The Velvet Rope

The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com

Swag roundup: The IT Lounge

The venue: NKPR’s IT Lounge at the Windsor Arms Hotel, staffed by the most cheerful publicists of the festival. Must have been the complimentary cupcakes.

The stars: The Degrassi kids, Strombo, Jennifer Aniston, Paris Hilton, Benji Madden (with sunglasses on, natch) and Queen Latifah stocked up on loot from Olay, Goody, ACE, Esprit, Fila and Teva.

Feel-goodery: An option to donate gift bags to a charity auction for Big Brothers and Sisters, and to sign the Wall of Heroes. Mom and Dad received shout-outs, as did Oprah and Madonna. Wives, children and Jesus got one mention each. Agents got none.

Media treats: A candy bar, Fiji water by the crate and endless cupcakes in the media room.

Rating: 9/10, with extra credit given for the stylist who, without comment, flat-ironed even the stickiest heads during last week’s heat wave.—Katy P

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September 15, 2008 | 12:34 pm

Goldie Hawn declares herself “hockey mom” in front of Kevin Sorbo, Tie Domi and Kelly Carlson at glitzy SickKids fundraiser

Just when we thought we wouldn’t attend a party serving bite-sized burgers for at least another year, we hit up Muzik on Friday night for Goldie Hawn’s cocktail reception for the Rally for Kids With Cancer Scavenger Cup. Celebrity guests were teamed up with luxury car owners, who each raised at least $25,000 for the SickKids Foundation. It was nice to be at a party where jeans and hot pants were the attire of choice and the food was a sampling of dishes from some of Toronto’s best restaurants (Blowfish, we’ll see you and your salmon-mango roll again very soon). The biggest money raisers had first pick of celebrities; NBA alum Jerome Williams, playboys Monica Leigh and Stephanie Glasson, actress Kelly Carlson and her boyfriend Tie Domi were among the first to get drafted. Thankfully, about halfway through, they chose celebrities at random so there was no embarrassing those who got picked last. Highlights for us included getting touched by Hercules himself, Kevin Sorbo (who was so nice, posing for pictures with people), and seeing Celebrity Duets winner Alfonso Ribeiro (you may remember him as Carleton on Fresh Prince of Bel Air), who did not do the Carleton dance.

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September 15, 2008 | 11:27 am

Wheelchair-bound fan slapped by rabid gawker as Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson land at Ultra

What do Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson have to do with the Toronto International Film Festival? Nothing. And everything. Headlining the eTalk party and closing out 10 days of star-studded excitement at an unofficial TIFF party at Ultra, this tabloid twosome overshadowed the film program and created a pop-culture media circus over personalities, champagne, short shorts and intoxicated blitz. Critics got angry, Torontonians got confused and little girls became violent, trying to push their way to the VIP front lines for a glimpse of the red-headed troublemaker. Our own LiLo sighting and a slap fight with a wheelchair-bound fan, after the jump.

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September 12, 2008 | 11:58 am

Swag roundup: the InStyle party at the Windsor Arms

The venue: Windsor Arms—for the ninth festival in a row.

The stars: Tim Robbins, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz and the usual suspects (Sophia Bush, Kevin Zegers).

The loot: beauty stuff from the Body Shop, Cargo, Goody and Olay—plus a copy of InStyle, natch, and merchandise from Cookie & Joe, Napoleon Perdis and Universal Music.

One of these things is not like the other: a copy of Laura Dave’s The Divorce Party. This one goes straight to the office kitchen with a “take me, I’m free” Post-It note.

Rating: 7/10. Swarovski candle holders all over the Arms, but where’s our take-home bling?—Katy P

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September 12, 2008 | 11:34 am

InStyle insanity breaks out at the Windsor Arms, where Adrien Brody, Edward Norton and Rachel Weisz went to party

The InStyle party at the Windsor Arms is the Grace Kelly of the TIFF schmooze circuit. It’s the most civilized event in town and every detail is perfect, right down to the candle holders (Swarovski; need we say more?). The velvet rope is like a Pearly Gates, but inside is democratic, full of celebrities, and buzzed about locally—mostly because invites are almost impossible to come by. Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Rachel Weisz and Emmanuelle Chriqui collected gift bags filled with swanky goodies from Cargo, Cookie & Joe, and Napoleon Perdis before heading off to less lofty ateliers.

