TIFF 2013: Top 10 Trailers

The 2013 Toronto International Film Festival is still a few weeks away, but audiences are already getting a taste of what the fest has to offer thanks to a now daily deluge of movie trailers.

There is a whole lot to see at 10-day fest, which features more than 300 films from around the world. The sheer number of movies can be a little overwhelming for festival newcomers and make choosing which flicks to see is a very difficult task. Thankfully though, there are already plenty of trailers to help aid in your decision making. Here are ten TIFF 2013 movies that already have us sold based on their trailers.

10. “Don Jon”

In his directorial debut “Looper” star Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Jon, a bro from New Jersey trying to balance his family and love life with a very serious porn addiction. Jon’s porno obsession has left him with unrealistic expectations about sex and love, a fact that complicates his relationship with Barbara (Scarlett Johansson) – a woman unlike any the lothario has ever met. The film features a bang-up cast that includes Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Channing Tatum, and Anne Hathaway. “Don Jon” was extremely well received by critics at Sundance earlier this year and is sure to be a popular film at TIFF this September.

9. “Fading Gigolo”

“Fading Gigolo” already had us with its hilarious premise (Woody Allen pimping out John Turturro as a male prostitute!) and stellar supporting cast (Sharon Stone, Liev Schreiber, Sofia Vergara, etc.), but this trailer really seals the deal. Written and directed by prolific character actor Turturro, the film probably won’t win any awards, but there’s no denying that it looks like a lot of fun. Woody Allen doesn’t act much these days, and almost never appears in other people’s movies, so his involvement in the project says a lot. “Fading Gigolo” will make its world premiere at TIFF 2013.

8. “Prisoners”

The gripping trailer for Canadian director Denis Villeneuve’s Hollywood debut promises a star-studded and extremely dark revenge thriller. “Prisoners” stars Hugh Jackman as the father of missing young girl who kidnaps the person he suspects is behind his daughter’s disappearance. Villeneuve has assembled a ridiculously talented cast for “Prisoners” that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard, Maria Bello, Paul Dano, Melissa Leo, and Viola Davis. This one definitely has Oscar potential and is, amazingly, one of two feature films that Villeneuve has playing at TIFF 2013 (the other being the Jake Gyllenhaal-starring mindbender “Enemy”).

7. “Kill Your Darlings”

As famed poet Allen Ginsberg “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe leads an impressive young cast in John Krokidas’ beat generation murder mystery “Kill Your Darlings.” Co-starring up-and-comers Elizabeth Olsen, Dane DeHaan, and Jack Huston, the film was extremely well received at Sundance last winter and has been garnering a lot of Oscar buzz in the lead up to Toronto. “Kill Your Darlings” is arguably Radcliffe’s most important post-“Potter” role to date and one of three new movies (the others being “Horns” and “The F Word”) that the young actor has appearing at TIFF 2013. This is one movie to watch.

6. “Jodorowsky’s Dune”

This fascinating documentary about a movie that was never made a big splash at Cannes earlier this year. The doc chronicles the ultimately failed efforts of cult cinema icon and madcap writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky (“El Topo,” “Holy Mountain”) to bring an insane vision of Frank Herbert’s epic science fiction novel “Dune” to the big screen. Jodorowsky’s 14-hour film version of “Dune” is perhaps the greatest movie never filmed, and would have included the musical talents of Pink Floyd, the conceptual knowhow of “Alien” artists H. R. Giger and Jean “Moebius” Giraud, and surrealist Salvador Dalí and impresario Orson Welles as actors! To answer your question: Yes, Jodorowsky was on drugs. If you see one documentary at TIFF, you should probably make it “Jodorowsky’s Dune.”

5. “The Fifth Estate”

There’s nothing like a ripped-from-the-headlines premise to generate film festival buzz, and perhaps no other movie at TIFF 2013 is more timely or buzz worthy than “The Fifth Estate.” Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (“Star Trek Into Darkness”) as an uncanny big screen version of egomaniacal info-warrior Julian Assange, the film follows the rise of WikiLeaks and the efforts of many to suppress the organization. Featuring a tremendous international cast and a boatload of Oscar potential (particularly for Cumberbatch), “The Fifth Estate” is set to open TIFF 2013 on September 5th.

4. “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”

Having successfully cancelled the apocalypse in Guillermo del Toro’s robots vs. monsters throwdown “Pacific Rim,” English actor Idris Elba turns to much more grounded and serious fare for his next part: the titular role in “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” a biopic about South African revolutionary and politician Nelson Mandela. Although award season is still months away, many are already tipping Elba for a Best Actor Oscar nomination. “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” is set to make its world premiere at TIFF 2013, so we’ll know if that Oscar buzz for Elba has legs very soon.

3. “Rush”

Racing movies are a hard sell. Formula 1 racing may be fast and it may be dangerous, but something always seems to get lost when filmmakers try to translate that speed and danger into a feature film. Director Ron Howard is looking to change that with his supercharged F1 movie "Rush," starring Chris Hemsworth ("Thor") and Daniel Brühl ("Inglourious Basterds). The true story of the rivalry between F1 drivers James Hunt (Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Brühl), Howard's film (or at least its trailer) manages to capture that thrilling feeling of speed that comes from high risk racing.

2. “12 Years a Slave”

Some trailers just scream Oscar. Adapted from the memoir of the same name, “12 Years a Slave” is the latest film from acclaimed British director and TIFF favourite Steve McQueen (“Hunger,” “Shame”). The star-studded movie tells the amazing true story of Solomon Northup, a free-born African-American who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the pre-Civil War American South. The film features Chiwetel Ejiofor as Northup, along with a ridiculously talented cast that includes the likes of Pitt, Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Alfre Woodard, and Paul Giamatti.

1. “Gravity”

"Children of Men" director Alfonso Cuarón teams with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock for this harrowing tale of two space castaways. After their space shuttle and station are destroyed, astronauts Ryan Stone (Bullock) and Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) find themselves adrift in orbit above Earth. Featuring gorgeous 3D and only 156 shots for its entire runtime (the opening scene is reportedly one unbroken 17-minute shot!) "Gravity" is sure to be a feast for the eyes. If you're afraid of heights the trailer below will definitely knock your socks off -- just imagine a two hour version of that. Other films may clean up come awards season, but "Gravity" definitely wins our award for best TIFF 2013 trailer.

More trailers for TIFF 2013 movies are sure to crop up in the coming weeks, but if you've been having a hard time deciding what to see at this year's fest, the preceding list is probably a pretty great place to start.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 5 to 15.