1.
Looper (film)
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Looper is a 2012 American neo-noir science fiction thriller film written and directed by Rian Johnson, and produced by Ram Bergman and James D. Stern. It stars Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt and it revolves around criminal syndicates using contracted killers called loopers to kill victims sent through time travel. Looper was selected as the film of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in Australia on September 27,2012, and in the US, the film grossed $176.5 million on a $30 million budget while receiving critical acclaim. In 2044, 30-year-old Joe works for a Kansas City crime syndicate as a looper, since future technology has made it near-impossible to dispose of bodies, the syndicate uses time travel, invented thirty years later and outlawed instantly. Managed by a man named Abe Mitchell, loopers kill and dispose of face-concealed victims. To prevent connections to the syndicate, loopers kill their future selves with gold bars strapped to them when they retire, effectively ending the contract and closing the loop. Joe reluctantly hides Seth in his apartments floor safe, but is taken to Abe by Kid Blue, Joe reveals Seths location instead of forfeiting half his silver, and Abes men cut an address into younger Seths arm, then begin severing body parts. As Old Seths limbs disappear, he goes to the address and is killed, when Joes next target arrives, it is his older self with his face uncovered. Before Joe can kill him, Old Joe shields himself, knocks younger Joe unconscious, returning to his apartment, Young Joe fights with Kid Blue, only to fall off a fire escape and black out. In another timeline, Young Joe kills his older self as he arrives and he moves to Shanghai, where his drug addiction and partying persist, becoming a hitman to finance himself. Years later, he meets a woman during a bar fight, thirty years after, Joe is taken to close the loop and his wife is killed in the process. Overpowering his captors, Joe sends himself back to 2044 thereby altering history, when Old Joe sees Young Joe fall, he shoots the Gat Men and drags him away. Old Joe begins to manifest vague memories of Young Joes actions in the present, Kid Blue and several other Gat Men arrive at the diner and a gunfight ensues, Young Joe collects a corner of Old Joes map as both escape. Young Joe follows the map to a farm where Sara and her son Cid live, Sara recognizes the number on the map as Cids birthday and birth hospitals code. Young Joe guesses that Old Joe is going to all three children born at the hospital that day, not knowing which one will become the Rainmaker, so he waits at the farm to protect Cid. Jesse, another Gat Man, comes looking for both Joes at the farm, but Cid and Young Joe hide in an underground tunnel, later that night Sara and Young Joe have sex, and Sara reveals she has TK powers. Cids powers are revealed to be stronger, with Sara hiding in a safe when he has a tantrum
2.
Song for Marion
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Song for Marion is a 2012 British-German comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams and starring Terence Stamp, Gemma Arterton, Christopher Eccleston and Vanessa Redgrave. The film was nominated for three awards—Best Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress—at the 2012 British Independent Film Awards, Arthur Harris is the grumpy husband of Marion, who is terminally ill yet continues to participate with enthusiasm at her local seniors choir. Arthur is unimpressed when the choir, led by Elizabeth, serenades the couple at their home, as Marions health deteriorates, Arthur is keen to please his dying wife and even agrees to take her place in the choir. The transition proves to be trying for Arthur thanks to the unconventional songbook that includes songs such as Lets Talk About Sex. Arthurs experience in new social environment will take him on a journey of self-discovery and thaw his bitterness. The film is accompanied by a song titled Unfinished Songs written by Diane Warren, the song was included in Dions 2013 album Loved Me Back to Life but with different vocal and musical arrangements. The song Lullabye, performed by the character in the film, is a Billy Joel song. The score was composed by Laura Rossi, lost In The Multiplexs Soundtrek section deemed Rossis score lovely, but opined that the OAPZ songs arent particularly funny, theyre not that fun to listen to either. The film received reviews from critics. It received a rating of 64% based on 92 reviews from aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes. Although the film is set in London it was shot on location in Newcastle upon Tyne. Filming took place over 6 weeks in July and August 2011, Song for Marion at the Internet Movie Database Song for Marion at Box Office Mojo Song for Marion at Rotten Tomatoes Song for Marion at Metacritic
3.
