Lead Titles At Toronto Film Festival

Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher” is coming to the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. What, you are still here? Start booking plane tickets and planning your trip, people! One of the most anticipated movies of the remaining cinematic calendar has a screening date. Get going, already!

As expected, TIFF (as Toronto’s summarily dubbed) unveiled a healthy slate of programming in its first initial announcement, part of the run up to this year’s robust film festival.

Bennett Miller’s latest has us most excited, as the deliberate dramatist has impressed thoroughly with his exquisite debut features, “Capote” and “Moneyball.”

The dark and brooding “Foxcatcher” earned raves in Cannes, where it held its world premiere earlier this year. Expect it to be a red hot ticket in Toronto.

Reese Witherspoon will make the unique double-dip at TIFF 2014, bringing both her adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s memoir “Wild” and the Sudanese melodrama “The Good Lie” – which looks like “The Blind Side,” played out on an international stage.

Of the two, our hopes lie with “Wild,” which boasts a Nick Hornby screenplay and comes to us from “Dallas Buyers Club” director Jean-Marc Vallee.

Several other familiar faces are bringing their latest to Toronto. Canadian filmmakers David Cronenberg and Jason Reitman announced that they are bringing “Maps to the Stars” and “Men, Women & Children,” respectively. Benedict Cumberbatch will be back in Toronto with the World War II code-cracking drama “The Imitation Game,” which also stars TIFF staple Keira Knightley.

Noah Baumbach is returning to Toronto with “While We’re Young” tucked under his arm. And Tom Hardy will make “The Drop” – a crime thriller that also marks James Gandolfini’s final screen role.

Keep in mind that this is only the first wave of programming announcements. But scanning the Gala list, the festival also will premiere films such as John Stewart’s directorial debut “Rosewater,” Denzel Washington’s “The Equalizer,” and Robert Downey Jr.’s “The Judge.”