The Fille Files (January 16 - 21)

 Each week, the Filles bring you some of our favourite films finds of the week—news, reviews, features, interviews, tweets, new releases, etc.—just in case you missed them.

REEL GREAT READS

Photo: dvdactive.com

• Shame: sex addicts reveal all (The Guardian) - A U.K. journalist talks to the real stars of Shame (sorry Michael Fassbender's boners): sex addicts. They talk about their personal experiences with the affliction and how closely the film follows and or veers from their everyday reality.
• 'The Exorcist' and My Mother (Video Word Made Flesh) - An entirely relateable piece about parents and how they affect the choices we make in films, but not necessarily our opinions of them. Emily had an eerily similar experience with her mama and Linda Blair's blasphemous big break. Except she made her mom watch it with her (on Valentine's Day!) and ended up kind of hating it.  
• 17 blockbusters so horrible even their creators say they sucked (Blastr) - We all know these movies sucked. Good to know the creators behind it can face up to it.
• 10 Bizarrely Deceptive Movie Posters (IGN) - Movie posters that led to expectations that were never met. Includes a double-jawed Jaws poster.

The Fille Files (November 26 - December 3)

 REEL GREAT READS

•  Andy Serkis Gets an Oscar Push for 'Apes' (Next Movie) - Andy Serkis deserves an Oscar nom for his role as Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, says Michelle. Co-chairman and CEO of the film's studio Tom Rothman agrees and is pushing to get Serkis the well-deserved recognition for his emotional performance.
• "X-Men: First Class" studio wants Matthew Vaughn back for sequel (IFC) - In more news about Tom Rothman and movies Michelle loved this year, he's also trying to bring director Matthew Vaughn back to shoot the sequel to the amazingly re-imagined X-Men series, First Class. Go Rothman, Go!
• VOD Rides to the Rescue of Indie Film (The Wrap) - As video rental stores shut down and VOD services take slack for lack of competent services for mainstream releases, VOD services are actually turning out to be a great source for indie films. How else are you going to catch Grave Encounters? (Yes, yet another movie Michelle loved this year.)
• 'The Artist': How a Black-and-White Silent Movie Defied the Odds and Became an Oscar Contender (The Hollywood Reporter) - An indepth look at the creation and promotion one of the most talked about movies of the year, which ironically, contains no talking itself, and may just become the first silent movie to get awards attention since the 1920s. 
• The Long-Awaited Poster for Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's Cabin in the Woods (Ain't It Cool News) - This movie has literally been in distribution hell, despite being an over-anticipated fanboy/girl fantasy come true (Whedon and Goddard together again! A pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth!). This poster and way-short synopsis is the first hint of anything we've really gotten about the movie in a long while. And it is a mindfuck and a half. Emily, at least, can't wait!

The Filles Take TIFF!: Day 1, er, 4*

A daily documentation what's we've seen, want to see and aren't even trying to see at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

We're seeing:

Photo: Alliance Films
• SHAME (Manori) - Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan play a sister and brother in this sexual drama. (7 p.m., Princess of Wales)
• YOUR SISTER'S SISTER (Ava) - Things get awkward for a dude after he gets hot and heavy with his dead brother's ex's sister. Stars Emily Blunt, Mark Duplass and Rosemarie DeWitt. (6 p.m., Ryerson Theatre)
• LIVID (Emily) - A french haunted house horror flick that's getting major buzz, and not just from the Midnight Madness crowd. (11:59 p.m., Ryerson Theatre)

We wish we were seeing:

Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures

• MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE - A way buzzed-about drama about a girl who leaves a "sexual religious cult." The title character is played by the Olsen Twins' younger sister (!), Elizabeth. Apparently she's a revelation. (3 p.m., Ryerson Theatre)

Also playing...

• ANONYMOUS - What if Shakespeare never actually wrote his plays? Or so, asks this period drama. (9 p.m., Visa Screening Room a.k.a the Elgin)
• THE SKIN I LIVE IN - The latest from Pedro Almodóvar, based on the novel, Tarantula. Antonio Banderas plays a plastic surgeon who is working on a new type of fake skin and testing it all out on a young woman he keeps hostage in his house. Ick. (10 p.m., Princess of Wales)

Notes from last night:

• DRIVE is frothy, frightening fun. See it, even if it's just for the wicked antithetical Pretty in Pink font. Also, can Ryan Gosling be any bigger right now? Watching this just makes you realize he deserves it in spades. And if that's not enough to sell you...
• "The idea was that half the movie was a John Hughes movie ... and then he kills everybody." - Nicolas Windling Refn (director of Drive).
• Albert Brooks has never seen Breaker High.

*Sometimes, even the Filles have their non-movie magic moments. Seeing as we're based in Toronto and have attended the fest, we really should have started this sooner. But we were too busy seeing movies. Forgive us. Expect the next week to be full-fledged.