#GIVEAWAY: ENTER TO WIN ADVANCE PASSES TO SEE “HYENA ROAD”

Elevation Pictures + Mr. Will want to take Readers in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Halifax, Winnipeg, Victoria to an advance screening of TIFF ’15 Selection, HYENA ROAD starring Paul Gross, Rossif Sutherland and Allan Hawco. Screenings take place Wednesday, October 7, 2015.

Synopsis:

Three men, three different paths, caught in conflict but brought together to save lives: a highly skilled sniper who can’t think of his targets as human; an intelligence officer who has never killed while on duty; and a legendary Afghan warrior who left war behind but gets pulled back to battle.

See the Trailer:

Artwork:

To enter to win, simply click “like” on this Post at Mr. Will on Facebook. Please also indicate your city.

G’luck Willionaire$!

Elevation Pictures release HYENA ROAD on Friday, October 9, 2015.

(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)

#TIFF15: “HYENA ROAD”

Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong

Writer/Director Paul Gross went great lengths to make his World War I Film Passchendaele stack up next to its American counterparts. He takes what he learned and extends it to the modern and significantly more intense Hyena Road – chronicling a group of soldiers trying to construct a highway link in Afghanistan. The Film dazzles with fierce and near breathless action scenes, punctuated by surprisingly extreme violence.

But the Film gets bogged down by too much political nonsense and focus on a mysterious character not so ironically called The Ghost (an infuriatingly-unsubtitled Neamat Arghandabi). Worse, the Film quickly stops being about the titular road, and never quite finds its footing with underdeveloped subplots and thin characterizations. When Gross is not offering lengthy narrations, he shines as a hardened intelligence officer. But it is Rossif Sutherland (son of Donald and half-brother of Kiefer) who steals the show as both a sniper and the Film’s moral compass.

Elevation Pictures release Hyena Road and it screens at TIFF ’15 Monday September 14 at 9:30PM at Roy Thomson Hall and Tuesday September 15 at 1:30PM at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

#TIFF40: FIRST LOOK AT FILMS AND STARS TO APPEAR AT 2015 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

It’s that time of the year again and we couldn’t be more thrilled with this initial batch of Films announced as part of the TIFF ’15 (aka #TIFF40, now in its 40th year) Lineup. The annual unveiling took place at TIFF Bell Lightbox as Filmlovers and Industry types awaited eagerly as titles were announced at 10:00 AM.

Although the Celebrity and Filmmaker Guest List is still to come, thus far we can expect A-Listers like Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, Helen Mirren, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Sandra Bullock, Kristen Stewart, Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, Julianne Moore, Jessica Chastain and several, several, more.

In addition, there will be several exciting Documentaries including Davis Guggenheim‘s latest, He Called Me Malala and two about Horse Racing, Being Ap and Dark Horse.

DEMOLITION has been announced as the Opening Night Gala, from Canadian Director Jean–Marc Vallée, who has brought us delights WILD and DALLAS BUYERS CLUB in recent years.  And it would appear once again we have eclectic mix of Films from all around the World, ranging from The Danish Girl from Oscar-winning Director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) which sees Oscar Winner Eddie Redmayne in a transgender role, to gritty Dramas like BLACK MASS starring Johnny Depp as Gangster Whitey Bulger and highly-buzzed SICARIO from Canadian Director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) about an FBI Agent caught in a dangerous Mexican cross-border sting.  Emily Blunt is getting tons of Oscar buzz for her performance in this and this will mark a pivotal moment in her campaign trail at the TIFF.

Closing Night Gala looks to end on a light-hearted note with Paco Gazeba‘s MR. RIGHT starring Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell.

London also has been chosen as the city of focus in this year’s City to City Programme with Films starring Nicholas Hoult and Tom Hardy being featured.

Also just announced is an opening night Charity Soirée with Academy Award Winner Natalie Portman where she talks about her successful career and upcoming work.  Tickets range from $350 to $650. Details here.

As part of TIFF‘s  new Primetime Programme, showcasing Television for the first time, we learned that NBC‘s Toronto-filmed HEROES: REBORN will be premiering its first episode in its two-hour entirety at the Festival.

