Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

The final goodbye: this is TIFF.TO, signing off

The accumulated detritus of our TIFF life (Photo by Jen McNeely)

We went into TIFF feeling like a groomed and glowing Jessica Simpson and came out looking like Mickey Rourke after a bender. What begins with clinking glasses of Moët and bumping hips with George Clooney at a Bridle Path mansion descends into glamorous gluttony: Dolce and Gabbana swag littered in a pile of dirty laundry, espresso stains, broken pumps and scattered taxi receipts. We are now ready to trade in stalking Oprah Winfrey for life in the country with a pint-sized pony and some Cookstown greens. It was swell drinking Grey Goose martinis with Clive Owen and hobnobbing with boldface names, complaining to coiffed socialites that our party schedule was maxxed out, but we now find ourselves yearning to float down from the elevated eclipse of seductive fantasy and find solace in googling how to start a hobby farm. Nikki Beach? No thanks; we are dreaming of greeting a Kincardine sunrise with a bowl of oats. Call us extremists, but as TIFF comes to a close, the last thing we want is a free cocktail and cured meat. Just give us a stack of hay to lie in, far away from Yorkville. If we can’t have that, then we’ll settle for an oxygen facial and an afternoon at Body Blitz. That should carry us through until next September, when we’ll be ready to do it all over again.

| Leave a Comment » September 22, 2009 | 2:53 pm | Jen McNeely

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

The best and worst of TIFF 2009

The after party for The Men Who Stare at Goats. Not many people can say they were at a house party on the Bridle Path with George Clooney and Jeff Bridges.

TIFF is toast for 2009, so we asked our team of writers and photographers report back on the best and worst, the scary and the sublime, the hot and the lame of this year’s festival. Here are their harrowing responses.

: Without a doubt, George Clooney, for having a bottomless pit of facial expressions, headline-worthy quotes and spending 20 minutes signing autographs for the entire line of fans.

: Eating smoked meat and kosher pickles with the dudes from Schwartz’s Deli. For The Trotsky after party at Pravda, Alliance Films flew in the Montreal meatheads, put them up at the Royal York, and paid them to feed a CanCon crowd with real-size sammies. Through full stomachs, our hearts were won.

: A glass castle on the Bridle Path, enormous and cubist, like something out of a Bret Easton Ellis novel. (People in glass houses probably shouldn’t throw parties, but we’re glad they do.)

: Getting chastised by a security guard for walking on the Duchess of York’s dress train at the InStyle party (although this moment would have been amazing had we not noticed and she kept walking).

: Hearing a group of middle-aged male photographers sing Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” while waiting outside the press conference room.

: “So, you’re an actress?”, generally followed by a shocked, “No? Really?” when we shook our heads. Look, we can tell by your loafers that you’re from out of town, but come on—we’re holding a press pass, eating majorly caloric pastries, and carrying our own not-it bag. Nothing about this screams “movie starlet.” Kristin Booth is probably here somewhere, so please move on.

: The Grey Goose martini we sipped alongside Clive Owen while sitting on a TTC subway car in the secret Bay station.

: We had a hunch that Drew Barrymore would turn up at Sweaty Betty’s, as she has in the past, and we were right. We got there in time to see her behind the bar of our local watering hole, swigging beer in an Alexander McQueen gown.

: How to tell a celebrity’s non-famous date to get out of a shot without being rude. This is what happened during Colin Farrell’s now-infamous red carpet debacle. A bunch of photographers wanted a solo shot of the brooding Irishman, so they all yelled at his date to get out of the shot during the frenzy. Farrell took offence because his date was his sister. Pictured is a clear shot of Paula Patton, snapped after Alan Thicke’s son stepped out of the way.

: Colin Farrell for saying “cheers” to every reporter at the Ondine press conference after a photo of him grabbing a photographer made the front page of The Sun.

: Tyler Perry, who made a beeline for the red carpet at the Precious premiere and didn’t even look at the fans.

: Nikki Beach. It was supposed to be a huge deal, attracting all kinds of celebs, but turned out to be packed with rather horny, smashed girls from Thornhill.

: Being one of the few photographers who snapped a photo, albeit a slightly blurry one, of Robert DeNiro at the Precious premiere.

: Michael Cera’s shyness pays his bills, but his one-word answers do nothing for reporters.

: The barrage of camera shutters at press conferences. They peak whenever a celebrity smiles or talks with their hands.

: “Oprah, we are all so grateful to you for helping the children in Africa. I was born in Kiev, Ukraine [pictured], and not many people know that there are 200 orphanages there and over 100,000 orphans. I just want to know if anybody reached out to you or approached you to help out the country.”

