One of the best films I saw at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was writer-director Martin McDonagh‘s (In Bruges) dark comedy Seven Psychopaths.  The film centers on a screenwriter (Colin Farrell) suffering writer’s block, who then gets drawn into the mischief of his two dog-napping friends (Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken) after they kidnap a pooch belonging to a psychotic gangster (Woody Harrelson).  For more on the film that also stars Tom Waits, Zeljko Ivanek, Abbie Cornish, and Olga Kurylenko, here’s Matt’s review, seven clips, and all our previous coverage.

The day after the world premiere I sat down with Woody Harrelson for an exclusive interview.  We talked about collaborating with Martin McDonagh and did he change any of the script, how he landed the role, how it was originally going to be played by Mickey Rourke, his desire to write more and direct a play in NYC, and he talked a little about The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire.  Hit the jump to watch.

One of the best films I saw at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was writer-director Martin McDonagh‘s (In Bruges) dark comedy Seven Psychopaths.  The film centers on a screenwriter (Colin Farrell) suffering writer’s block, who then gets drawn into the mischief of his two dog-napping friends (Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken) after they kidnap a pooch belonging to a psychotic gangster (Woody Harrelson).  For more on the film that also stars Tom Waits, Zeljko Ivanek, Abbie Cornish, and Olga Kurylenko, here’s Matt’s review, seven clips, and all our previous coverage.

The day after the world premiere, I sat down with Walken and Rockwell for an exclusive interview.  We talked about their initial reaction to reading the script, how precious McDonagh is with the dialogue, whether anything changed on set, how they each prepare for a role, and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

One of the best films I saw at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was writer-director Martin McDonagh‘s (In Bruges) dark comedy Seven Psychopaths.  The film centers on a screenwriter (Colin Farrell) suffering writer’s block, who then gets drawn into the mischief of his two dog-napping friends (Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken) after they kidnap a pooch belonging to a psychotic gangster (Woody Harrelson).  For more on the film that also stars Tom Waits, Zeljko Ivanek, Abbie Cornish, and Olga Kurylenko, here’s Matt’s review, seven clips, and all our previous coverage.

The day after the world premiere I sat down with McDonagh and Farrell for an exclusive interview.  We talked about what it was like to premiere in Toronto, how controlling is McDonagh with the dialogue and did anything change on set, deleted scenes, and what will it take for McDonagh to make a movie every year.  Hit the jump to watch.

Opening this weekend is the animated film Hotel Transylvania.  Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack), the story centers on Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) trying to throw a party for his daughter Mavis’ (Selena Gomez) 118th birthday, but his plans go haywire when a human (Andy Samberg) comes to the monsters-only hotel and develops a crush on Mavis.  The film also features the voices of David Spade (Griffin the Invisible Man), Steve Buscemi (Wayne the Werewolf), Kevin James (Frankenstein), Molly Shannon (Wanda the Werewolf) and Cee Lo Green (Murray the Mummy). For more on the film, here’s six clips and all our previous coverage.

At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival I got to speak with Shannon and Drescher.  During our very loose interview, we talked about how they got involved in Hotel Transylvania, the recording process, how things changed during production, what does it mean to be part of TIFF, and more.   Hit the jump to watch.

With writer-director Rian Johnson‘s Looper opening today, I’ve spent all week posting exclusive video interviews with the cast (here’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt).  The film takes place in a future where time travel exists, but it’s only used on the black market.  Gordon-Levitt plays a “Looper”, a hitman who is contracted to kill people that are sent back in time, and then disposes of the bodies so the victim technically no longer exists.  Things go awry when his future self (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time as a target and then escapes.  The film also stars Jeff Daniels and Paul Dano.  For more on the film, here are 4 clips and Matt’s review.

At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, I got to speak with Johnson.  We talked about the positive buzz for the film, what it meant to be the opening film of TIFF, Breaking Bad, his writing process on Looper and how it was different than his previous work (Brick and The Brothers Bloom), deleted scenes and what will be on the Blu-ray (up to 45 minutes!), how The Terminator was an influence, future projects (says he’s got “five or six germs of ideas”), and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Now playing in limited release and expanding into more theaters tomorrow is Stephen Chbosky’s fantastic movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower (watch the trailer here).  Chbosky wrote the adaptation of his own novel and also directed the feature.  In the film, Logan Lerman plays an introverted high school freshman who finds acceptance in two senior students, played by Emma Watson and Ezra Miller.  The film also stars Mae Whitman, Kate Walsh, Dylan McDermott, Nina Dobrev, and Paul Rudd.  Over the past few years I’ve seen a number of coming of age movies.  Usually they play out the same way and touch on the same themes.  What makes Perks so special is that it tackles serious issues with honestly and believability.  In addition, all the actors are great and it’s Lerman’s best work to date.  I strongly recommend checking it out.

