The Screening Room

Musician biopics are nothing new. But Across the Universe and I'm Not There are taking new spins on reality. Which music icon's story would you like to see grace the silver screen?

Where's the love this weekend? Too too too many options to chose from this week. What's getting your 8 bucks? Click the "comment" link and talk amongst yourselves.

Personally, I'm all about Feast of Love, and have been since I watched the trailer about a month ago. Read more about it in Chris Vognar's interview with director Robert Benton.

• The Kingdom (B-) | Trailer
• Feast of Love (B) | Trailer
• The Jane Austen Book Club (B) | Trailer
• The Game Plan (D+) | Trailer
• Across the Universe (C+) | Trailer
• Into the Wild (A-) | Trailer
• Trade (D+) | Trailer
• Ira and Abby (C-) | Trailer
• Summer '04 (B-) | Trailer
• Manda Bala (B) | Trailer

Good things come in threes
Resident Evil: Extinction kept 2007’s threequel train rolling by topping the box office with $23.7 million. That makes it the sixth threequel to top the charts this year, following in the footsteps of Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The Bourne Ultimatum and Rush Hour 3. Sony Screen Gems had said that this Resident would be the last of the series, but now there’s talk that another may be on the horizon. So we have that to look forward to.

The Plano Angelika has declared October "Hitchcocktober." I strongly caution against following suit, unless you want to sound like an idiot, but the theater is using its declaration as an excuse to show some pretty good Hitchcock movies every Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. 10/2: Vertigo. 10/9: Rear Window. 10/16: Psycho. 10/23: The Birds. 10/30: Dial M For Murder.

But here's the really scary part. You can also submit a short film, song, photo essay, poetry, paintings or collage inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and win fabulous prizes. Just think, your own Frenzy rap: "I'm the necktie murderer, get of my way/One look at me and you know I don't play/I get straight Psycho with my smokin' AK." Submit your entries to angelikasubmissions@gmail.com by Oct. 29. For more info visit www.angelikafilmcenter.com. and click on "Plano."

Studio Movie Grill will open its first Dallas location at Royal Lane and Central Expressway in the first quarter of 2008, the company announced today. That will mark the fifth North Texas location (the others are in Arlington, Lewisville, Addison and Plano.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, it's like watching a movie in a restaurant, which has its ups (no getting up to grab a snack or drink!) and downs (could that guy sitting next to me chew any louder?). But overall it's a pretty great place to see a movie, especially one that gets a big crowd reaction. I saw Borat for the first time at the Addison location at an advanced screening, and let's just say the fact that you can order a beer from your seat there may have enhanced the laughs.

Courtesy

With the absence of late fees and the convenience of home delivery, renting DVDs is easier - and harder - than ever. I've got some 60 discs in my queue right now, including a half-dozen seasons of TV shows I need to catch up on. Some get mainlined pretty quickly and sent right back (The Fountain, Match Point), some linger around for multiple viewings (Miracle, Primer) and some languish in unwatched ignominy.

Now I'm faced with two choices: send the films back, unwatched, after wasting nearly a month of new films. Or, hold on to them a little longer because I am omgtotally going to watch them now, for reals. Right.

So what's your queue drama? Is it ambitiously overflowing or pathetically empty? Are you constantly sending discs back to find out just how many "unlimited" is in a single month? Or does that copy of The Bourne Identity have a two-inch layer of dust on it? Vent - it's good for the soul.

Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda (United Artists)

"I'm a conduit," says Cheadle, an Oscar nominee for 2004's Hotel Rwanda (which raised his awareness and concern for the current plight of African nations). "I'm not an expert on the area. I just want to do things to help. In my position, I can do things publicly that other people can't get to. Me working on this stuff doesn't in any way, shape or form help me in the business."

Read more on Cheadle and the film closer to the Dallas opening Nov. 9.

Normandy, June 6, 1944 (PBS)

By pure coincidence, Elah comes out the same weekend as Ken Burns' The War, the epic World War II documentary that begins Sunday night on PBS (KERA-Channel 13 in these parts). I'm a big Burns fan, and his mix of populist accessibility and intelligence is again on display here. This is also a personal war tale, told largely by folks from Luverne, Minnesota; Mobile, Alabama; Waterbury, Connecticut; and Sacramento, California. It's a little jarring to watch The War side by side with Elah. One is a portrait of the Just War in which the justness comes through along with the inevitable horrors. The other, set mostly on the contemporary home front, asks if the current horrors can be justified. The two films weren't meant to be companion pieces, but somehow they are.

Apparently *everybody* wanted to cash in on the first day of fall, cause we got 12, count 'em, TWELVE new movies opening this week. And that's not counting the three – Across the Universe, Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) and Trade – that were pushed back one week to Sept. 28.

With this much selection, there's got to be something for everybody, right? I gotta admit, for my part, nothing here screams out "Spend your $9.50! Don't wait for Netflix!"

So what are you seeing this weekend?

