  Brad Pitt stars in the Coen Brothers' latest flick, Burn After Reading.
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TORONTO - Movies profiling everyone from Che Guevara to LeBron James to Paris Hilton.
Movies starring Hollywood A-listers such as George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Keira Knightley, Charlize Theron and Renee Zellweger.
Movies from Oscar-winning directors such as the Coen Brothers, Jonathan Demme, Stephen Soderbergh and Davis Guggenheim.
Movies about musicians such as Jimmy Page, about music such as the blues, and starring such unlikely musicians as Alicia Keys and Gord Downie.
And movies that just plain boggle the mind, from the world's first 'kimchi western' (South Korea's The Good, The Bad, The Weird) to a near-washed-up Jean-Claude Van Damme actually starring as, well, a near-washed-up Jean-Claude Van Damme, in JCVD.
Yup, must be that time of year again: The Toronto International Film Festival is just around the corner.
The world's second most prestigious -- and Hollywood's favourite -- filmfest yesterday released both the full list of movies and the star-studded guest list for this year's event, which goes Sept. 4-13. The 33rd edition of the fest includes 312 films from 64 countries (more than three-quarters of which will be world, international or North American premieres) and literally hundreds of actors and directors.
Among the movies whose buzz could reverberate well into the fall and, for some, right up to next February's Academy Awards:
* Burn After Reading, the first movie from Joel and Ethan Coen since they cleaned up at the Oscars in February for No Country For Old Men. Clooney, Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and Tilda Swinton star in the Coens' darkly hilarious (natch) tale about a computer disc that contains material for a CIA analyst's memoirs which accidentally falls into the hands of a fitness centre duo, who are eager to exploit their find.
* The Duchess, the latest British-made epic/Oscar-vehicle for Knightley.
* Apaloosa, a western from actor-turned-director Ed Harris. He stars with Viggo Mortensen as a pair of hired guns who begin to clean up a lawless town run by a ruthless rancher (Jeremy Irons) until a provocative outsider (Zellweger) wedges her way between them.
* Pride and Glory, starring Edward Norton, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight, about a multi-generational New York police family whose moral code is tested when one of two sons on the force investigates an incendiary case involving his older brother and brother-in-law.
* Rachel Gets Married, starring Anne Hathaway as a troublemaking sister who returns to the family home for her sister's wedding. Directed by Demme.
* Che: Parts One and Two, a feature (starring Benicio del Toro and Damon) and paired documentary from Soderbergh about Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Argentine doctor who became a hero to Cubans and leftists everywhere by aiding Fidel Castro in overthrowing the Batista government in Cuba in the late '50s.
* Miracle at St. Anna, Spike Lee's chronicle of four soldiers -- from the U.S. Army's all-black 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" division stationed in Tuscany, Italy during the Second World War -- who get caught behind enemy lines.
* RocknRolla, from Mr. Madonna, director Guy Ritchie. In what his fans hope is a return to the quality of his madcap Brit crime comedies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), RocknRolla is about all of London's criminal underworld battling for millions of dollars left up for grabs after a Russian mobster completes a crooked land deal.
* The Burning Plain, starring Theron and Kim Basinger in a romantic mystery.
Most of the Hollywood offerings are included in the Gala and Special Presentations programmes. It's in the others where the gems are often found. That always includes the documentaries programme -- Real To Reel. For instance, the director of An Inconvenient Truth, Guggenheim, returns to the fest with It Might Get Loud, a profile of three iconic masters of rock guitar from three eras -- Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, U2's The Edge and The White Stripes' Jack White.
Some musicians are taking acting turns in this year's fest. Keys has a role in Secret Life of Bees, while The Tragically Hip's Downie has a part in Canadian Michael McGowan's Gala feature One Week.
The Toronto fest begins the Thursday after Labour Day with Paul Gross' first feature, Passchendaele, about the tragic First World War battle.
The fest this year will hold free outdoor programming at a "new street-level hub" of activity at Yonge-Dundas Square. Programming includes free public performances and presentations by some of the artists and entertainers featured in fest films. Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James will appear at an invitational Slam Dunk competition (he is featured in a documentary on his high school team in Ohio). Performers include Senegalese music star Youssou Ndour, Keb' Mo' and cast members from A Chorus Line. For all ticket information go to tiff08.ca and click on "How To Festival," or call (416) 968-FILM.
WHO'S COMING TO TOWN?
The following celebrities are among the 500 international stars -- not just actors and filmmakers, but also a few music and sports icons who are profiled in TIFF movies -- expected to attend this year's festival:
* Adrien Brody
* Alan Alda
* Alec Baldwin
* Alicia Keys
* Anne Hathaway
* Antonio Banderas
* Ben Kingsley
* Benicio Del Toro
* Bill Maher
* Brad Pitt
* Bryce Dallas Howard
* Charles Martin Smith
* Charlize Theron
* Christopher Walken
* Colin Farrell
* Colin Firth
* Cynthia Nixon
* Dakota Fanning
* David Schwimmer
* Debra Winger
* Ed Harris
* Edward Norton
* Elizabeth Banks
* Ethan Coen
* Ethan Hawke
* Evan Rachel Wood
* Frances McDormand
* Gael Garcia Bernal
* Geoffrey Rush
* Gerard Butler
* Greg Kinnear
* Guy Ritchie
* Jack White
* Jay Baruchel
* Jeff Goldblum
* Jennifer Aniston
* Jennifer Hudson
* Jeremy Irons
* Jeremy Northam
* Jeremy Piven
* Jessica Biel
* Jill Hennessy
* Jimmy Page
* Jodie Whittaker
* Joel Coen
* John Malkovich
* Jonathan Demme
* Joshua Jackson
* Julia Ormond
* Julianne Moore
* Kate Beckinsale
* Keb' Mo'
* Keira Knightley
* Kevin Smith
* Kristin Scott Thomas
* Larry Charles
* Laura Linney
* Lauren Graham
* LeBron James
* Liam Neeson
* Marisa Tomei
* Mark Ruffalo
* Matt Damon
* Matt Dillon
* Michael Caine
* Michael Cera
* Mickey Rourke
* Paul Bettany
* Paul Gross
* Peter O'Toole
* Queen Latifah
* Rachel McAdams
* Rachel Weisz
* Ralph Fiennes
* Randy Quaid
* Renee Zellweger
* Robert Carlyle
* Sam Neill
* Samantha Bee
* Spike Lee
* Steve Zahn
* Steven Soderbergh
* Susan Sarandon
* The Edge
* Tim Robbins
* Tim Roth
* Timothy Hutton
* Tom Wilkinson
* Viggo Mortensen
* Zac Efron
* Zooey Deschanel
