TIFF unveils first wave of 2014 films, new street festival

Film buffs and star-spotters, your time has come: The first wave of the Toronto International Film Festival's 2014 screenings and galas have been announced, with movie-nerd catnip (David Cronenberg!) and A-grade celeb sighting material (Robert Pattinson!) both on the docket.

Among the highlights coming to the annual film fest September 4-14: Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars, starring Julianne Moore, John Cusack and Mia Wasikowska; family comedy-drama This is Where I Leave You, starring Jason Bateman, Girls antihero Adam Driver, and everyone's actual hero Tina Fey; and the film adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's international bestseller Wild, starting Reese Witherspoon. The closing night gala: Alan Rickman-starring (and directed!) A Little Chaos.

If you are excited neither by movies, nor the famous people that appear in them, you still might have to sit up and take notice of this year's fest. Organizers have announced that part of King St. will be shut down completely for the TIFF's opening weekend (September 4-7) for a street fair, a new addition to the festival this year. The stretch between Peter and University will be transformed into a pedestrian mall. (Downtown commuters, you've got a month and a half to steel yourselves.)

To find out more about what's hitting the big screen this year, check out the full list of 48 announcements on the TIFF site.

Photo by Greg's Southern Ontario.