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Eight signs you’re losing your mind, as gleaned from Vanity Fair’s profile of stranded-in-Canada Quaids

Gettin' Randy (Image: James Jeffrey)

You’ve likely already heard the sordid gossip about actor Randy Quaid and wife Evi’s recent loony adventures in Vancouver. The colourful couple is currently seeking refuge in Canada from a squad of “Hollywood star-whackers” they claim is out to kill them. This month’s issue of Vanity Fair delves deeper into the bizarre tale of outrageous accusations and erratic behaviour and ultimately comes to the same conclusion as everyone else: they’re probably nuts.

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The Hype

Power Couples

September 30, 2010 | 3:19 pm

1 Comment

Drake and Rihanna: a timeline

Rihanna at a party for Drake on September 28 (Image: Johnny Nunez/WireImage/Getty Images)

What a coincidence: once again, Rihanna has a new album to promote, and once again the tabloids are buzzing about a possible romance between her and Toronto hip-hop superstar Drake. The pair recently recorded a duet that will appear on Rihanna’s upcoming album. Plus, she’s showing up at his concerts and making sure that the paparazzi are there every step of the way. To which we say, Come on, Drake—didn’t you learn your lesson the last time? Here, a brief history of their rocky relationship.

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The Hype

Prime Time

September 23, 2010 | 1:13 pm

8 Comments

The Being Erica BS detector: Season 3, Episode 1

CBC’s hugely popular Being Erica premiered its third season Tuesday night.

The good news: 1) With Lost out of the picture, BE stands a solid chance of being the best time travel–related TV show on the planet (Dr. Who? Exactly). 2) Fans finally got to see what was behind that mysterious green door from the season two cliffhanger.

The bad news: What is behind the door was, well, underwhelming. We’re giving the show the benefit of the doubt, hoping episode 1 was all about providing the somewhat snoozy but necessary set-up for another amazing season, and that we’ll eventually warm to the new group therapy posse (right now, we’re still kind of crushing on Kai). In the meantime, let us get down to the business at hand: time copping.

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 20, 2010 | 1:42 pm

2 Comments

The best and worst moments of TIFF 2010

That’s all, folks—TIFF is toast for 2010, but we still have the memories. We asked our team to dish on the best and worst, the scary and the sublime, the hot and the lame of this year’s festival. Find out what they told us in the slide show below.

: The Bell “lounge” at Roy Thomson Hall. It’s basically a shipping crate that blasts Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” before a gala starts. Dancers then emerge from the crate (complete with smoke effects) and do a half-assed number to get people’s attention, though neither the media nor fans seemed to care. (Image: Karon Liu)

: A Snooki impersonator tried to walk the red carpet at Roy Thomson Hall for Black Swan. It’s a sad day in pop culture history when Snooki is considered red carpet royalty. (Image: Jeff Lewis)

: Hotel workers striking in front of the Regency Park Hyatt, where everything TIFF-related took place. (Image: Karon Liu)

: When their publicist walks behind them holding a card announcing their name and title. (Image: Karon Liu)

: Score: A Hockey Musical, which will probably be remembered as the worst movie to open TIFF.

: The press and industry screening of Dustin Lance Black’s What’s Wrong With Virginia, which cleared out halfway through, foreshadowing such reviews as “Everything Is ‘Wrong With Virginia.’”

: The Elgin Theatre, where fans had to line up on the other side of Yonge Street hoping that the zoom on their iPhones would be good enough. (Image: Karon Liu)

: During the introduction of A Beginner’s Guide to Endings, a producer made a very long speech while the cast stood onstage, wondering when he would shut up. Suddenly Harvey Keitel threw his hands in the air and walked off; the cast followed him. (Image: Karon Liu)

: Two-time Oscar winner Paul Haggis being turned away from Soho House, while Josh Brolin helped his pal out by breaking into hysterics. They later made up. (Image: Stefania Yarhi)

: Quebec filmmaker Xavier Dolan, who managed to answer “How did your success at TIFF last year affect your new film?” with a passionate rant against his critics. (Image: Jag Gundu/Getty Images)

: Little Miss Sunshine star Abigail Breslin, now 14, taking the famous stage at the Horseshoe to sing an acoustic ballad. (Image: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images)

: Our hard-fought battle against tears at the end of Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling’s drama Blue Valentine.

