Toronto: Big Stars, Big Risks Hit Film Fest

Only at a film festival:I left a movie todayin which the basic plotline had to do with a man trying to deal with his wife’s terminal cancer diagnosis and all the horrible things that entails. Afterwards, the pic’spublicist comes up and asks how I liked it.”Well, it was kind of depressing,” I said. To which she replied, “What exactly was depressing about it?” Spin, spin, spin. That’s what you get at film fests. At the more serious-minded Toronto Film Festival, though, thingsswung into high gear today. The big guns came into town, including the casts of Moneyball and The Ides Of March which had back-to-back premieres Friday night.At the Soho House pre-party for the Ides premiere, I talked to Philip Seymour Hoffman and suggested he was probably the first actor in history who actually had to walk two Red Carpets almost simultaneously since he stars in bothfilms.Hoffmansaid he was about to collapsefromhaving done junket interviews all day. Sony Pictures Marketinghoncho Marc Weinstock is shepherding both films and said it was his idea to do the back-to-back premieres after the festival came to him. When it rains, it pours — and after the heartbreak of seeing its frontrunner The Social Network succumb to the Weinsteins’The King’s Speech at the last Oscars, Sony is taking any awards talk cautiously this time around.As studio head Amy Pascal told me, “It’s just nice to have some good movies to release.I still feel bad about [Social Network director] David Fincher,” she said in reference to his loss to Tom Hooper in the directing category. Buthe’s back with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo this holiday season. Also at the party: Ides Of March star Ryan Gosling who was was happy not only about what he said was a great experience thanks to his director George Clooney on that pic, but also because his Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn was there supporting him.I asked Refn about Albert Brooks’ startling supporting turn as the heavyand the helmer stated unequivocally that “he should win the Oscar”. And Brooks just might as he gets to play a bad guy for the first time in his career and Academy members can’t resist this kind of switch and bait. Also at the party was Alliance head Victor Lowey who is the Canadian distributorresponsible for Ides,Drive, and 22 other films this year. (Lowey told me he’s a big fan of Deadline, saying he “wakes up with it”.) Hepicked up Clooney’sThe Ides Of March even before Sony did. He also has Drive so he is in the Ryan Gosling business big-time. Clooney spent much of the party talking to Sony’s top honcho Sir Howard Stringer and SPE chairman Michael Lynton. George knows where his bread is buttered in this casesince it’s up to Sony to sell Ides which was not a home-grown product. When I suggested to co-star Paul Giamatti that the political film may hit too close to home now (particularly since the John Edwards scandal) he said he hopes not. But it looks pretty close to me. Clooney’s parrtner Grant Heslov was also there talking up his new Warner Bros film Argo and its director Ben Affleck. Heslov says Ben is the real deal as a helmer. Harvey Weinstein has a shared cinematic history with Clooney (Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind) and Gosling (last year’s Blue Valentine). But he helda small sitdown dinner party in honor ofFriday night’s North American premiere of his Cannesand Telluride sensation The Artist. It’s about a washed-up silent film star reeling from the advent of talkies. Harvey has high hopes for this one as a newly reconceivedblack-and-white silent moviewhich seemsto cross all borders. At dinner, star Jean DuJardin (whospeaksEnglish about aswell as I speak French) but The Artist,I asked whether he’d had any trepidation working opposite a scene-stealing Jack Russell terrier named Uggy who plays his constantcompanion in the film.DuJardin said he had to put meat all over himself and therefore thesmell of sausauge always surrounded him. He’snot surewhat the Oscar race is all about but should get used to it, since I’m certain he will be a nominee because the actors branch realizes the essence of silent film acting is the essence of film acting together.Dujardin and I alsodiscussed the James Bond spoof film he did, O.S.S. Nevertheless, he’s convinced that his French filmsgot him the Artist gig. Granted, it looks like a bumper crop of actors competing for Best Actor this year including Clooney, Gosling, Brad Pitt, and Gary Oldman among others so it’s difficult to make a call this early. But I absolutely guarantee you DuJardin will be among them. And while we are at it: can’t we get some sort of prize forUggy? Speaking of Weinstein’s Oscar history, Iran intoThe King’s Speech’s Oscar winning British producer Gareth Unwin at the late-night Alliance party in the Roosevelt Room. One year to the day of the launch ofthat campaign, he says the Oscar has made a significant difference in his career and he has a couple of projects in the pipeline. These include King’s Speech‘s Oscar-winning screenwriter David Seidler’s next project which is also in an historical vein.