'The Imitation Game' Earns TIFF People's Choice Award

The 39th Annual Toronto Film Festival drew to a close yesterday, and as usual the event wrapped up with the announcements of the award winners, usually a strong indicator of what will be Oscar contenders later in the year. And this year saw The Weinstein Company once again claiming the most prestigious honor, the People's Choice Award, for their Alan Turing biopic, The Imitation Game, increasing the Oscar hopes of a film many already saw as a contender.

The Imitation Game beat out two well-received dramedies. One was St. Vincent, the Bill Murray/Melissa McCarthy-starring film that has Murray back in the Best Actor discussion. The other was Isabel Coixet's Learning to Drive, starring Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley.

For the genre fans, the People's Choice Midnight Madness award went to What We Do in the Shadows, directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi from HBO's Flight of the Conchords. The full list of winners is below:

People's Choice Award:
 "The Imitation Game," directed by Morten Tyldum
People's Choice Award For Documentary:
 "Beats Of The Anatov," directed by Hajooj Kuka
People's Choice Award For Midnight Madness: "What We Do In Shadows," directed by Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
Best Canadian Feature Film:
 "Felix and Meira," Directed by Maxime Giroux
Best Canadian First Feature Film: "Bang Bang Baby," Directed by Jeffrey St. Jules
Prizes of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Special Presentations Section:
 "Time Out of Mind," Directed by Oren Moverman
Prizes of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Discovery Section:
 "May Allah Bless France!," Directed by Abd Al Malik
NETPAC Award For Best Asian Film:
 "Margarita, With a Straw," Directed by Shonali Bose
Best International Short Film: "A Single Body," Directed by  Sotiris Dounoukos
Best Canadian Short Film: "The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer," Directed by  Randall Okita

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New Trailer for 'Rio 2' Takes to the Air

With only a few exceptions from the usual suspects, this has been a pretty weak year for animated movies. Pixar's Monsters University was a hit at the box office but hardly their most inspired work, and Despicable Me 2 was an enjoyable if familiar sequel. Disney's Frozen has given the year a substantial boost but overall the field has left much to be desired. Fortunately, 2014 is looking a lot better, and a film that's guaranteed to be the most vibrant is Rio 2.

Bringing back Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway as the voices of macaws Blu and Jewel, the film finds leaving their boring domesticated city life for a return to nature in the Amazon jungle. Expect lots of crazy characters, salsa music and big dance numbers orchestrated by director Carlos Saldanha.

Featuring the voices of Jemaine Clement, Tracey Morgan, Leslie Mann, George Lopez, Rodrigo Santoro, Andy Garcia, Rita Moreno, Natalie Morales, Kristen Chenworth and Jamie Foxx, Rio 2 opens April 11th 2014. Check out the latest trailer below:

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Alec Baldwin, Sharlto Copley, Gemma Arterton to join Men in Black 3?

Man, they're pulling out all the stops just to get me interested in Men in Black 3, aren't they? Clearly this is all just for me. First they bring in Emma Thompson(whom I love) to play the modern day boss of MIB, and now reports are Alex Baldwin is negotiating to play the boss back in 1969. Remember, this third installment of Barry Sonnenfeld's sci-fi comedy series is basically a time travel story.

Along with Baldwin, Sharlto Copley(District 9) and Gemma Arterton(Clash of the Titans) are in talks for roles. Copley will once again be playing an alien, so he's pretty much trying to corner the martian market. Arterton will reportedly be Baldwin's secretary, which sounds like a cameo and far beneath her at this point. I'm sure there's more to it than that. She'll probably end up a love interest of some sort, and hopefully not drowned in oil. 

Men in Black 3 reunites Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as agents J and K. When a villanious alien(played by Jemaine Clement) goes back in time to kill K, agent J travels back and teams up with a younger version of K(Josh Brolin) to put a stop to it. 

MIB 3 is set to begin principle photography in just a few days in New York, lasting until May of next year.

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