A is for (Ben) Affleck, B is for Brady Corbet, C is for Cate Blanchett: the A to Z of the Toronto International Film Festival

The whiff of fall. The whisk of discovery.
The time of the year when premieres and parties take over, and the city becomes a kind of dialysis for celebrity-dom. Who’s up? Who’s down? Who is pivoting and who’s just entering the cradle of fame? With another Toronto International Film Festival on the horizon, I take a look at the personalities, the dish and the talking points expected to cast a spell. An A to Z of film fest buzz:
A is for Affleck. Serving as a co-producer on a film starring his soon-to-be-ex (how is that for awkward?), but expected to be MIA at the fest — hence, leaving Jennifer Lopez to make her first official appearance after their recent divorce announcement when she walks the “Unstoppable” carpet — Ben is a classic case: how not being at TIFF can sometimes inspire as much ink as being at TIFF. Wait for it, too: moon landing-style reports of the “Revenge Dress” Jen will wear to her premiere.
B is for Brady Corbet. Learn that name, people! If there’s anyone who is going to come out of TIFF more famous than he is now, it is this director, whose film “The Brutalist” is already earning comparisons to “There Will Be Blood” and “The Godfather.” And all at 36! A project seven years in the making and shot on 70-mm film stock in old-school VistaVision, the Adrien Brody-fronted epic is one that will take 26 reels of film to just transport. It also clocks in at 3.5 hours — complete with intermission!
C is for Cate the Great. Leave it to Blanchett, a two-time Oscar winner, to class up the joint with two projects at the fest: “Rumours” and “Disclaimer.” (Pssst … it marks 26 years since her first appearance at TIFF, when “Elizabeth” royally premiered here).
D is for 007. As in … no more! In a film destined to fully break Daniel Craig from Bond mode, A24’s “Queer” takes us to 1950s Mexico City, in which he plays Lee, a middle-aged expat in heat. Très horny: the word on this Luca Guadagnino-lensed project, which is indeed an adaptation of a William S. Burroughs novella.
E is for Election. Oh, the election! With Nov. 5 only weeks away, many films will inevitably be viewed through the prism of the Kamala/Donald showdown in America, and a presidential debate happening during TIFF. None more literally, though, than the portrait “The Last Republican,” a doc about ex-lawmaker Adam Kinzinger, who memorably served on the Jan. 6 committee.
F is for Frantic — the tone, we understand, of Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night.” A film that is debuting here on a Tuesday night, to confirm! The origin story of “Saturday Night Live” — taking us back to October 1975 — it also amounts to a homecoming of sorts for Canadian impresario Lorne Michaels.
G is for Galapagos. The setting for the Ron Howard survivor flick “Eden,” which has gala placement during TIFF and which boasts quite the intriguing ensemble: Vanessa Kirby, Jude Law, Sydney Sweeney, Ana de Armas and Daniel Brühl.
H is for Harris Dickinson. Boy toy du jour alert! The actor — of the tall/pale/English persuasion — is set to get hearts racing in the May-December steamer “Babygirl,” opposite Nicole Kidman. She plays the boss-lady. Oh oh.
I is for Irish. So, very, very Irish. The documentary “Blue Road,” that is, which zooms in on literary sensation Edna O’Brien, who died just weeks ago. As flamboyant as she was revelatory, she will receive a dowager-worthy send-off amidst TIFF’s flashbulbs.
J is for Jesus. In the name of! “Conclave” — which plays like “Succession” in the Vatican — is not only a white-smoke thriller, but also the movie expected to put Ralph Fiennes back in Oscar consideration. For the first time in nearly 30 years!
K is for Kleenex. Grab some, all right, for John Crowley’s “We Live in Time,” starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh (whose chemistry first got internet tongues wagging when they presented together at the Oscars in 2023).
L is for Lego. Yup, Lego. The means by which the film “Piece by Piece” tells the story of Pharrell Williams, c/o Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville. The film uses Lego bricks to depict Pharrell’s early life while featuring interviews with many of Pharrell’s peers — including Jay-Z — also in Lego form. (Note: another big musical doc at the fest, “Elton John: Never Too Late,” sticks with a more conventional approach: the Rocket Man as his own, greatest creation. No Lego required).
M is for Moore. As in Ms. Demi Moore. Here with a comeback movie dubbed “The Substance.” A twisted fable regarding our obsession with youth and beauty: the nutshell. Incidentally, it also marks the first time she’s appeared nude in a movie since 1995’s “The Scarlet Letter.”
N is for Novelist. Sigrid Nunez, i.e. an award-winning American writer of both German and Chinese-Panamanian extraction, she’s ubiquitous this TIFF in that her books are the inspiration for not just one, but two, marquee films: “The Friend” (starring Naomi Watts and a big white Great Dane) and “The Room Next Door,” with Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.
O is for Octogenarians. Never too old to TIFF, clearly, given the number of assiduous geezers here with high-profile films. Francis Ford Coppola, at 85, is bringing us “Megapolis,” while Mike Leigh and David Cronenberg — both 81 — are unspooling “Hard Truths” and “The Shrouds,” respectively. Hat-tip, gents.
P is for Plus One. You never know who is going to show up at TIFF — and with whom? So the mind wanders: will Espresso singer Sabrina Carpenter show up to support her boyfriend Barry Keoghan, in town for “Bring Them Down”? Will strapping Jacob Elordi have model-girlfriend Kaia Gerber by his side when he lands here for “On Swift Horses”?
Q is for Queue. A word we can imagine Hugh Grant using with great aplomb. The actor is in the TIFF selection “Heretic,” embracing a role that’s as far as you can get from the dancing prime minister he played in “Love, Actually.” Horror, actually, as he goes full villain in this one.
R is for Reunion. One between Richard Gere and director Paul Schrader, who famously concocted “American Gigolo” together 44 years ago and are together at TIFF with “Oh, Canada,” the tale of a Vietnam draft dodger.
S is for Salma Hayek Pinault. The most loaded actress of all — she is married to Mr. Gucci, after all — arrives here via a starring role in the Angelina Jolie-directed “Without Blood.”
T is for Trans. Actor Karla Gascón, specifically. Jot that name down too! Starring in the Cannes sensation Emilia Pérez — as a Mexico City cartel kingpin who fakes her death in order to transition abroad — her performance is a gem of the season. And already inspiring talk that she might make Oscar history as the first trans person ever nominated. In reality, Gascón — well known to Spanish audiences — transitioned six years back very much in the public eye.
U is for Underwater. Where goes the Apple documentary, “The Last of the Sea Women,” focusing on a fading group of gung-ho grandmothers known as the haenyeo divers of South Korea. Intriguingly, it comes courtesy of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who is a producer on the film.
V is for Vegas. Where stays Pamela Anderson playing “The Last Showgirl.” That’s that movie by Gia Coppola that’s got the cognoscenti very curious!
W is for Wow. The praise for “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” directed by exiled Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof.
X is for XOXO. The hugs and kisses we will all be sending to the singular Jennifer Coolidge, here with the film “Riff Raff.”
Y is for Yesteryear. A tour through 40 years of Canadian music history, to be exact, via the docuseries “Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal.” An advance of the four-parter coming soon to Prime Video, it resurrects the stardom of the late Gord Downie.
Z is for Zilch. What Amy Adams has to show in terms of Oscars, despite being nominated an astounding six times. Is seven times the charm, courtesy of the very buzzy TIFF title “Nightbitch”? That’s the Marielle Heller film that has Amy unleashing her inner dog. Say woof!