n Three Amigos, Jefe doesn't know what a plethora is; you will after wading through the heavily sailed Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) waters. With almost 250 features to choose from, TIFF is daunting to say the least. Naturally, star-pedigreed films gain media traction quickly, their screenings becoming sought after amongst Fest goers. However, with so much to choose from, hidden gems abound. Toeing the lines between must-see prestige flicks, compelling indies, and foreign finds can prove difficult. With the Essentials list, Martiniboys.com spotlights the entries that can't be escaped as well as the lesser known should-be finds. Strung together thematically, it's an intriguing study in David and Goliath contrasts. You're welcome.


What people will be talking about...
Che
Director: Steven Soderbergh
A four-and-a-half-hour long biopic of Che Guevara might not sound like a good time for most people, but for movie geeks this is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year. After a lukewarm response in Cannes, the epic movie has been split into two parts (as was always intended) to make the viewing experience a little less butt-numbingly long. With Benicio Del Toro starring as the influential revolutionary and versatile auteur Steven Soderbergh behind the camera, it's hard to imagine this movie being anything less than spectacular. And the best part? After this movie comes out you'll finally know who that guy is on your t-shirt. Won't that be exciting?—P.B.

What people should be talking about...
Public Enemy No. 1
Director: Jean Francois Richet
Grindhouse got ripped asunder and Billy Walsh's epic, Medellin, is going to get paired down (though perhaps not into two parts). As aforementioned (i.e. a few lines up), Steven Soderbergh is at TIFF with Che, which will also play as The Argentine and Guerrilla. Quentin Tarantino scored big with Kill Bill. There's a moral there: two-part epics have become a cinematic trend. Here, in part one of Mesrine, director Jean-François Richet has assembled a stellar cast to tell the story of famed French gangster, Jacques Mesrine. The always absorbing Vincent Cassal (La Haine, Eastern Promises, Oceans 12) gets the title role and he should imbue the character with fitting complexity. Also along are chameleon par excellence, Mathieu Amalric ( Le Scaphandre et le Papillon, Munich, Kings and Queen) and a bevy of France's finest actresses, including Ludivine Sagnier (Les Chansons d'Amour), Cécile De France (L' Auberge Espagnole), and Anne Consigny (Le Scaphandre et le Papillon). Expect fast-paced action, charisma, confliction, and awards. Maybe you can buy a Mesrine t-shirt afterward. Or perhaps not. -S.T.




What people will be talking about...
Fifty Dead Men Walking
Director: Kari Skogland
Upping Sean Penn by forty-nine, Kari Skogland's (The Stone Angel) based-on-a-true-story Fifty Dead Men Walking recounts the life of Martin McGartland, an IRA informer who has endured a shooting and memoir success. Star Jim Sturgess has already done the teen-friendly musical (Across the Universe), the period supporting role (The Other Boleyn Girl), and the Kevin Spacey flick (21). His turn as McGartland could be a breakout role. The rest of the cast is strong in a disparate way, with the lately more-diverse-than-a-food-court Ben Kingsley, the recently resurrected Rose McGowan, and the could-be Kevin Zegers. -S.T.

What people should be talking about...
Hunger
Director: Steve McQueen
Flicks about the IRA are perennial prestige draws. This one has a Caméra d'Or from Cannes -- okay, so it's not that far under the radar -- but its artist pedigree and gut wrenching gravitas may keep people away; oh, and Ben Kingsley's not in it. Hunger tells the story of the last six weeks in the life of Bobby Sands. What, you don't know who Bobby Sands is? Do you not pay attention to history? Well, he was a member of the IRA who was one of the primary figures in the 1981 hunger strike at the notorious Maze prison. Make no mistake, this will be heavy and uncomfortable viewing. But it should also be quite wonderful as well. This is the directorial debut of Steve McQueen, but not the one that you're thinking of.—P.B. with S.T.





What people will be talking about...
Burn After Reading
Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen
After the painfully mediocre The Ladykillers the Coens had lost a little luster. Then a bobbed killer, a bleak desert landscape, and a Cormac McCarthy tome catapulted them to stratospheric cinematic heights. Here, the follow-up returns them to playful territory. Hopefully more Raising Arizona than Intolerable Cruelty, Burn After Reading stars Brad Pitt and Coen muse, Frances McDormand, as a pair of hapless yet serendipitous laymen that discover sensitive materials and attempt to parlay the find into profit. The supporting cast is naturally stellar, with George Clooney and Tilda Swinton playing lovers -- a tension capitalization and conversion from Michael Clayton -- John Malkovich wielding a hatchet, and the underrated J.K. Simmons as a middle manager. -S.T.

What people should be talking about...
Slumdog Millionaire
Director: Danny Boyle
Serendipity going awry is a popular theme at this year's fest (see above). Here, Danny Boyle continues his series of movies about people who inadvertently end up with a big bag of money (a story that went tragically wrong in Shallow Grave and oddly religious in Millions). This time he's telling the tale of an illiterate street kid from Mumbai who goes on the Indian equivalent of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in an attempt to grab the attention of a girl he loves, only to end up winning the jackpot. It looks like an unusually sweet movie for Boyle, yet it is disappointingly Scotland-impaired and heroin-free (sigh…). When are you going to make Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting sequel Porno, Boyle? When's it going to happen?—P.B.





