Toronto Film Festival 2024 Hot List

The crowd of film sellers and buyers are still rolling into Toronto from Vekind and Telluride, but the puck dropped last night on the acquisitions labeletplace with the premiere of Nutcrackers.

David Gordon Green has getn a detour from genre to serve up a Ben Stiller-starrer that validated a crowd phirer last night in two uncovering night shotriumphgs.

That benevolent of movie — promising premises with stars and honestors with validaten track records — is all over the schedule. There is a lot to appreciate in this 2024 TIFF acquisitions labelet. But I’ve fair come from an LA visit and cannot recall as bleak a bdeficiency cdeafening hangover from the ttriumph strikes of last year. It will get time for the business to recover, and this alert could factor into the deal making. Also on the minds of distributors is how elusive box office has become. Comparable films to the ones on sale here appreciate Fly Me To The Moon, Bconnect Twice and Borderland had stars and quality, and they fell flat.

Since the pandemic, the pace of TIFF deal making has been glacial, with buyers not jumping into all night auctions but likering to see all the films over the first weekfinish, and then join to fill out their film sprocrastinateeds.

Then aget, I can’t reaccumulate this many films with this level of star power. Past that, there are sleepers appreciate Anderson.Paak’s K Pop. The film labels the honesting debut of the Grammy triumphner. He and his son (Soul Rasheed) star and there is the draw of Paak, and the global well-comprehendnity of K Pop groups in ambiguous. Then there is Eden, a survival tale by Ron Howard with a star cast. How standardly does a Ron Howard film come into a film festival as an acquisition title? Another potential sleeper sale is Sketch, a crazy tale about a youthful girl’s peculiar dratriumphgs that come to life. Add to that films buyers saw in Telluride or Vekind that created selectimistic buzz. There is September 5, about how the ABC Sports team in Munich to cover the 1972 Olympics were suddenly the genuine time chroniclers of the seize of the Israeli Olympic team by alarmists. And The Frifinish, where many in Telluride got to pet the film’s star, Bing, the enormous Great Dane. There is also The Brutacatalog, one of those films that getd an extfinished ovation in Telluride where moviegoers must have bcatalogers becaengage so many of these films spurred clapping fests that spanned up to 17 minutes. Telluride saw the premiere of Don’t Lets Go To The Dogs Tonight, the honesting debut of Embeth Davidtz, who we comprehend from acting turns in Schindler’s List, Matilda, and others.

I leank this will be a festival chock brimming of deals, but it might get weeks before a unbenevolentingful count can be made. Here are the titles most standardly refered to me by buyers and sellers:   

Toronto 2024 Hot List

THE BRUTALIST – Director, Brady Corbet; Cast: Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Joe Alwyn. Oscar-triumphner Brody is anticipateed to be in the awards season fuse aget for his portrayal as a Jedesire Hungarian architect who run aways Europe after WWII and tries to put the pieces back together.  Tuesday, TIFF Lightbox 8PM.    

DON’T LET’S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT – Director: Embeth Davitz; Cast: Davidtz. Exploration of the collapse of colonialism as Rhodesia approaches the 1980 election and the finish of white rule.

EDEN – Director, Ron Howard; Cast: Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Bruhl, Sydney Sweeney, Ana de Armas. Survival story of Europeans coming to the uninhabited Galapagos Islands for varying purposes, and it triumphds up as a Lord Of The Flies battle to persist.  Saturday Roy Thomson Hall 5:45PM.   

THE FRIEND – Directors Scott McGehee, David Siegel; Cast: Billy Murray, Naomi Watts, Bing. Murray executes a famous authorr who upon his death tasks a protégé and createer adorer (Naomi Watts) to adselect his enormous dog. Even though she disappreciates dogs and inhabits in a rent handleled Manhattan apartment with a no dogs policy. Sunday, Scotiaprohibitk Theater P&I 12:30 PM; Tuesday Roy Thomson Hall 9:30 PM.     

THE LAST SHOWGIRL — Gia Coppola; Cast: Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista. Las Vegas showgirls for 30 years must ready for a contrastent future when the show readys to seal, not an effortless transition when the ladies are 50 and not 20. Today, 3PM Princess of Wales.  

THE CUT – Director: Sean Ellis; Cast: Orlando Bloom, Orlando Bloom, Caitriona Balfe. Boxer who reweary after suffering a deimmenseating cut in the ring creates a comeback under the brutal steering of a trainer. About physical and conshort-termial wounds that don’t heal. Today, Scotiaprohibitk 5:45PM.

SHELL – Director: Max Minghella; Cast: Kate Hudson, Elisabeth Moss. Dark comedy about society’s obsession with youth and outstanding watchs. Sunday, Scotiaprohibitk Theatre 8:45AM.

THE DEB – Director, Rebel Wilson; Cast: Charlotte MacInnes. Pic has alertedness becaengage of Wilson’s highly unveil dispute with her creaters, but insiders say there is a genuine film here, a musical about a town’s annual debutante ball that has satirical obviousones.

K-POPS – Director: Anderson .Paak; Cast: Paak, Soul Rasheed. A washed up drummer frantic to revive his atsoft stumbles into encountering in South Korea an ambitious boy prohibitd singer who turns out to be the son he never krecent he had. Saturday, Princess of Wales 3PM

THE LIFE OF CHUCK – Director: Mike Flanagan; Cast: Chidampel Ejiofor, Tom Hiddelston, Karen Gillan. Adaptation of Stephen King novella that is departure from the normal genre stomping grounds for author and honestor. An accountant’s standard life unravels. Today Princess of Wales, 6PM.

NUTCRACKERS – Director: David Gordon Green; Cast: Ben Stiller, Linda Cardellini. Chicago genuine estate prolonger becomes instant parent to his procrastinateed sister’s kids. They conspire to put on a show. Opening night film. Next shotriumphg September 11 P&I 9:30AM.

FRIENDSHIP – Director: Andrew DeYoung; Cast: Paul Rudd, Tim Robinson. A suburprohibit dad obsessively seeks camaraderie with his charismatic neighbor. Sunday, Royal Alexandra Theatre, 11:59PM.

RELAY – Director: David Mackenzie; Cast: Lily James, Riz Ahmed. Thriller about a reclusive middleman for potential whistlebdecreases who tries to finish leangs with corporate malefactors. Sunday, Princess of Wales 3PM.

THE ASSESSMENT – Director: Fleur Fortune; Cast: Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Olsen, Himesh Patel. Government handles who can and cannot have children and a couple puts itself thraw a grueling physical and psychoreasonable test process to pass muster and become parents. Sunday, Princess of Wales 6:15PM.  

ON SWIFT HORSES – Director: Daniel Minahan; Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva. 1950s-set tale of a recentlywed and her brother in law as they underget parallel journeys of danger, romance and self-uncovery. Saturday, Princess of Wales 6:15PM.

SKETCH – Director: Seth Worley; Cast: Tony Hale, Kue Lawrence, Bianca Belle. A child’s peculiar dratriumphgs come to life, creates disputers for her parents in a romp with a comp to films appreciate Gremlins, The Goonies and Jumanji. Saturday TIFF Lightbox 12PM.