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The Hype

TIFF Talk

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TIFF after hours: the 44 (and counting) film fest venues with the coveted 4 a.m. last call

(Image: walknboston)

Every year celebs from all over the world flood into the city for TIFF, but for many, it’s the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario that’s the real star throughout the month of September. Just in time to combat post-summer blues, the AGCO grants certain venues the rights to the elusive 4 a.m. last call. While last year’s list clocked in at 44 venues This year’s list of venues with extended hours finally caught up with last year’s, bringing the current number to 44—some of them not open to the public (we’re looking at you, Windsor Arms) and others open for one night only. Check out the list of late-night watering holes after the jump and stay tuned for updates on extended hours, as more are expected to roll in before the festival.

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The Dish

Restauran-TO

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Tawfik Shehata’s The Bowery to join Colborne Street restaurant strip

(Image: Rick O'Brien)

We’re not convinced that a genteel little section of the St. Lawrence Market district will ever pass for The Bowery, the NYC art and culture hub with a seedy past, but Uniq Lifestyle Entertainment Group and chef Tawfik Shehata are going to give it a whirl. Maybe they’ll prove us wrong—Uniq’s portfolio of venues includes Brant House, Maro, Cheval, Cobra, Jacobs & Co. and The Ballroom. Creating something out of nothing is what these folks do.

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The Informer

From the Print Edition

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King State of Mind: When did the once-cool King West strip descend into a mess of stretch Hummers, drunken bachelorettes and last-call brawls?

Scenes from a never-ending party

2:45 a.m., Cobra

“Let’s get drunk and fuck! Let’s get drunk and fuck!”

I’m at Cobra, a King West club in a sprawling basement underneath a 19th-century warehouse. In this neighbourhood, the best parties are either deep underground or high above in a rooftop bar. Cobra is decorated like a gothic funhouse, with a wall of glowing skulls and lots of black. The get-drunk-and-fuck directive bleats from a techno remix as coloured lights, inducing a kind of electric synesthesia, pulsate on the basement ceiling. To my left, two girls make out and topple over, knocking down their bottle service glassware. Guys eagerly watch from the sidelines, plotting how to make their move. My teeth chatter from the vibrating bass. I down a shot that’s half Sour Puss and half vodka, proffered by a human Barbie doll bartender.

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

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Spotted! Rachel McAdams flirting with Michael Sheen

Based on her list of ex-beaus, one could assume that Rachel McAdams has a type. Ryan Gosling, Josh Lucas and Jake Gyllenhaal (whom she may or may not have dated after last year’s Oscars) are all cut from the same scruffy high-school-boy cloth. We approve. Except that—sigh—if the latest rumours are true, it looks like Rach may be saying so long to her flannel years and moving on to a more sophisticated type of gent. Specifically, Michael Sheen, the Brit who played Tony Blair in The Queen, David Frost in Frost/Nixon and the other Wesley Snipes on 30 Rock.

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

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Where to get a TIFF drink: the film festival’s 44 spots with 4 a.m. licences

The arrival of TIFF always demands answers to three crucial questions: which celebs are coming to town, what are the best flicks to see, and where can we get inebriated at ungodly hours of the night? The first two we’ve taken care of here and here, and now we have the nearly complete list of venues with extended hours for TIFF. The news is good: last year, around 25 bars and restaurants were approved for extended hours; this year, about 44 will be serving late. The selection is more varied, and with spots like Gabby’s and Hey Lucy on the list, it’s decidedly more casual. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario tells us that the list could expand as more venues get last-minute approval. Here, the 44 bars officially licensed to stay open until 4 a.m. »

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The Dish

Bottoms Up

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Sunday and Monday, Toronto’s “other weekend,” brings inexpensive booze to the server set

After settling the tabs of Friday parties, Saturday pub crawls and Sunday brunches, a segment of Toronto gears up to celebrate the “other weekend”—Sunday and Monday. On those evenings, business owners cater to hairstylists, musicians, event planners, promoters, bouncers and other members of the service industry. “They don’t get to experience the weekend nightlife,” Mathew Tsoumaris, marketing director at Uniq Lifestyle, which owns Cheval, told the Star, “so we give them a discounted night.”

