By Gregory Ellwood
Special to MSN Movies

The Toronto International Film Festival organizers may not like to hear it, but their annual fete has turned into one of the most commercially important festivals in the world. Unlike Sundance, whose primary purpose is to discover emerging filmmakers, and Cannes, which celebrates international icons, Toronto has evolved into a celebrity-friendly kickoff for Hollywood's fall and winter slate. And, along with the Venice and Telluride film festivals that immediately precede it, a gauge for award-worthy contenders and pretenders. And, of course, it doesn't always go well.

Case in point: Last year, Universal Pictures was stunned by the negative reaction their epic drama "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" received, leaving with little acclaim to assist in opening the picture only a few weeks later. Consequently, the festival can reveal unexpected treasures. When Fox Searchlight debuted its small comedy "Juno" at last year's fest, it hoped to just get some attention for its "little" film starring relatively unknown Canadian Ellen Page. Fox, nor the filmmakers behind the movie, ever dreamed it would begin a massive word-of-mouth campaign resulting in Oscar noms and the biggest hit in the specialty division's history.

To that point, Fox can thank one of the largest international press contingents assembled for any festival. These critics helped create buzz on several films, such as "Borat" and "Ray," during recent years and have also destroyed the commercial prospects of many other films. Keeping that historical context in mind, here are 10 films movie fans should keep an eye on during MSN Movies' Toronto International Film Festival coverage from Sept. 4 to 13.

"Burn After Reading"
Directors: Ethan and Joel Coen
Cast: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, John Malkovich
Lowdown: Two idiotic gym employees (Pitt, McDormand) discover a disc containing the memoirs of a CIA agent (Malkovich) and stupidly try to sell it.
Goal at TIFF: Critical acclaim to get bodies in seats
Buzz: The Coens' spoke often about this comedy during their never-ending press tour for "No Country for Old Men." And considering Clooney, Pitt and Swinton couldn't stop singing the boys' praises, expectations are high this may be one of the Coens' funniest flicks ever.

"The Wrestler"
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Mickey Rourke, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Judah Friedlander
Lowdown: Slowed down by a heart attack, former professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Rourke) fights the urge to step back into the spotlight and fight once more.
Goal at TIFF: Distribution and critical acclaim
Buzz: Being chosen for the Toronto, Venice and New York film festivals should mean it doesn't suck. Whether Aronofsky can deliver an audience-friendly film after the disappointing "The Fountain" is another question.

"The Other Man"
Director: Richard Eyre
Cast: Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Antonio Banderas
Lowdown: In this short story by Bernhard Schlink, a widower (Neeson) contemplates revenge against his wife's former lover (Banderas). Goal at TIFF: Distribution and critical acclaim
Buzz: Eyre has directed his stars to Oscar nominations in both "Iris" and "Notes on a Scandal." This film is supposed to be more of a thriller, but can he do it again?

"Nothing But the Truth"
Director: Rod Lurie
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, David Schwimmer, Matt Dillon, Vera Farmiga, Angela Bassett, Alan Alda, Noah Wyle
Lowdown: Ripped from the headlines, a reporter (Beckinsale) faces jail time for divulging the identity of a CIA agent without revealing her source.
Goal at TIFF: Oscar love
Buzz: Those who have seen an early rough cut of the film say it is Lurie's best.

"The Secret Life of Bees"
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Cast: Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo
Lowdown: Based on the novel by Sue Monk Kidd, this period drama finds a young girl (Fanning) on the run with her caregiver (Hudson) as she journeys to a South Carolina town that she believes holds a key to her deceased mother's past. There, the unlikely duo encounters the eclectic, bee-keeping Boatwright sisters (Latifah, Keys and Okonedo), who take them in.
Goal at TIFF: Oscar love
Buzz: Word is the movie is a crowd pleaser and that Latifah and Fanning are prime candidates for the Best Actress race.

