Kissing on the MouthThe Chicago International Film Festival, which runs October 6-20,  has announced a preliminary lineup. The festival will be bookended by the world premieres of two anticipated films: Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy Elizabethtown, starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst, and Gore Verbinski's The Weather Man, starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine. Other festival highlights include Natalie Portman in Amos Gitai's Free Zone and Cannes Film Festival fave The Death of Mr. Lazarescu.

Chicago filmmaker Joe Swanberg, whose film Kissing on the Mouth is a festival offering, will be blogging for us live from the festival, giving Cinematical readers all the scoop on how his controversial film is received in his hometown, along with reviews of other festival screenings and, perhaps, the occasional party report.