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September 12, 2008 | 9:48 am

Swag roundup: ET Canada Party at Casa Loma

The venue: Casa Loma—for four nights, but the swag only came out for the birthday party on Tuesday.

The stars: the locals—David Usher, Degrassi kids, Zack and Miri star Jason Mewes and Ethan Hawke.

For the ladies: Itec La Senza bra, Cover Girl makeup doodads and baby stuff from Baby on the Hip (trying to tell us something, ET?).

For the gentlemen: vouchers for Gotstyle menswear, deodorant, silver bracelet.

For anyone: tea from Lipton and VouDou, Sharpie pens, Hershey’s Bliss chocolate, biscotti, Eska water and a Fuze energy drink. All of this is also known as the “festival breakfast” (minus the pens).

Rating: 8/10—we base this on volume, the $50 gift card for Rosewater Supper Club and the voucher for a one-night stay at Pur.—Katy P

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September 12, 2008 | 9:28 am

Thank you, ET Canada. You can pimp out our castle anytime

ET Canada’s four-night free-for-all at Casa Loma has come to an end for another year, and while we were slightly disappointed by the reticence A-listers showed toward mingling, we are up for any party that has complimentary Moët on our side of the velvet rope. So while the chances of getting a tête-á-tête with Paris, Brad or Benicio are nil (they didn’t make the trek up that widowmaker of a hill), clinking glasses with the Toronto contingent is extremely doable. Anna Olson, David Usher, the Degrassi kids and scads of local PR folks hit the ET Canada birthday party hard on Tuesday night. And for the unknown partygoer who threw himself at Rick the Temp’s knees during a segment, we mean this literally.

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September 11, 2008 | 1:54 pm

Tyler Labine has cum a long way from Breaker High

“This feels like an open house for a home everyone wants to buy but can’t afford,” a friend remarked at the Control Alt Delete after-party last night, which was aptly held at Wicked. Now, in case you’ve been living under a rock, Wicked is the West Queen West club where sexy couples go to mingle with other couples or singles. We weren’t the only curious souls; we noticed a high concentration of National Post staffers during our exploration of the three-storey sex palace. At first, we thought the Post sponsored the party—their logo was proudly displayed along the stairwell—but it seems they’ve just written about this club a lot. That, plus the Control Alt Delete–themed computer-and-hardware decor prompted one Postie to remark, “I kind of feel like I’m at work.” After the jump, a sexy run-in with Tyler Labine.

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September 11, 2008 | 1:37 pm

Testing out the equipment at Wicked

Control Alt Delete is a film about an Internet porn fetish that escalates to full-on shagging with a computer. (It’s a complicated process, but it involves a drill, bubble wrap and a generous amount of lubricant.) So it was fitting that the film’s after-party be held at Queen Street West’s notorious red-light venue, Wicked. We’d been once before but weren’t allowed up into the naughty area, even though we claimed to be swingers—obviously, we screamed “sex spy.” Last night, we were especially excited to return for a full tour around the three-storey sex maze. Like a modern-day Goldilocks, we tried out the sex swing, but it creaked too much; straddled the pommel horse, but it felt somewhat perverse; dipped our hand in the whirlpool, but it was a wee bit hot. Then we found a bed, and it felt just right.

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September 10, 2008 | 1:11 pm

Benicio smokes as nipples harden at the Che after party at 99 Sudbury

Benicio Del Toro held court in a corner of the 99 Sudbury (a.k.a. Greenhouse) patio last night, where he spent most of the evening with a giant cigar dangling from his mouth. The romantic Latin American music offered a nice change of pace that was well suited to TIFF hump day. Although Rachel McAdams and Matt Damon never made it to the red carpet, we did overhear a rather interesting exchange when actor Lou Diamond Phillips was asked what it was like to work with Benicio and Steven Soderbergh: “Eventually my anal sphincter loosened up.” Oh really? There are two very different assumptions we can pull from that statement; we’ll leave them both up to you, dear reader. Booze cans, Valentino, Evangeline Lilly and more from the Che party, after the jump.