: A tie between Edward Norton’s and Oprah Winfrey’s. In both cases, the barricades we were standing behind started to lean forward as the celebs walked past. It took two security guards to push everyone back.

: Waiting two and a half hours for Megan Fox outside Cheval. She didn’t show up.

: A woman on the 501 streetcar gushing about how one time, she waved to Carla Collins outside the Hazelton and Carla Collins waved back! Because “stars are just normal people, you know?”

: Falling asleep on the sidewalk while waiting for Natalie Portman. For 10 minutes, we slept on the street.

: The fans sang “Smelly Cat” in hopes of luring Lisa Kudrow back to the barricades at the premiere of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. It didn’t work.

: The men’s bathroom on the second floor of the Sutton Place Hotel; we saw director Atom Egoyan exiting, adjusting his belt.

: It’s a tie, and both involve Drew Barrymore (although neither was her fault). The first was at the Whip It press conference, when a reporter asked how her family felt about roller derby (Barrymore famously filed for emancipation at the age of 15). The second was a question about Patrick Swayze’s passing; the actor didn’t know about Swayze’s death until that moment.

: A journalist from a certain national news network asking Eva Avila to take a photo with him on the red carpet.

: The Axe body spray haze at Tryst during the PETA fashion party.

: Natalie Portman saying TIFF is more about the films than celebrities as a wall of photographers snapped away at her.

: Surprisingly, not the hangover. The biggest ache was in our feet after 10 days of standing and partying.

: “Do you have anything to say about the death of Patrick Swayze?”

: Notorious paparazzi hater and fame eschewer Edward Norton at the premiere of Leaves of Grass at Ryerson, where he proceeded down the entire line of fans with a big, unforced smile and posed for a lot of photos.

: The after party for The Men Who Stare at Goats. Not many people can say they were at a house party on the Bridle Path with George Clooney and Jeff Bridges.

: Oprah Winfrey for giving perfectly packaged quotes and knowing how to pose for cameras. Also, people clapped every time she said something at the press conference.

: Grovelling to kitchen staff by the back door vents of the Windsor Arms and basically begging them to sneak us into the InStyle party through the garbage room.

: Jessica Paré. Lips of velvet.

: Remington’s, the infamous gay male strip club on Yonge Street, holds the same party every year at the same time. Sure, it takes place during TIFF and is full of TIFF-goers, but they are in no way connected.

(Images from Flickr.com are greatly appreciated and used under the Creative Commons license found here.)

| 3 Comments » September 22, 2009 | 2:03 pm | Toronto Life Staff

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

RED CARPET INTERVIEWS: Our final seven TIFF videos

Our last batch of red carpet videos includes encounters with Michael Moore, Emily Mortimer and Eva Green. Check out the full versions, below:

CRACKS: Miss Jean Brodie meets Lord of the Flies
Eva Green talks about her complex character in new female-centered film, Cracks.

COOKING WITH STELLA: Sure to make you hungry
Dilip Mehta and Deepa Mehta bring their latest film to to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

CAPITALISM: Michael Moore’s latest documentary
Michael Moore brings his latest documentary to the audience of the Toronto International Film Festival.

CAIRO TIME: The new city of romance
Ruba Nadda explains to the Joan Kelly that the director of Cairo Time is what drew him to the project.

BEAUTIFUL KATE: Past secrets are confronted
Dynamic duo Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward sit down to discuss Rachel Ward’s directorial debut.

L’AFFAIRE FAREWELL
The French intelligence service alerts the U.S. about a Soviet spy operation during the height of the Cold War.

HARRY BROWN: Injustice meets an iron fist
We sit down with Emily Mortimer to discuss her role as an upright police officer in Harry Brown.

| Leave a Comment » September 21, 2009 | 12:48 pm | Toronto Life Staff

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

The White Stripes under dimmed West Queen West lights: Jack and Meg hit the Beaconsfield

Go west: Jack and Meg White head to Queen Street to celebrate the documentary White Stripes Under the Great White Northern Lights (Photo by James Helmer)

Go west: Jack and Meg White head to The Beaconsfield to celebrate the documentary White Stripes Under the Great White Northern Lights (Photo by James Helmer)

Not only do they dress in the colours of our flag, but the Detroit duo Jack and Meg White of The White Stripes has done what few Canadian bands have ever done: they toured every province and territory (including a show in Iqaluit). A documentary film crew followed them across Canada; on Friday, the elusive ex-husband and -wife were at the Toronto International Film Festival to screen and celebrate the resulting movie, The White Stripes Under the Great White Northern Lights. Note to all high school geography teachers looking for cool cred: this film is a cross-country journey that offers some original perspectives on Canada. If theatrically released, this would be just about the best class trip ever.

