This Week in Film: Carnage, We Bought a Zoo, and what's new on DVD and Blu Ray

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This Week in Film rounds up noteworthy new releases in theatres, as well as key DVD / Blu-Ray releases, festivals, and other cinema-related events happening in Toronto.

IN THEATRES

Carnage (Varsity, starts Friday, December 30th @ TIFF Bell Lightbox)

From the man who brought us a bunch of classic nail-biter thrillers like The Tenant, Repulsion, and Rosemary's Baby - a comedy of manners? The TIFF Lightbox caps off its Roman Polanski retrospective this weekend with the director's kind-of-surprising latest project, Carnage. Adapted from a stage play, the set up for Carnage is two sets of parents meeting to discuss their sons' playground squabble. In 79 minutes, Carnage goes from a civil discussion to a huffy showdown between Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet, and Christoph Waltz in a New York City apartment.

We Bought a Zoo (AMC, Carlton, Beach)

We Bought a Zoo is a solid pick to push for in that annual holiday argument over what movie the whole family will go see. The film is being marketed as sentimental mush, but if anyone can do that sort of thing well, it's Cameron Crowe (Say Anything, Almost Famous). In this one, he's got Matt Damon playing a single dad who moves his family to a rundown zoo that needs saving. It sounds godawful, but reviews have noted that the characters and romance are not at all generic, that Damon's performance is intelligent and heartfelt, plus, there are zebras and kangaroos.

Also New-ish This Week:

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (AMC)
War Horse (Rainbow Market Square, Scotiabank)
The Darkest Hour 3D (AMC, Carlton)
Pina (TIFF Bell Lightbox)

IN REP CINEMA

For recommendations on what to catch at Toronto's rep cinema's this week, check out This Week in Rep Cinema.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

An African Election (Wednesday, January 4, TIFF Bell Lightbox)

This month's edition of Doc Soup goes behind-the-scenes of the 2008 presidential election in Ghana. Apparently there are twists and turns, intrigue and suspense in this documentary - and all this while we're learning about the country's politics, economy, and social fabric. A welcome change of pace after a snoozy holiday week, that should be worth braving the lineup for.

2001: A Space Odyssey (TIFF Bell Lightbox)

No plans for NYE? At 8pm on Saturday, December 31st (and through the week) Stanley Kubrick's trippy sci-fi masterpiece is on as part of TIFF's revival run of epics screened in 70mm. The story follows two astronauts on a mission to Jupiter, searching for answers about a monolith found on the moon. Things get a little tense when the ship's sentient computer HAL goes rogue and takes over. It's huge, awe-inspiring, beautifully photographed, and not a bad way to start/end the year.

DVD