TIFF 2014: Sandler, Schwarzenegger, Liotta, Travolta and More Added to Toronto Lineup

This morning the Toronto Film Festival added several more films to their lineup including the world premiere of Thomas McCarthy‘s The Cobbler which stars Adam Sandler as a New York City cobbler who, disenchanted with the grind of daily life, stumbles upon a magical heirloom that allows him to step into the lives of his customers and see the world in a new way. The film co-stars Method Man, Ellen Barkin, Melonie Diaz, Dan Stevens, Steve Buscemi and Dustin Hoffman.

Additionally, Sundance standouts Infinity Polar Bear and Laggies starring Keira Knightley and Chloe Grace Moretz were added to the Gala selection.

Joining The Cobbler as new additions to the Special Presentations field include Olivier Assayas‘ Clouds of Sils Maria starring Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche and Two Days, One Night from Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne and starring Marion Cotillard. Both films made a splash at Cannes earlier this year, as did Matthew Warchus‘ gay rights drama Pride, which is another Special Presentation entrant along with The Search from Michel Hazanavicius, which didn’t exactly receive a warm welcome from the Cannes crowd, but it’s still worth a look.

Also, Paul Bettany has directed a film called Shelter, which will have its world premiere in the Special Presentations selection. The film stars Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie as Hannah and Tahir, two people whose lives intersect as they find themselves homeless on the streets of New York. And Richard Loncraine (Firewall) is coming with Ruth & Alex starring Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton, based on Jill Ciment’s novel “Heroic Measures”. The film centers on a couple who must decide whether or not to sell their Brooklyn walk up of 40 years and appears to mostly be a comedy, and perhaps a farsical one at that.

Philip Martin is coming with The Forger starring John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, Tye Sheridan and Jennifer Ehle in a film telling of a former art prodigy and second generation petty thief (Travolta) who buys his way out of prison to spend time with his ailing son (Sheridan). To do so, he must team up with his father (Plummer) for one last job to pay back the syndicate that arranged his release.

And the titles go on from there, Boychoir features Dustin Hoffman and Kathy Bates; The Connection stars Jean Dujardin; Benicio del Toro, Josh Hutcherson and Claudia Traisac star in Escobar: Paradise Lost ; Beyond the Lights stars rising stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker; and Maggie stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin and Joely Richardson in a story of a Midwestern farmer who stays by the side of his beloved teenage daughter even as she slowly turns into a cannibalistic zombie. Yeah, you read that right.

Then you have Madame Bovary starring Mia Wasikowska, Laura Carmichael, Ezra Miller, Paul Giamatti, Rhys Ifans, Logan Marshall-Green and Henry Lloyd-Hughes; Revenge of the Green Dragons from Andrew Lau and Andrew Loo starring Ray Liotta described as a film in the the vein of crime classics like Mean Streets and Infernal Affairs; and Welcome to Me starring Kristen Wiig and James Marsden.

Finally, the Contemporary World Cinema lineup has filled out with a film directed by Melanie Laurent (Ingorious Basterds), a new film from Ole Christian Madsen (Flame and Citron) and many others.

I’ve included the list of new films added to the lineup below, but you can see the complete linup as of right now right here.

GALAS

Boychoir (dir. FranÃ§ois Girard)
The Connection (La French) (dir. CÃ©dric Jimenez)
Escobar: Paradise Lost (dir. Andrea Di Stefano)
The Forger (dir. Philip Martin)
Infinitely Polar Bear (dir. Maya Forbes)
Laggies (dir. Lynn Shelton)
Ruth & Alex (dir. Richard Loncraine)

