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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

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

Precious wins People’s Choice Award, screens free tonight

Oprah Winfrey at the premiere of Precious (Photo by Karon Liu)

You get a free screening of my movie! You get a free screening of my movie! And YOU get a free screening of my movie!

Yep, the Oprah-produced, clunkily titled Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire won the Cadillac People’s Choice Award this afternoon during a ceremony at the InterContinental Hotel Ballroom. That means that anyone can turn up for a free screening of the film tonight at 9 p.m. at the Visa Screening Room, right after the closing gala, The Young Victoria.

| Leave a Comment » September 19, 2009 | 2:32 pm | Sarah Nicole Prickett

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

Today at TIFF: September 19, 2009

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

• Madonna: Truth or Dare free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, noon
• What’s Your Raashee? premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 1:30 p.m.
• The Young Victoria premiere, Visa Screening Room, 6 p.m. and Roy Thomson Hall, 8 p.m.
• Copyright Criminals: This is a Sampling Sport world premiere and free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, 7 p.m.
• Festival wrap party, Yonge–Dundas Square, 9 p.m.

| Leave a Comment » September 19, 2009 | 8:00 am | Toronto Life Staff

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

Today at TIFF: September 18, 2009

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

• Don’t Look Back free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, noon
• Grandma’s Boy free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, 3 p.m.
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Roy Thomson Hall, 6 p.m.
• Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound premiere and free public screening with an appearance by Baez, Yonge–Dundas Square, 7 p.m.
• Max Manus premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 9:30 p.m.

| Leave a Comment » September 18, 2009 | 8:00 am | Toronto Life Staff

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

A brush with (almost) fame at the Film Italia party

Italians take over MaRS (Photo by Luca Viorel)

The Italian Film Commission scouts the best locations for their annual TIFF gala—two years ago, they were the first to take over the cool underground at the Lower Bay subway station, and in 2008, they partied on a tall ship at Harbourfront. And last night, they turned the MaRs building into a blue-lit banquet hall, awaft with the molto delicioso smell of duck-and-mushroom ravioli. And while no big stars attended (Tilda Swinton was on the list, but sadly, not on the floor), there were enough unidentifiable foreigners and Planet Hollywood types to keep us people watching.

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| Leave a Comment » September 17, 2009 | 11:23 am | Sarah Nicole Prickett

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

PHOTO GALLERY: Love and Other Impossible Pursuits premiere with Natalie Portman and Lisa Kudrow

Natalie Portman at the gala of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits at Roy Thomson Hall during the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo by James Helmer) Last night was the gala premiere of director Don Roos’s Love and Other Impossible Pursuits at Roy Thomson Hall. We snapped these red carpet photos of Roos along with stars Natalie Portman and Lisa Kudrow.

| Leave a Comment » September 17, 2009 | 10:28 am | Toronto Life Staff

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

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.

| Leave a Comment » September 17, 2009 | 9:37 am | Toronto Life Staff

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

Keanu Reeves won’t comment on beard, fans dismayed by facial hair

Keanu Reeves (is he giving us the stink eye?), director Rebecca Miller and Robin Wright Penn

We’re sure Keanu Reeves’s new film The Private Lives of Pippa Lee is great, but we were distracted throughout its press conference yesterday by his long scraggly hair and beard reminiscent of a Queer Eye candidate. Or a homeless person. A homeless person who makes millions of dollars.

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| 6 Comments » September 16, 2009 | 12:14 pm | Karon Liu

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

Today at TIFF: September 16, 2009

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

• The Last Waltz free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, noon
• Tillie’s Punctured Romance free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, 3 p.m.
• Cooking with Stella premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 6:30 p.m.
• From Venice to MaRs party in celebration of Italian filmmakers (guests include Tilda Swinton), MaRs Discovery District, 8:30 p.m.
• My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done premiere, Visa Screening Room, 9 p.m.
• Love and Other Impossible Pursuits premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 9:30 p.m.
• Cooking with Stella party (guests include Lisa Ray, Don McKellar and Deepa Mehta), Mildred’s Temple Kitchen