Toronto
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Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. With a population of 2,731,571, it is the fourth most populous city in North America after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the area now known as Toronto for thousands of years, the city itself is situated on the southern terminus of an ancient Aboriginal trail leading north to Lake Simcoe, used by the Wyandot, Iroquois, and the Mississauga. Permanent European settlement began in the 1790s, after the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase of 1787, the British established the town of York, and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York, York was renamed and incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834, and became the capital of the province of Ontario during the Canadian Confederation in 1867. The city proper has since expanded past its original borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities at various times in its history to its current area of 630.2 km2. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canadas major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Toronto is known for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. The name Toronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto and this refers to the northern end of what is now Lake Simcoe, where the Huron had planted tree saplings to corral fish. A portage route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron running through this point, in the 1660s, the Iroquois established two villages within what is today Toronto, Ganatsekwyagon on the banks of the Rouge River and Teiaiagonon the banks of the Humber River. By 1701, the Mississauga had displaced the Iroquois, who abandoned the Toronto area at the end of the Beaver Wars, French traders founded Fort Rouillé on the current Exhibition grounds in 1750, but abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War, the region saw an influx of British settlers as United Empire Loyalists fled for the British-controlled lands north of Lake Ontario, the new province of Upper Canada was in the process of creation and needed a capital. Dorchester intended the location to be named Toronto, in 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase lands, instead naming it after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Simcoe decided to move the Upper Canada capital from Newark to York, the York garrison was constructed at the entrance of the towns natural harbour, sheltered by a long sandbar peninsula. The towns settlement formed at the end of the harbour behind the peninsula, near the present-day intersection of Parliament Street. In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, the Battle of York ended in the towns capture, the surrender of the town was negotiated by John Strachan. US soldiers destroyed much of the garrison and set fire to the parliament buildings during their five-day occupation, the sacking of York was a primary motivation for the Burning of Washington by British troops later in the war
4.
Ontario
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Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
5.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
6.
Toronto International Film Festival
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The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Year-round, TIFF Bell Lightbox offers screenings, lectures, discussions, festivals, workshops, industry support, TIFF Bell Lightbox is located on the north west corner of King Street and John Street in downtown Toronto. In 2015,397 films from 71 countries were screened at 28 screens in downtown Toronto venues, welcoming an estimated 480,000 attendees, TIFF starts the Thursday night after Labour Day and lasts for eleven days. Founded in 1976, TIFF is now one of the most prestigious events of its kind in the world, in 1998, Variety magazine acknowledged that TIFF is second only to Cannes in terms of high-profile pics, stars and market activity. In 2007, TIME noted that TIFF had grown from its place as the most influential film festival to the most influential film festival. This is partially the result of TIFFs ability and reputation for generating Oscar buzz, the Toronto International Festival’s Grolsch People’s Choice Award — which is based on popular vote by Festival filmgoers — has emerged as a beacon of awards-season success. Founded by Bill Marshall, Dusty Cohl and Henk Van der Kolk and that first year,35,000 filmgoers watched 127 films from 30 countries presented in ten programmes. Piers Handling has been the director and CEO since 1994. TIFF was once centred on the Yorkville neighbourhood, but the Toronto Entertainment District later gained a level of prominence. TIFF is known for the celebrity buzz it brings to the area with international media setting up near its restaurants and stores for photos and interviews with the stars. In 2010, TIFF opened its permanent headquarters, TIFF Bell Lightbox, TIFF has grown, steadily adding initiatives throughout the years. TIFF Cinematheque and the Film Reference Library opened in 1990, the TIFF Kids International Film Festival launched in 1998. Film Circuit began exhibiting independent and Canadian films in under-serviced cities across Canada in 1994, the festival was founded in 1976 at the Windsor Arms Hotel by Bill Marshall, Henk Van der Kolk and Dusty Cohl. Beginning as a collection of the films from film festivals around the world. Ironically, however, Hollywood studios withdrew their submissions from TIFF due to concerns that Toronto audiences would be too parochial for their products, in 1994, the decision was made to replace the name Festival of Festivals with Toronto International Film Festival. From 1994 to 2009, the organization running TIFF was named Toronto International Film Festival Group. In 2009, the umbrella organization TIFFG was renamed to TIFF, in 2001, Perspective Canada, the programme that had focused on Canadian films since 1984, was replaced by two programmes, Canada First. A forum for Canadian filmmakers presenting their first feature-length work, featuring eight to 15 films, and Short Cuts Canada, in 2004, TIFF was featured as the site of murder mystery in the film Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, a comedy film starring Martin Short
7.
