TIFF '09 Photos: 'Invention of Lying,' 'Broken Embraces,' 'Get Low,' 'Joneses' & 'Mother & Child'

Posting photos from the Toronto Int. Film Festival might be misconstrued as some kind of hit-bait (for all the three people that come to this site), but really, it’s kind of a perfectly purposeful way to research and find out a little bit more about off-the-beaten-path pictures. Think about all you (and we) learned today about Jordan Scott’s “Cracks” (she’s Ridley Scott’s daughter), Rebecca Miller’s “The Secret Lives Of Pippa Lee,” and Don Roos’ “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits” starring Natalie Portman. Yesterday we learned about a film called “Good Heart” starring Brian Cox and Paul Dano.

It’s really working out for us. We’re finding all about these little gems that aren’t the well-known films like some of the films on our 13 Most anticipated films from TIFF.

So first up are some new(ish?) images of Ricky Gervais’ “The Invention of Lying” which we [ed. I] know nothing about despite the fact it comes out soon. It stars Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Louis C.K., Rob Lowe and Tina Fey and it’s essentially a comedy set in a world where no one has ever lied, until a writer (Gervais) seizes the opportunity for personal gain. “He tells the world’s first lie, and instantly his life turns around. His dream girl, Jennifer (Garner), suddenly seems within reach, his career star is back on the rise, and before too long, he’s even famous,” says the TIFF synop. The film looks… a little light, but perhaps the winning actors can prove us wrong. It hits theaters on the regular October 2 and makes its TIFF premiere September 14.
Here’s a cool shot of what looks like a set-photo of Penelope Cruz on the set of Pedro Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces,” but since it’s a film within a film — or at least parts of it are meta moviemaking — its actually a shot of Cruz’s character shooting the film within called, “Chicas Y Maletas” (“Girls & Suitcases”; notice the director’s name is the character’s M. Blanco). We saw this one at Cannes earlier this year. It’s not Almodovar’s best work, but it’s an intriguing and fascinating piece of filmmaking nonetheless and still stands head and shoulders above most average films from 2009 (i.e., we’d rather revisit this than, let’s say, “Public Enemies”).
Then we have a shot of “Get Low” a picture we don’t know too much about but it has a stellar cast that includes, Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek and Lucas Black. Directed by Aaron Schneider, it’s essentially a thriller about a hermetic man (Duvall) in a small town who plans his own funeral in order to resolve an old murder case. It’s said to have Western-like tones and a feel like, “McCabe & Mrs. Miller.” Cinematical actually has an exclusive clip from the film today if you’d like to know/see more.
Then we have a shot of Derrick Borte’s, “The Joneses” which stars David Duchovny, Demi Moore, Amber Heard, Gary Cole, Lauren Hutton, Ben Hollingsworth, and Glenne Headly which is a dark comedy about rival neighbors whose quest for the best turns deadly. “First-time writer-director Derrick Borte imbues a serious core theme – the wobbly undercurrents of a frenetic consumer culture – with humor, warmth and shots of clever, zesty fun,” writes TIFF. Certainly wasn’t a film that was on our radar before.
Lastly, we have a first look at Rodrigo García’s “Mother & Child,” focusing on the intersecting storylines of a fifty-year-old woman, the daughter she gave up for adoption, and a black woman who wants to adopt a baby. It’s a Cha Cha Cha film (Cuarón, del Toro and Iñárritu’s company) and the ensemble cast features Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson and David Ramsey.

You learn something today? We did. Sure you did: Aka, there’s a shit-ton of films at TIFF and no one will have time for all of them. Still good to be aware and put things on your radar in advance.