New Avengers Portraits Online

And the cast speak!There's a set of new Avengers pics and some choice morsels of information from the castsetting the interwebs a-buzz this morning, courtesy of a new cover story from Entertainment Weekly. Look: Mark Ruffalo is doing Blue Steel!Much of what's revealed is unremarkable: Chris Evans says that the newly future-arrived Captain America is "lonely" and "a fish out of water"; Scarlett Johansson worries that she doesn't look cool enough with guns rather than something more super.But Chris Hemsworth teases an interesting dynamic for Thor within the larger group: trying to protect his brother Loki while at the same time joining the fight against him. Jeremy Renner claims that Hawkeye is the only member of the team who can take down The Hulk "with his tranq-tip arrows", and says he has a particular bond with Johansson's Black Widow.And Ruffalo has some amusing material about Bruce Banner's relationship with Tony Stark: "Banner's the most mild-mannered guy, but a total loose cannon. No one wants to set him off except for Iron Man, who just wants to see him pop. It's funny, there's a really cool dynamic between Tony Stark and Banner. Banner actually enjoys it, and finds it really refreshing. They're a lot alike in a strange way. They're both these kind of scientists who are mavericks, kind of renegades. Banner, for all his mild-mannered mythology, he's still the dude who was testing some pretty crazy shit on himself, so he has that rebel streak in him."Robert Downey Jr meanwhile says that his on-set demeanour has been "just fucking aggressive and hurtful... whatever... the usual." Head over to EW for the full interviews. The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, is out on May 4 next year.

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Verizon Appeals FCCs Internet Neutrality Rules

Verizon’sfight to overturn theFCC’s internet neutrality rules is on. The phone giant today asked for the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. to a part of and consider whether government physiques have the legal right to set rules for that internet.Verizon wireless carrier Deputy General Counsel MichaelGlover states the FCCs “assertion of broad authority to impose potentially sweeping and pointless rules” round the Webis “inconsistent while using statute and may create uncertainty for your communications industry, leaders, traders and clients. The FCC states the recommendations are crucial toprotect competition: They wouldbar most broadband companies fromfavoring their unique services — for example, Comcast couldn’t transmit videos from Hulu faster than ones from, say, Netflix.”Ruling in Verizon’s favor would finish outdoors Internet to be sure it by leaving the kind of Verizon accountable for which websites and services work and which don’t,” states Matt Wood of consumer activist group Free Press — which just filed its own attract increase the risk for rules harder. Verizon’s challenge was expected: Ittried early this year to offer the internet neutrality rules shot lower nevertheless the court mentioned your time and energy was premature simply because they hadn’t been official yet. That changed the other day when the FCC put the rules into the Federal Register.

'Nightline' Beats Letterman, Leno Ratings for Premiere Week for First Time

Donna Svennevik/ABC NEW YORK - Ratings for NBC's The Tonight Show With Jay Lenoand CBS' Late Show With David Lettermanfell below those of ABC news magazine Nightline during fall season premiere week, a first during that week, the NY Times reported.our editor recommendsABC News' 'Nightline' Tops Jay Leno, David Letterman'Nightline' developing Twitter showMarc Anthony Breaks Silence on Split From Jennifer Lopez in 'Nightline' Interview (Video)Gov. Chris Christie Mocked on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' (Video) Both late-night talk shows had a 0.8 rating - their lowest ever for a premiere week, the Times said. Meanwhile, Nightline's overall viewership was up 7 percent from last year, while the late-night talk shows recorded declines especially in younger viewer segments, the paper said. It added that ABC's success spilled over to its own late-night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, which had its second best premiere week ever. 5 Best Clips of 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' Letterman lost 560,000 viewers from last year, down 15 percent, while Leno lost 160,000 for a 4 percent drop. Among viewers aged 18 to 49, Leno was down 20 percent, or 270,000 viewers, while Letterman dropped 16 percent, losing 200,000 viewers, according to the Times. Overall, Nightline had 1.25 million viewers in the 18 to 49 demo, compared with 1.07 million for Leno and 1.05 million for Letterman. The Times highlighted though that Nightline benefits from being a half hour rather than an hour-long show. Letterman's performance in the young demos narrowed his gap with Leno though. A year ago, he had been behind by slightly less than 100,000 viewers in the young demo. Jimmy Kimmel Jay Leno David Letterman

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Netflix to bow 'Borgia'