• In the Valley of Elah (B+) | Trailer

• Good Luck Chuck (D+) | Trailer

• Sydney White (C) | Trailer

• December Boys (B) | Trailer

• The Hottest State (C-) | Trailer

• In the Shadow of the Moon (B) | Trailer

• Fierce People (D+) | Trailer

• The Hunting Party (B) | Trailer

• Live-In Maid (A-) | Trailer

• ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway (B+) | Trailer

• Resident Evil: Extinction (C-) | Trailer

• Sea of Dreams | Trailer

Count Oscar-winning Crash writer/director Paul Haggis among those who see a Hollywood work stoppage as inevitable. The Writers Guild of America is considering a strike once its current agreement with the studios expires Oct. 31. (The Screen Actors Guild agreement expires June 30, 2008). The main issue: Residual payments from DVD and TV showings. The studios want to scrap the current residual agreement, claiming widespread budget crisis. This idea doesn't sit well with the writers.

"I assume there’s going to be a strike because the studios are really forcing the issue right now," Haggis told me at the Toronto International Film Festival. "They’re playing brinksmanship instead of dealing with the artists in a fair way. They keep forcing it because they want to keep taking a bigger and bigger piece of the pie in order to serve their corporate interests. If we just had honest accounting in Hollywood and we just gave the artists a fair piece we wouldn't see all this. But they hide so much that we have to fight back to get just a small amount of what they make."

Haggis says the rush is already on to complete projects before the potential doomsday arrives. Haggis' new film, In the Valley of Elah, opens this Friday. He's also writing the script for the next James Bond movie.

If you were looking forward to seeing Across the Universe this weekend, you can go ahead and make other plans. The Beatles-inspired musical has been pushed back a week and will now (supposedly) open Sept. 28.

Get out of her way
The Brave One out-muscled the competition, earning $13.5 million in its opening weekend. That’s nearly $5 million more than No. 2 3:10 to Yuma earned, but about a mil. short of Gridiron Gang, which won the same weekend last year.

Not entirely movie-related, but bear with me: The last couple of days have seen a massive influx of candy on our humble fourth floor. (Promotion of some sort. Don't ask). Anyway, until this week, I had forgotten the flavorful intoxicating quality of the Lemon-Head. Tangy on the outside. Crunchy on the inside. Sublime in every way.

I also remembered that as a kid I used to buy them and sneak them into the movies. Yes, I'm having a Proust-like sugar rush of memory. And so I ask: What is the greatest movie theater candy ever? You know where I stand.

Now in its ninth year, The Vistas Film Festival has shown itself to be an increasingly well-orgainzed and creatively programmed showcase for Latino film. This year's installment runs Wednesday through at the Angelika, kicking off tomorrow night with El Benny (based on the life of Cuban singer Benny Moré. Look for more coverage in Wednesday's Guide Live.

Down in the Valley: Tommy Lee Jones searches for clues this Friday (Warner Independent Pictures)

The timing of said addiction works out well, since the rush of post-Toronto releases requires some research. For instance, one of my favorite Toronto films, the Iraq-at-home drama In the Valley of Elah, opens this Friday. Many of the themes remind of the Vietnam war-at-home film Coming Home, which I hadn't seen in ages - until last night. (Verdict: still powerful, but thinner than it was in the context of its times).

The best is when one film can help shed light on two others. Both I'm Not There, the much-discussed Bob Dylan exploration, and The Assassination of Jesse James, a most revisionist of Westerns, got me thinking about Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (which, I must admit, I had never seen - until last night). Verdict: Dylan isn't much of an actor - no surprise there - but James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson more than make up for it, the "end of the frontier" theme is powerfully expressed, and the Dylan songs on the soundtrack work well. (Richard Gere plays a Billy-like character in I'm Not There).

So: Will I kick my addiction any time soon? I hope not. Seems to be good for business.

My fave from Toronto: Persepolis (Sony Pictures Classics)

But you don't want to know about my drool (seek help if you do). You want to know what I saw and what I liked. So here's my Fave Five (out of about 30 films viewed), including dates (if available) when you might be able to see this stuff in Dallas.

1. Persepolis - Sharp humor and wistful remembrance make a profoundly moving combination in this animated film about a girl growing up in Tehran during scary times. Adapted by Marjane Satrapi from her own graphic novels, it strikes the perfect tone in exploring the meaning of home. It should open here by the end of the year or the beginning of 2008.

2. My Kid Could Paint That - Amir Bar-Lev's doc does a remarkable thing in exploring the media sensation and controversy surrounding a four-year-old modern art prodigy. It also explores the documentary filmmaker's culpability in abetting said sensation and controversy. Beguiling and troubling. Scheduled to open Oct. 19.

3. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Not a revisionist Western so much as an interrogation of the very genre, Assassination is a long, lyrical and proudly eccentric story of looming doom, bruised ego and the process of legend on the frontier. Wash it down with a couple of Deadwood episodes. Scheduled to open Oct. 5.

