TITLE: The Wrestler
DIRECTED BY: Darren Aronofsky
STARS: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

WHAT IT'S ABOUT: A big-name pro wrestler back in the 1980s, Randy "The Ram" Robinson now bides his time with performances at high schools and community centers. A heart attack threatens early retirement, but Randy the lure of one more chance to get back in the ring with his biggest rival forces him to choose between his health and another shot at the spotlight.

WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: Aronofsky just missed the mark with the ambitious but over-reaching The Fountain; his direction of that film, nonetheless, was intriguing enough to make this a film worth catching. Tomei has been one of our faves for years, turning in particularly solid performances in 2001's In the Bedroom and last year's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, and the prospect of her and Evan Rachel Wood in the same film would make this one worthwhile, even if we didn't want to see it just to see Rourke in long hair and wrestling outfits.

Back to TIFF Preview page ...

On the heels of some high-profile NYFF announcements, the Toronto International Film Festival has unveiled its fair share of titles scheduled to premiere there next month. According to Variety, the list includes:

• The North American premieres of Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York (pictured), which has been picked up for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics since we last heard of (still) possible trims, and Steven Soderbergh's epic Che, which remains without a distributor -- James Rocchi reviewed both films at Cannes.
  
• The world premieres of Rian Johnson's Brick follow-up, The Brothers Bloom, which looks to be a special sort of con movie, and Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which looks to be a special sort of, well, romantic comedy.
  
• The North American premieres of Darren Aronofsky's sports drama The Wrestler and Gavin O'Connor's oft-delayed cop drama Pride and Glory .
  
• The world premieres of Genova, Slumdog Millionaire and Me and Orson Welles, the latest from the ever-unpredictable likes of Michael Winterbottom, Danny Boyle and Richard Linklater, respectively.

Cinematical will bring you early reviews on as many of these as we can, so stay tuned. TIFF runs from September 4th through the 13th.

Some people may consider the New York Film Festival a simple "Best Of" sort of event, but the fact that it compiles selections from earlier film fests and merely showcases them in a competition-free program is what I love about it. For those of us New Yorkers who can't always make it to the highlands of Utah and Colorado or the exotic seaside locales of Italy and Southern France, it's nice to know that major festival highlights will likely make their way to Lincoln Center in late September, early October.

This year, the lineup for the 46th NYFF is being noted for its inclusion of films that previously screened at Cannes back in May. Even Steven Soderbergh's four-hour Che (aka The Argentine and Guerilla), which played to mixed reactions in France, even while picking up a best actor prize for star Benicio Del Toro, has been given a spot. Also featured are Cannes leftovers Waltz With Bashir, Wendy and Lucy, Grand Prix-winner Gomorrah and Clint Eastwood's Changeling, which stars Angelina Jolie and has the honor of being NYFF's centerpiece film. Opening the festival is the Palm d'Or winner The Class, while the closing film is Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, which premieres a few weeks prior at the Venice Film Festival.

Other exciting big name films include Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, Wong Kar-Wai's Ashes of Time: Redux, Lucretia Martel's The Headless Woman and Olivier Assayas' Summer Hours. Surprisingly, Charlie Kaufman's Synechdoche, New York, which screened at Cannes, is New York appropriate and is scheduled to open in October, is missing from the lineup.

The complete list of NYFF selections, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, can be found after the jump:

Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler is surely one of the fall's most enigmatic releases -- and one of the most eagerly awaited. Bad Taste got hold of the first production stills from the film, and it looks every bit as creepy and moody as you'd expect from the man behind Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain (which was awesome despite its generally negative reception).

The movie is about a retired professional wrestler, played by Mickey Rourke, who is trying to survive on the small-time independent wrestling circuit. It sounds campy, but I think it's more likely to be grim -- I've read some stories about that scene (anyone else read Swan Song by Robert McCammon?) and it sounds, if anything, awfully depressing. These photos confirm that, I think, as does the fact that Clint Mansell is once again writing the musical score.

The movie premieres in Venice next month, then Toronto shortly thereafter. It doesn't have a US distributor yet, but I'm guessing that won't last long. Check out a couple more photos (including one featuring Marisa Tomei as a stripper) in the gallery below, then see the rest over at Bad Taste.

