At this point in my life, the possibility I could go to the Venice Film Festival is about the same as me going to Mars.  However, this fall I would much prefer to go to Venice because Mars doesn't have an amazing selection of films lined up for their film festival (at least not that I know of).  We already knew that George Clooney's The Ides of March would be opening the festival but Variety has now confirmed some must-see films will be premiering in Venice as well.  Among the high-profile movies playing in competition are Roman Polanski's Carnage, Tomas Alfredson's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Steven Soderbergh's Contagion, and David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method.

Hit the jump for the complete list of movies announced thus far for Venice and my speculation on what will be left to debut at Toronto.  The 2011 Venice Film Festival runs from August 31st through September 10th.

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Here's the list of movies we know will be playing at this year's Venice Film Festival:

The Ides of March (dir. George Clooney; starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Paul Giamatti)

Carnage (dir. Roman Polanski; starring Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Christoph Waltz, and Kate Winslet)

Killer Joe (dir. William Friedkin; starring Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsch)

Last Day on Earth (dir. Abel Ferrara; starring Willem Dafoe)

Texas Killing Fields (dir. Ami Canaan Mann; starring Sam Worthington)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (dir. Tomas Alfredson; starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, and Mark Strong)

Wuthering Heights (dir. Andrea Arnold)

Shame (dir. Steve McQueen; starring Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, and James Badge Dale)

Seedig Bale (dir. Wei Te-sheng)

Himizu (dir. Sion Sono)

Poulet aux prunes (dir. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (Persepolis))

A Burning Hot Summer (dir. Philippe Garrel; starring Monica Bellucci)

La folie Almayer (dir. Chantal Akerman)*

Alps (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth))

The Exchange (dir. Eran Kolirin (The Band's Visit))

Quando la note (dir. Christina Comencini)

Terraferma (dir. Emanuele Crialese)

L'ultimo terreste (dir. Gipi)

I'm Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad and the Beautiful (documentary dir. Jonathan Demme)**

Sal (dir. James Franco; starring Val Lauren)**

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A Dangerous Method (dir. David Cronenberg; starring Viggo Moretensen, Michael Fassbender, and Keira Knightley)

Dark Horse (dir. Todd Solondz; starring Mia Farrow and Christopher Walken)

Contagion (dir. Steven Soderbergh; starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, and Laurence Fishburne)

Faust (dir. Aleksandr Sokurov)

The Moth Diaries (dir. Mary Harron (American Psycho); starring Scott Speedman and Lily Cole)*

W.E. (dir. Madonna; starring Abbie Cornish and Oscar Isaac)

So what's left to premiere at Toronto (which runs from September 8th through September 18th)?  Here are some of films I think could bow at TIFF:

  • On the Road
  • Moneyball
  • 50/50
  • The Rum Diary
  • J. Edgar
  • My Week with Marilyn
  • The Descendants
  • Coriolanus
  • In the Land of Blood and Honey
  • The Iron Lady

*Playing out-of-competition

**Likely in the "cutting-edge Venice Horizons" section