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Beyond the Lights (dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood)
Clouds of Sils Maria (dir. Olivier Assayas)
The Cobbler (dir. Thomas McCarthy)
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 2 (Dan Shen Nan Nu 2) (dir. Johnnie To)
Gemma Bovery (dir. Anne Fontaine)
Gentlemen (dir. Mikael Marcimain)
Gomorrah (dir. Stefano Sollima)
Human Highway (Director’s Cut) (dir. Bernard Shakey and Dean Stockwell)
Madame Bovary (dir. Sophie Barthes)
Maggie (dir. Henry Hobson)
Pride (dir. Matthew Warchus)
Revenge of the Green Dragons (dir. Andrew Lau and Andrew Loo)
The Search (dir. Michel Hazanavicius)
Shelter (dir. Paul Bettany)
Three Hearts (3 Coeurs) (dir. BenoÃ®t Jacquot)
Two Days, One Night (Deux jours, une nuit) (dir. Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne)
Welcome to Me (dir. Shira Piven)

CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA

Aire (dir. Libre AnahÃ Berneri)
Amour Fou (dir. Jessica Hausner)
Behavior (Conducta) (dir. Ernesto Daranas)
Bird People (dir. Pascale Ferran)
Black Souls (Anime Nere) (dir. Francesco Munzi)
Charlie’s Country (dir. Rolf de Heer)
Cut Snake (dir. Tony Ayres)
The Dark Horse (dir. James Napier Robertson)
Don’t Breathe (La Faille) (dir. Nino Kirtadze)
The Farewell Party (Mita Tova) (dir. Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit)
Frailer (Brozer) (dir. Mijke de Jong)
Gett, The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (Gett, le procÃ¨s de Vivane Amsalem) (dir. Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz)
The Grump (MielensÃ¤pahoittaja) (dir. Dome Karukoski)
High Society (Le beau monde) (dir. Julie Lopes Curval)
Impunity (dir. Jyoti Mistry)
In the Crosswind (Risttuules) (dir. Martti Helde)
Itsi Bitsi (dir. Ole Christian Madsen)
Justice (Hustisya) (dir. Joel Lamangan)
Kabukicho Love Hotel (Sayonara Kabukicho) (dir. Ryuichi Hiroki)
Kill Me Three Times (dir. Kriv Stenders)
Labyrinth Of Lies (Im Labyrinth des Schweigens) (dir. Giulio Ricciarelli)
Leopardi (Il giovane favoloso) (dir. Mario Martone)
The Lesson (Urok) (dir. Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov)
Li’l Quinquin (P’tit Quinquin) (dir. Bruno Dumont)
Lulu (dir. Luis Ortega)
Margarita, with a Straw (dir. Shonali Bose)
Meet Me in Montenegro (dir. Alex Holdridge and Linnea Saasen)
Men Who Save The World (Lelaki Harapan Dunia) (dir. Liew Seng Tat)
Modris (dir. Juris Kursietis)
Not My Type (Pas son genre) (dir. Lucas Belvaux)
Out of Nature (Mot naturen) (dir. Ole GiÃ¦ver)
The Owners (dir. Adilkhan Yerzhanov)
Partners in Crime (Kong Feng) (dir. Chang Jung-Chi)
The Reaper (Kosac) (dir. Zvonimir JuriÄ‡)
Red Rose (dir. Sepideh Farsi)
Sand Dollars (DÃ³lares de Arena) (dir. Laura Amelia GuzmÃ¡n and Israel CÃ¡rdenas)
Still the Water (Futatsume no mado) (dir. Naomi Kawase)
Tales (Ghesseha) (dir. Rakhshan Banietemad)
Today (Emrouz) (dir. Reza Mirkarimi)
Tour de Force (Hin und weg) (dir. Christian ZÃ¼bert)
Two Shots Fired (Dos disparos) (dir. Martin Rejtman)
The Valley (Al-Wadi) (dir. Ghassan Salhab)
Venice (Venecia) (dir. Kiki Ãlvarez)
Where I Am King (Hari ng Tondo) (dir. Carlos Siguion-Reyna)
Who Am I – No System is Safe (dir. Baran bo Odar)
Xenia (dir. Panos H. Koutras)