TORONTO -- Man, oh man.

When a film festival showcases 271 movies, there are bound to be similar titles. Surveying the line for "A Single Man," a woman asked tentatively, "The Michael Douglas?"

No, Douglas is a lusty lion in winter in "Solitary Man," not to be confused with "A Serious Man," the new Coen brothers' film about a Jewish family in 1967 suburban Minneapolis. A third entry, "A Single Man," is director Tom Ford's elegant portrait of a Brit in 1962 Los Angeles, grieving for his partner of 16 years killed in a car accident miles away.

Colin Firth could earn his first Oscar nomination as the gay professor who learns the awful news from a stranger, a cousin of the dead man who phones him on the sly and matter of factly says the funeral is for "family only."

The hum of awards season starts at the Toronto International Film Festival and George Clooney, already the affable prom king of press conferences, red carpets and impromptu autograph sessions, is flawless as a high-flying corporate downsizer in "Up in the Air."

Matt Damon burrowed under 30 pounds for "The Informant!" while Viggo Mortensen shed weight for his tough yet tender father who meets and rises above "The Road."

On the ladies' side of the ledger, Abbie Cornish burns brightly as 18-year-old Fanny Brawne opposite John Keats in "Bright Star," while Mo'Nique's hateful Harlem mother in "Precious" makes Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest" look like parent of the year.

Her young co-star, Gabourey Sidibe, is a real discovery who looks and sounds little like Precious in real life. Also singled out for praise: Carey Mulligan as a bright schoolgirl opposite Peter Sarsgaard in "An Education" and fest favorite Penelope Cruz from "Broken Embraces."

The festival is over but the chatter continues:

Movie you may dread but, ultimately, will be glad you saw: "Precious."

Most crowded screening: "Capitalism: A Love Story," a day before its premiere in Pittsburgh.

No singular sensation: Unlike other years when "Slumdog Millionaire" or "Juno" emerged as must-see, no single title was on everyone's lips. But there were fewer duds and disappointments, too.

Not to be confused: The Single/Serious/Solitary Man trio can be matched by "The Road," based on the Cormac McCarthy book, and "Road, Movie." One is set in post-apocalyptic America, the other along back roads in India.

Incivility, north of the border: When photographers yelled at an unfamiliar woman to "get off the carpet," actor Colin Farrell grabbed a photographer by the scruff of the neck, the Toronto Sun reported. That was the Irishman's sister, and he told the shooter not to yell at any woman like that.

Ode to osmosis: Englishman Ben Whishaw did lots of homework to play John Keats but he also received a visual aid from "Bright Star" director Jane Campion. She sent a poster with a portrait of Keats done by one of the poet's close friends. "She said hang it by your bed and hope that some kind of osmosis happens and you can sink into him and he can sink into you."

The Oprah factor: Every year, there comes a time when a festival press conference is expected to be too big for the small ballroom at the Sutton Place Hotel. This year, it was a briefing for "Precious," moved to the Four Seasons Hotel and scheduled for a Sunday at 9:15 a.m.

By 8 a.m., two dozen photographers and reporters (many clutching takeout coffee cups) were in line. In addition to executive producers Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, the lineup included author Sapphire, director Lee Daniels and actresses Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey and Sherri Shepherd, plus singer Mary J. Blige.

On Saturday, "Precious" was named winner of the Cadillac People's Choice Award, voted on by festival audiences. "Precious" could premiere at the Three Rivers Film Festival in early November. Stay tuned for confirmation and ticket details.

Fathers and sons: Clive Owen is the father of two daughters but he plays the widowed dad of two sons in "The Boys Are Back," inspired by Simon Carr's memoir.

"All my friends have got boys, I think it's very different. I'm delighted to have girls, I love my girls, I think the energy level of boys is very different but no, it was fun." Fathers and sons were at the heart of many movies.

Pittsburgh connections: Mention Pittsburgh and Don Roos, director of "Love and Other Impossible Pursuits," volunteers that his parents live near North Park. His movie is based on a novel by Ayelet Waldman who happens to be the wife of Michael Chabon, author of "Mysteries of Pittsburgh."

"The Road" director John Hillcoat ended an interview by noting, "People in Pittsburgh were just fantastic." His son, Louie, developed a taste for skating, hockey and pizza at Enrico Biscotti in the Strip District while visiting.

