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With the Venice and Telluride film festivals failing to produce a La La Land, a Birdman or a 12 Years A Slave this year, the pressure was on Toronto International Film festival (TIFF) to come up with frontrunners for the Fall season. Festivalgoers and film critics flocked to the multitude of screenings, searching for that elusive picture like gold diggers.

Although he is one Hollywood’s biggest stars, some of Ben Stiller’s greatest achievements are related to his work as a director, since he debuted in 1994 with Reality Bites. He was never personally nominated for the Golden Globes, but his film Tropic Thunder put Robert Downey Jr.

Most films take at least a couple years to go from idea to the big screen, so trying to plot a release of something that aligns almost perfectly with current headlines of the moment is typically a fool’s game. But with the slow-drip revelations of high-level corruption, obstruction, lying and possibly other criminal behavior from another American presidential administration seemingly leasing a long-term parking spot in the news, writer-director Peter Landesman’s new film arrives at a particularly ripe moment, which no doubt accounts for the project’s full, pointed title.

Irish star Liam Neeson is back on the screen in Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House about the informant known as “Deep Throat” who spilled the beans to the Washington Post, causing the fall of Richard Nixon. Surprisingly, Neeson was adamant in telling us that music doesn’t affect his acting talent.

David Simon and his writing partner George Pelecanos hesitated when they were asked to write a show about the gritty porn industry in 1970s New York. They did not want to make a show just about pornography but rather the whole culture behind it and the economic structures that made it into a billion dollar industry.

Israeli director Samuel Maoz, who won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival for his stunning war film, Lebanon, likes to take his time between movies. But it’s almost tempting to say that it was worth waiting as Foxtrot is just as inventive and bold as Lebanon, albeit in different ways, and thematically even more encompassing than the previous winning feature.

Emma Stone and Steve Carell do battle in Battle of the Sexes, based on the wild, real-life story of a made-for-TV tennis match.  Films frequently undergo all sorts of different cast and crew permutations during development, and Battle of the Sexes was no different.

Seven years ago, Carey Mulligan’s talent was recognized with a Golden Globe nomination for her impressive work in Lone Scherfig's An Education. Since then, she has been a regular presence in quality films.

Year after year Jake Gyllenhaal makes the Toronto Film Festival a regular stop in his calendar -that's because he's not an actor that chooses the easy path. He didn't hesitate to lose a lot of weight to portray a human vulture that preys on other people's misery in director Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler - which earned him his second Golden Globe nomination- just to gain it back and a few pounds more to play a failing boxer in Antoine Fuqua's Southpaw.

Borg McEnroe is not just a film about two of the greatest tennis players ever. Danish director Janus Metz made sure that the film opening the Toronto International Film Festival was much more than just about the game of tennis.