Christmas comes early every year in Toronto with the arrival of the most anticipated, star studded event – the Toronto International Film Festival. Maybe you couldn’t hit the red carpet yourself but CHILL did, and we scoped out the hottest, most talked about films at TIFF 2009. Here’s our top picks for must-see flicks.

Best sports related

Peter Berg Presents Kings Ransom
For all the hockey fans out there, Peter Berg Presents Kings Ransom is an absolute must-see film. Peter Berg, co-director of Friday Night Lights, creates an impressive documentary surrounding the life of “The Great One”, Wayne Gretzky. Berg follows the career of Gretzky by using his personal friendship with him to draw out Gretzky’s memories from his childhood in Brantford, Ontario, the rise of the Edmonton Oilers from the bottom of the NHL thanks to his help and finally the move to the LA Kings that shocked fans across Canada. The end result is a powerful story about national pride, family, money and opportunities both lost and gained.

You’ll get to see rare archival footage of Gretzky’s legendary skills on the ice.

The Damned United
You don’t have to be a die-hard soccer fan to watch this funny story about a cocky, determined young man whose ego is both his strength and weakness. The Damned United follows Brian Clough (Michael Sheen from Frost/ Nixon), manager of Leeds United in the early 1970s.

Clough’s reputation rode on his accomplishment of driving a small-town team Derby County to the top of English soccer in just a few years. With his brashness and unnerving sense of individualism, Clough’s move to Leeds United was a disaster. If you like Ricky Gervais in The Office, you’re going to enjoy Michael Sheen in this hilarious film, soccer fan or not.

You’ll be surprised to see how funny Michael Sheen can be when he breaks out of his dramatic roles.

BEST thrillers

[REC] 2
If you’ve seen the original [REC], keep reading. If not, go see it and then come back later – spoilers are ahead. The original [REC] follows a reporter who accompanies a team of firefighters into an apartment infected by a deadly virus.

Eventually they are trapped only to discover abandoned research on demonic possession. Without giving anything away, let’s just say that the movie didn’t have a happy ending.

[REC] 2 jumps right back into the action as a medical officer and a SWAT team are sent back into the apartment to control the situation. You will be shocked, scared and screaming at the top of your lungs.

You’ll be the brave and protective boyfriend as she buries her face into your shoulder – just make sure you can handle the movie and you’re not screaming like a girl yourself.

Jennifer’s Body

Megan Fox is explosive on the big screen as high school cheerleader Jennifer, who has a deadly secret.After being rescued one night from a bar caught a blaze, Jennifer mysteriously becomes thirsty for the flesh and blood of her male admirers. As prom approaches, the small town is now threatened by this irresistibly seductive teenager. Jennifer’s best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried), attempts to save her town from falling victim to Jennifer’s incessant appetite.

The embarrassing moments at your prom won’t seem so bad – at least you weren’t devoured by a hungry vampire, even if it WAS Megan Fox.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Enter of the world of fantasy through The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. The buzz surrounding this fi lm was huge, as it’s the fi nal work of Heath Ledger, who unfortunately passed away during its production. To complete the job, director Terry Gilliam brought in Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to keep the magic alive.

In contemporary London, Dr. Parnassus is a showman who made a deal years ago with Mr. Nick, giving him immortality and the power to guide people’s imaginations. Trouble arises when Mr. Nick comes back to collect his debt.

This movie is classic Hollywood at its finest – a legendary star passes during its making and great actors enter the scene to lend a helping hand. The result is a truly outstanding film.

BEST action

Daybreakers

Vampire movies are all the rage this year and Daybreakers is no exception. The year is 2019 and a plague has turned most of the world’s population into vampires. And we’re not talking romantic gothic heartthrobs who sulk in the moonlight. These are undead overlords dictating Earth’s economy and society with no mercy.

Ethan Hawke stars as a conflicted vampire and researcher who is working against the clock to develop a blood replacement while Sam Neill plays a capitalist blood baron. Finally, with Willem Dafoe as Elvis, the crossbrow toting leader of a band of survivors, this vampire movie is nothing like its stereotypical counterparts.

Who knew that blood sucking, capitalist vampires were a bigger threat in the future than global warming? At least we know where to set our priorities.

Valhalla Rising

Valhalla Rising begins on an eerie coast where rival clans meet in battle. One Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) is the most feared and successful fighter. Constantly caged and shackled, One Eye is treated more like an animal than a human being; the only relationship he has is with the young boy who brings him food and water. Upon hearing about One Eye’s reputation as a lethal warrior, the Christians who are now forcibly sweeping the countryside want to use him in their often-violent quest to spread Christianity.

This movie takes you deep into the brutal Viking era – without the comic relief of Antonio Banderas.

The Men Who Stare at Goats
George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges team up on an exciting adventure in The Men Who Stare at Goats that will leave you laughing, yet totally dumbfounded. Based on a non-fiction account by Jon Ronson, a Guardian columnist, the movie is a story about the U.S. Army’s attempt to master psychic and paranormal power during the Vietnam and Iraq wars. Journalist Bob Wilton (McGregor) meets Lyn Cassady (Clooney) who claims to be a part of a military unit called the First Earth Battalion founded by Bill Django (Bridges). This group of soldiers use unconventional means to fight the ‘war on terror’ by training to wear invisibility cloaks and killing goats by staring at them.

