Hard to believe that anyone would dare release movies in the middle of a film festival — what do they think we are, machines? — but at least some of them come straight from their TIFF premieres, which makes things somewhat easier. Let’s dive right in:

“Alpha and Omega”: A movie about CG wolves! Yay! But they’re the kid-friendly kind, not the scary kind that tried to eat those Disney characters that time. Boo. The voice cast includes Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Vicki Lewis and Dennis Hopper. Andrew — who’s killing himself on the theatrical-release beat this week — found it acceptable.

“Devil”: Five people are trapped in an elevator. And one of them is the dev — cut it out with the snickering. This is serious. A new film from the mind of M. Night Shyam — seriously, stop laughing, it’s making me uncomfortable. Not screened for press, which at this point should surprise no one.

“Easy A“: Emma Stone — NOW’s festival cover girl — becomes a bona fide movie star as the heroine of this very funny high-school comedy, which casts its lot with “10 Things I Hate About You” and “Mean Girls” as a progressive, self-aware movie designed to appeal to discerning teenagers of all ages. And seeing Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as her parents is one for your bucket list.

“The Town“: Ben Affleck follows up his excellent “Gone Baby Gone” with a more mainstream-friendly picture about a Boston bank robber caught between his jahb and his haaht — imagine “Heat” with less time for character development and a mandate from the studio to blow more stuff up. It’s not bad, but if Affleck had picked one aspect and stayed with it, it could have been great.

“The Virginity Hit”: “Porky’s” meets “Cloverfield” in this faux documentary from the writers of “The Last Exorcism” about a teenager trying to help his best friend make sexytime with a porn star. Andrew thought it had its moments. I’m just disappointed that it doesn’t involve a giant monster.

There, that’s everything. I have to go out and do more TIFF stuff, so talk amongst yourselves. Or go see “Scott Pilgrim”, because lord knows I haven’t beaten that horse to death yet.

This week’s NOW is understandably packed with pictures of famous people at the film festival, but if you’re getting sick of seeing red carpets, I have a suggestion for you: Go see “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”.

Seriously. It’s at the Bloor this weekend, and it’s still playing at the Carlton. I know you haven’t seen it yet, because if you had it would have made more money, so go see it! It’s terrific fun!

But if you’re still bent on TIFFing, here’s NOW’s list of last-minute recommendations, including “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” and “The Trip“. Forty-odd films in, and they’re at the top of my list — along with “Meek’s Cutoff“, screening again today and Sunday afternoon.

Oh, and if you find yourself in the vicinity of the Lightbox tonight, I’m introducing a free screening of Bruce McDonald’s “Roadkill” at 10 pm, as part of that ongoing retrospective of films launched by the festival. Hope to see you there!

… and I’ve been remiss in posting links to the stuff I’m filing for the NOW website. Specifically, my interviews with Daniel Cockburn, director of the excellent experimental feature “You Are Here”, and Colin Firth, who is indeed as charming and elegant as any human being could be.

Hell, he was even willing to forgive me for that little incident with the door at the BFI. He claims not to remember it, though he did acknowledge that “the impact might have had sufficient force to cloud my memory.”

Yeah, you look up “dashing” in the dictionary, you pretty much get Colin Firth, don’t you? It works for him.

Incidentally, if you find yourself curious to see Cockburn’s film after you read the interview, you’ll find its festival showtimes here. If you can make one of the screenings, you really ought to; it’s a terrific piece of work, and the Q&As promise to be very engaging. I might even attend a couple of those myself.

Surprising no one, “Resident Evil: Afterlife” conquered the North American box-office over the weekend, pulling in a respectable $27.7 million. Being the only new film in release, and playing in extra-pricey 3D, its primacy was pretty much guaranteed.

I haven’t seen it, of course; I’ve been more or less absolutely ignorant of anything that isn’t directly related to TIFF. I didn’t even make it to the grand opening of the Lightbox yesterday, busy as I was with festival screenings and interviews; sounds like everyone had fun, though.

It’s more of the same today: A couple of movies, plenty of interviews, and a lunch I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time. Which is also an interview, actually. You’ll see.

As TIFF rages around me — okay, “rages” is probably a little strong, but trust me when I tell you I’m busy — blogging will necessarily take a back seat to keeping my head above water.

But today I can at least offer you my latest MSN Movies gallery, which takes a quick look at the summer that’s just ended and tries to offer a few observations that no one else has made yet.

And now, once again, I’m off to see movies and talk to people about them! My life is hard.

The Toronto International Film Festival may have taken over my life, but of course life continues outside our little downtown bubble. And it’s Friday, so “life” means “new releases”. Or “new release”, singular, since the only movie opening today is “Resident Evil: Afterlife”, which wasn’t screened for the press.

So if anyone sees it, let me know what you think. As you can imagine, I’ve got a whole bunch of other stuff to do this weekend …

The 2010 Toronto International Film Festival kicks off today, and NOW is all over it like a Weinstein on a European costume drama.

Check out my cover interview with the lovely and talented Emma Stone, star of the TIFF special presentation “Easy A” — and then follow it with my Q&A with up-and-comer Keir Gilchrist, who anchors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s “It’s Kind of a Funny Story“.

Take a look back at popular hits launched at previous TIFFs, and look forward to the festival’s new custom-built flagship venue. It’s all in there, along with the usual ton of reviews, which will be updated constantly at the TIFF minisite.

Seriously, have at it. I’m damn proud of what we pulled off this year, and we’re just getting started. In fact, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go apologize to Colin Firth for hitting him with a door in London three years ago …

In lieu of anything interesting today, here is an image from Michael Winterbottom’s “The Trip“, which stars Steve Coogan as “Steve Coogan” and Rob Brydon as “Rob Brydon” and is one of my most eagerly anticipated TIFF films.

Don’t get excited; I’m not seeing it today or anything. I just wanted to share the still. It makes me smile.