There’s a lot of overlap this year between the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.
Most of the entries look top notch, with stars like Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi in “Wild Horse Nine,” Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem in “The Bunker,” and the making of a classic film in “I Play Rocky.”
Many stars will appear at each festival, and they’re all great. But so far the competing festivals are lacking “buzz.”
Venice and Toronto are suffering from two issues each: the movies that are available, and the ones the studios are brave enough to show in advance.
What’s not on the lists is more interesting than the offerings.
Warner Bros. is not giving Tom Cruise in “Digger” to either of these festivals. The Alejandro G. Innaritu film opens October 1st. Warner Bros. looks like it’s following the path they took with last year’s “One Battle After Another,” maybe even keeping it out of the New York Film Festival. The plan certainly worked with “One Battle.” It won all the Oscars.
There’s also no sign of Joel Coen’s “Jack of Spades,” starring his three time Oscar winner wife Frances McDormand, Damien Lews, and Josh O’Connor. Maybe it will be a surprise at Telluride, or maybe we won’t see it until next year. Too bad — that would have been an event.
What Venice and Toronto have in common are top notch films with great casts, and strong filmmakers.
Florian Zeller’s “The Bunker” — which sounds a little like “The Brutalist” — stars Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Steven Graham, Paul Dano, and Patrick Schwarzenegger — the latter is in a couple of films this fall and will really get to prove himself after “The White Lotus” made him a star.
Everyone’s hoping for good things with John Turturro in “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.” Turturro is due for some awards attention after a long, stellar career.
I told you about Chris Rock’s “Misty Green” yesterday — lots of potential.
Jesse Eisenberg is already getting hyped for directing “The Debut,” which comes with Oscar winner Julianne Moore, and the great Paul Giamatti. That’s a no-brainer.
I really want to see what “Friends” star Courteney Cox is like as a director with “Evil Genius.” Cox has a lot of good will, and if she pulled this off — a complex story with a big cast — then the whole game changes.
Trudie Styler’s “Up Against It” is a romantic comedy that marks the producer-actress’s debut with narrative film. It sounds great with Antonio Banderas, Irish star Eva Birthistle, and Forest Whitaker leading the A list cast.
We already know Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine” is going to be entertaining. Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich, and Steve Buscemi are the stars. We’d like to see it now, please, just from the trailer.
Casey Affleck is back as a director, with “Company,” starring starring Nick Nolte, Adelaide Clemens, Ben Mendelsohn and Scoot McNairy.
But really big stars and directors? With “The Odyssey” already the blockbuster of the year, there’s not a lot of oxygen for small, quirky films. And with Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” come and gone, it’s hard to say if any other “event” releases are going to light up the season.
But let’s hope there’s a big surprise in the pack! I’ve seen it happen, especially at Toronto, anything’s possible!