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Colin Farrell hosts private dinner party at the Spoke Club

ColinFarrell1676-309x387

Our new-found crush

We hear that Colin Farrell continued his night of media-free partying at The Spoke Club on Monday night. Accompanied by Neil Jordan, director of Farrell’s TIFF film Ondine, Farrell dined with a small entourage of cast mates and producers in the private cellar of the club. Rumours abound that Bono was also in attendance, but our source didn’t actually see him. Apparently, they dined on prime beef, salmon and pork. One server gushed, “He called me love.” Another told us, “He smoked like every minute. He was on the patio a lot.” We’re sad we missed out, being at the media circus that was Cheval, when just across the way, we could have been hanging with our newest crush.

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Today at TIFF: September 17, 2009

Our daily roundup of the most buzz-worthy opening galas, parties and screenings.

U2: Rattle and Hum free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, noon
It free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, 3 p.m.
Phantom Pain (Phantomschmerz) premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 6:30 p.m.
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky North American premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 9:30 p.m.
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky after party, Cheval, 10 p.m.

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Ed Norton celebrates Leaves of Grass premiere by ignoring media

(Photo by Jen McNeely)

The fierce Keri Russell (Photo by Jen McNeely)

Last night at Cheval, the famously withdrawn Ed Norton encountered a swarm of reporters upon his arrival to the Leaves of Grass after party. (He was not as lucky as Colin Farrell and Bono, who faced just one journo at their party at Atelier.) Media workers had been camped out for a couple of hours on King Street, but when the recluse arrived he had a snarl on his face that read, “I hate you. All of you.” He declined to walk the red carpet or even glance toward a camera. The party, billed as “Ed Norton Presents,” was really just Ed Norton Pissed.

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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Today at TIFF: September 14, 2009

Our daily roundup of the most buzz-worthy opening galas, parties and screenings.

Stop Making Sense free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, noon
The Busher free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, 3 p.m.
Ondine premiere, Winter Garden Theatre, 5 p.m.
Mother and Child pre-screening cocktail party (guests include Naomi Watts, Annette Bening and Samuel L. Jackson), Royal York
Mother and Child premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 6:30 p.m.
Neil Young Trunk Show public screening and premiere hosted by Jonathan Demme, Yonge–Dundas Square, 8 p.m.
Life During Wartime premiere, Scotiabank Theatre 1, 8:15 p.m.
Partir (Leaving) premiere, Winter Garden Theatre, 8:30 p.m.
The Invention of Lying premiere, Visa Screening Room, 9 p.m.
Leaves of Grass world premiere, Ryerson Theatre, 9 p.m.
A Single Man premiere, Isabel Bader Theatre, 9:30 p.m.
The Damned United premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 9:30 p.m.
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel premiere, AMC 7, 9:30 p.m.
Leaves of Grass after party (guests include Edward Norton and special DJ K-os), Cheval, 10:30 p.m.
Leslie, My Name is Evil party, Berkley Church

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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In lieu of Megan Fox, a rock star shows up at Cheval

pope

Pope gets the eTalk treatment

Megan Fox’s expected arrival at Cheval last night was kept on the down low, as eTalk was the only other reporting team at the King Street bar.

The actress was to make a quick appearance before the midnight premiere of Jennifer’s Body at the Ryerson Theatre, but at 10 p.m. (after two hours of waiting), she was officially a no-show. Instead, we ran into ’80s new wave rocker Carole Pope of Rough Trade, who flew in from her home in New York for her film, Suck, which premieres today (stay tuned for our coverage of the after-party). “I wanted to see The Young Victoria because I heard great things about Emily Blunt,” she said. “But unfortunately it’s on the last day and I have to fly home before that.”

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