What people will be talking about...
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Director: Peter Sollett
Suburban white kids love mixtapes and their modern day equivalent (i.e. playlists). They also love love stories with indie rock soundtracks, trips to the city, and Michael Cera. Here, the checklist gets fulfilled as a heartbroken Nick (Cera) heads to New York, has a cute meeting with similarly spurned Nora (Kat Dennings), and sets out on a music inspired picaresque adventure. It sounds like a tween dream and it probably is, but appearances by Justin Rice (Mutual Appreciation) and his band, Bishop Allen, as well as Jay Baruchel (Undeclared, Million Dollar Baby) give it a hit of geek-cool appeal. Furthermore, director Peter Sollett helmed 2002's strong Raising Victor Vargas so he knows how to handle an adolescent romance. -S.T.

What people should be talking about...
Gigantic
Director: Matt Aselton
While Nick and Norah… has a paint-by-numbers vibe, Gigantic has my future wife; so there's that. Anyway, I had a Pixies song in my head when I started writing this blurb (do you know which one?), but then, as I often do, I got distracted by Zooey Deschanel (did that sound creepy?). And then a strange thing happened: She and Him displaced Black Francis et al. Tangentially, M. Ward had better stay away from my girl (ibid). I digress. One of the best young actors working today, Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood) plays a mattress salesman looking for love. John Goodman, Ed Asner, Jane Alexander, and the divine Ms. Deschanel also star in co-writer Matt Aselton's directorial debut. -S.T.





What people will be talking about...
RocknRolla
Director: Guy Ritchie
I was sitting in the cinema enjoying Vicky Cristina Barcelona, thinking, "no one onscreen is channeling Woody Allen. This is great." Then, Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) starts spastically explaining a recent sickness. "There it is," I thought. Jason Statham isn't in Guy Ritchie's return to guns and brawn. Instead, a tights-free Gerard Butler gets the streetwise victim of circumstances role. I wonder if he'll just play Statham; probably not. When writer/director Ritchie broke out with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and followed it up with its big-star cousin, Snatch, he looked like the Brit Tarantino (pre-Kill Bill Tarantino, that is). Then he hit the Madonna hump, which temporarily derailed his career. RocknRolla could be a return to form, or it could be Smokin' Aces (Jeremy Piven's in this, too). Either way, it has a strong cast, with the always reliable Tom Wilkinson, will be starlet, Gemma Arterton, should be bigger, Thandie Newton, and one of the best rappers turned actors of all time, Ludacris. Incidentally, Ritchie's next project is a Sherlock Holmes reboot with Robert Downey Jr. in the title role, which bodes well. -S.T.

What people should be talking about...
A Film with Me in It
Director: Ian Fitzgibbon
For a less visceral but still darkly comic Brit meditation on happenstance, try the under-the-radar A Film with Me in It. Admittedly, the plot sounds a little familiar (at least at the outset): actor Mark (co-writer Mark Doherty) can't pay the rent and doesn't want to tell his girlfriend. Of course, quirky characters and crushed dreams abound; and then a bunch of people die and Mark and pal Pierce (Dylan Moran) must contend with the carnage. If you're not an anglophile, haven't seen Black Books, or don't follow British stand-up comedy then you probably don't know who Moran is. Notably, he stood out in the underwhelming David Schwimmer helmed Run Fatboy Run for playing a half-naked, alcoholic gambler (it’s his usual shtick and he typically kills it); remember? Regardless, look for his ruffian charisma to elevate this into charmingly playful territory. -S.T.





What people will be talking about...
Rachel Getting Married
Director: Jonathan Demme
This time of year, beautiful prodigals return to cinemas in droves. Anne Hathaway takes yet another shot at stardom as Kym, a model turned rehab survivor that returns home for her clean-cut sister's wedding; baggage airing, bickering, and hugging begins. Hathaway is a better actress than you think and she has been close to breaking free of her squeaky Disney-sponsored image before. This time, there's no Emily Blunt or Heath Ledger to distract from her. Director Jonathan Demme is beyond due for a hit and, evidently, Deborah Winger is still alive. Who knew? -S.T.

What people should be talking about...
Un Conte de Noël
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Forget weddings, nothing stokes the fire of familial ire like a martyr holiday (especially in France). Christmas stories are rife with battling families (see The Family Stone and Home for the Holidays) and with good reason (stuffing and wrapping paper are contentious entities). Here, a family of disparate personalities reunite to break bread, battle with ghosts (the figurative kind), and hazard revelations. Co-writer and director, Arnaud Desplechin, helmed Mathieu Amalric's coming out party, Rois et reine. Since then, Amalric has gone on to a number of hugely lauded starring turns, notably in Le Caphandre et le Papillon (the Diving Bell and the Butterfly). Now the two re-team along with the always fantastic Catherine Deneuve as a possibly doomed matriarch. The beautiful Anne Consigny (Le Caphandre et le Papillon) also features. -S.T.