If you're like me, stuck at home, reading about all the great films playing in Toronto, and wondering, "When can I actually get to see the darn things?," I have some good news. Two "big buzz" titles have been acquired for distribution: Steven Soderbergh's Che, starring Benecio del Toro in the title role, has been nabbed by IFC Films (not Mark Cuban) for North America, and Summit Entertainment has secured US rights to Katheryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, featuring Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes.

IFC will release Che for a one-week awards qualifying run in New York and Los Angeles in December, according to an official statement received by Cinematical. It will then open in January via the company's "IFC in Theaters" platform, which means it will be available in select theaters and "on demand" through cable and satellite systems the same day. Ever since Che's world premiere at Cannes in May (where James Rocchi reviewed it), there has been speculation about how the film would be presented. Che is comprised of two stand alone parts -- The Argentine and Guerilla -- and the total running time is more than four hours. Now we know we'll some of us will be able to see the whole thing at one time. *

The Hurt Locker, which we first mentioned nearly two years ago, debuted at Venice and quickly picked up steam before screening in Toronto to wide acclaim. It's said to be a straight-ahead thriller about an elite Army bomb squad that just happens to be set in Iraq. Variety says that most major territories had already been sold in advance of Venice. In addition to Pearce and Fiennes, the film stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty. Summit has City of Ember, Twilight, and The Brothers Bloom opening before the end of the year, but here's hoping they can get The Hurt Locker out before too long.

* UPDATE: Anne Thompson of Variety reports that the full four-hour movie (with an intermission) will only play in New York and Los Angeles for that week in December. The Argentine will open in "key markets" in January and Guerilla "will follow the Oscar nominations announcement," which takes place on Thursday, January 22, 2009. So it's still up in the air whether the rest of us (non-NY and LA residents) will be able to see the full four-hour movie at one time or not.