In Toronto, a promising film lineup
TORONTO -- Martin Short is taking Hollywood to task with "Jiminy Glick in Lalawood," a comic tale of celebrity culture that will close next month's Toronto International Film Festival.
Short plays the title character, an entertainment critic for a Butte, Mont., TV station who comes to the Toronto festival and scores a coup: A rare interview with a reclusive movie megastar. Jiminy ends up in the middle of a tawdry sex scandal when a starlet turns up dead in his bed.
Directed by Vadim Jean, the film was co-written by Short, also a producer. The movie is based on the character Short originated on his TV shows "The Martin Short Show" and "Primetime Glick."
Other high-profile films announced yesterday include:
David O. Russell's ensemble comedy "I Heart Huckabees," featuring Dustin Hoffman, Naomi Watts, Jude Law, Lily Tomlin, and Mark Wahlberg.
"Kinsey," starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney in Bill Condon's film biography of Alfred Kinsey, the pioneer of human-sexuality research.
"Imaginary
"Head in the Clouds," a romantic drama starring Charlize Theron as a woman trying to maintain her hedonistic life against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War and World War II.
"Sideways," Alexander Payne's story about aging pals (Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church) on a last joy ride before one of them gets married.
"Crash," about eight characters drawn together by a car wreck and a murder investigation. The cast includes Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, and Thandie Newton.
Sean Penn and Watts in "The Assassination of Richard Nixon," about a failed salesman who sets out to kill Nixon in 1974.
The Toronto festival runs from Sept. 9 to 18.