BERLIN -- Netflix has acquired rights for your U . s . States premiere of Tom Fontana's 12-part TV series "Borgia." The $Thirty Dollars million historic small, which stars John Doman ("The Wire") as Rodrigo Borgia/Pope Alexander Mire, will bow inside the U.S. round the VOD provider, that includes a lot a lot more than 25 million clients inside the U.S., Canada and Latin America. "Video if needed now plays a substantial role within the value chain of premium content," mentioned Eric Welbers of Munich-based Beta Film, that's disseminating the series. "Inside the U.S., VOD platforms for instance Netflix are becoming market players on componen while using majors and, for people, an ideal partner for your first airing." Elizabeth Bradley, Netflix's director of content acquisition, added, "Netflix is thrilled to produce this compelling tale of family, energy and intrigue towards the U.S. clients. Our everyone loves scrumptious historic dramas and 'Borgia' is a good one." "Borgia" has offered in nearly 40 nations so far, including Italia, The nation, Japan, Russia and Latin America. In Italia, the series has shown a sizable hit for Sky Italia. Furthermore, it premieres the next month in France (Canal Plus), Germany (ZDF) and Austria (ORF). "Borgia" is produced by Lagardere Entertainment's Atlantique Prods. in France, and co-produced by Jan Mojto's Eos 550d 550d Entertainment, which has Beta, additionally to Prague's Etic. An foe production, Neil Jordan's Jeremy Irons starrer "The Borgias," bowed on Showtime in April. Contact Erection dysfunction Meza at staff@variety.com

Kino Lorber nabs U.S. rights to 'Elles'

Kino Lorber has snapped up U.S. rights to "Elles," starring Juliette Binoche and newcomers Joanna Kulig and Anais Demoustier, following its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. Kino Lorber said late Thursday that it expects to release "Elles" next year with a NY theatrical premiere yet to be scheduled. Directed by Polish filmmaker Malgoska Szumowska ("Happy Man") and written by Tine Byrckel, "Elles" tells the story of a well-off Paris-based mother -- played by Binoche -- who works as an investigative journalist for Elle Magazine. As she discovers the world of student prostitution and begins to get close to two young women who finance their studies by moonlighting as sex workers, she begins to question her most intimate convictions about money, family, sex and her own identity. The deal was negotiated between Kino Lorber's president and CEO Richard Lorber, and Tanja Meissner, the head of international sales and acquisitions of Paris-based Memento Films International. Kino Lorber also announced it has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to the French drama "The Giants," directed by Bouli Lanners ("Eldorado"), and to the Thai existential actioner "Headshot" by Pen-ek Ratanaruang. "The Giants" premiered at Cannes in Directors' Fortnight and "Headshot" premiered in the Vanguard Section at Toronto. Kino Lorber said it will offer both films to audiences across the U.S. and Canada with theatrical releases next year followed by wide distribution via digital media and home video. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

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Cajas,' 'Infancy' top Films in Progress

SAN SEBASTIAN -- "7 Cajas," from Paraguay's Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori, won the Industry Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival's 20th Films in Progress rough-cut showcase. Prize covers the film's post-production costs through to a 35mm print. Lead-produced by Luis Puenzo's Buenos Aires-based Historias Cinematograficas, "Clandestine Infancy" won Spain's Casa de America Aid -- a Euros10,000 ($13,670) cash-prize. Plaudits went to the FIP film that probably needed a prize the most -- "Cajas" was produced without foreign fund coin -- and was one of the titles in the section with the best production values. A rarity -- a truly exotic feature in a globalized age -- comedic thriller "Cajas" drinks from several wells, including back-alley Hong Kong chop-socky and Cockney criminal capers. But "Cajas" slots a fairly by-the-numbers plot -- a wide-eyed 17-year-old innocent embroiled in a bungled kidnapping -- into a completely non-standard context: the demi-monde of Asuncion's central market. Lit with the subjective glow of memory, '70s Argentina-set "Infancy" narrates an adolescent's high-school puppy love as his parents, both Montonero urban guerrilla members, organize armed resistance to Argentina's military junta. It left hardly a dry eye in the house. FIP also featured Mexican Gabriel Marino's coming-of-age road movie "Un Mundo secreto" and "La Playa," a drama about broken dreams from Colombia's Juan Andres Arango. The pic centers on three teen Afro-Colombian brothers who, abandoned by their mother, flee to La Playa, a Bogota mean-streets hood. What was so notable about this year's FIP, however, was how two of its best-received titles -- Chilean Marialy Rivas' Fabula-produced "Young and Wild" and Brazilian Marcelo Gomes' "Once Upon a Time Veronica," from Dezenove -- captured a Latin American reality of middle classes whose members are now rich enough to confront problems of the heart, not of the wallet. A barbed, candid, comedic chronicle of teen sex angst, "Wild" has the daughter of two bible-bashing Evangelists battling her large sense of guilt, but larger libido as she swings both ways, romancing via Internet chat and drawing up an 11-point Gospel on sex. Playing to applause, it had sales agents -- LGBT and Latin American specialists -- circling the title post-screening. Femme drama "Veronica" chronicles the life of a young Recife woman doctor who lives in a nice-enough high-rise with an ailing father and shies away from marriage. Notably, her employment concerns are whether she likes her job, not whether she's got one at all. Films in Progress ran Sept. 20-11. The San Sebastian Festival ends Saturday. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

