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Slumdog Howls as Toronto Film Fest Wraps

Sat., Sep. 13, 2008 2:18 PM PDT by Barry Brown

Matt Carr/Getty Images

Slumdog Millionaire ended up the top dog.

The 2008 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival wrapped today, with the Bombay-based movie about a teen one question away from the grand prize on the Indian Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Freida Pinto and Dev Patel, scoring the fest's biggest kudo, the People's Choice Award. It capped a 10-day cinema orgy that featured Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston deftly avoiding each other, Roger Ebert bonked by a fellow film critic and, perhaps most shockingly, Mickey Rourke continuing to solidify his place on the Oscar map.

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Che Lives at Toronto

Wed., Sep. 10, 2008 1:10 PM PDT by Barry Brown

Laura Bickford Productions

Steven Soderbergh's Che will be coming soon to a theater near you. Be sure to pack accordingly.

In one of the higher profile deals of the week, IFC Films leaves the Toronto International Film Festival with North American distribution rights to the the 4 1/2-hour, two-part Benicio Del Toro-starring biopic.

Though trimmed less than Che Guevera's beard from its even longer version at Cannes, the epic will get one-week runs in New York and Los Angeles to qualify for Oscar consideration before going wider in January. A DVD version will be available through IFC's exclusive deal with Blockbuster.

Soderbergh is "one of the most visionary American directors at work today," gushed IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring. "Che is nothing less than the film event of the year...Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro, who gives an incredible soulful performance, have humanized [Guevera] and given audiences around the world something that will be discussed for years to come."

Possibly because it will take years to watch the entire film.

At the gala party for Che at Toronto's Greenhouse space, a low-key Del Toro said this was his "toughest role."

Also making the scene in Toronto:

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Mickey Rourke Goes Ka-Ching at Toronto Fest

Tue., Sep. 9, 2008 3:42 PM PDT by Barry Brown

Mickey Rourke, Rachel Wood, The Wrestler

Protozoa Pictures/Saturn Films

Dealmakers at the 2008 Toronto Film Fest suffered a serious case of buyers' remorse when only one film snapped up at the event, The Visitor, showed something resembling a healthy profit.

So you had to figure there would be hangover this year. There was. And then came Mickey Rourke.

After an all-night bidding war Sunday, Fox Searchlight body-slammed the opposition and won U.S. distribution rights for The Wrestler for a reported $4 million-$5 million. Starring unlikely Oscar bait Rourke as past-his-prime grappler, and Evan Rachel Wood, the Darren Aronofsky-helmed film just scored the Golden Lion prrize at the Venice Film Festival last weekend.

Sony Pictures, Weinstein Co. and Lionsgate were also reportedly in the bidding, before Searchlight, with its rep as a leading marketer and distributor for speciality film products, won the day.

Last year's way-too-serious dramas may have dampened spirits and pocketbooks at Toronto, but this year's crowd-pleasing comedies, dramas and love stories have audiences and buyers powered up.

Some other done deals in recent days:

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TIFF '08 Reporter's Notebook: Aniston's Good PR, Hathaway's "Adorkable" Self

Mon., Sep. 8, 2008 4:05 PM PDT by Barry Brown

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• Jennifer Aniston (Management) couldn't manage her feelings towards Brad Pitt (Burn After Reading). She canceled reservations in one hotel she considered too close to him and relocated to premises further away. Aniston's privacy was also protected by her main PR man Stephen Huvane, who spread his jacket in front of her to block any underwear shots during her limo exit.

• The premiere of Burn After Reading turned the normally cool Toronto crowd into a blazing mob of young girls hot for Pitt, who signed autographs on any material offered. The Bradulation overwhelmed costar Tilda Swinton, who felt compelled to apologize to the crowd: "I'm sorry I'm not Brad!"

• MIA from the Burn After Reading screamathon was Pitt BFF George Clooney, in Milan filming a Japanese commerical for Honda.

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TIFF '08 Reporter's Notebook: Kevin Smith on Canadian Critics, Brad & Jen's Avoidance Techniques

Sun., Sep. 7, 2008 3:36 PM PDT by Barry Brown

Jeff Vespa/Getty Images

• Kevin Smith figures there's one thing wrong with bringing a movie to the Toronto Film Fest: The audiences are way too polite.

"In Toronto, nobody turns their nose up at almost anything," said Smith, in town to hype his latest comedy, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks.

"If you tank in Toronto, then something's seriously wrong with that movie."

• Brad Pitt's promotion of his latest film, the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading, brings him in town for one overlapping day with his ex-missus, Jennifer Aniston, whose Management is also in the festival. Sources tell E! News their respective handlers worked overtime to find luxury hotels at opposite ends of the city, but the former pair checked into accommodations within walking distance of each other. Avoiding each other will apparently take management by both sides.

Despite this, a survey found 51 percent of Canadians want to see Brad and Jen together again.

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Toronto Fest Tries to Tickle Funnybone

Wed., Sep. 3, 2008 3:06 PM PDT by Barry Brown

Toronto International Film Festival

Why sweat a war when you can make a porno?

That seems to be the theme at the Toronto International Film Festival, which is noticeably lightening up a year after having a slate dominated by dour Iraq-war movies.

"If you look back at the great years of comedy, like the 1930s, Americans were having a hard time then with an economic crisis and war. But people do what they can to laugh," says Cameron Bailey, codirector of the fest, whose 33rd edition launhes Thursday and runs through Sept. 13.

Major yuks are expected from Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, as well as the Coen brothers' spy caper Burn After Reading, with George Clooney and Brad Pitt; the satirical documentary Religulous from Bill Maher and Seinfeld-Borat writer-director Larry Charles; and the supernatural rom-com Ghost Town, with Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear and Téa Leoni (who's sitting the party out to avoid facing questions about rehabbing sex-addicted spouse David Duchovny).