TIFF 2012: The 10 most anticipated previews
A premier North American cinema event, the annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) will start September 9 this year.
Here is a roundup of 10 movies that will debut on the international scene at the event, often considered as a launchpad to the Oscars.
Looper
Opening this 37th edition, Riad Johnson's Looper is a time-travel thriller set in 2042. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) plays a hired gun on a mission to kill victims sent back from the future by the mob -- until the target becomes his future self.
Release dates: September 28 in North America; international rollout from September 27 through October
Argo
In his third movie Argo, a spy thriller, Ben Affleck cast himself as the mastermind behind a joint operation by the CIA and the Canadian government to save a group of American diplomats hiding at the Canadian embassy during the 1979 Iranian revolution. The crazy plan is to organize a fake science-fiction movie project and help the prisoners escape by presenting them as members of the technical crew.
Release dates: October 12 in North America; international rollout through November
Capital
After Amen and Z, Costa Gavras has decided to adapt a satirical novel by Stephane Osmont centered on the financial world. French humorist and actor Gad Elmaleh is playing the decadent and cynical boss of a European bank, targeted by an American investment fund.
Release date: November 14 in France
Cloud Atlas
Adapting David Mitchell's novel, dream-like Cloud Atlas will probably be the visual sensation of the festival. Andy and Lana Wachowski partnered with Tom Tykwer to tell the tale of six lives over the centuries, from the 19th century to a post-apocalyptic future, with Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry and Hugh Grant each portraying several characters.
Release dates: October 26 in North America; international rollout through early 2013
End of Watch
In this movie from David Ayer, actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena, playing two cops stealing a Latin-American narcotic syndicate's money, need to beat the clock to save their lives. Anna Kendrick also features in the cast.
Release dates: September 21 in North America; international rollout through December
Frances Ha
Noam Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Greenberg) has succeeded in keeping his new movie Frances Ha under the radar. TIFF's world premiere will allow festivalgoers to discover a modern tale with Greta Gerwig as an apprentice in a dance company.
No release dates announced
Foxfire
Cannes Palme d'Or-winning Laurent Cantet (The Class) is back with Foxfire, an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' book Foxfire: Confessions of a Gang Girl -- already adapted for the big screen in 1996 by Annette Haywood-Carter featuring a young Angellina Jolie. Showing the violent life of a teen-girls group in the 1950s, this movie will mark the French director's debut venture in English-speaking cinema.
Release date: January 9, 2013 in France, Belgium, Netherlands
The Place Beyond the Pines
Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) is once again teaming up with Ryan Gosling, this time to film the story of a biker stuntman facing an ex-cop turned politician (Bradley Cooper). Eva Mendes and Rose Byrne are also part of the project.
Release date: November 7 in France; January 10-24 in Denmark, Germany, Russia
Silver Linings Playbook
Playing an ex-history teacher who goes back to live with his parents after four years spent at a psych ward, Bradley Cooper tries to win his wife back with the help of a pretty -- and unstable -- neighbor (Jennifer Lawrence) in this film from David O. Russell.
Release date: November 21 in North America; international rollout through early 2013
Hyde Park on Hudson
Bill Murray becomes Franklin Roosevelt to evoke the love story of the ex-President and Margaret Stuckley (Laura Linney) during the visit of England's King George VI and his wife Elizabeth in 1939.
Release dates: December 7 in North America; international rollout December 2012 through February 2013