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Liam Neeson Co-Stars With Alaskan Wilderness and Angry Wolves in First Trailer For The Grey

After disappointing most critics earlier this year in Unknown, an ironically familiar amnesia thriller, Liam Neeson returns to the box office this winter with The Grey. As a plane crash survivor who is forced to fend for himself in the Alaskan wilderness, Neeson stars alongside Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo and a pack of angry wolves in the action thriller from Smokin’ Aces director Joe Carnahan. Take a look at the first trailer below. According to Open Road Films, The Grey features “Liam Neeson [as he] leads an unruly group of oil-rig roughnecks [after] their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Battling mortal injuries and merciless weather, the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements — and a vicious pack of rogue wolves on the hunt — before their time runs out.” The Grey marks a reunion for Neeson and Carnahan, who directed the actor in The A-Team last year. The film, which was shot in British Columbia, was produced by Ridley and Tony Scott and is slated for a January 27 release. Verdict: As long as no one resorts to Donner Party survival tactics, I’m in. [Yahoo!]

The Boy Who Had Been a King

An Agitprop production in co-production with Zero One Film and Bayerischer Rundfunk, in colaboration with Funnel 4/TSR/YLE. (Worldwide sales: Autlook Filmsales, Vienna.) Created by Martichka Bozhilova. Directed, compiled by Andrey Paounov.With: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. (Bulgarian, British dialogue)The eccentricity that informed Andrey Paounov's first feature docu, "The Bug Problem along with other Tales," runs just like a live wire throughout his amusing "The Boy Who Had Been a King." Fighting off standard documaking codes, Paounov's portrait from the unusual political career of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Bulgaria's child king throughout World war 2 and then chosen pm, is another study of his fellow Bulgarians as well as their inclination to transport their passion for royalty too much. Pic's only a miniature, but it might be an error for nonfiction fests to miss it. Presuming the throne at 7 in 1943, King Simeon was tossed in to the absurd situation to be the earth's youngest mind of condition plus an ally of Hitler, then fled to Cairo at war's finish once the U.S.S.R. required charge of defeated Bulgaria. Pic's terrific utilization of archival footage includes an exiled Simeon questioned in early '60s, arguing his playboy repetition. His publish-1989 return like a national hero goes south when his term as chosen P.M. proves failing, but pic offers amusing good examples of popular support for Simeon, including plenty of tattooing. Editing is bullets.Camera (color/B&W, HD), Boris Missirkov, Georgi Bogdanov editors, Svetla Neykova, Rene Froelke, Georgi Bogdanov, Paounov music, Ivo Paunov. Examined at Toronto Film Festival (Real to Reel), Sept. 14, 2011. (Also working in london Film Festival.) Running time: 90 MIN. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Toronto 2011: Day 4 Recap