New Yorker turned Pittsburgher George Romero is now a Torontonian and hundreds turned out to cheer him and watch the original "Night of the Living Dead." When Richard Kind sat down with "A Serious Man" co-stars Michael Stuhlbarg and Sari Lennick, he mentioned working with Dr. Ravi Godse, a Pittsburgh physician and sometime filmmaker, on "If It Ain't Broke, Break It."

Road warriors: Hillcoat knows he's saddled with some baggage due to "The Road" release date changes. "We're all really happy with the film. It's not like it ever was in trouble, we just wanted to get it right and bring it out at the right time," he said.

"And, likewise, the heaviness of the world is really just to highlight this beautiful love story and a moral tale, where the boy becomes the teacher and liberates the fear."

Hair-raising sacrifice: To portray a 1967 Minneapolis homemaker in "A Serious Man," Sari Lennick sacrificed about 13 inches of her blond hair with the remainder then dyed brown.

Twilight time: A 1998 Tony Award nominee for "High Society," Anna Kendrick soon may be known as the actress who plays Natalie Keener, Clooney's young colleague in "Up in the Air." In some circles, though, she is associated with only one movie.

"I don't think twice when people come up to me and say, 'Hi, do you play Jessica in 'Twilight'? I don't think anything of that but oddly enough, here is the first time people have yelled 'Jessica' at me and I never really realized how strange and uncomfortable that is. I just want to turn around and say, 'My name isn't Jessica.' "

Where the Wilder things are: Asked about trying to capture the same mix of comedy and sentimentality as Billy Wilder, Ricky Gervais ("The Invention of Lying") said comedy and drama are both about empathy. "I can't find someone funny who I don't like. ... Laurel and Hardy nailed it a hundred years ago." Bob Hope and Woody Allen, too.

Buyers be wary: For some filmmakers, the festival is an opportunity to find a distributor for their movies. That side of the business has been very, very slow with only a handful of titles ("A Single Man" with Firth, "Valhalla Rising" with Mads Mikkelsen and the oddly spelled "Defendor" with Woody Harrelson) finding stateside buyers.

A movie for grown-ups: Many a writer lamented the death of movies for grown-ups at summer's end. Just such a picture is "Love and Other Impossible Pursuits," a dandy domestic drama starring Natalie Portman, Lisa Kudrow and Scott Cohen and looking for a distributor, at this writing.

"I'm worried that the world in its current state just wants to go see movies like -- which I loved -- 'The Hangover' and 'The Proposal,' " said director Roos.

"But I hope we can have a balance, and a few films that speak to adults can come out. ... This is a domestic drama and you can't pretend, oh, those people aren't like me so it's super challenging in today's climate but I think at the end you feel very satisfied" with how the characters evolve.

Portman plays a Harvard law school grad and the second wife of a lawyer who loses her days-old daughter and her equilibrium. Her character is prickly, stung by her own father's infidelity and not always nice, even to her precocious 8-year-old stepson.

"I was definitely interested in what happens to make a person like that, because we obviously always experience characters like that in our lives," said Portman. "I'm always surprised by my own intolerance for that type of person, it's always trying on my own kindness."

"Love ..." boasts strong performances across the board, including Kudrow as a doctor and first wife who radiates anger and bitterness.

Youth in revolt: The adaptation of C.D. Payne's "Youth in Revolt" will be good news-bad news for fans of the novel about a California teen.

"I think they'll be hopefully delighted by the amount of scenes that are pretty verbatim from the book; we tried to do that whenever we could. The language and the tone of the book is so funny, we really wanted to infuse the movie with that," star Michael Cera said.

"I think they may be disappointed by certain characters that they will not get to see. I wish we could have made a seven-part miniseries of the book, so that we could do everything in it but it's just such a massive book that it's just impossible to fit it all into a movie. Hopefully we captured the heart of the book."

"Youth in Revolt" just got a new release date of Jan. 15.

Star sightings: If you think the stranger getting off the elevator at the Park Hyatt looks like Kiefer Sutherland, that's because it probably is Kiefer Sutherland. No one seemed to notice Ellen Page when she and a "Whip It" co-star sauntered down a sidewalk.

A day later, though, it would have been impossible to miss Drew Barrymore crossing the street, entourage or not. Her blond hair is tipped with inky black and she accented her belted bluish-gray dress with vibrant aqua tights and high heeled low boots.

Perspective, please: On day one of the festival, The Globe and Mail published an exclusive interview with Canadian actress Lisa Ray (Deepa Mehta's "Water") in which she talked about her battle with a rare and incurable form of blood cancer. Chemo or not, the actress strolled the red carpet for her film "Cooking With Stella."