• Oscar buzz is in the air in Toronto for Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech. After being shut out for Best Actor in last year’s A Single Man, fans and critics alike believe Colin Firth deserves it this time around. Watch a new clip from the film below

• Mixed reactions from critics for Never Let Me Go starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley. Agreed upon as a visually stunning work from director Mark Romanek, some viewers are confused by the unusual sci-fi twists and turns. New UK trailer below

• Film critic Roger Ebert will participate in a Twitter panel with 6 film critics as they each respond to Ebert’s statements about the film industry. The audience will vote on who had the best Tweet per round, taking into account wit and originality. Follow all the action on September 11 4pm here

• Clint Eastwood is walking the red carpet for his film Hereafter, but won’t be conducting interviews with Canadian reporters… [more]

• Martin Sheen and son Emilio Estevez join picketers on strike at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel today… [more]

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Hearing Clint Eastwood’s name around this time of year and a new movie release usually means potential Oscar. It also helps when Matt Damon is starring in the lead role for his newest film, Hereafter. Described as a supernatural thriller, the story is centered on three people – a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy – who are touched by death in different ways. The new trailer shows scenes containing washed-out colours and half-lit faces, which you’ll likely recognize from previous films, Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino:

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• Many filmgoers walked out of the Film Socialism screening at the Ryerson last night after enduring a 30 minute delay and watching the film with no subtitles

• General audience had positive things to say for Charles Ferguson’s doc Inside Job about the causes of the U.S. financial crisis

• Rowdy crowd at last night’s Midnight Madness opening for Fubar II, with the stars of the film arriving in a truck with strippers, while downing pilsners. Many are calling it the Best Midnight Madness Audience Ever. Video courtesy of thesubstream.com below

• Lots of Canadian stars, including Walter Gretzky, showed up last night for the Festival’s opening night film, Score: A Hockey Musical. Although some critics consider the film “hokey and parochial”, most of the local audience at Roy Thomson Hall, some wearing hockey jerseys, applauded and clearly enjoyed the musical-comedy

• Visit our Flickr group to see photos from opening night

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The world premiere of Bruce McDonald’s rock ‘n’ roll saga, Trigger, will be the inaugural film at the TIFF Bell Lightbox this Sunday. Comprised of a strong Canadian cast including Molly Parker, Don McKellar and Sarah Polley, the opening film tells the story of a rock duo who reunite after their band call it quits. Coincidentally, “a surprise musical performance from one of Canada’s hottest global superstars” will be performing at the free Block Party on the day of the screening. Check out the first trailer below:

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If you haven’t purchased your tickets yet at TIFF and you’re looking for recommendations, you might want to check out these four films. In addition to Black Swan and 127 Hours mentioned in previous posts, these films have already screened at the Venice and/or Telluride Film Festivals and have impressed filmgoers and critics:

The King’s Speech – Directed by Tom Hooper, the film tells the story of the man who would become King George VI, the father of the current Queen, Elizabeth II. There is already early talk of possible Academy nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, as well as Best Actor nominations (Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter). At Telluride, Colin Firth was honored by the festival and additional screenings were added for the film to accommodate demand, including a free outdoor showing. indieWIRE writes: “Reviews have been across-the-board glowing, with most Oscar prognosticators agreeing this is very much up the Academy’s alley.”

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Reviews are pouring in for films premiering at both the Venice and Telluride Festivals this weekend. One of the films already receiving overwhelming response is Danny Boyle’s latest 127 Hours. His follow-up to Slumdog Millionaire has been given the thumbs-up by most film critics thus far, and appears to be another People’s Choice candidate this year. The film is so intense that there have been reports from Telluride that some audience members had to be attended to by paramedics. We’ve seen similar responses from films at TIFF before, such as last year when someone vomited at the screening of Antichrist at the Ryerson Theatre. In the meantime, we’ll keep things vomit-free for you with these review blurbs for 127 Hours:

Variety: Danny Boyle has taken us to the surface of the sun (”Sunshine”) and the end of the world as we know it (”28 Days Later”), testing the limits of human endurance with each radically different project. “127 Hours” takes the adrenaline rush one step further, pitting man against nature in the most elemental of struggles as Boyle compresses the true story of rock-climbing junkie Aron Ralston, who spent five days wrestling with a boulder after a rockslide pinned his arm against a canyon wall, into an intense 93 minutes. Marketed correctly, pic should spell another hit for the high-energy helmer…

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Canadian NBA superstar Steve Nash shows off his hidden talents in directing with his debut documentary Into the Wind. As a part of the Mavericks programme at TIFF, the film will take a closer look at Canadian icon Terry Fox and his marathon run across the country. Similar to last year’s TIFF doc on Wayne Gretzky Kings Ransom, the Terry Fox film will be part of the ESPN documentary series “30 for 30″. Watch the new trailer below:

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In Deborah Chow’s debut feature High Cost of Living, she casts Zach Braff as a drug dealer who gets into a hit-and-run accident with a pregnant woman (Isabelle Blais). Feeling guilty for his mistake, Braff’s character seeks out his victim, and a burgeoning relationship develops between the pair. Shot in Montreal, we can directly see the Canadian setting in the film from the below clip:

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The Boss is coming to town and he’s bringing his new documentary, The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town. Directed by Thom Zimny, the doc features behind-the-scenes footage of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band recording their fourth album. We got a hold of the first clip from the film below. We’ll also see more of Springsteen at TIFF when he is interviewed by Edward Norton as one of the Mavericks sessions this year.

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French director François Ozon makes a jump from drama to comedy in the stylish and charismatic Potiche. The film stars Catherine Deneuve as a traditional housewife, who enlists the help of the town mayor played by Gerard Depardieu, to run her ailing husband’s company. When the husband recovers and is fit for duty, he learns that things have changed and he is no longer wanted as head of the company. A comical battle between the sexes ensues. Watch the latest French trailer below:

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