In the wake of the Iraq war, the First Earth Battalion sets out on a top secret mission that takes Wilton on a ride of a lifetime.

Get out of watching Harry Potter movies with your kids by telling them that this film also has invisibility cloaks and people who can run through brick walls.

BEST drama

Get Low
Get Low features a first-class cast with Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek. Felix Bush (Duvall) has been a hermit in the Tennessee woods for most of his life. Plagued by rumours questioning his sanity and legends of murderous acts, Bush walks into a funeral parlour and unexpectedly proclaims, “I need a funeral,” to employee Frank Quinn (Bill Murray). As he sets out to throw a funeral party in his house, he wants to draw in his friends and enemies for a final hurrah. Get Low is a perfect platform for Duvall’s long-awaited return to film with this classic tale, based on a true story.

It’s not every day that we get to see the best Hollywood actors in one film so take advantage of this rare treat.

Mr. Nobody
Mr. Nobody isn’t your ordinary drama flick about ‘the meaning of life’. Starring Jared Leto and Diane Kruger, this film is set in the late 21st century where mortality is on the verge of disappearance thanks to advances in stem-cell technology. Nemo (Leto), the oldest living mortal, takes a nostalgic look back at his life while on his deathbed.

More specifically, he looks back at the three separate lives he might have had with three different women - on more than one planet. Through his fragments of memory from childhood to his average Joe life, we can see that his actions were dictated by the motto: “As long as you don’t choose, everything becomes possible.” This film does a great job in encouraging us to think about the choices we make and how we ended up where we are today.

Precious

Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire, Precious is a film of courage and determination. Set in 1987, Harlem, Claireece ‘Precious’ Jones is an illiterate teenager who becomes pregnant with her second child by her absent father. Abused by her unstable and angry mother, Precious is desperate to seek other paths in life. She jumps at the chance to enrol in an alternative school and meets Ms. Rain (Mariah Carey) who becomes her inspirational mentor. With other famous names such as Mo’Nique and Lenny Kravitz, combined with a mesmerizing script, Precious is hotly anticipated among both critics and viewers.

It’s heartbreaking but amazingly uplifting at the same time CHILL with reminders of the harsh reality of life.

BEST comedy

The Invention of Lying

Wouldn’t it be nice if we lived in a world where politicians, advertisers and just about everyone else never lied? Well in The Invention of Lying, there is such a place where lying simply doesn’t exist.

Mark (Ricky Gervais), is on a downward spiral in life and begins to lose hope in his future when he stumbles across the art of lying. He begins to twist the truth for fame and fortune until he realizes that the world is clinging to his every word. As things get out of control, Mark realizes that he can’t lie to the woman he loves (Jennifer Garner).

A movie with great advice: Don’t lie, she’ll always find out.

Leaves of Grass

Edward Norton takes on the role of identical twins Bill and Brady Kincaid in the dark comedy Leaves of Grass. Bill, a brilliant Ivy League classics professor who rids himself of his southern accent and southern working-class roots, is forced to return to his home in Oklahoma upon hearing about his twin brother’s death. As he runs into a rocky relationship with his mother (Susan Sarandon), and the greatly successful marijuanagrowing business built by Brady and his wife, Bill’s only wish is to return back to his Ivy setting where he thinks he belongs.

But before long, he gets entangled in a doomed plot with drug lord Pug Rothbaum (Richard Dreyfuss).

See this movie and have the satisfaction of knowing that the first year prof who gave you a C was wrong; philosophy cannot, in fact, explain everything.

Up in the Air

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) works as a ‘career transition consultant’ – a.k.a. the guy who is hired to fire people for a living. His passion lies in mastering business travel and dreams to reach the elite travellers who’ve achieved the ten million mile mark. But when his new colleague Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) wants to revolutionize the transition industry through video conferencing out of corporate headquarters, Ryan’s goal of travelling is threatened. In an attempt to put a halt to this, he takes Natalie on a road trip to teach her how to “transition” face to face. All the while, he sets up private rendezvous with Alex (Vera Farmiga), a business traveller who begins to stir his emotions and forces Ryan to see the victims of his firings in a new light. Up in the Air is a dark comedy that provides a humorous perspective into corporate America and male mid-life crisis.

If you’re a lawyer or a banker, this movie comes to you as a relief. You’ll no longer be picked on as one of society’s “jerks.”

Solitary Man

Hollywood legend Michael Douglas plays Ben Kalmen, a former car dealership mogul who is knocked out of business as a result of some legal troubles. Kalmen attempts to keep a grip on his life with the help of his substantial libido and relationships with women...a lot of women. With a cast that includes Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito and Jenna Fischer (from The Office), Solitary Man is a guaranteed good time.

Once again, Michael Douglas plays the rich guy with ladies to choose from – but then again, isn’t that why we love him?