4. (Tie) Margot at the Wedding and The Savages - Two scathingly dark comedies about families mired in resentment. Margot rides the ruthless wit of writer/director Noah Baumbach; Savages features Laura Linney's best work to date. Both will make you feel better about you own screwed-up families. Margot is scheduled to open Nov. 16; The Savages Dec. 26.

5. I'm Not There - Todd Haynes does a fiendishly logical thing with the shape-shifting Bob Dylan: He splits the mercurial one into multiple characters, including a folkie played by Christian Bale, a frontiersman played by Richard Gere, and, most spectacularly, a tired superstar played by Cate Blanchett. It's consistently weird and it gets better with each passing day. Scheduled to open Nov. 21.

And some other favorites: In the Valley of Elah (Sept. 21), Control (Nov. 2), Into the Wild (Sept. 28), Lust, Caution (Oct. 5), Rendition (Oct. 19) and Alexandra (TBA).

And if you have any questions about these or other Toronto fare, don't be shy.

AP

And yet... Even I am scared off of a movie whose male lead can only boast "of TV's Dawson's Creek" -- unless it has the words "mighty" or "ducks" in the title. So we can safely assume that I will not be seeing Silk this weekend. Deep Water stands a pretty solid chance, even though I cheated and read the Wikipedia article about Donald Crowhurst, the focal point of the documentary.

Who's getting my $8 this weekend? Defintely David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, with Viggo Mortensen (read Chris Vognar's interview with both men). Because, seriously, David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen. And not just because Viggo's wearing a Montreal Canadiens t-shirt in that photo. Okay, not entirely.

Here's this weekend's new offerings - what are you seeing?

• Eastern Promises (B+) | Trailer
• The Brave One (C+) | Trailer
• Deep Water (A-) | Trailer
• Mr. Woodcock (C)| Trailer
• The Devil Came on Horseback (B) | Trailer
• Silk (C-) | Trailer
• Dragon Wars | Trailer

Make sure to save some pennies though -- there are FIFTEEN flicks scheduled to open next weekend.

In the cab to the airport in Toronto, and I must say I'll miss it (Toronto, not the airport). Then again, as travellers are wont to say, I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. I'll fire off some final posts on Friday. And check out our look at the festival's finest performances in Sunday's Guide Live section. Yes, that's a tease. Over and out.

Woody Allen is all over the local papers this morning, having given a press conference Wednesday for for his new noncomedy Cassandra's Dream. If you think his recent output has been a bit lazy he's not about to disagree. The photo caption in the Globe and Mail reads "Woody Allen: I could do better work if I was more conscientous, but I'm not a perfectionist." He says he'd rather watch the Knicks than make a great film, which says quite a bit given the Knicks' recent fortunes. The film is about a pair of brothers, played by Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell, who conspire to commit murder to solve their cash problems. Just call it Crimes and Match Point Misdemeanors.

All aboard
3:10 to Yuma proved over the weekend that moviegoers still have an appetite for Westerns as the remake of the 1957 film earned $14 million, bumping Halloween from its perch. While it’s not a huge figure, 3:10’s haul was impressive on a weekend that historically has been slow at the box office.

If your resolution for Rosh Hashanah -- the Jewish New Year -- is to see more Jewish movies or if you just like seeing good movies out of the Hollywood loop, you're in luck. The 11th Annual Jewish Film Festival continues this weekend at the Angelika Film Center and Cafe in Plano. Peter Falk stars as an actor who invites his grown children back for what he calls his "final" exit in Checking Out (Saturday at 9 p.m.). David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) stars as a Jewish lawyer who wrestles with his conscience when he takes on the defense of a neo-Nazi skinheard in Steel Toes (Monday at 8 p.m. )And lovely Tunisian-Jewish actress Agnes Jaoui stars as a woman who devotes herself to helping the orphans of the Holocaust in Nina's Home, a French film co-sponsored by the Houston Consulate General of France and the Alliance Francaise du Nord du Texas (Wednesday at 8 p.m.) $9 per ticket. 214-739-2737. www.jccdallas.org.

About to watch Alexandra, a big-buzz Cannes film about a Russian grandmother visiting her grandson on the warfront in Chechnya. A guy at the pub I was at just asked for change for a dollar - and he demanded that the coins have "no marks or sevens" on them. Must be OCD.

You should always use a big festival to check out at least one film you probably won't be able to see anywhere else. I think I just accomplished that with Those Three, an Iranian film about three AWOL soldiers slogging desperately through a brutal snow storm. You could call it slow. Or you could call it a study of existential wandering. In any case I'm glad I saw it. I'm now sititing at a pub/restaurant waiting to munch on some fish and chips, listening to a vocal section shout at a soccer game between Albania and Holland. I miss football (the American kind
That is). Food is here. Over and out.

Just saw I'm Not There, the experimental Bob Dylan flick in which many actors play Dylan (including the great Cate Blanchett, who won best actress at Venice). Weird but compelling with lots of Dylan cuts on the soundtrack. Director Todd Haynes told me he was shocked to get the rights. Now I'm sitting in the theater waiting for the start of Trumbo, the doc about blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. Tonight it's Stuck, based on the true story of the guy who got left on a drugged-out Forth Worth nurse's windshield. Look for a report on that in Wednesday's paper. Over and out.