This morning, I attended a screening of Dee Rees's Pariah, a gritty look at the life of a young black girl trying to come to terms with her sexuality. I found the film, which premiered at Sundance in January, to be excellent, largely because of the central performance of Adepero Oduye (who also starred in a short version of the film that went to the Utah film festival in 2006). I then headed over to the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, where I was to interview actress Keira Knightley about her film-stealing performance in A Dangerous Method, figuring that I would arrive early and review my notes. On my way to the room where the interview was to be held, though, I heard a bit of noise coming from a conference room, opened a slightly ajar door, and saw Knightley sitting on a dais fielding questions from journalists. I assumed that I had stumbled upon the press conference for the film, to which I had previously received an invitation, so I quietly sat down at the back of the room. It was only after Knightley started fielding some pretty strange questions -- stuff like whether she has seen more than one man at a time, like her character ("That sounds very tiring"); whether she has ever been to a psychologist in her own life ("For some reason I don't feel comfortable answering that question"); and whether it's possible to have both penis envy and vagina envy at the same time ("You know, I don't know!") -- that I realized that it was not the general press conference for the film, but one held specifically for members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. (Before long, I was spotted and hustled out of the room.) When Knightley wrapped up with the press conference, she joined me in another room for a 15-minute interview. I found her to be lovely and smart as a whip. (Video of our conversation will post on the blog shortly.) I then hustled across town to the Park Hyatt, where I had back-to-back interviews with the aforementioned Rees and Oduye about Pariah. Rees -- who studied under Spike Lee at NYU, wrote her semi-autobiographical film while interning on the set of his film Inside Man (2006), and ultimately convinced him to executive produce it -- is going to be a force to be recknoned with for many years to come. Oduye, meanwhile, turns out to be as different as possible from the character the she played -- bubbly and outgoing, she still can't believe how far this project has taken her. (Video of our conversations will post on the blog shortly.) Finally, I attended a dinner for Albert Nobbs, the cross-dressing period drama that I saw at the Telluride Film Festival two weeks ago. Co-writer/star Glenn Close, whom I interviewed in Telluride, held court at the main table. I was happy to hang with my fellow Oscar bloggers on the side, where I also had a chance to visit briefly with Close's co-star Janet McTeer and director Rodrigo Garcia. I mentioned to McTeer that I had enjoyed her immensely in Tumbleweeds (1999), for which she received a best actress Oscar nomination 12 years ago. She said that film had also played at Telluride, and that she had accompanied it there when it did (developing altitude sickness in the process), but that she was unable to accompany Nobbs this year primarily because she had to attend the wedding of a family friend. It worked out well, because distributor Roadside Attractions felt that it would be better to let audiences unexpectedly stumble upon her character anyway -- when you see the film, you'll get why. I wouldn't question Roadside's wisdom in such a situation -- as you may recall, only last year they guided another little film, Winter's Bone (2010), to Oscar nods for best picture, best actress, and best adapted screenplay! Meanwhile, I told Garcia that he has earned my lifelong affection for the instrumental role he played in bringing the HBO show In Treatment to fruition. He was the show-runner during the show's first season, during which Mia Wasikowska gave her breakthrough performance. Garcia said that he emailed Wasikowska about a part in Nobbs when Amanda Seyfried was forced to drop out of the project just days before shooting was to begin. As Wasikowska told me last Thursday, she didn't even read beyond the subject line of the email before saying "yes" to the chance to work with the director again. When asked about Close, whom he had directed twice before Nobbs, Garcia noted that she is one of only a small handful of actresses over the age of 60 who can basically get a film made, the others being Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, and perhaps Jane Fonda and Susan Sarandon. As they say, getting older ain't fun... even -- or perhaps especially -- in Hollywood. Toronto International Film Festival

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Eddie Murphy to host 2012 Oscars

It's official! Fast-talking comedian Eddie Murphy will compere the 2012 Oscar ceremony on 26 February.Confirmation came from the show's producers Brett Ratner and Don Mischer.Don't expect the F-bombs of Beverly Hills Cop, though. Both producers say the show will remain family-friendly."This guy was in Shrek," Ratner told USA Today. "He's done family movies for the past 10 years. He's done Oprah.""He's very smart and knows this is very much of a family type of show," added Mischer."I am enormously honoured to join the great list of past Academy Award hosts from Hope and Carson to Crystal, Martin and Goldberg, among others," Murphy said.Anne Hathaway and James Franco hosted the 2011 show.

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Ron Howard to direct super hero drama 364?

Ron Howard is incorporated in the frame to direct the film 364, with different script by Safe House author David Guggenheim.The film is occur a global where super forces are dished out for just one day annually - the amount of the title refers back to the days an ordinary guy stays considering what he's going related to individuals capabilities.Universal pre-emptively bought the script with different pitch from Guggenheim.Guggenheim was formerly an editor at US Weekly but quit his job when he offered the script for Safe House, that has just wrapped and stars Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington.