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September 9, 2008 | 4:51 pm

Hello! Canada’s Legendary Couples party at Birks features few couples and even fewer legends

The Hello! Canada Legendary Couples party at Birks on Saturday night had children practically falling down the stairs into the Manulife Centre. We asked who it was they were so keen to see. They didn’t know. That’s okay—we couldn’t figure it out, either. It was a mélange of Toronto’s fashion and entertainment scene, including the Designer Guys; Joe Mimran (Joe Fresh) and his wife, Kimberley Newport-Mimran (Pink Tartan); Kelly Carlson (Nip/Tuck); and Monika Schnarre (Beverly Hills 90210 from ’95 to ’96). Also on the carpet were Gil Bellows (Toronto Stories and Passchendaele), Joris Jarsky (Toronto Stories), pop-rocker Sarah Slean, Battlestar Galactica babe Grace Park, Carlo Rota (24) and, somehow receiving the most attention, The Hills After Show’s Jessi Cruickshank. Of course, there was an entourage from CTV’s Degrassi, who we seem to see more than our own family, and neurotic Prairies cop Tara Spencer Nairn (Corner Gas) wearing a shiny frock from our resident hot designer, Joeffer Caoc.

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September 9, 2008 | 4:42 pm

One X One and Matt Damon’s impenetrable fortress (a.k.a. Maple Leaf Gardens)

We don’t care for sneaking into parties. It’s so sordid. But we couldn’t help ourselves last night at the One X One event at Maple Leaf Gardens. We circled a number of times—more for posterity than in the hope of finding an open door—before meeting some lovely security guards who politely told us to get lost, which we did (it was raining and we were expected at Ultra for a much-easier-to-get-into event. Sometimes, one’s losses must be cut, and not even Matt Damon can entice us to make an unladylike scene on Church Street. At least, not on day 5. We simply don’t have the energy. Perhaps One X One ambassador Russell Peters could have whisked us in the doors using magic, but, sadly, we missed him on the red carpet.

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September 9, 2008 | 2:49 pm

Crowds go wild for DJ Benji Madden and unnamed girlfriend

Benji Madden swept in to Ultra this morning around 1 a.m. with his girlfriend (some blonde; we hear that she’s involved in hotels). Who knew there were so many Benji Madden fans in Toronto? We were caught in the crush as dozens of well-dressed patrons rushed the stage, iPhones aloft, to snap pictures of the Good Charlotte star and his girlfriend (who bore a benign smile as she sipped sparkling wine from a can). Madden displayed consummate professionalism with the DJs by shaking hands all around before turning to his laptop. His girlfriend kindly smiled at the crowd while he set up; one might even say she was posing. We hope that he returns the favour this evening, as we hear there is a film about her playing at Ryerson.—Katy P“

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September 9, 2008 | 2:34 pm

If only Don DeLillo were here

Standing in the middle of the phone camera orgy that was the Paris Hilton appearance at Ultra last night, we dug deep into our conscience to draw a comparison to a certain ENG101 class discussion about the Most Photographed Barn in America in Don DeLillo’s White Noise. Delighted by the postmodern absurdity of it all, we too scrambled to take low-quality photos of the most photographed woman in North America for our personal collection. Paris came, took a few sips of a certain sparkling-wine-in-a-can, smiled sweetly, and chatted with the DJs as a video montage of her sultry poses and various haircuts played on the video screens to the side. We were there. Our colleagues were there. Heck, even our editor was there. And we have the photos to prove it.—Melita Kuburas“

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September 9, 2008 | 12:12 pm

Paris Hilton titillates the surging masses at Ultra Supper Club

At 11 o’clock last night, the swarm of paparazzi was thick all the way down Ultra Supper Club’s black carpet as dozens of folks waited for one Paris Hilton. The rain was falling and the swarm of media hacks was ready with giant umbrellas to scooch under to protect their cameras. We were among them. This was not a moment to be missed; we just had to deal with the man pressed up against us, the bulge in his pants locked to our behind. But not this, nor the rain, nor the choking clouds of cologne was going to keep us from leaning in to get an utterance from the world’s most famous young blonde. Prior to her arrival, we overheard every line imaginable being spat at the bouncers, as desperate Paris look-alikes clamoured to see their idol. Suddenly, we had overwhelming sympathy for every doorman in town. After the jump, the arrival of Paris and why fame is so easy for her.

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