I'm out of Trumbo and now waiting for Stuck to start. Trumbo was a solid look at perhaps the most famous member of the Hollywood Ten, the 10 "unfriendly witnesses" who refused to testify before the House Unamerican Activities Committee during HUAC's investigation into Communist influence in Hollywood. Dalton Trumbo was a salty dog who penned some remarkable letters, read in the film by the likes of Liam Neeson, Joan Allen and Nathan Lane, who brings down the house with his reading of a jailhouse letter from Trumbo to his son about the glories of masturbation. Trumbo served a year for contempt of Congress; he got his big post-blacklist break when Kirk Douglas brought him onboard Spartacus, for which he received an official screenwriting credit. This is a dark and fascinating period of Hollywood history that's well worth studying.

So I didn't stay for the entire festival, but I was able to see 11 movies (if you count the ones playing at the festival that I was able to see in advance), and overall, I really liked what I saw. Here's a quick rundown of my highlights:
Best movie: Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Though it is only September, I will go ahead and install this one as the early, early fave for Best Picture. It has everything Oscar voters look for: a sweeping, historical epic with outstanding performances from its two leads (Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen). Over the course of the movie, Elizabeth goes from boredom to vengeful, distraught and inspiring, and Blanchett is a wonder to behold as she takes her character on that emotional journey.
Most uneven movie: Across the Universe. I went in to this one expecting it to be up and down and my expectations were met. Like a lot of musicals, the highs are really high. But at times the songs -- all from The Beatles -- just seemed kind forced into the plot. And after a while, the cutesy references to the Fab 4 (a character named Prudence comes in through the bathroom window. ugh) get a little thick. But whenever the character named Sadie (Dana Fuchs) belts out a song, hold on, baby.
Most Pleasant Surprise: Starting Out in the Evening. I saw this one on a whim and was very glad that I did. It's the epitome of a small movie, a sort of Venus in reverse. Here, a younger female grad student (Lauren Ambrose) pursues a veteran novelist (the great Frank Langella), who she wants to write her masters thesis on. Once they get to know each other, the dynamics of their relationship are constantly in flux. Watch out for Langella come awards season.
Best Movie Few People Will See: Lust, Caution. Strike 1: It's 2 hours and 40 minutes long. Strike 2: It's in Chinese. Strike 3: It's NC-17. That will equal an automatic out for most people, and that will be a shame. This espionage tale set in World War II era China is all about what's going on under the surface with the characters. And it also sports a pair of top-flight leads in Tony Leung and Wei Tang.

"Would you like a berry?" Keira Knightley asked me this morning as I sat down to interview her about her film Atonement in her room at the Park Hyatt Hotel. She was munching on a cup of mixed berries as a make-shift breakfast as our session started at about 10.
"I suppose it would be more exciting if I had chocolate to offer," she said.
And it was that kind of interview. Some actors launch into a sort of prerehearsed discussion about the movie, and some prefer to just sort of shoot the breeze for a while. And Knightley falls into the second category.
After about a 20 minute chat I was done with my questions, so we started in on the berries again. I made the comment that I always liked blackberries but they always get stuck in my teeth.
"I have gappy teeth, so that's not really a problem for me," she said.
I smiled to show her I too have some serious gaps in the front and she was nice enough to say that my teeth were, in fact, good.
"Straight teeth are [expletive]," she said, throwing around the sort of casual swearing that makes British people endearing. "My dentist asked me once if I wanted braces and I said [expletive] no! You've got to have teeth with character."
So now I suppose when I look at my gappy teeth in the mirror, I'll just remember that I've got choppers with character. Thanks, Keira.

The most moving viewing experience I've had here so far was Persepolis, a remarkable animated film by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, based on the graphic novel by Satrapi. Satrapi grew up in Tehran, experiencing the Islamic revolution and the Iran/Iraq war before her parents shipped her to the safety of Vienna. This is a memoir of cultural displacement, but it's filled with warm, biting humor and razor-sharp observations, all filtered through a lens of personal remembrance. Marjane gradually comes to realize Iran is not an idea place for a woman to live, and yet it is home, and home has an emotional pull that always defies logic. The images are rendered in fanciful, pliable flourishes of blacks and whites that create long shadows and expressionistic silhouettes. It is wistful, dark, and marvelously human. I liked it so much a I started a mini ovation at the press screening (for my thoughts on applause at movies, check out the arts department's applause package that ran in Sunday's paper).

So my esteemed editor Stephen Becker spots a card for some place called Lone Star Texas Grill. It claims to be "Canada's Only Authentic Texas Restaurant." This sounds intriguing, and they must certainly be showing the Cowboys game. So we head over to the lone Toronto location to test the authenticity claim.

