One of my dreams for when I'm a millionaire is to spend a year crisscrossing the globe, just traveling from one film festival after another. I've already got the major ones lined up: Sundance in January, South By Southwest in March, Tribeca in April, Cannes in May, Toronto in September; the rest of the slots are still to be determined. I bet if you had unlimited resources, you could literally spend every day of the year at some film festival somewhere.

Well, the helpful folks at Variety have got my back. In Monday's issue, they have an article called 50 Unmissable Film Festivals, and it reads like a wish list for avid film lovers. They list the "Big Five" -- Berlin, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, and Venice -- right off, then list the rest alphabetically, from Adelaide to Warsaw.

Some of the ones you'd expect to see are on the list. South By Southwest, Telluride, AFI, CineVegas. And then there are others, mostly foreign fests, that I'd never heard of. And I am intrigued!

Camerimage, held in Lodz, Poland, is where "cinematographers are given the rock-star treatment"! What about Courmayeur Noir, at the foot of the Italian Alps, where the focus is mysteries, horror, and suspense films? I've never been to Iran, and can't imagine ever going -- so perhaps my future millionaire self, flanked by dozens of bodyguards, will visit some February for the Fajr Film Fest.

From Guadalajara to Eastern Europe to Seoul to Nantucket (I once knew a man from there!), there's a cool-looking film festival in just about every corner of the world. If you love movies and traveling, check out Variety's list and feel jealous about what you're missing.

One of the films we're most looking forward to covering for you at Toronto (or Telluride, should I be so lucky as to find it on the schedule there next Thursday) is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. The film delves into the private life of Jesse James (played by Pitt) as the Ford brothers, Charley (Sam Rockwell) and Bob (Casey Affleck), trusted members of the notorious outlaw's gang, plot to kill him. Watch Moviefone's exclusive trailer (above), and check out the film's official website and IMDb page for more details; we'll have a review up of the film as soon as possible after TIFF opens, so check back for more.

Welcome to The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar. Each week, we'll give you a round-up of what's going on in indie film (and sometimes just cool film news and screenings) in cities near you. If you know of cool stuff happening that's related to film -- a local fest, a series of classic restored films, lectures, workshops, open calls for casting of an indie film -- send your tips to me at kim(at)cinematical(dot)com and we'll add them to the calendar.

Here are this week's happenings in film from New York to LA and points in between ...

New York City: This weekend brings New Yorks the Independent Features Film Festival at Tribeca Cinemas. The fest, whose 21 selections were chosen by viewers who watched the films over the internet, runs July 27-29, starting with tonight's red carpet premiere of audience pick alleyball.

At Film Forum, you can still check out Live-In Maid (showing through July 31). Starting today, there's also a fest going on at Film Forum: the NYC Noir Fest, a spectacular five week, 46-film exploration of the dark side. You can check out the full schedule right here -- I have to note that it includes one of my fave bad movies ever, Cat People, which I used to revel in watching every time it showed on the late-night movies on the local UHF channel when I was a kid (UHF? Yeah, that was pre-cable, thanks for noticing and making me feel old). You can also catch films like Midnight Cowboy, Taxi Driver, Panic in Needle Park, Rope, and Rear Window, if Cat People isn't your thing. As a part of the fest, Film Forum also has a series called "The Silent City: New York in the Movies, 1898-1928."

As if a fest full of noir wasn't enough to make your cinepheliac heart go all a-flutter, Film Forum also has screenings of the very excellent No End in Sight this weekend, with director Charles Ferguson on hand for Q&As following the 8PM screenings. I saw No End in Sight at Sundance, and attended a pretty impressive panel discussion of the film as well. The film rocks -- don't miss it. You can get more insight into the film as well with James Rocchi's interview with Ferguson, which we just posted today.

Over at the Walter Reade Theater, we have yet another film fest: Scanners: The New York Video Festival. You can see the full fest program right here.

Los Angeles: If you didn't make the trip down south to San Diego to hang out with all things geekerific at Comic-Con, never fear, there are plenty of things to do in that other southern Cal city. As usual, American Cinematheque's got you indie film fans covered. Mods and Rockers is still going on there, and on Sunday you can get all classic with a screening of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Coming up August 2 (and running through August 27), it's the Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror Fest, just in time to get you past those post-Comic Con blues.


Seattle: Seattleites can get their film fest jones satisfied at NW Film Forum: starting this weekend, NWFF brings you "From the Tsars to the Stars: A Journey Through Russian Fantastik Cinema." Tonight through August 2, you can catch a screening of fest fave The Trials of Darryl Hunt, which won best doc at the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival.

The Seattle International Film Festival may be long over, but the SIFF group is still bringing Seattleites great films all summer long with their SIFF Cinema Summer Series. Through August 2, they're showing Apachatpong Weerasethakul's Syndromes and a Century, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's Daratt, Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon, and Tsai Ming-Liang's I Don't Want to Sleep Alone.