Rian Johnson
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Rian Craig Johnson is an American writer, producer, director, and voice actor. He won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival with his feature film. Johnson directed The Brothers Bloom and Looper, as well as three episodes of the AMC series Breaking Bad, Johnson is the writer and director of Star Wars, The Last Jedi, the eighth film in the Star Wars saga and the second in the sequel trilogy. He has written the treatment for Star Wars, Episode IX. Johnson was born in Maryland. He was raised in San Clemente, California, and attended San Clemente High School and he then attended the University of Southern California and graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1996. Johnsons first short film, Evil Demon Golfball from Hell, which is loosely based on Edgar Allan Poes The Tell-Tale Heart, was included as an easter egg on the Looper Blu-ray. Johnsons film career, as told to Robert K. Elder, author of The Film That Changed My Life, was inspired by Annie Hall. He stated, It moved me in a way very few other films have moved me. Thats something that, I pray to God, if I am able to keep making movies, I can only hope, twenty years down the line maybe and his debut film, made for just under $500,000, Brick is a crime drama. Johnson has often said that he looked to the novels of Dashiell Hammett as inspiration for the unique use of language. While the film is classified as a noir, Johnson claims that no references were made to film noir during production. Brick was released on DVD by Focus Features, Johnson directed the video for The Mountain Goats song Woke Up New in 2006. He is a fan of the band, and was asked to direct the video when bandleader John Darnielle noticed a reference to them in the credits for Brick. A song is credited to The Hospital Bombers Experience, which is a reference to the Mountain Goats song titled The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton, Johnson also directed a live performance film of the Mountain Goats 2009 album The Life of the World to Come. The film consists of a shot, depicting Darnielle performing the entire album on guitar. This film was screened in New York City, Chicago, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon upon its completion, Johnsons second film, The Brothers Bloom, is a con-man story released in theaters in May 2009, and later on DVD by Summit Entertainment. Johnsons third film, Looper, began shooting in Louisiana on January 24,2011 and was released on September 28,2012 by TriStar Pictures and FilmDistrict. Set in the future, it has been described as dark science fiction
8.
Silver Linings Playbook
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Silver Linings Playbook is a 2012 American romantic comedy drama film written and directed by David O. Russell. It was adapted from the novel The Silver Linings Playbook, by Matthew Quick, the film stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, with Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher, and Julia Stiles in supporting roles. Cooper plays Patrick Pat Solitano, Jr. a man with bipolar disorder who is released from a hospital and moves back in with his parents, played by Robert De Niro. The two become closer as they train and Pat, his father, and Tiffany examine their relationships with other as they cope with their problems. Silver Linings Playbook premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8,2012, the film opened to major critical success and earned numerous accolades. It received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, the film was a success at the box office, grossing over $236 million worldwide, more than eleven times its budget. After eight months of treatment in a health facility for bipolar disorder, Patrick Pat Solitano is released into the care of his father Patrizio. His main focus is to reconcile with his wife, Nikki. She has moved away and obtained an order against him after Pat had found her in the shower with another man. During his time in the clinic Pat befriends Danny McDaniels, an man who is embroiled in a legal dispute with the clinic on whether or not he is eligible to leave. Pats therapist, Dr. Patel, does his best to him to keep taking his medication. But Pat tells him that he has a new outlook on life, he attempts to see the good, or silver linings, at dinner with his friend Ronnie and his wife Veronica, Pat meets Veronicas sister Tiffany Maxwell, a young widow with depression and relationship problems. Sparks fly between Pat and Tiffany and she tries to connect by offering sex, but Pat keeps focusing on getting Nikki back. Tiffany tries to get closer to Pat and even offers to deliver a letter to Nikki—if, in return, he will practice dancing with her and he reluctantly agrees and the two begin a rigorous practice regimen over the following weeks. Pat believes the competition will be a way to show Nikki that he has changed. Patrizio hopes to open his own restaurant and has resorted to illegal bookmaking, having put virtually all of his money on the outcome of a Philadelphia Eagles game, he asks Pat to attend as a good-luck charm. Danny is eventually released from the clinic, and teaches Pat, Pat asks Tiffany for time off from practice to attend the game. She gives him a reply from Nikki, in which she cautiously hints there may be a chance for reconciliation between them
9.