The verdict: not horrible, but nothing to make Mi Cocina worry. My margarita tasted kind of like a Slurpee, though it got better when I squeezed in some lime juice (I miss you, Gloria's). The queso - which was free with the presentation of the above-mentioned card - had a processed taste to it. The chicken and ribs combo was adequate, if a bit on the salty side. I will let Becker comment on his chicken tacos, though the early report was they were kinda dry.

So how did there come to be a Lone Star Texas Grill deep in the heart of Canada? It seems a former Ottawa Rough Riders football player from Texas started missing his native cuisine. He started the place in 1986, and it slowly blossomed into a chain.

Oh yeah: The Cowboys game was on, but not the audio. That was reserved for a hockey game between Canada and Russia. No Dorothy, we're not in Texas anymore.

We'll always have Venice: Tony Leung and Tang Wei experience lust and caution (Focus Features)

Two years ago, Lee flew from the Venice Film Festival to Toronto, got to his hotel, and was immediately told to head back to Venice to accept that festival's top prize, the Golden Lion, for Brokeback Mountain.

This year? Same song, different verse. Once again he flew to Toronto from Venice. This time, he had time to walk the red carpet for the Friday night premiere of Lust, Caution before jumping on a plane and jetting back overseas for his second Lion in three years.

"That would be a foolish thing to do," said the ever-humble Lee when asked Monday morning if he considered just hanging out a little longer in Italy. "What if I didn't win anything?"

Then again, he must be learning to like his odds. Like Brokeback, Lust, Caution is a story of forbidden love, this time set in Shanghai and Hong Kong during World War II. A young acting student (Tang Wei) is assigned to assassinate a Japanese collaborator (Tony Leung). Their mutual self-loathing leads to a passionate love affair that earned the film an NC-17 rating.

But the film's cloak-and-dagger plot is nothing compared to the spinning that occurred for the press on Saturday, when Lee was slated to do interviews in Toronto. "Ang is under the weather," explained a publicist for the film's distributor, Focus Features. When I interviewed Leung, he assured me it was nothing serious. Now we know he had merely come down with case of "Gotta hop a plane to Venice to get another award," the news of which had not yet been officially announced. Hence, the sickness story.

In any case, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy: Lee is the rare great artist whose ego is dwarfed by his talent. We'll have more on Lust, Caution closer to its opening date of Oct. 5.

So there's this very chic little club I walk by every year and wonder who gets invited in (Mr. Dallas would dig it). This year I happened to score an invite for a party celebrating The Jane Austen Book Club (coming soon to a theater near you). So I sit as I blog, sipping a Pride and Prejudice - tequllia, Triple Sec, lime juice and cranberry juice - one of a handful of Austen-themed drinks at this suare. Just call me Darcy. Cast members, including Jimmy Smits, are said to be on the way.

You can't swing a dead cat here without hitting a famous face, and the weekend has been prime time for celeb watching. Without really trying, so far I've crossed paths with:
Juliette Binoche, who was exiting the Hotel Intercontinental into a waiting car. Big crowds often gather on the sidewalk outside the hotel since it is a well-known home for celebs during the festival. I happened to be walking back to my (less fancy) hotel when Ms. Binoche swiftly passed through the crowd into her ride.
Jim Broadbent and Jimmy Smits at a cocktail party sponsored by a couple of smaller movies. The Oscar-winning Mr. Broadbent stars in When Did You Last See Your Father while Mr. Smits is featured in The Jane Austen Book Club. Speaking of which, I had a very nice conversation with Jane director Robin Swicord at the party. While Jane is Ms. Swicord's directorial debut, she wrote the screenplay for Memoirs of a Geisha and Little Women.
Woody Harrleson in the lobby of the Four Seasons. He's in town to promote The Walker, a film he did with Lauren Bacall. The Four Seasons serves as the other big gawker hangout, and last night the crowd seemed to be whipped up into a frenzy as I was passing the hotel on the way to a party hosted by AFI Dallas. I figured it was probably Brad Pitt leaving to attend the premiere of his film, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. So I wasn't too interested in catching a glance as I had already listened to him talk for almost an hour at a press conference earlier in the day. What I didn't learn until I picked up the paper this morning was that this time he had Angelina on his arm.

The only applause I have heard inside a theater here has been before the movie has actually started. Like all festivals, Toronto shows a few ads preceeding the feature, but the festival also gives a shout out to its volunteers in a short spot, which has routinely received applause from the audience.
And rightfully so.
Everywhere you turn at the venues, you see the orange-shirt-clad volunteers scurrying about, and each that I have come in contact with has been eager to please. To call it a small army would be an understatement -- the estimated 4,000 workers make up a fairly large army. And it's because of them that the festival is so well organized.

The last decade has seen head-to-head asteroid movies, head-to-head volcano movies, even head-to-head Truman Capote movies. But this year's festival presents the unlikely phenomenon of dual Joy Division movies.