At the Toronto International Film Festival Perks premiered to glowing reviews.  Shortly before the premiere I spoke to Nina Dobrev.  We talked about her reaction to reading the script, how she got cast, her preparation process, how similar she is to her character, and what fans can look forward to in The Vampire Diaries season 4.  Hit the jump to watch.

I went to more film festivals this year than I ever had before.  I went to Sundance in January, SXSW in March, and TIFF and Fantastic Fest this month.  It’s exhausting, but it’s fun.  I see it as a nice break from the grind of delivering news stories.  It’s not that news is bad, or that it doesn’t have value, but it’s nice seeing the final product of the smaller films we’ve reported on since we probably only heard of them from a casting story as opposed to an onslaught of trailers and posters.  Obviously, there are film festivals where there are marquee titles making their last big push before opening in wide release (Sundance is the only festival where the biggest films—those filled with recognizable actors—might not even have distributors let alone a release date).  But it’s always a nice variety, and each festival has its own flavor.

After the jump hit the jump for my impressions of each festival.

Premiering at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was director Sergio Castellitto‘s Twice Born.  Based on the novel of the same name by Margaret Mazzantini, the film stars Penelope Cruz as a single mother who returns with her teen son to present-day Sarajevo where her son’s father (Emile Hirsch) died during the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s.  As she tries to repair the relationship with her son, new revelations force her to rethink everything.  The film also stars Mira Fulran and Jane Birkin and you can watch the first trailer here.

Before the world premiere, I landed an exclusive interview with Penelope Cruz.  We talked about a broad array of things, such as premiering at TIFF, social networking and email, why she wanted to make Twice Born, the type of research she does for a role, rehearsals, how many takes she likes to do and the way Woody Allen works, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Pedro Almovodar‘s I’m So Excited (where she finally works with  Antonio Banderas) and more.  In addition, with Cruz currently filming Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor, we talked about why she signed on to the project and who she plays.  Hit the jump for the audio and transcript.

With writer-director Rian Johnson‘s Looper opening this weekend, all week I’m running exclusive video interviews with the cast and Johnson.  The film takes place in a future where time travel exists, but it’s only used on the black market.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a “Looper”, a hitman who is contracted to kill people that are sent back in time, and then disposes of the bodies so the victim technically no longer exists.  Things go awry when his future self (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time as a target and then escapes.  The film also stars Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels, and Paul Dano.  For more on the film, here are 4 clips and Matt’s review.

At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, I got to speak with Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  We talked about the Looper script, how the film changed during production, what do great directors have in common, and more.  In addition, with rumors of The Dark Knight Rises having thirty minutes of deleted scenes, I asked Gordon-Levitt if that was true.  Finally, we ended the interview talking about his directorial debut Don Jon’s Addiction (which stars Levitt, Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore) and when it might premiere.  Hit the jump to watch.

Opening this weekend is the animated film Hotel Transylvania.  Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack), the story centers on Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) trying to throw a party for his daughter Mavis’ (Selena Gomez) 118th birthday, but his plans go haywire when a human (Andy Samberg) comes to the monsters-only hotel and develops a crush on Mavis.  The film also features the voices of David Spade (Griffin the Invisible Man), Steve Buscemi (Wayne the Werewolf), Kevin James (Frankenstein), Molly Shannon (Wanda the Werewolf) and Cee Lo Green (Murray the Mummy). For more on the film, here’s six clips and all our previous coverage.

At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival I got to speak with Samberg and Gomez.  During our very loose interview, we talked about how they got involved in Hotel Transylvania, the recording process, how things changed during production, and more.  In addition, we joked about future touring plans, how this year’s Oscar race is be between The Master and Hotel Transylvania, Samberg’s upcoming BBC show Cuckoo, and Gomez talks about Feed the Dog which she just finished filming.  Hit the jump to watch.

With writer-director Rian Johnson‘s Looper opening this weekend, all week I’ll be running exclusive video interviews with the cast and Johnson.  The film takes place in a future where time travel exists, but it’s only used on the black market.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a “Looper”, a hitman who is contracted to kill people that are sent back in time, and then disposes of the bodies so the victim technically no longer exists.  Things go awry when his future self (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time as a target and then escapes.  The film also stars Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels, and Paul Dano.  For more on the film, here are 4 clips and Matt’s review.

