So many films, so little time.

Well, now that I'm back from my vacation in Los Angeles and on a film high... here are some things that are keeping me excited:

!TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL!
Ever since I have realized that this week of film joy and glee is right in my backyard and why the crap haven't I ever gone, I have been in either the U.S. or in Europe while it's going on and so I have never been. But this year? I am HERE. And I am GOING.
Some early film festival highlights:
No Country For Old Men -- The Coen brothers' new film, supposedly one of their best so far. Fun.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age -- I saw the trailer for this a couple months ago and it looks like it's going to be a fun one. I love Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush.
Fugitive Pieces -- This is the opener for the festival, adapted from Anne Michael's book. Both film and book are Canadian. I'm quite excited about it. Now I have to go go reread the book.
There's also a good list of foreign films that I'm excited to discover. Juliette Binoche is in one of them -- Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge. I don't even really need to know what it's about...

!FILMS!
There are a bunch of films coming up from some of my favourite directors... mmm.
Lars Von Trier -- The Boss of It All. Von Trier goes comedy! Being one of my favourite directors, I'm very curious at how he handles a comedy since much of his well known stuff is.. well.. not so much funny. The trailer was funny so I can only hope that the movie is as well... so far, I've heard good things!
Wes Anderson -- The Darjeeling Limited. I couldn't be more excited that Wes Anderson has a new film. While bringing back some of his regulars (Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston, and a rumour of the return of Bill Murray), there are a few new faces to the crew (Adrien Brody joins Wilson and Schwartzman to make the subject trio of the film, Natalie Portman also stars). With actors like these, I'm sure Anderson can do wonders...
Woody Allen -- Cassandra's Dream. I really don't know anything about it. But it's Woody Allen.
David Cronenberg -- Eastern Promises. While Cronenberg is not one of my favourite directors, I did love A History of Violence, and this film stars Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts -- two actors I enjoy exceedingly. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about Viggo's accent... but trailers can only tell you so much.
Peter Jackson -- The Lovely Bones. One of my favourite books is coming to the big screen with Rachel Weisz as the mother and Ryan Gosling as the father. Fantastic start. Let's just hope he finds a young gem to play Susie.

!SPEAKING OF BOOKS!
Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children -- a book and film that I love -- is working on another book: The Abstinence Teacher. This book is already set to be a film (both of his other books, Little Children and Election, have been made into films) and will be directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the director duo of Little Miss Sunshine.

LA Film Festival highlights to come!