WALT DISNEY'S "TRON: LEGACY 3-D" TO PREMIERE AT TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Jeff Bridges in Walt Disney's TRON: Legacy 3-D

Tokyo, I envy you!    The other TIFF, the Tokyo International Film Festival, will be the first to premiere Walt Disney's TRON: Legacy 3-D this Saturday, October 23, 2010 as the film will be shown as a Special Presentation.  Stars Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde are confirmed to be doing Press also at the Festival. Our dear friend MiT will do her best to get us some photos of the excitement!

Other titles - many which premiered in Toronto last month - to be making the rounds in Tokyo include:

ANDREW GARFIELD CHATS WITH TERRY GILLIAM ON OCTOBER'S INTERVIEW MAGAZINE

Andrew Garfield on October issue of Interview

You snooze you lose.  One of the things I was asked most frequently about my TIFF 2010 experience was, "Who is that?" when people would stumble across my photos of Andrew Garfield.  If you still don't know who he is, it won't be long before you will be all too familiar.  With David Fincher's The Social Network on the verge of Oscar success with its release this Friday, in addition to a loyal cult following for Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go, Garfield is at the forefront of this generation of actors although it does seem he is peaking a bit later than expected.  His performance, aside from that of The Social Network star Eisenberg, is one of the biggest highlights of the film.

The 27 year-old Los Angeles-born actor who hails from London has been tapped to play the coveted role of Spider-Man taking over the iconic role most recently owned by Tobey Maguire.   As an aside, the latest instalment in that franchise is to be directed by Marc Webb, who brought us last year's phenomenal yet bittersweet (500) Days of Summer.  Garfield sits down and chats with acclaimed Director Terry Gilliam on this month's Interview Magazine on what life was like prior to being now on the brink of stardom.  

TIFF PREMIERE OF NEVER LET ME GO (PICS & REVIEW)

Andrew Garfield & Mr. Will-W.

Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go is a beautiful film crafted delicately right down to its gorgeous colour treatment - but don't walk in expecting smiles and laughter. The adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's acclaimed novel received a TIFF North American premiere at Ryerson Theatre tonight with the Author, Director and lead actors Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield present.  The story imagines a world where human cloning is done for the purpose of organ donation and the emotional impact of knowing that your life will end prematurely after your organs have been donated. Can one be in love with another knowing that their life will end prematurely at the discretion of someone else?

The story follows three clones who are raised together, with both girls Kathy (Mulligan) and Ruth (Keira Knightley) divided by their feelings for Tommy (Garfield). Tommy and Ruth wind up in love from a young age, despite Kathy also having feelings for him.  Her jealousy and self-defeat push her into isolation.  Even hough their fates have been sealed as clones, they come to realize that with love, there is a real reason to want to continue living. 

Knightley (absent today) is a pleasure to watch even though her screen time is minimal. Mulligan who was lovely for fans, generously dividing time with them on the Red Carpet, proves that indeed her success is no fluke after last year's An Education.  She delivers a nuanced performance here, while Garfield, our next Spiderman, has an almost-childlike curiosity about him - surely the first of many more high profile performances including David Fincher's upcoming The Social Network. Interestingly upon speaking to him today, he told me he was jealous that I've seen it before him actually! Check out my review of that film here.

TIFF 2010 TITLES ANNOUNCED

Yes! The titles TIFF 2010's Special Presentations and Galas have just been announced and this is going to be a good one.

This year we just might be expecting stars like Sam Worthington, Jon Hamm, Ben Affleck, Woody Allen, Naomi Watts, Marion Cotillard, Aaron Eckhart, Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, Paul Giamatti, Emma Stone, Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Hall, Colin Firth, Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling, Helen Mirren, Evan Rachel Wood, Kevin Spacey, Ryan Philippe, Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman and oh, so many more to be in the city this September!

I'm particularly excited to see Blue Valentine, The Town, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Black Swan, Never Let Me Go and of course Conviction, which I've been going on about forever. But as always, I love measuring the buzz and discovering hidden surprises too!  What are you guys excited to see?

For a complete list of Special Presentations and Galas, click here. Exciting stuff!