"New York, I Love You"
Directors: Shekhar Kapur, Mira Nair, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Brett Ratner, Allen Hughes, Yvan Attal, Shunji Iwai, Wen Jiang, Randall Balsmeyer, Andrei Zvyagintsev, Fatih Akin
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Anton Yelchin, Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Kevin Bacon, Rachel Bilson, Robin Wright Penn, Ethan Hawke, Olivia Thirlby, James Caan, Chris Cooper, Julie Christie
Lowdown: In this follow-up anthology to the indie hit "Paris, je t'aime," this installment travels across the Atlantic and features 12 five-minute shorts celebrating love in New York's five distinct boroughs.
Goal at TIFF: Critical acclaim
Buzz: It will be shown as a work in progress, but "Paris" had a higher pedigree because it featured filmmakers such as Alfonso Cuaron, Alexander Payne and Walter Salles. Are expectations too high for "New York" after such a significant drop in directorial talent?

"The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond"
Director: Jodie Markell
Cast: Chris Evans, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ellen Burstyn, Ann-Margret
Lowdown: Based on a long-forgotten screenplay by Tennessee Williams, the movie finds Fisher Willow (Howard), a 1920s debutante, returning home to Memphis after studying overseas only to fall in love with a boy (Evans) from the wrong side of the tracks. She tries to pass him off as upper class to her narrow-minded aunt (Margret), but when she loses a diamond, their relationship begins to unravel.
Goal at TIFF: Distribution. Please!
Buzz: Perhaps there was a reason it was never turned into a movie in the first place? Critics might be sharpening their knives for this one.

"Management"
Director: Stephen Belber
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn, Woody Harrelson, Fred Ward
Lowdown: This road-trip/romantic comedy features a traveling art salesperson (Aniston) and the hotel manager (Zahn) who falls for her.
Goal at TIFF: Distribution and a prayer
Buzz: The producers are no doubt hoping critical kudos will help their asking price, but the fact their "Jennifer Aniston" movie is still looking for takers isn't a good sign.

"Me & Orson Welles"
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Zac Efron, Ben Chaplin, Christian McKay, Claire Danes
Lowdown: After a chance meeting with theater director Orson Welles (McKay), Richard (Efron), a 17-year-old who daydreams of being a Broadway star, finds himself cast in the Shakespearean production "Julius Caesar." He soon finds himself romancing Welles' upwardly mobile assistant Sonja (Danes) and in over his head as Welles seems to ignore the production.
Goal at TIFF: Distribution and critical acclaim
Buzz: Efron under the guidance of a real director? And not singing? No Oscar talk for this one, but we are so there.

"The Burning Plain"
Director: Guillermo Arriaga
Cast: Charlize Theron, Kim Basinger
Lowdown: Weaving multiple story lines in the past and present, "Plain" focuses on a daughter (Theron) and a mother (Basinger) trying to come together after the young woman's difficult childhood.
Goal at TIFF: Distribution and critical acclaim
Buzz: Word is Arriaga, the writer of "Amores Perros," "21 Grams" and "Babel," has delivered another difficult picture for audiences to sit through and studios to market. Can he prove the pundits wrong?

Awards season contenders and pretenders: Keira Knightley goes period once again as "The Duchess." Steven Soderbergh delivers a four-hour cut of the revolutionary "Che." Charlie Kaufman debuts the intriguing "Synecdoche, New York." Bill Maher takes on religion in his controversial documentary "Religulous." The long-awaited Colin Farrell and Edward Norton drama "Pride and Glory" premieres. Rachel Weisz deals with Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody, aka "The Brothers Bloom." Greg Kinnear makes a Best Actor play with "Flash of Genius." Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen continue the recent fall trend of Westerns with "Appaloosa." Julianne Moore is the only who can see past the "Blindness."

Wannabe audience pleasers: Seth Rogen teams up with Kevin Smith in "Zack & Miri Make a Porno." Michael Cera and Kat Dennings explore "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist." Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Pena hit the road in "The Lucky Ones." Gerard Butler headlines Guy Ritchie's comeback, "RocknRolla." Anne Hathaway seems annoyed about "Rachel Getting Married." Ricky Gervais discovers he's not alone in "Ghost Town."

Hoping to hit a theater near you: Director Kathryn Bigelow eyes a career revival with Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce in "The Hurt Locker." The Paris Hilton documentary "Paris, Not France" debuts. Alessandro Nivola plays legendary record producer Leonard Chess in "Who Do You Love." Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe star in Paul Schrader's Holocaust-themed drama "Adam Resurrected."

What excites you about the 2008 Toronto Film Festival? Do you care? Write us at heymsn@microsoft.com.