too), adapted quite loosely from Elinor Lipman’s novel of the same name.
And hopefully you won’t hold it against me, especially if you haven’t seen it. The strange thing about seeing a film like Then She Found Me at SXSW is that it doesn’t seem hip enough for the festival, despite the ironic fact that many movies screening this year were about nerds, geeks and other sorts of outcast. Nobody wants to hear you say, “hey, that Helen Hunt movie is actually really good.” Between that and telling people that I love Bette Midler again (not randomly; she’s in the film), I felt like a stranger in a strange world the rest of my time in Austin.
I don’t know if they show Broadway musical ads on television anywhere outside the New York area, but I used to hate the cheesy commercials for Mamma Mia! This coming from a guy who loves cheesy, especially when it involves ’70s music like ABBA. As much as I was turned off by those ads, though, I have to admit the new trailer for the movie adaptation is a perfect continuation of their marketing style. The quick edits that just barely show us parts of dance numbers, the overplayed acting that doesn’t seem as suitable when close up and on-screen — the only thing missing is shots of the audience dancing and clapping. And that trademark image of the mother and daughter in front of the mirror.
Of course, this means I’m turned off to the movie, too, despite my man crush on Colin Firth, who plays one of the three men who might be the father of the bride, and my interest in seeing Meryl Streep pumping her arms up and down a lot. If there’s anything more cinematic that Mamma Mia!resembles than those Broadway ads, it’s two terrible, sunshiny musicals: From Justin to Kelly and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. Nonetheless, I’m sure plenty of moms and daughters are more excited about the movie than I am, which is fine for them. I’ll stick to watching the more macho ABBA movie, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, preferably with my dad.
If you like the trailer, be sure to check it out in crisp HD over at Moviefone, and check out the photo gallery at Cinematical. Oh and check out one of the old Mamma Mia! Broadway promos here.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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A number of big name titles have been added to the line-up of enxt months’ Toronto Film Festival. There’s going to be some overlap with the just-announced NYFF, including Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, and Che, which the festival’s Cameron Bailey says will be shown “