RealD pacts with Chinese exhib

BEIJING -- RealD, a worldwide licensor of three dimensional technologies, has registered with Chinese cinema operator Shimao Investment to set up RealD three dimensional technology on 100 cinema screens over the Shimao circuit in China. The 100 screens are a part of a preliminary deployment phase by having an choice to increase the amount of RealD three dimensional installations, the audience stated inside a statement. Shimao needs to develop their circuit within the next 5 years to 60 theater locations amassing 500 screens, many of which are required to include RealD 3-D technology. This agreement brings the entire quantity of cinema screens in China devoted to RealD three dimensional technology to at least one,000 with roughly 400 installations to-date. "It is really an exciting time for three dimensional within the burgeoning Chinese cinema market where some recent films have shipped as much as 80% of the total box office from three dimensional showings," Edman Chan, RealD's g.m. of Greater China, stated inside a statement. This past year China added 313 theaters and 1,533 screens for any total of approximately 6,200 screens. Roughly three 450-chair theaters were being built every single day, although three-quarters of Chinese metropolitan areas still do not have decent facilities. And also the current quantity of screens means about one for each 200,000 people versus. one per 9,000 people within the U.S. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Entertainment One nabs 'Hooligans,' 'Bridge'

TORONTO -- Entertainment One has nabbed Donal MacIntyre's ''Hooligans'' for U.K. distribution and indie horror ''Devils Bridge'' for Blighty, Scandinavia, Oz and New Zealand.Both pics are being shopped by London and L.A.-based Stealth Media Group. ''Hooligans,'' produced by Eyeline Entertainment's Duncan Napier-Bell, focuses on the corruption within the professional soccer world, one of the world's most viewed sports. It is currently in pre-production and is expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2012. ''Devil's Bridge'' is a gritty psychological thriller from first time helmer Chris Crow. It follows the story of a young man, whose business is failing, who heads into rural Wales and finds himself in unknown territory. When he and a friend cross paths with a farmer, the encounter spins out of control as the farmer hunts them through the rugged terrain. Pic is produced by Dogs of Annwn's David Lloyd and Crow and Kraken Film and Motion's Vern L. Raye. Earlier this week, Stealth Media Group boarded Ethan Hawke and Heather Graham starrer ''Shoedog,'' helmed by George Pelecanos (scribe of ''The Pacific and the Wire''), which it is shopping to buyers in Toronto. Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com

Robopocalypse Will get A Release Date

Spielberg's 'bot buster lands in 2013As excited as moviegoers ought to be about War Equine and Tintin, the chance of Steven Spielberg's next project, sci-fi actioner Robopocalypse, should curently have you breaking your best robot dance. By today, it's an international release date - This summer 3, 2013 - the very first day from the Independence Day holiday in america. Yup, this is actually the place blockbusters visit blow ginormous some misconception. Even Spielberg's Belgian boy question might have to bow prior to the global maelstrom the director will probably release upon us in the next project. Funding his adaptation of Daniel H. Wilson's page-turner are twentieth century Fox and also the Spielberg-founded DreamWorks Pictures. States Spielberg inside a joint announcement through the two galleries: "I'm so pleased that (twentieth century Fox joint-CEOs) Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos begin to see the same exciting possibilities in Robopocalypse that people initially saw whenever we bought the privileges towards the book. We'd a effective relationship together and Fox whenever we made Minority Report and that we hope we are able to deliver another film which will give present day global audiences something thrilling. " . Like Robot Wars infected through the Y2K virus, Robopocalypse sees mankind's reliance upon automation rebound horrifically when robots become self-aware and rise facing their proprietors. It's large, bad and bloody, and when there is a story more tailor-designed for Spielberg's touch than this, we have not see clearly.

Godzilla vs Space Godzilla

When Mothra went into outer space to stop a meteor from reaching Earth, she accidentally took with cells from Godzilla and remaining cells from Biollante that inhabited our atmosphere. The combined cells went through a black hole and created a new creature, Space Godzilla. Space Godzilla heads to Earth to confront Godzilla, Junior Godzilla, and the new G-Force robot, MOGERA.