Whether it be part of Documentaries, Special Presentations or Gala Presentations, here are some of the highlights to rock the City this September.

45 YEARS (Andrew Haigh)

ABOUT RAY (Gaby Dellal)

BEASTS OF NO NATION (Cary Fukunaga)

BEEBA BOYS (Deepa Mehta)

 

BEING AP (Anthony Wonke)

BEING CHARLIE (Rob Reiner)

BLACK MASS (Scott Cooper)

BORN TO BE BLUE (Robert Budreau)

BOXING (Grayson Moore, Aidan Shipley)

BROOKLYN (John Crowley)

 

COLONIA (Florian Gallenberger)

THE DANISH GIRL (Tom Hooper)

DARK HORSE (Louise Osmond)

THE DAUGHTER (Simon Stone)

DISORDER (Alice Winocour)

DEMOLITION (Jean-Marc Vallée) 

THE DRESSMAKER (Jocelyn Moorhose)

EQUALS (Drake Doremus)

EYE IN THE SKY (Gavin Hood)

THE FINAL GIRLS (Todd Strauss-Schulson)

FREEHELD (Peter Sollett)

THE FAMILY FANG (Jason Bateman)

FORSAKEN (Jon Cassar)

THE GIRL IN PHOTOGRAPHS (Nick Simon)

GREEN ROOM (Nick Saulnier)

HE NAMED ME MALALA (Davis Guggenheim)

HIGH-RISE (Ben Wheatley)

HYENA ROAD (Paul Gross)

I SAW THE LIGHT (Marc Abraham)

I SMILE BACK (Adam Salky)

IT’S NOT YOU (Don McKellar)

JANIS: BLUE LITTLE GIRL (Amy Berg)

JE SUIS CHARLIE (Daniel Leconte, Emmanuel Leconte)

KILL YOUR FRIENDS (Owen Harris)

KILO TWO BRAVO (Paul Katis)

THE LADY IN THE VAN (Nicolas Hynter)

LEGEND (Brian Helgeland)

LEN AND COMPANY (Tim Godsall)

THE LOBSTER (Yorgos Lanthimos)

LOLO (Julie Delpy)

LONDON FIELDS (Matthew Cullen)

LONDON ROAD (Rufus Norris)

LOUDER THAN BOMBS (Joachim Trier)

MAGGIE’S PLAN (Rebecca Miller)

MAN DOWN (Dito Montiel)

THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY (Matthew Brown)

THE MARTIAN (Ridley Scott)

THE MEDDLER (Lorraine Scafaria)

MISS SHARON JONES! (Barbara Kopple)

MISSISSIPPI GRIND (Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden)

MISS YOU ALREADY (Catherine Hardwicke)

MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART (Jia Zhang-ke)

MR. RIGHT (Paco Gazeba)  – Closing Night Gala

OFFICE (Johnnie To)

THE ONES BELOW (David Farr)

OUR BRAND IS CRISIS (David Gordon Green)

THE PROGRAM (Stephen Frears)

THE REFLEKTOR TAPES (Kahlil Joseph)

REMEMBER (Atom Egoyan)

ROOM (Lenny Abrahamson)

SEPTEMBERS OF SHIRAZ (Wayne Blair)

SICARIO (Denis Villeneuve)

SPOTLIGHT (Tom McCarthy) – didn’t Rachel McAdams hint at us first it would be at TIFF?

STONEWALL (Roland Emmerich)

A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS (Natalie Portman)

A TALE OF THREE CITIES (Mabel Cheung)

TRUMBO (Jay Roach)

TRUTH (James Vanderbilt)

UN PLUS UNE (Claude Lelouch)

WHERE TO INVADE NEXT (Michael Moore)

THE WITCH (Robert Eggers)

WOMEN HE’S DRESSED (Gillian Armstrong)

YOUTH (Paolo Sorrentino) – NSFW Trailer

Complete list of Titles complete Synopses announced thus far here.

Just 14 more days to go! Final titles to be announced in a week.

(Photo credit: eOne Films/Warner Bros./Studio Canal/Majestic Filmproduktion/20th Century Fox)