AP - August 21, 2008
Movies featuring Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Kate Beckinsale, Zac Efron, Edward Norton and Colin Farrell and a documentary about Paris Hilton have joined the lineup for the Toronto International Film Festival.
North America's largest cinema showcase schedule will include Joel and Ethan Coen's CIA comedy "Burn After Reading," with Pitt, Clooney, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and John Malkovich.
Among other recent additions are Gavin O'Connor's cop drama "Pride and Glory," starring Norton and Farrell; Rod Lurie's Washington journalism tale "Nothing But the Truth," with Beckinsale, David Schwimmer and Angela Bassett; and Adria Petty's nonfiction Hilton chronicle "Paris, Not France."
The film festival lineup also includes "Me and Orson Welles," based on the book by Metuchen author Robert Kaplow. Directed by Richard Linklater, the cast features Efron, Claire Danes and Christian McKay.
Also, Neil Burger's Iraq War homecoming saga "The Lucky Ones," with Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams and Michael Pena; Toa Fraser's British historical tale "Dean Spanley," starring Peter O'Toole, Sam Neill and Jeremy Northam; and Jodie Markell's "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond," based on a Tennessee Williams screenplay and featuring Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Evans, Ellen Burstyn and Ann-Margret.
The festival also will feature "New York, I Love You," a collection of 12 short films about New York City directed by such talents as Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Brett Ratner and Mira Nair.
Toronto's slate of 249 feature films also includes Spike Lee's World War II tale "Miracle at St. Anna," featuring Derek Luke; Saul Dibb's historical pageant "The Duchess," starring Keira Knightley; David Koepp's supernatural romance "Ghost Town," with Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni and Greg Kinnear; Gina Prince-Bythewood's Southern drama "The Secret Life of Bees," with Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo; the Western "Appaloosa," in which director Ed Harris stars with Viggo Mortensen and Renee Zellweger; and Kevin Smith's comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks.
Opening the festival Sept. 4 will be the World War I drama "Passchendaele," directed by and starring Canadian actor-filmmaker Paul Gross. The festival closes Sept. 13 with Charles Martin Smith's "Stone of Destiny," a Scottish drama with Robert Carlyle, Brenda Fricker and Billy Boyd.
