The Fille Files (August 20-26, 2011)

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

• Travel Bookshop to close in two weeks (The Bookseller): The book store made iconic by Notting Hill has announced it will be closing, just after Ava warned you not to forget about the film. 
• Explaining a summer of movie surprises (Toronto Star) Peter Howell makes sense of this season's most out-the-blue box-office failures (Larry Crowne, The Change-Up) and unexpected hits (Bridesmaids, Rise of the Planet of the Apes).
• TIFF Schedule: Because that's good reading material to us.

WEEKEND WATCHES

• Don't Be Afraid of the Dark: A horror written by Guillermo del Toro. Do you really need any more than that?
• Our Idiot Brother: Paul Rudd plays the funny guy in a comedy, not the sarcastic, reasonable guy. Finally. Plus Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks, Rashida Jones, Steve Coogan...

TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The Rum Diary

Hearthrob Johnny Depp. Rising star Amber Heard. Famed journo Hunter S. Thompson.

Don't You Forget About: Notting Hill

Sure, it's fun to catch the latest flick at the multiplex, or grab the newest release at a video store, but sometimes you just gotta say, "Out with the new, and in with the unknown." There are plenty of older flicks out there that are worth a rental, but never registered on your radar. In Don't You Forget About, we remember the long-gone gems, so you don't have to.

Photo: Polygram Filmed Entertainment

WHAT it's about: A demure travel book shop owner, William Thacker (God, even his name is dull) gets swept up in a tempestuously hot-and-stone-cold affair when movie star Anna Scott rolls into Notting Hill. Anna's "foul temper" (think Ava Gardner's bravado minus the sailor tongue) keeps the meek Briton at bay, but the poor bloke is nonetheless hooked, showering Anna and her outbursts with equal patience and admiration from his endless well of nice-guy understanding, as needed when crushing on the popular girl.

WHO's in it: Come for the great and beautiful Hugh Grant and well, still beautiful, Julia Roberts. Stay for the backseat hero, William's gamely Welsh roommate, Spike (Rhys Ifans) who can't keep his hands off himself. Directed by Roger Michell, whose latest rom-com, Morning Glory, couldn't recreate the same aw-shucks on-screen chemistry between Rachel McAdams and Patrick Wilson.

WHEN it came out: May 28, 1999

HOW come you haven't heard of (or just seen) it before: You tell me. Seriously. Eleven years ago, your excuse may have been the film's debut was sandwiched between the hotly anticipated releases of summer blockbusters, The Mummy and Star Wars Ep. 1: The Phantom Menace. Even still, the film grossed $363,728,226 US to date worldwide and sits at the 20th spot on the list of highest-grossing Hollywood rom-coms. And don't tell me you've never caught W Network's Saturday night Hugh Grant film spotlight. (I can't be the only steadfast Grant devoter to happily stay in for this...)

WHY you need to watch it-immediately!..