They aren't competing exactly: one, Joy Division, is a doc in which the director of the other, famed rock photographer Anton Corbijn, appears as a talking head. And Mr. Corbijn insists his film, Control, isn't really about the influential Manchester post-punk band but rather the lead singer/songwriter, Ian Curtis, who hung himself in 1980 at the age of 23.

But it's still a striking confluence that speaks to the long shadow the band casts over artists ranging from the band that rose from Joy Division's ashes, New Order, to more recent inward-looking pop acts like Arcade Fire and Interpol.

"Their music was era-defining, but it wasn't tied down to that era at all," says Mr. Corbijn, who first shot photos of the band in 1979. "It's very modern, and it's about things that matter. It has depth to it. It's simple, great, strong rock music."

Control, whose black-and-white look accentuates the bleak industrial atmosphere of Manchester, is guided by the haunting lead performance of newcomer Sam Riley. He acquits himself well in performing songs including "She's Lost Control" and "Digital." But he also has the deeply expressive eyes, the impulsive onstage body language and the burdensome sense of doom. Curtis suffered from epilepsy, for which he took a potent cocktail of drugs, and he had the soul of a Romantic poet, with one eye firmly set on death. It's doubtful he foresaw a day when his life and music would be featured in two films. But that's one of the best things about art. It outlives us all.

Wild things: Sean Penn directs Emile Hirsch (Paramount Vantage)

Intimidating? Sure, a little. But he mostly came off as a guy who doesn't suffer fools or make compromises. Leaning back in a plush chair, deferring frequently to Hirsch, he was even kind of courteous. The film is based on Jon Krakauer's nonfiction book about recent college grad Christopher McCandless. Christopher jumps off the grid and roughs it across America before reaching the solitude of remote Alaska. His adventures suggest that sometimes you need to find yourself before you can keep living among others.

So was Christopher disappointed in humanity? No, says Penn, before offering this half-joking observation about himself: "I have a great love for humankind. It's humans that get to me. I feel it out there on the street, at the film festival," he says, motioning out the window of the hotel room. You get the feeling he doesn't mind people as much as the celeb factory that turns people into false idols (and the autograph-seeking idolaters that feed the machine).

Into the Wild is slated to open in Dallas Sept. 28.

It stands to figure that you spend a lot of time in movie theaters at a major film festival. But just because the festival is top-shelf doesn't mean the venues are all exotic or fancy. (I've never been to Cannes, but my mind's eye always picture the theaters there being deluxe. Yet I'm sure this isn't the case).

So for the venue-curious, here's a brief rundown of a few major festival theaters up here in Toronto.

Varsity Cinemas - An uptown multiplex housed in a mall, but it's a pretty nice multiplex, and a pretty nice mall. Comfy seats, good sound and sightlines. The mall, the Manulife Centre, has plenty of good eats that you can bring into the theater (at least during the festival). Long lines, like the one this morning for No Country for Old Men, can snake down multiple corridors and into the street.

The Elgin - Straight-up class. This is a massive downtown movie palace - think Dallas' Majestic - with a spacious balcony and history you can feel. By far my favorite venue here.

Cumberland Cinemas - Surrounded by uptown bars and restaurants, which is always nice. The design is extremely vertical, which can make for lots of stair/escalator climbing, and the seats aren't all that welcoming. The air conditioning could use some work: Thursday night's press screening of Lust, Caution was sweltering, not good for a 160-minute film that starts at 9:45 p.m.

A post script: festival HQ will be moving into a ginormous downtown development by 2010. This may shift the hub of the action from uptown, which is more of a shopping district, to downtown, which has more clubs and such.

A side note to the Rendition press conference: Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal sat at least 10 feet apart. When it was all over, she exited stage left, while he lingered until she was out of site before heading backstage. When you stay out of photos together, it makes it easier to keep any romantic gossip at bay.

I'll cut straight to what the masses want to know about this afternoon's press conference for Rendition:
Reese Witherspoon looked impeccable in a knee-length navy dress, and Jake Gyllenhaal is quite possibly the prettiest man I've ever seen.
And they even answered questions. Sometimes begrudgingly.
When a reporter asked the American actors on the panel -- Witherspoon, Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard -- about the practice of "extreme rendition," in which the government basically has the right to kidnap someone and hold them for questioning without charging them, a game of hot potato ensued.
Gyllenhaal: "I'll let you field that one, Reese."
Witherspoon: "I've suddenly come down with a cold." (cough, cough)
It's a sticky position for the actors to be in: They make a politically charged movie, and when they are asked about their personal beliefs, sometimes they feel as if they need to watch what they say so as to not turn anyone off from going to see it.
In their defense, they eventually each gave reasoned, if not slightly dodging, answers. But it seems the only answer anyone should really need is this: they did the film, and the film certainly falls on one side of the argument (though it goes out of its way to be accessible to the other side, casting no less than Meryl Streep as the voice in favor of the practice). Had they had a problem with the film's politics, you can bet that none of them would have had difficulty finding another movie to make.

