breaking and entering Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Just the other day, I was writing about how Anthony Minghella and Richard Curtis' The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was heading to HBO, rather than the big screen. And today, I'm sad to report that the Oscar-winning director has passed away at the age of 54. The AP (via USA Today) has confirmed his passing through his agent, but no other details are currently available.

After starting in television back in the 1980s, Anthony Minghella made his big-screen debut with Truly Madly Deeply in 1990. It was his next writer/director effort, however, that brought him real fame. In 1996, he brought us the big-screen version of The English Patient, which brought him an Oscar win and a lot of notoriety. This achievement was followed by The Talented Mr. Ripley (another Oscar nod), Cold Mountain, and Breaking and Entering.

These days, he had been busy with the Botswanian detective story, plus a short for New York, I Love You, and The Ninth Life of Louis Drax. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Choa, and his children, Max Minghella and Hannah Minghella.

He will be deeply missed.

Due to everyone's wild and crazy film festival schedule, our final video roundtable from Toronto was shot at 8AM near the end of the fest, as we were getting close to seeing a cumulative total of over 50 films. An 8AM shoot was fine for former East Coast Editor Martha Fischer, who is an early riser anyhow, but James Rocchi and I could barely prop our eyelids open. So while I can't promise that we're exactly coherent, we did manage to talk about some films we were each wrapping the fest with. Maybe next festival we'll shoot a roundtable at the hotel bar after a day full of screenings followed by a few rounds of drinks. For now, though, you can download the final roundtable from TIFF here (79.2MB, 12:16 minutes ) or watch it over on Netscape.

Organizers behind this year's Toronto International Film Festival have announced the addition of some more red carpet flicks to a lineup that will include a total of 352 films from 61 countries. (Hat tip goes out to the person who somehow manages to take in all 352 pics.)

Joining a slate that already includes Darren Aronofsky's highly-anticipated The Fountain, Christopher Guest's For Your Consideration and Tony Goldwyn's The Last Kiss will be the world premieres of Ridley Scott's A Good Year and Anthony Minghella's Breaking and Entering, with Michael Apted's Amazing Grace chosen to close out the fest. Also joining the party on the red carpet for its world premiere will be Mark Palansky's directorial debut, Penelope. Starring Reese Witherspoon and Christina Ricci, pic is said to be a modern-day fable which revolved around a woman (Ricci) who is looking to escape from a family curse.

Of the 352 films, 261 will be features and most are looking forward to either a world, international or North American premiere. The festival runs from September 7 through the 16th.