At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, I got to speak with Emily Blunt.  We talked about the Looper script, if she’s a fan of the sci-fi/time travel genre, t-shirts, deleted scenes, and more.  In addition, with Blunt getting ready to start filming director Doug Liman‘s All You Need is Kill with Tom Cruise, I asked her what it’s about and she said it’s “Groundhog Day with strange creatures taking over the planet.”  Hit the jump to watch.

Now playing in limited release and expanding next weekend is Stephen Chbosky’s fantastic movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  Chbosky wrote the adaptation of his own novel and also directed the feature.  In the film, Logan Lerman plays an introverted high school freshman who finds acceptance in two senior students, played by Emma Watson and Ezra Miller.  The film also stars Mae Whitman, Kate Walsh, Dylan McDermott, Nina Dobrev, and Paul Rudd.  Over the past few years I’ve seen a number of coming of age movies.  Usually they play out the same way and touch on the same themes.  What makes Perks so special is that it tackles serious issues with honestly and believability.  In addition, all the actors are great and it’s Lerman’s best work to date.  I strongly recommend checking it out.

At the Toronto International Film Festival Perks premiered to glowing reviews.  Shortly before the premiere I spoke to Emma Watson and Stephen Chbosky.  They talked about what it means to premiere at TIFF, how they collaborated to make sure everything felt real, and more.  In addition, Chbosky reveals 15 minutes of deleted scenes should be on the Blu-ray.  Hit the jump to watch.

One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was Peter Webber’s (Girl with a Pearl Earring) historical drama Emperor. The film takes place during the days following the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II and stars Tommy Lee Jones as General Douglas MacArthur, the de facto ruler of Japan as Supreme Commander of the occupying forces.  Matthew Fox plays a leading Japanese expert on the staff of MacArthur who is tasked with deciding whether or not Emperor Hirohito should be tried as a war criminal.  Fox’s mission becomes more complicated as he searches for a school teacher (Eriko Hatsune) who first drew him to Japan years before the war.  For more on the film, here’s a clip and some images.

Shortly before the world premiere, I sat down with Matthew Fox for an exclusive interview.  We talked about why he wanted to do Emperor, how the finished film compares to the original script, how he prepares for a role, if he prefers a few takes or a lot, and more.  In addition, we also talked about Speed Racer (a film I love), his physical transformation for Alex Cross, World War Z, the reshoots, Lost, would he ever do a comic book movie, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.

Opening this weekend is Dredd 3D.  As most of you know, Dredd is an adaption of the 2000AD comics character Judge Dredd, and it stars Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, and Lena Headey.  The film follows Dredd (Urban) and rookie Judge Cassandra Anderson (Thirlby) fighting through a tower that’s crawling with thugs in their attempt to bring down drug overlord Ma-ma (Headey).  Unlike the Stallone version from the 90′s, this version of Dredd is gritty, ultra-violent, and really worth your time.  For more on the film, here’s Matt’s review, a featurette, a TV spot, and all our previous coverage.

At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, I was able to speak with Urban before the premiere.  We talked about how the last few months have been since we spoke at Comic-Con (watch that interview here), what does it mean to premiere at TIFF, has he thought about Dredd sequels, his involvement in the post production, what props he’s taken home from set, and more.  In addition, we also talked about the Riddick sequel, the Star Trek video game, The Loft, what kind of projects is he looking to do in the future, and will he be going to the premiere of The Hobbit in New Zealand.  Hit the jump to watch.

Premiering at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was director Sergio Castellitto‘s Twice Born.  Based on the novel of the same name by Margaret Mazzantini, the film stars Penelope Cruz as a single mother who returns with her teen son to present-day Sarajevo where her son’s father (Emile Hirsch) died during the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s.  As she tries to repair the relationship with her son, new revelations force her to rethink everything.  The film also stars Mira Fulran and Jane Birkin and you can watch the first trailer here.

Before the world premiere, I landed an extended video interview with Hirsch.  We talked about premiering at TIFF, why he signed on for the role, how the finished film compares to the script, his research, and more.  In addition, with Hirsch about to start filming Peter Berg‘s Lone Survivor (which films in Mexico for three months), he discussed how he’s getting ready for the role, David Gordon Green‘s Prince Avalanche, and Speed Racer.  Hit the jump to watch.