Here's what's happening in the world of movie news today:

• UPDATE: Columbia Pictures has announced that The White Stripes' Jack White will team with Alicia Keys on the Quantum of Solace theme song. Said song will be called "Another Way to Die," and it will be the first duet in Bond soundtrack history.
• UPDATE: Universal lands Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards -- they will partner with The Weinstein Co. on the WWII flick. The writer-director has already met with Brad Pitt about playing a role, and production is scheduled to start this fall. (Variety)
• UPDATE: MTV has confirmed through IDW Publishing that "The Fallen" in the Transformers 2 title does indeed refer to the main villain in the film.
• Holy Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince trailer! It debuts online today! Prior to its arrival, USA Today has posted a photo (see above) of the young Tom Riddle (aka young Voldemort). Kid looks a tad creepy ... what do you think? We'll update this post as soon as the trailer arrives online.
• Tim Burton's making an Alice in Wonderland movie, so now we have to figure out which role Johnny Depp will play. In our minds, there's only one -- and Celeb Edge says Depp has been pegged to star as the Mad Hatter. Let me guess: Depp's performance will come with a side order of freaky and creepy?
• Jennifer Lopez will star in the romantic comedy The Governess, where she'll play a thief who poses as the nanny of three unruly children in order to rob a bank. The romance comes into play when she begins to fall for the widowed father of the three kids. What to do: Rob a bank for millions ... or get involved with a dude who has three annoying kids? Oh, the tough decisions these characters must face ... (Variety)
  
• IGN has thrown up the brand spanking new Friday the 13th poster (see to the right; click to enlarge). You can also read all about that particular Comic Con panel over here. If we're lucky, this will be the one where Jason finally shares his feelings through talking and not physical harm ...

More after the jump ...

We came, we saw ... Con kicked our ass. Here are some quick tidbits of interest:

• The first trailer for Saw V was released in conjunction with that film's panel here last night. It's over at Yahoo!, but thanks to the magic that is embed players, you fine folks can see if after the jump. Yes, Jigsaw is back ... but this time something's gotta be done about his kids, Marty! Wait ... back up ... puzzles, traps, blood -- that's more like it.
• MGM has confirmed via press release that Darren Aronofsky will officially helm a Robocop remake. And, no, I looked out my window and pigs were not flying. Also, in the same press release, they noted that Brett Ratner will be directing God of War. There's a potential for awesomeness in either project, but it's still too early to tell.
  
• The two Red Sonja posters unveiled during the panel yesterday (see our report here) hit the Cinematical inbox this morning, and, yes, I believe it is true what they say about redheads: They like to lick blood off of swords. See both above.
• Wolverine footage screened yesterday during the Fox panel, and it was pretty awesome. Dynamite teaser moment: Wolverine telling Sabretooth: "I'm gonna cut your goddamn head off!" Everything I'm hearing about this flick is that it's dark, sadistic and wicked ... and I cannot flippin' wait.
• IGN has the Punisher: War Zone footage from last night's panel.
• I heard the Twilight panel was absolutely off the charts as far as tween female geekdom goes. Never have so many mothers and daughters gone so ballistic in one area at the same time -- I'm not sure if anyone called Guinness, but some sort of record was definitely broken.
• We missed the paltry G.I. Joe panel, but JoBlo has a pretty good rundown of it in case you're interested. No footage was shown, just a slideshow of stuff we've already seen and maybe one or two action shots.
• Last but not least, The Masters of the Web panel was a good time. This was my first ever Con panel (as a panelist) and luckily I didn't throw up or accidentally spit on AICN's Quint (who sat next to me).I'd call that a success.
  

What could make a remake of an edgy '80s classic worthy of our valuable time? A top-notch director, of course. Within a Hollywood Reporter article focused on MGM's new chairman, Mary Parent (and all the franchises she's kicking into high gear) is one heck of a good name drop. According to the studio, Darren Aronofsky has stopped by to talk about helming the Robocop remake.

Now stop and savor how brilliant Aronofsky's Robocop would be. Doesn't that feel nice? Don't get too excited, as it's probably too good to be true, but what if? Not only could he actually make a film that could rival the bitter satire of Paul Verhoven's original, but it would actually give him some long overdue recognition and box office success. (Yes, I know we film nuts know him like he's our best friend -- but have you actually discussed The Fountain around the water cooler lately?)