Sports fans, want to see a fascinating documentary about the origins of basketball? Check out The First Basket Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center Zale Auditorium. It's part of the 11th annual international Jewish Film Festival and even this non-sports fan was riveted by a tale of how Jewish-American street kids popularized the sport, how the NBA was created, who scored the first basket, and who played a part in the earliest scandals. Lots of archival stuff and contemporary interviews with former players. And just think what an expert you'll be at your next sports trivia game.

The crowds at press/industry screenings here are usually well trained, but all it takes is one idiot to spoil a movie. This morning, the same idiot spoiled two screenings. Crime No. 1: In a tense moment of the superb Rendition, a cell phone rings. And rings. And rings. Crowd commences indignant shouts of protest. Idiot finally recognizes idiocy (or the call went to voicemail).

Crime No. 2: In a quiet moment of No Country for Old Men, the exact same rings goes off. And keeps ringing. And ringing. I wanted Javier Bardem to reach through the screen and open fire.

Note to idiot: Do your business elsewhere. Some of us came here to watch movies.

OK, so the MPAA probably got this one right. Ang Lee's Lust, Caution proudly let its NC-17 flag fly at its debut screening Thursday night at the festival, proving once again that sex and violence are not equal in the eyes of the ratings board. And Lust, Caution has plenty of the former. The MPAA said when handing down the NC-17 rating that it was partially do to a number of "non-traditional" sexual positions, and it's pretty aggressive stuff at that.
Which is not to say it's gratutous.
Ang Lee shows you can learn a lot about a relationship by watching how a couple couples, a theme that also runs through the graphic but telling Tell Me You Love Me, which debuts Sunday on HBO.
Now that that is out of the way, I can also report that it's a very well-made movie, and surprisingly taut for its 157 min. running time. Set in Japanese-occupied China, it follows a group of college students who decide it is there duty to aid in the resistance movement. They target a Chinese traitor, Mr. Yee, (Tony Leung) who is aiding the Japanese and making a fortune doing it. When the group discovers that Yee has an affinity for one of the women in their number, she's thrust into the position of having to form a relationship with the man she intends to kill. And after spending a whole lot of quality time with him, things begin to get messy.
Will American audiences head out to see a nearly three-hour long NC-17 movie performed in Chinese? Probably not. But the ones who do will be happy they did.

This weekend's most promising flick? Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the remake of 3:10 to Yuma, which our very own Chris Vognar gave a B+.

Which makes us wonder:

What are your most and least favorite Westerns and remakes?

• 3:10 to Yuma (B+) | Trailer
• Shoot 'Em Up (C) | Trailer
• The Brothers Solomon (D) | Trailer
• 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama (B) | Trailer
• David and Layla (C) | Trailer
• Hatchet | Trailer

The big film tonight is the press screening of Ang Lee's Lust, Caution. It's already received a sizeable amount of buzz for earning an NC-17 from the good ol' MPAA, so it's sure to be a hot ticket. This year the festival has marked some press screenings as "Priority Press," meaning that there is now different levels of accredidation like there is at the Cannes Film Festival. But guess whose press pass is stamped with a coveted black "P." That's right, mine. So no worries -- getting into the hottest of screenings shouldn't be a problem, meaning The Screening Room has got you covered, dear reader.
The screening will likely run past deadline for the paper, but be sure to check back here Friday morning for our take on Lee's follow-up to the film that scored him a directing Oscar, Brokeback Mountain.

It took me all of 90 seconds after clearing customs to meet someone else also here for the festival. He was an exhibitor from Holland here to look at movies he might want to show in his theaters in Amsterdam. We shared a cab to downtown, and among the things I learned that you may not have known:
*Typically the wide-release American movies debut in Europe at the same time as they do here, but the indies take time because there are not enough prints to go around.
*Most Dutch people speak English (and a bunch of other languages), but most movies are shown with subtitles. The exception: kids movies, which are dubbed. I asked him what happens with movies like The Simpsons Movie, and he said in that case two versions were released: one with subtitles and one dubbed for the kiddos.
*Apparently the International Film Festival Rotterdam is the largest fest in Holland.
Consider yourself fully educated on all things Dutch cinema.

I, too, have made it to T-town. But unlike grizzled Toronto veteran Chris, this is my first time. And it is already proving to be an adventure.
My plane was supposed to arrive by 4:30, giving me hopefully enough time to catch a cab to the hotel, grab my credential and make it to a 6:45 press screening of The Savages, a family drama starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney as siblings who aren't too fired up about caring for an ailing parent. Of course, you know what they say about the best laid plans. The plane was the standard 30 minutes late, throwing the The Plan into disarray. A speedy cab driver, who informed me he'd been driving a cab for 29 years without a wreck, made up some time though, putting The Plan back on track. Run in, dump bag, run down to ask the front desk how to get to Sutton Place Hotel, a.k.a. festival headquarters. The lady at the desk told me it was about a 25 minute walk, but doable. So I hoofed it as quickly as I could, got to where she said the hotel would be and then finally decided to check the directions I had printed earlier, only to find out she had directed me about a mile past where the hotel actually is. Thanks, Canada!
At least I was able to pick up my press credential before the office closed. Lesson learned: don't ask a Canadian for directions unless he's a Mountie.

