The night he came home (again)

TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Five picks we’ll bet our bacon on…

A STAR IS BORN

Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut is the third remake of the Oscar-winning 1937 classic (the ’54 version, starring Judy Garland and James Mason, is the pick of the bunch; there’s also a ’76 version starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson). Cooper casts himself as the veteran country singer Jackson Maine, who discovers Lady Gaga’s singer-actress Ally and helps propel her into becoming a star even as his own career spirals down the plughole in a swirl of whiskey and envy. Cooper and Lady Gaga performed at Glastonbury and Coachella festivals for added veracity, and early buzz on this one suggests awards potential.

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Adapted from James Baldwin’s 1974 novel, Barry Jenkins’ anticipated follow up to his Oscar-winning Moonlight promises to put the writerdirector again at the centre of awards conversations. Like Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk looks to find humanity in strife and torment, as the pregnant Tish (KiKi Layne) seeks to prove the innocence of her fiancé Fonny (Stephan James), who’s been falsely accused of rape. A quality support cast includes The Leftovers’ Regina King and Chi-Raq’s star-in-the-making Teyonah Parris, while Moonlight DoP James Laxton will again paint the poetic images.

ROMA

Originally bound for the Cannes Film Festival before Netflix refused to play by its stuffy rules (Netflix pulled all of its films from the festival over the requirement to release films theatrically in France), Alfonso Cuarón’s latest ends his four-year hiatus since Gravity bagged him a Best Director gong in 2014. It’s also his first movie made in his home country of Mexico since 2001’s

Y Tu Mamá También turned Hollywood’s head. This 1970s-set tale, tracking a year in the life of a middle-class family and shot in luminous black and white, is a personal affair, with Cuarón saying the film has “many elements and experiences of my own childhood”.

HIgH LIFE

When Robert Pattinson saw Claire Denis’ 2009 drama White Material, he made himself two promises: 1) to immediately watch all of her other movies (which include Beau Travail and 35 Shots Of Rum); and 2) to work with her. So here is the erstwhile Edward Cullen sparkling alongside Juliette Binoche in the French helmer’s first English-language film, which follows a group of convicts on a dangerous mission that takes place beyond our solar system. Succeed and they will be rewarded with their freedom. Sure to be more Solaris than Species.

ETA | 6-16 SEpTEmbEr / ThE ToronTo inTErnATionAl film fESTivAl kickS off nExT monTh.