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| 1 Comment » September 21, 2009 | 12:47 pm | Jen McNeely

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

Don McKellar talks about lovelorn phone calls, TIFF’s good ol’ days, and inviting strange women to his hotel room

Don McKellar misses Bette Midler (Photo by Karon Liu)

Don McKellar is out to find romance on a modern day cellphone—and if that means being shady in a hotel room, so be it. This is the basic concept of Imaginary Lovers, an art installation consisting of four monitors showing films that McKellar has directed as part of TIFF’s Future Projections series. McKellar also kicked off the festival as a governor for the Talent Lab, had a role in Leslie, My Name Is Evil (the trippy Christian murder film) and starred in Dilip Mehta’s gala premiere, Cooking With Stella. Really, Don, next year you need to step it up.

Considering McKellar’s schedule is so barren, we thought we’d sit down with him and discuss loneliness and love—the themes that intertwine in his voyeuristic videos, most of which feature women of the world professing their love via grainy cellphones.

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| Leave a Comment » September 21, 2009 | 11:21 am | Jen McNeely

The Goods, Toronto International Film Festival 2009

PHOTO GALLERY: 31 TIFF red carpet looks

Jennifer Garner and Julianne Moore opted for green and strapless, Amanda Seyfried chose sequins and Louboutins, and Drew Barrymore and Demi Moore did yellow in two very different ways. See the red carpet outfits these stars (and 26 others) chose for their TIFF galas in the slide show below.

: Demi Moore on the red carpet for the premiere of The Joneses at the Visa Screening Room, during the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday September 13, 2009. (Photos by James Helmer)

| Leave a Comment » September 21, 2009 | 10:29 am | Toronto Life Staff

Restauran-TO, Toronto International Film Festival 2009

On the festival’s penultimate night, Shinan Govani and Barry Avrich held a fête for Boldface Names

Book bash: Boldface Names, the new novel by Shinan Govani, was celebrated yet again

“Another book launch party?” we asked.
“This is number three—officially,” said the paperback writer in Prada.

Third time’s for the charmed circle, apparently. Gathered in Harbour Sixty’s glittering cellar were publishing magnates and paparazzi magnets, fashion editors and filmmakers, social queen bees and an MTV princess. Somehow, we were there, too, allured and bewildered, suddenly privy to the extraordinary problems of the ruling class.

“I walked in, and the first thing Shinan said to me was, ‘There won’t be enough red!’” said Mary Symons, effervescent patroness to social boozers—she’d donated caseloads from her winery, Thomas George Estates. “And I said, ‘Well, how many people are coming? You told me 40, and what now, 50?’” Her gemmy earrings shook helplessly. We vowed to drink only white. She laughed a generous laugh.

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| Leave a Comment » September 21, 2009 | 10:28 am | Sarah Nicole Prickett

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

PHOTO GALLERY: The Young Victoria premiere with Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend and Sarah Ferguson

Emily Blunt at the premiere of The Young Victoria during the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo by Karon Liu) The Saturday premiere of The Young Victoria was the last chance for autograph seekers and stargazers. We snapped shots of producer Sarah Ferguson, duchess of York, and her daughters, Eugenie and Beatrice. (We assume royalty isn’t supposed to give autographs since all they did was smile and wave.) But stars Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend (Keira Knightley’s current flame) posed for pics and signed autographs for the entire line while publicists tugged them toward the red carpet.

To see all the photos, view the slide show below.

| Leave a Comment » September 21, 2009 | 10:00 am | Karon Liu

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

Entourage star buys Canadian art during TIFF

Vancouver art, meet L.A. stardom: Entourage star Adrian Grenier strolled into the Toronto art gallery 107 Shaw for The Video Word Made Flesh, a group show inspired by and paying tribute to the celluloid exploits of David Cronenberg. The curly-maned actor chose, of all the original pieces by emerging artists on display at 107, a cool coupling of Jeremy R. Jansen prints, “Crash 1 and 2.” Good picks—the Vancouver photographer creates lingering, ink-blurry images we love. Maybe the pair will be hanging out in Vince’s apartment in an upcoming episode of Entourage?

| Leave a Comment » September 21, 2009 | 9:32 am | Sarah Nicole Prickett