So I just saw the aforementioned Control and I was impressed with two things. One is the black and white cinematography, which adds a rich layer of meaning to the film's drab surroundings. The second is Sam Riley, the young man who plays doomed Joy Division singer Ian Curtis with frightening vulnerability. I won't front like I'm a huge JD fan; I know just the basic outline of their tragedy. But now I'm really stoked for the doc, which I see Saturday.

Next up: Ang Lee's Lust, Caution. Then Chris Vognar's collapse, sleep.

Made it to Toronto. First order of business: get press pass. Then off to see Control, one of two films here about the gloom rockers Joy Division (the other is a doc named for the band). It's hot here. I need me some Canadian breezes.

Zombie invasion
Halloween slaughtered all comers in its wake, earning a Labor Day weekend record $31 million in its first four days. That total easily outpaced 2005’s The Transporter 2, the previous record holder with $20.1 mil. It also became the year’s highest opening horror title. Do I hear Rob Zombie for best director?

So why no entries on the ol' Movies Blog yet today? Let's just say we're saving our ammo for our live chat today at 2 p.m. If you have any advance questions about the fall movies season or the Toronto International Film Festival, send 'em along to chat@dallasnews.com

This weekend's new releases didn't promise anything too new or exciting for me. So fellow blogger Bridgette and I found ourselves debating between Stardust (only me), Becoming Jane (doesn't really need the big screen) and Bourne Ultimatum (score!). Bourne won.

And really, Bourne won.

I don't claim to be any kind of movie expert. I can't tell you how Ingmar Bergman influenced Woody Allen.* But I can say that I was definitely entertained for two hours. I was gasping, jumping in my seat and basically being an engaged (if perhaps a bit annoying) moviegoer. This? Is totally worth the price of admission.

Although seriously? Since when is 4:35 pm NOT a matinee??

Matt Damon earned my undying love with the Bourne trilogy. Even in an action/thriller film, he still proves to me that he's much more interested in being an actor than a movie star (yes, Ben Affleck, I'm looking at you and your sad, sad career).

About the camera shaking: I'm not the least bit prone to motion sickness, and I'll admit the first 15 minutes made my head hurt. After that I must have just grown accustomed. It wasn't enough to make me want to leave, but I suspect those who are really sensitive to motion sickness might want to wait for the DVD.

*I have a great deal of respect for those who can truly critique a movie. I'm pretty much an "Ooh! Shiny! Yay!" or "Dude. Whatev"kind of girl.

Since the Toronto Film Festival is a few days away, let's talk some SXSW. The conference announced today that Moby and documentary maker Stanley Nelson will take part in discussions during the 2008 festival. Moby's will focus on the electronic musician's contributions to film scores while Mr. Nelson's will look at his distiguished career, which includes docs like Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple and The Murder of Emmett Till.
The 2008 edition of the conference will take place from March 7-15.

Hope everyone had a fun moviegoing weekend, whether or not you contributed to Halloween's Labor Day weekend-record haul. Young Becker and I are heading North to Toronto on Thursday for some festival action, and we will report back dutifully. The weird thing is I feel like the festival has already started, since the studios seem more eager than ever to show us stuff before we get there. By my calculations I've already seen The Assassination of Jesse James; Across the Universe; In the Valley of Elah; Eastern Promises; Into the Wild; Michael Clayton; My Kid Could Paint That; The Counterfeiters; and Sleuth. Today I'll see When Was the Last Time you Saw Your Father? and The Band's Visit.

This is all well and good; it means I'll have more time to see even more movies once I arrive. And there's no such thing as too much film, right? (BTW, please have patience with the Toronto link above - it's a tad slow).

Cate Blanchett rules again this fall. (File 1998)

* The most interesting part of the movie is watching Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth transform from this innocent kid out in the country into a ruthless monarch willing to do whatever it takes to dispense with her enemies. Very Godfather of her the way she takes care of business in one big haul. I half expected her main nemisis -- Norfolk -- to get it in the barber's chair. Anyway, I wonder now that the Elizabeth character has evolved, how will the new movie ratchet up the drama?

* You probably thought nothing of it in 1998, but that's Daniel Craig playing the murdering priest sent by the Vatican to fix things up in England. He doesn't look very James Bond wearing his brown monk's getup, but he shows that he was capable of playing cold-blooded killers even back then.

* If Geoffrey Rush is in a movie, it's probably going to be good. He was still a relative newcomer back in 1998, and Elizabeth was one of his first major roles coming off of his best actor Oscar for Shine. And since then, he has gone on to make Shakespeare in Love the same year, the excellent Quills, Frida, all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies (OK, only the first one of those was good, but everyone's got to make a paycheck at some point), and Munich. And he'll be back for The Golden Age, which gives me a good feeling about its prospects.