No George Clooney or Brad Pitt so far, but plenty of other notables will be represented on screen, in person (or both) at the Toronto International Film Festival. Among the higher-profile titles announced so far for the Sept. 4-13 event, often a predictor of fall, holiday and awards success:

• "The Other Man" -- Richard Eyre ("Notes on a Scandal") directs this story about a husband obsessed with the mysterious man sending e-mails and text messages to his wife. Liam Neeson, Laura Linney and Antonio Banderas star.

• "Appaloosa" -- Ed Harris directs, co-writes and stars, alongside Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Irons, in this Western about hired guns trying to clean up a town run by a ruthless rancher. Based on the Robert B. Parker novel.

• "Rachel Getting Married" -- A Jonathan Demme picture starring Anne Hathaway as a woman fresh from rehab who arrives for her sister's wedding.

• "The Secret Life of Bees" -- Adaptation of the Sue Monk Kidd novel about a 14-year-old white girl and her black housekeeper who flee an abusive South Carolina home in the 1960s and find refuge with beekeepers. Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Hudson star.

• "The Duchess" -- Last year it was "Atonement" and that gorgeous green gown. Who knows what Keira Knightley will don to play Georgiana Spencer, an 18th-century "It Girl" in this movie based on the Amanda Foreman biography, "Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire." Ralph Fiennes is the Duke.

• "Every Little Step" -- The singular sensation of "A Chorus Line" is under the movie microscope in this documentary about the 1975 original and 2006 Broadway revival.

• "Religulous" -- Bill Maher travels around the world interviewing people about God and religion in this film by Larry Charles.

• "Happy-Go-Lucky" -- Mike Leigh directs this comedy about a free-spirited school teacher who takes driving lessons after her bike is stolen and encounters a fuming, uptight cynic.

• "RocknRolla" -- Guy Ritchie writes and directs this crime story about a Russian mobster, a crooked land deal, a money grab and London's criminal underworld. Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton and Chris Bridges lead the cast.

Hundreds of additional movies will be announced in coming weeks. Go to www.tiff08.ca for information about ticket packages and other festival details.

CHICKS AND FLICKS

Film reviewers whose work appears in print are a vanishing breed, but women reviewers are even more of an endangered species.

A new study has found that men write the overwhelming majority of film reviews in the country's top newspapers. In fall 2007, they produced 70 percent, with women accounting for the remaining 30 percent.

In addition, of newspapers featuring film reviews, 47 percent had no reviews written by women, while only 12 percent had no reviews written by men.

These numbers come courtesy of Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University.

In a previous report documenting the "Celluloid Ceiling," Lauzen showed that women made up just 15 percent of directors, writers, producers, editors and cinematographers working on the top 250 films of 2007. As anyone who goes to the movies -- and sees something other than "Sex and the City" and "Mamma Mia!" -- knows, women characters are also in short supply.

The center released the study on the Web site of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists Inc., www.awfj.org, a professional organization of female film critics and journalists from across the United States.

"This important study shows in concrete and shocking terms that women -- more than 50 percent of the population -- are still being left out of a national discussion of sweeping cultural and financial significance," said Jennifer Merin, AWFJ president.

As the study concluded: "Men dominate the reviewing process of films primarily made by men featuring mostly males intended for a largely male audience. The underemployment of women film reviewers, actors and filmmakers perpetuates the nearly seamless dialogue among men in U.S. cinema."

IN BRIEF

• Over the years, TV's best-known movie review show has gone from hosts Siskel and Ebert to Ebert and Roeper to Roeper and guest critics -- and now it's Lyons and Mankiewicz.

Ben Lyons, a Hollywood reporter and film critic for "E! News" and others, and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz will take over "At the Movies" when its new season begins in September, the Associated Press reports. The revamped show will have a new look and include contributions by other critics via satellite.

• Retired film critic Ed Blank will lead a discussion after the July 31 showing of "When Did You Last See Your Father?" at the Regent Square Theater, 1035 S. Braddock Ave., Edgewood. Movie starts at 8 p.m.

The film, which explores an often-uneasy relationship between father and son, stars Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth. You can find a review on page W-22.

• "Strange Girls," a perverted coming-of-age story that had its world premiere at the Three Rivers Film Festival in November, drew sold-out crowds at the recent Edinburgh International Film Festival and was chosen one of the best of the fest. The movie, about twins who do everything together, is by writer-director Rona Mark, a graduate of Upper St. Clair High School.

• A short film called "gravida," made by Shadyside's Lucas McNelly, finished second in the annual Now Film Festival, co-hosted by MySpace Film.

Shot in three days with a budget of $2,500 and an entirely local crew, "gravida" is about a pregnant woman who tries to arrange a date with a man she encounters on her job without telling him she is pregnant. Finalists were determined by more than half a million votes, with a short called "Missing Pieces" starring Rainn Wilson taking the overall prize.

Go to www.dpressproductions.com/gravida and www.myspace.com/nowfilmfest for more information.