David O. Russell
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David Owen Russell is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His early directing career includes the comedy films Spanking the Monkey, Flirting with Disaster, Three Kings, Russell received his seventh Golden Globe nomination for the semi-biographical comedy-drama Joy. Russell was born in Manhattan, to Maria and Bernard Russell and his parents worked for Simon & Schuster, his father was the vice president of sales for the company and his mother was a secretary there. His father was from a Russian Jewish family and his mother was Italian American, russells maternal grandparents were Frank Muzio, born in Craco, and Philomena Brancata, born in Ferrandina, both in the province of Matera. His paternal grandfather, a butcher from the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Russell was raised in Larchmont, New York, in an atheist, middle-class household. When he was 13, he made his first film for a school project and he attended Mamaroneck High School, where he was voted Class Rebel. He fell in love with film in his teens but aspired to become a writer, Russell started a newspaper in high school and his parents worked for a publishing company, so he grew up in a household filled with books and novels. Russell received his A. B. degree from Amherst College and he wrote his senior thesis on the United States intervention in Chile from 1963 to 1973. After graduating from Amherst, Russell traveled to Nicaragua and taught in a Sandinista literacy program and he worked manual labor jobs, including waitering, bartending, and catering. Some of his colleagues included members of the Blue Man Group. He worked for an association and later became a community organizer in Maine. He used video equipment to document slums and bad housing conditions, Russell was a political activist and canvassed and raised money in neighborhoods, he also did community work in Bostons South End. In addition to working in several day jobs, he began to write short films, Russell directed a documentary about Panamanian immigrants in Boston, which led to a job as a production assistant on a PBS series called Smithsonian World. In 1987, Russell wrote, produced, and directed Bingo Inferno, A Parody on American Obsessions, two years later, he made another short titled Hairway to the Stars, which featured Bette Davis and William Hickey. Both shorts were shown at the Sundance Film Festival, after Russell made an award-winning short film for a Boston television station, he received grants from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Instead of the money going towards a feature about a fortune cookie writer, he decided to make Spanking the Monkey, as a result, Russell had to return the funds to the NEA. Spanking the Monkey, the 1994 independent dark comedy, was his first directorial effort, the film was produced by Dean Silvers, and starred Jeremy Davies as a troubled young man and Alberta Watson as his lonely mother. His next project was the Miramax comedy Flirting with Disaster, his collaboration with Dean Silvers
10.
Argo (2012 film)
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Argo is a 2012 American historical drama film directed by Ben Affleck. The screenplay by Chris Terrio is adapted from U. S, the film stars Affleck as Mendez with Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman in supporting roles, and was released in the United States on October 12,2012. The film was produced by Grant Heslov, Affleck and George Clooney, upon release, Argo received widespread acclaim, with praise directed towards the acting, Afflecks direction, Terrios screenplay, the editing and Desplats score. The film received seven nominations at the 85th Academy Awards and won three, for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. The film also earned five Golden Globe Award nominations, winning Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director, while being nominated for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for Alan Arkin. It won Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 19th Screen Actors Guild Awards and it also won Best Film, Best Editing and Best Director at the 66th British Academy Film Awards and 37th Hochi Film Award for Best International Picture. On November 4,1979, Iranian activists storm the United States embassy in Tehran in retaliation for President Jimmy Carter giving the Shah asylum in the U. S. during the Iranian Revolution. 60 of the staff are taken as hostages, but six avoid capture. With the escapees situation kept secret, the U. S. State Department begins to explore options for exfiltrating them from Iran, central Intelligence Agency exfiltration specialist, is brought in for consultation. He criticizes the proposals, but is at a loss when asked for an alternative, Mendez contacts John Chambers, a Hollywood make-up artist who had previously crafted disguises for the CIA. Chambers puts Mendez in touch with film producer Lester Siegel, meanwhile, the escapees grow frantic inside the ambassadors residence. The revolutionaries reassemble embassy photographs shredded before the takeover and learn that some personnel have escaped, posing as a producer for Argo, Mendez enters Iran under the fake name Kevin Harkins and links up with the six escapees. He provides them with Canadian passports and fake identities to prepare them to get through security at the airport, although afraid to trust Mendezs scheme, they reluctantly go along with it, knowing that he is risking his own life too. A scouting visit to the bazaar to maintain their cover story takes a bad turn, Mendez is told that the operation has been cancelled to avoid conflicting with a planned military rescue of the hostages. He pushes ahead, forcing his boss Jack ODonnell to hastily re-obtain authorization for the mission to get tickets on a Swissair flight, the group boards the plane, which takes off just as the Revolutionary Guards at the airport uncover the ruse and try to stop them. To protect the remaining in Tehran from retaliation, all U. S. involvement in the rescue is suppressed and full credit is given to the Canadian government. The ambassadors Iranian housekeeper, who had known about the Americans and lied to the revolutionaries to protect them, escaped to Iraq. Mendez is awarded the Intelligence Star, but due to the classified nature
