Running from September 9 to 19, the Toronto International Film Festival has announced a partial line up of 15 Galas and 35 Special Presentations including 25 World Premieres. In its 35th year, the festival has cineastes the world over rubbing their hands together at the exciting selection of films on offer.

The 11 day event is set to ‘drop the puck’ with a premiere screening of Score: A Hockey Musical, written and directed by Michael McGowan, starring Australian musical icon Olivia Newton-John. Following this very Canadian opener, the festival will feature premieres of films from Denmark, France, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Darren Aronofsky, Francois Ozon, Robert Redford, Mark Romanek, Michael Winterbottom, Julian Schnabel, John Cameron Mitchell, and Woody Allen will join an impressive assembly of renowned directors whose works will feature at the festival.

A couple of the most hotly anticipated movies include John Cameron Mitchell’s Rabbit Hole, which features Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman, and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan starring Natalie Portman as a jealous ballerina.

The program, announced so far, also includes Robert Redford’s The Conspirator, Guillaume Canet’s Little White Lies, John Curran’s Stone, Francois Ozon’s Potiche, Ben Affleck’s The Town, Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Alain Corneau’s Love Crime, Julian Schnabel’s Miral, Mike Mills’ Beginners, Rowan Joffe’s Brighton Rock, Tony Goldwyn’s Conviction, Susanne Im Sang-Soo’s The Housemaid, Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech, Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, and Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip.

Director and CEO of TIFF, Piers Handling, says the festival is thrilled at the selection of films. “The richness and diversity of this year’s Galas and Special Presentations programmes reflect the abundance of exciting works from established and emerging filmmakers in the world of cinema,” he says.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 9 to 19. For more information, visit the festival website.

As promised – more updates! I’ve screencapped various trailers and clips from some of Naomi’s most recent movies. I’ve also replaced the Fair Game stills with HQ versions, and added a new You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger still and set photo.

Screencaps from the Tall Dark Stranger and Fair Game clips will be added soon, as will missing event photos from 2009 and then I’ll get started on the Cannes photos (of which there are many).

• Mother & Child (2010) > Trailer #1 Screencaptures x44
• Mother & Child (2010) > Clip Screencaptures – ‘Working Late’ x23
• You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) > Theatrical Trailer Screencaptures x52
• You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) > International Trailer Screencaptures x49
• Fair Game (2010) > Stills x3 replaced with HQ

A Spanish trailer for You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger has been released:

Over the past few days I’ve added over 300 new photos to the Gallery! The new additions are mainly more photos from the sets of Naomi’s recent movies, and there are also some new/old photoshoots and more recent appearance photos. I’ll list the main updates below, but make sure you browse through our Last Uploads page in the Gallery!

Special mention goes to the photoshoots though, which include a new portrait set taken at Cannes (a few were posted last week, but the full set – in HQ – have been added now), and some cute old ones.

I have a couple of exclusives for you coming up, so keep checking back over the weekend (and before )…

Newly added photoshoots
• Photographed in 2010 – 2010 – Session #007 x9
• Photographed in 2010 – 2010 – Session #002 x1 more
• Photoshoots – Session #146 x1
• Photographed in 2005 – Session #059 x3 more
• Photographed in 2002 – 2002 – Session #015 x1 more (gorgeous!!)
• Photoshoots > Session #027 x3 more

Newly added appearance photos
• NYDG Foundation’s Rx Haiti Benefit Gala And Auction x11 new + others replaced with HQ
• Costume Institute Gala x41 new + some replaced with HQ

Film set additions
• Fair Game: On The Set x April 7th, April 24th, May 18th HQ additions
• Mother & Child: On The Set x most replaced with HQ + new date additions
• You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger: On The Set x August 13th 2009 additions
• The International: On The Set x January 11th and January 18th additions

Recorded at a round table interview in Cannes on May 16, 2010, Naomi Watts talks about Woody Allen, her new movie “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger” and her career.

As I said a few posts ago, I don’t have time for big Gallery/site updates at the moment (and the Cannes photos are a big update as there are so many!), but I’ve found time to do some updating today. And I have a nice little update for you today, Naomi fans!

I’ve added some new You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger stills, including 3 beautiful completely new exclusive HQs stills. These stills show new scenes of Naomi alongside Gemma Jones, Antonio Banderas, and Anna Friel … and they make me even more excited for this film! I can’t wait until September I’ve also added new HQ stills from Mother & Child plus a few posters for that film.

I just realised I still need to make caps from the Tall Dark Stranger and Fair Game clips, as well as the Mother & Child trailer, so keep an eye out for them soon!

• Mother & Child > Posters & Artwork x3 more
• Mother & Child > Stills x6 more
• You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger > Stills x4 more

Watts returns to Cannes, where her star was born
The Associated Press – May 21st 2010

Naomi Watts had been on the verge of giving up on Hollywood before she came to the Cannes Film Festival nine years ago.

Her own horror franchise, a hit “King Kong” remake and one Academy Award nomination later, Watts returned as a Cannes superstar, lighting up the festival red carpet in two films, the Valerie Plame drama “Fair Game” and Woody Allen’s “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.”

Other than a quick stop to hand out an award at Cannes a few years ago, this was Watts’ first time back to the festival since it helped launch her career after years of toiling in obscure movies.

Her breakthrough came with a starring role in David Lynch’s “Mulholland Dr.”, which played at Cannes in 2001.

“It was my career-maker. Anything that I had done was under the radar, so I really was an actor for hire. And then the launching of that film was the launching of me,” Watts, 41, said in an interview along the beach near the Palais, the headquarters of the French Riviera festival.

Watts – who was born in England and moved as a teenager with her family to Australia – had been working in obscurity through much of the 1990s in Hollywood, seeing good friend Nicole Kidman climb to stardom while she remained on the fringes.

Read more… »

NAOMI Watts admits she was nervous about working with legendary director Woody Allen — until she realized her fears were unfounded.

The actress — who stars in Allen’s new movie You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger — says she felt comfortable being under Woody’s direction.

“I had heard he doesn’t like to talk much and it can be difficult to know what he wants,” says Naomi. “He was shy at first but after that he was charming to work with. He’s very entertaining.

“It’s true he doesn’t yell or say when he’s happy with a scene, he just moves on.

“Usually between scenes you go back to your trailer to catch up on email or make a call but not on this movie. I didn’t want to miss a single Woody moment.”

Naomi — who raises two children with longtime partner Liev Schreiber — recently revealed she’d be open to adoption.

“I would love to have an endless brood of children,” she told Blackbook magazine earlier this month.

“I grew up in chaos. I feel comfortable in chaos. Whether or not I’ll ever adopt remains to be seen, but I totally believe in adoption.”

Well it seems Naomi’s day at Cannes was not over with the premiere! After the premiere of You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, Naomi attended a Vanity Fair/Gucci Party honouring director Martin Scorcese. She looks super hot in a little black backless dress! Only two three pictures from this party have emerged so far, and you can view them below.