Aronofsky has been dancing around big budget movie making for years. I don't know how many comics adaptations he's been attached to over the years -- I can think of Batman, Lone Wolf and Cub, and Ronin off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure there's more. Robocop really does seem right up his alley. Let this idea actually come together. I think audiences deserve it.

[via CHUD]

He goes by "Night," but it's hard to dispute his sunny disposition. Just a few minutes into a conversation with M. Night Shyamalan in a New York City hotel room yesterday, it was obvious to me that the director has managed to occupy such a unique niche in the Hollywood landscape because he's immediately likable. Of course, a little movie released in 1999 called The Sixth Sense didn't hurt, either.

After landing two Oscar nominations and international acclaim for his masterful ghost story, Shyamalan continued to market himself as a brand. Since then, the results have been mixed. Signs was an indisputable hit. Unbreakable has its supporters. Lady in the Water? Not so much. But that failure hasn't prevented the filmmaker from dealing with audacious material: His latest movie, The Happening, finds a married couple (Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel) thrust into a world where people inexplicably become suicidal after getting struck by an ominous, unseen toxin. Forces of evil usually remain unseen in Shyamalan's films, and The Happening is no exception to that rule. I spoke to the 37-year-old Philadelphia resident about the personal philosophies guiding his career choices, the polarized reactions to his work, and what the future will bring.

I don't have much against Mickey Rourke. Sometimes, I would much prefer to watch him than Nicolas Cage. Other times, it's vice versa for me. Neither is really a better actor than the other, and neither is particularly better looking. But for Hollywood, there's a definite difference between the two actors. Cage is a big star who can sell a movie. Rourke isn't, and hasn't been for about twenty years now. Sure, he's great in minor roles in big movies like Sin City and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, but as the lead in your movie? Are you sure you don't mean to be making a low-budget, straight-to-DVD flick instead? Certainly Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain) has no intention of sinking so low, but then its his film where Rourke just replaced Cage, according to Variety. It isn't known why Cage ducked out of The Wrestler, which he was attached to a month ago, but he's left us with one of the most unbalanced casting changes I've ever seen.

Rourke, who was arrested last week for riding a Vespa while allegedly intoxicated, will now play Randy "The Ram" Robinson, "an over-the-hill grappler who returns to the ring for one last shot at glory." The actor has been on a upward slope lately in terms of Hollywood success, but for awhile it seemed we'd lost the actor who was so good in Diner, The Pope of Greenwich Village and Barfly. But will he carry The Wrestler? Reports from the IMDb message boards claim that Cage had actually been doing research backstage at a Ring of Honor show. Now that research has been wasted, but maybe Rourke will have time before the January 7 start date to do his own research, or at least find out from Cage what he observed. Also, if Aronofsky wants this movie to be as big as it could have been, he might want Cage to lend his face, a la Face/Off, to the less-bankable Rourke.

The Onion AV Club is unquestionably my favorite entertainment-focused website (other than Cinematical, of course!). Their outstanding coverage of all things pop culture suggests an indie-leaning Entertainment Weekly, and I consider that a very good thing. They always do a great weekly list, and one of their recent offerings is no exception. Check out "Not Again: 24 Great Films Too Painful to Watch Twice." The first movie I thought of when I saw that title was Requiem for a Dream, so it's fitting that they put it in the #1 spot (not sure if these are in order of "most painful" or not). I saw Requiem for a Dream in college -- on a double date! So imagine not only suffering through one of the toughest movies of all time in a theater, but suffering through it with a hyperventilating girl you're trying to get to first base with! Needless to say, it didn't work out.

Though I don't think it's a "great film" by any stretch of the imagination, I can certainly see why Irreversible (#13 on the list) was included. I don't know if I physically could stomach that one a second time. I remember convincing my friends to come see it with me by telling them "It's supposed to be just like Memento!" It was not just like Memento. I still shudder when I walk past a fire extinguisher. I must be a masochist, because I either would watch or have watched several of the movies on their list more than once -- United 93, Million Dollar Baby, Audition, Leaving Las Vegas, etc. There's a lot of good rental ideas for those with a taste for challenging fare, so fire up your Netflix queue and head on over to the link. Just don't plan any parties around these flicks! How about you guys, what is a great film you could never sit through a second time?