Toronto International Film Festival report: Fewer movies but still front-loaded with Oscar bait

The black limo pulled up in front of the Princess of Wales Theatre as throngs of screaming fans positioned themselves for the big moment. The passenger door opened and out stepped – Judi Dench. The 42nd annual Toronto International Film Festival, which screened 255 feature-length movies in 11 days, hosted many celebrities – George Clooney! Angelina Jolie! – but I found it oddly comforting that Dench, indomitable in her 80s and appearing here as Queen Victoria in “Victoria and Abdul,” should also rate the selfie treatment.

This year’s festival, it was announced beforehand, had 20 percent less films than last year. Apparently distributors and the press had been complaining that too many movies were getting lost in the shuffle. Not that I noticed much difference. The glut is, as usual, exhilaratingly overwhelming, the