Polanski, Rooney & Madonna head fall film fest line-ups

Come September the movie business turns towards the serious. The popcorn movies that drove the summer box office give way to more adult-oriented prestige fare aimed at the midwinter award season.

To get the buzz out for such films studios and distributors turn to three prestigious film festivals - one in Italy, one in Canada and one n the United States. This past week the Venice Film Festival, The Toronto Film Festival and the New York Film Festival announced the films they'll be showing. Here's an overview of what's been announced to date for these three festivals:

One controversial director's latest film has gotten the prestigious opening slot in New York: Roman Polanski's "Carnage" will open this year's New York Film Festival.

Legal issues over Polanski's extradition to the United States for a 1977 child sex case in California filled the headlines for weeks last year. He was released from house arrest in Switzerland late last year when extradition to the United States was denied.

"A new pinnacle" for Polanski

According to the Associated Press, he still faces an Interpol warrant in effect for 188 countries for a 1977 child sex case in California.

"God of Carnage," his first film following extradition, is adapted from Yasmina Reza's 2009 Tony Award-winning play "God of Carnage." Shot in Paris earlier this year, it stars Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly.�

Sony Pictures Classic will release "Carnage" later this year.

The play is about a degenerating evening between two couples meeting after their kids were involved in a playground fight. Like the Broadway production, the film is set in Brooklyn. The original play was in French and set in Paris.�

Richard Pena, selection committee chairman and program director, calls the film "a new pinnacle" for the director. Polanski's directorial debut, "Knife in the Water," screened at the first New York Film Festival.�

The 49th annual New York Film festival runs Sept. 30 through Oct. 16. The remaining slates of titles has yet to be announced. To find more about the New Film Festival .

Clooney heads Venice

While "Carnage" will first premiere at the 68th annual Venice Film Festival in September and play it competition, it will not open that event. Instead that will be Hollywood actor-director George Clooney's political thriller "The Ides of March."

Clooney, 50, has directed and acted in the film, which has been selected by the organizers as the festival opener on August 31, reported E! Online.

The Oscar winning actor will be seen alongside Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the film.

Amongst the other films in competition are William Friedkin's "Killer Joe," starring Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsch based on Tracey Letts' dark play; David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," starring Viggo Mortensen (as Sigmund Freud) and Michael Fassbender (as Carl Jung); and Todd Solodz's Dark Horse, starring Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow.

Madonna's directorial "W.E," Al Pacino's "Salome" and Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion" are among those set to be screened out of competition.

The festival runs from August 31 September 10, 2011. For more on the Venice Film Festival, visit the Festival's website.

Music tops Toronto

The Toronto Film Festival, which runs from September 8 - 18. 2011, is by far the biggest of the three with some 300-400 films screened in 37 Toronto venues. It is as much a merchandise mart as it is a competitive film festival, which is why it is cited as being, along with Sundance and Cannes, the most important for platforming a new film. Last year the strong buzz for "The King's Speech" began after its screening at Toronto where it won the People's Choice Award. Amongst other films to take that award in the past few years have been "Precious," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Eastern Promise."

What's interesting about this year is that festival begins on a musical note as a documentary portrait of the rock band U2 opens the Toronto International Film Festival.

According to a report by David Germain in the Associated Press, the organizers say the Canadian festival will launch Sept. 8 with "From the Sky Down," a chronicle of the Irish band led by singer Bono. The film was made by "An Inconvenient Truth" director Davis Guggenheim and marks the first time in its 36-year history that the Toronto festival has opened with a documentary.

Director Cameron Crowe ("Almost Famous") ventures into musical documentary with another Toronto premiere, "Pearl Jam Twenty," tracing the band's formation and how its members pulled back from the spotlight to cope after its rise to stardom.

Singer Madonna also is headed to the Toronto festival, as director of "W.E.," a film that intercuts between the romance of a modern woman (Abbie Cornish) and the relationship of American socialite Wallis Simpson and Britain's King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne for love in the 1930s.

Other highlights for the 11-day festival include Brad Pitt's baseball tale "Moneyball"; Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman and Olivia Wilde's comic story "Butter"; Kristen Wiig, Megan Fox and Jon Hamm's parenthood comedy "Friends with Kids"; and Keira Knightley's Sigmund Freud-Carl Jung drama "A Dangerous Method," directed by David Cronenberg and featuring Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender.

George Clooney has two films at Toronto, directing and co-starring alongside Ryan Gosling in the political saga "The Ides of March" and starring in the family story "The Descendants," directed by Alexander Payne ("Sideways").

Rachel Weisz also appears in two Toronto films, the love-affair chronicle "The Deep Blue Sea" and the ensemble love story "360," inspired by Arthur Schnitzler's play "La Ronde" and featuring Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Anthony Hopkins.

Also playing at Toronto are Glenn Close's Irish drama "Albert Nobbs"; Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener's family comedy "Peace, Love & Misunderstanding"; Sarah Polley's relationship tale "Take This Waltz," with Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen; Ralph Fiennes' Shakespeare adaptation "Coriolanus"; Freida Pinto's "Trishna," an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" transplanted to modern India; and Francis Ford Coppola's murder mystery "Twixt," with Val Kilmer.

For more on the Toronto International Film Festival, visit its website.