A Simple Life ((Tao jie))

A Distribution Workshop release of a Bona Entertainment Co., Focus Films, Sil-Metropole Organization presentation. (International sales: Distribution Workshop, Kowloon.) Produced by Roger Lee, Chan Pui-wah, Ann Hui. Executive producers, Yu Dong, Andy Lau, Song Dai. Directed by Ann Hui. Screenplay, Susan Chan, Roger Lee.With: Andy Lau, Deanie Ip, Qin Hailu, Wang Fuli, Paul Chiang, Leung Tin, Wendy Yu, Eman Lam, Elena Kong, Jason Chan, Hui So-ying, Anthony Wong, Chapman To, Sammo Hung, Tsui Hark. (Cantonese, Mandarin, English dialogue)Suffused with the gentle, unforced humanity viewers have come to expect from Hong Kong helmer Ann Hui, "A Simple Life" is a tender ode to the elderly, their caregivers and the mutual generosity of spirit that makes their limited time together worthwhile. Fittingly for a film about the challenges and rewards of looking after the sick and aging, this well-observed, pleasantly meandering dramedy requires a measure of patience, and some judicious trimming would improve its chances for export. But the moving, never tearjerking lead performances by Andy Lau and Deanie Ip rep strong selling points for Hui's following at home and abroad. The universal subject of growing old has here inspired a film of near-universal appeal, though its accessible approach to slice-of-life material might hinder its fest progress after high-profile bows at Venice and Toronto. Pic does hold special interest for Asian film buffs; a fact-based account drawn from the life of Hong Kong producer Roger Lee (who co-wrote the script with Susan Chan), it's dotted with cameos by such industry names as Tsui Hark and Sammo Hung. One particularly sly scene features a director in shades who could only be a stand-in for Wong Kar Wai. The Chinese cinema in-jokes, however, are merely peripheral to the film's straightforward story of a man and his amah, one of an honored breed of Chinese domestic helpers known for their lifelong service to a single family. Chun-tao (Ip), whom everyone calls Ah Tao, has spent 60 years working for several generations of the Leung family. When Ah Tao suffers a stroke, she quits her job and asks her sole current master, Roger (Lau), to help her move into a nursing home. As Ah Tao adjusts to a new environment and routine, Roger, a bachelor and film producer, finds himself taking on an active role in looking after her. One of the most charming and instructive aspects of "A Simple Life" is how little he resents this arrangement, matter-of-factly upholding the local tradition of caring for one's elders. He doesn't want to neglect Ah Tao, and she doesn't want to impose on him -- an arrangement that works out in the best possible way, as Roger realizes how much he needs her still. Shifting easily from the broad comedy of Ah Tao's interactions with a randy, overly gregarious friend to the sobering near-everyday reality of death and deteriorating health in the nursing home, the loose-limbed film has a baggy structure characteristic of Hui's wide-ranging ensemblers. Yet the story's essential regard for individual dignity makes even the supporting characters a pleasure to spend time with, particularly Ms. Choi (Qin Hailu), the home's hard-working, emotionally guarded director. Ip and Lau, who have been cast as mother and son in any number of films and TV programs, beautifully embody the slightly different dynamic of maid and master here. Whether teasing each other about their respective romantic prospects or attending the premiere of Roger's latest film, the two thesps are enormously endearing to watch together. Ip, for her part, inhabits Ah Tao with unflappable dignity as well as a delightfully feisty attitude as she faces her twilight years head-on. The final scenes scrupulously avoid milking the situation for pathos, and are played with the warm, forthright emotion typical of the story as a whole. Similarly, the film neither sugarcoats nor uglifies the experience of assisted living, as production designer Albert Poon presents the nursing home as a no-frills place that serves its purpose. Sole craft element that pushes a bit too hard is Law Wing-fai's score. Yu Lik-wai's crisp HD lensing looks good enough on the bigscreen to combat any charges that Hui is churning out Lifetime-level material. As usual, the helmer lavishes loving attention on the sights and sounds of food being prepared, to mouth-watering effect; while the film, at 117 minutes, could be shorter, none of these shots should be excised.Camera (color, HD), Yu Lik-wai; editor, Kong Chi-leung, Manda Wai; music, Law Wing-fai; production designer, Albert Poon; costume designer, Boey Wong; sound designer (Dolby SRD), Tu Duu-chih; line producers, Zhang Hao, Sze Yeung-ping; associate producers, Nansun Shi, Cheung Hong-tat, Stephen Lam. Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (competing), Sept. 5, 2011. (Also in Toronto Film Festival -- Special Presentations.) Running time: 117 MIN. Contact Justin Chang at justin.chang@variety.com