Also this weekend in Seattle: On July 28, The Film School brings Oscar-nommed director Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) into town to sneak-preview his latest doc, Taxi to the Dark Side, which played at the Tribeca Film Festival. Taxi is about torture practices used by the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, told through the story of an innocent taxi driver who was tortured and killed in 2002. Gibney's a sharp guy and a solid filmmaker -- that one's a must-see for you Seattle film buffs. Tix available at Warren Etheredge's website, The Warren Report.

Toronto: Heading north of the border, Toronto film fans can head over to Yonge-Dundas Square on Tuesday, July 31 to catch Terry Gilliam's Brazil.

Austin: This weekend at The Alamo Drafthouse at Lake Creek brings you a screening for the kids (or those of us who haven't quite grown up yet, Dark Crystal. Coming up August 3 and 4 -- midnight screenings of Jackie Chan's Drunken Master! At the South Lamar location, bring the kids to free screenings through August at Kids Summer Movie Camp. Films will include Nanny McPhee, Holes, and one of my own faves, Howl's Moving Castle. Plus: The Village location has Rocky Horror Saturday night at 11:55 PM, so break out your corsets and fishnet stockings!

Dallas: Coming up in Dallas, the Dallas Video Fest runs July 31- August 5. The fest is surprisingly affordable -- all-day passes range from $10 weeknights to $25 weekends. Check out the full schedule and start making your plans now.

Oklahoma City: This weekend at the Oklahoma CIty Museum of Art: Ten Canoes and Susan Hayward in Tulsa (one screening only on Sunday). Upcoming in August: Summercamp!, Bound for Glory, La Vie en Rose, and The Outsiders. And mark your calendars NOW for Sarah Polley's remarkable Away From Her, screening starting August 16.

Want your city covered? Send your film news and links to me at kim(at)cinematical(dot)com ...

So far, the titles that have been announced as appearing at the Toronto International Film Festival have been primarily independent, often foreign films. And while their presence at the Festival is incredibly exciting to film nerds like yours truly, it's hard to deny that anticipation for any festival ratchets up a notch when the high-profile premieres are revealed. For TIFF, some of those titles were announced yesterday.

The most widely anticipated debut is undoubtedly that of Darren Aronofsky's loooooong-await The Fountain, which is now set to have its North American premiere in Toronto. In addition, Christopher Guest's For Your Consideration (in which he finally turns his skewering on Hollywood itself), Tony Goldwyn's remake The Last Kiss (yawn), the tantalizing Stranger Than Fiction, which stars Will Ferrell as a man who suddenly finds his life narrated by Emma Thompson, and El Cantante, the JLo-Marc Anthony movie, will all have their world premieres at the Fest.

And yes, TIFF still runs from September 7 until the 16th.

Alright, I'm officially excited about the Toronto Film Festival now. The lineup for the Fest's new Vanguard sidebar -- a group of 11 "risky, more challenging" films -- was announced yesterday, and there's some great stuff included. Personally, I'm most looking forward to finally seeing John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus, which James (and everyone else) loved at Cannes, as well as Johnnie To's award-winning Election and Election 2, both of which are are being featured in the Vanguard program. Also on the list are 2:37, an Australian, Elephant-style movie about a suicide (that almost drove James to off himself), Renaissance, the black and white French animated flick we've told you about a couple of times, and Macbeth, a modern, Melbourne-set adaptation of the play, which will be making its world premiere.

The TIFF runs September 7-16 this year, and we'll be driving you nuts with lots and lots of reviews from there.

Elements of the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival lineup are slowly dribbling out ahead of the full slate's announcement on August 22. Most recently, it was the 22 documentaries that make up the Festival's Real to Reel segment that were announced, a lineup that includes The U.S. vs. John Lennon, Blindsight, about a group of blind teenagers climbing Everest, Jeff Garlin's This Filthy World, and Tony Kaye's Lake of Fire, an examination of the abortion debate in the US. In addition, Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing, Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple's film about the band in the wake of their words against President Bush after 9/11, will be the first doc ever to merit a Gala Presentation at the Festival.

(The full Real to Reel lineup probably can be found on the TIFF website, but I'll be damned if I can figure out where it is. Everyone who is smarter than I am and tracks it down, please post a link in the comments, and I'll add it to the post.)

Edit: And the readers come through again -- thanks, robruzic and Madeleine. An external program list can be found here (use the pulldown menu to sort), and the TIFF press releases are collected here.

At long last, friends, the Lord of the Rings musical (which, at a cool $24 million, is reportedly the Most Expensive Stage Production Ever!) has opened. Eagerly awaited by the people whose homes are filled with J.R.R. Tolkien books and copious special edition DVDs, the musical - currently playing in Toronto - received a lot of negative reviews from snotty theater critics. Objecting to the nearly FOUR HOUR running time (clearly these people have not sat through the movies), reviewers, while sympathizing with the tremendous difficulties of adapting wildly popular films to the stage while somehow finding a new voice (the musical doesn't), called it "expensively, lengthily and unspectacularly dull, dull and dull". Ouch.

However, since fans of Peter Jackson's films are incredibly unlikely to care that Ben Brantley found the show "largely incomprehensible", one doubts that the negative reviews will have much impact on the show's ability to sell tickets.