Toronto Film Festival Line-Up Announced

The Toronto Film Festival is the biggest beast of the fall festival, with it's yearly line-ups that are massive and daunting and filled to the brim with the seasons awards hopefuls. Last year, it was at where Silver Linings Playbook started its awards run, winning the Audience Award (of which has also been doled out to past Best Picture winners like Slumdog Millionaire, American Beauty and, gulp, The King's Speech) which culminated in eight Oscar nominations and Jennifer Lawrence's victory.  Toronto can kill Oscar dreams just as it can ignite them.  Here's the line-up so far:

OPENING NIGHT

 The Fifth Estate (USA)- directed by Bill Condon (World Premiere) (trailer)

GALAS

American Dreams in China (Hong Kong/China)- directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan (North American Premiere)
The Art of the Steal (Canada)- directed by Jonathon Sobol (World Premiere)
August: Osage County (USA)- directed by John Wells (World Premiere)- Heavy duty curio of 2013 with its massive ensemble (Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Juliette Lewis, Sam Shepard, Cumberbatch, etc.), so one quibble-- if this is ready for Toronto, why, oh why, is Weinstein waiting to release this during the dreaded Christmas glut?
Cold Eyes (South Korea)- directed by Cho Ui-seok & Kim Byung-seo (North American Premiere)
The Grand Seduction (Canada)- directed by Don McKellar (World Premiere)- Stars Taylor Kitsch of Battleship and John Mars infamy.
Kill Your Darlings (USA)- directed by John Korkidas (International Premiere)- Stars Daniel Radcliffe and Elizabeth Olsen; premiered at Sundance.
The Love Punch (France)- directed by Joel Hopkins (World Premiere)- Stars Emma Thompson and Pierce Brosnan.
The Lunchbox (India/France/Germany)- directed by Titesh Batra (North American Premiere)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (UK)- directed by Justin Chadwick (World Premiere)- Another hot title from Weinstein with Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela-- can he score with the Academy a mere four years after Morgan Freeman was nominated for the same part?
Parkland (USA)- directed by Peter Landesman (World Premiere)- Stars Zac Efron and James Badge Dale.
The Railway Man (UK/Australia)- directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (World Premiere)- WWII drama with Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman; lacks a distributor at the moment.
The Right Kind of Wrong (Canada)- directed by Jeremiah Chechik (World Premiere)- Stars Ryan Kwanten (True Blood.)
Rush (USA/UK/Germany)- directed by Ron Howard
Shuddh Desi Romance (India)- directed by Maneesh Sharma (International Premiere)
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (USA)- directed by Mike Myers (World Premiere)

"The Fifth Estate" and the Year of the Cumberbatch Continues

The first glimpse of The Fifth Estate from director Bill Condon, which should at the very least, surely, be a worthier sample of his talents than his following film (something to do with the epic conclusion of a teen-lit vampire phenom, or something.)  The film follows the story of Julian Assange, notorious founder of WikiLeaks, already the source of the years documentary We Steal Secrets by Alex Gibney.  More importantly, it's the starriest role this year for Benedict Cumberbatch, whose stellar and ubiquitous 2013 should make a startling case for best of year plaudits.

He started out his 2013 claim for uber-ubiquity as Khan (wait, is that generally known, yet?) in May's blockbuster-y Star Trek Into Darkness.  It's surprising that his nearly unanimously acclaimed role as the iconic villain hasn't really mustered any awards pleas from fans and critics, suggesting a diminishing returns effect from the fanboy collective against the film.  Cumberbatch was, nonetheless, compelling, his deep cadence providing a perfect mixture of fright and elegance.

Cumberbatch follows with a supporting role in Steve McQueen's drama 12 Years a Slave, which recently elicited salivary effects from the cineasts after the first trailer arrived a few days ago.   The film is an awards hopeful for Fox Searchlight-- wondering if Cumberbatch's role is enticing enough to merit consideration-- might be difficult considering the vast, and masterful ensemble of the film.

Come Christmas, Cumberbatch will be voicing the role of Smaug in the latest Hobbit chapter, but also be playing the part of "Little" Charles Aiken in August: Osage County, the very Christmas-y film adaptation of Tracy Letts Pulitzer and Tony Award winning play about a dysfunctional family.  Meryl Streep leads as the matriarch.  Another awards hopeful, another sprawling cast.

Which of the millions of Cumberbatch roles this year are you most looking forward to?