: Taking a 20-minute nap in the Elgin Theatre’s media pit while waiting four hours for Nicole Kidman’s arrival. Then, during some attempted downtime with Battlestar Galactica, we fell asleep in our armchair holding a glass of water, only to be awakened when we spilled it all over ourselves.

: Natalie Portman, the leading lady in the Oscar race for her role in Black Swan. (Image: Karon Liu)

: When Ben Mulroney and Shinan Govani walk the carpet. (Image: Karon Liu)

: Uma Thurman’s strict Mexican-only menu, which she requested at an after-party dinner at Brassaii. (Image: George Pimentel)

: The ET Canada party for where a generator that burst into flames was replaced in just 20 minutes. (Image: Staci L.)

: Peter Fonda, whose left-wing politics mixed uneasily with guests at the Best Buddies gala. (Image: Ryan Porter)

: It’s not like we were expecting to sidle up to Don Draper at the bar and have him offer us a Lucky Strike and a Canadian Club, but missing Jon Hamm at all the glitzy film after parties was our biggest celeb letdown. (Image: Karon Liu)

: Belinda Stronach, who was spotted at Maison in the wee hours, hanging with a group of 20-somethings, one of whom was not wearing a shirt.

: Blake Lively, for wiping out all traces of Gossip Girl’s pristine Serena van der Woodsen to wear the trashtacular tube tops of Boston broad Krista in Ben Affleck’s The Town.

: At the Absolut party, we rode up to the garage in chauffeured golf carts at breakneck speed. (Image: Carldunn)

: A Mexican tabloid reporter asked Hilary Swank if she would appear in a vampire movie. For the record, she said no. (Image: Karon Liu)

: Meeting Ryan Kwanten, who, like us, turns out to be a bit of a mama’s boy. The True Blood hunk (have you ever seen better abs?) took his mom to the Amfar gala and on an Alaskan cruise. (Image: Karon Liu)

: We hit the swag lounges hard this year and came away with some great stuff, albeit mostly for women. Hear that, Mom? Christmas comes early this year!

: A fan had Kevin Spacey sign her cheque book for the premiere of Casino Jack. Unbeknownst to her, the media’s zoom lenses got shots of all her cheque book details, including name and account number. The photographers we talked to blurred out that info before uploading them. (Image: Karon Liu)

: If even for two weeks, we were able to forget about Justin Bieber. (Image: Jake Auzzie)

: James Franco’s movie 127 Hours. One particularly graphic scene caused three audience members to faint at the screening. Others walked out.

: Rachel McAdams and Michael Sheen were reportedly canoodling at Sheen’s party for Beautiful Boy at Cheval. (Images: Sheen by Toby Canham/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images, McAdams by James Helmer)

: The hype for Casey Affleck’s Joaquin Phoenix doc I’m Still Here was strong, but by the end of the week, the reviews were harsh, and we learned it was all a hoax. The film might be in theatres, but we’re not.

: Martin Sheen picketed for 20 minutes with striking Royal York staffers one day and showed off his undies to photographers at a party another day. (Image: Stefania Yarhi)

: (Images by Karon Liu and Stefania Yarhi)

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 14, 2010 | 12:34 pm

3 Comments

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

September 10, 2010 | 3:04 pm

1 Comment

Fergieless Black Eyed Pea fails to excite even the regulars at Ultra

Not that anyone really noticed, but Apl.de.ap made an appearance at Ultra last night (Image: Nicola Genin)

We got the feeling it was not such a good night for Black Eyed Pea Apl.de.ap. Last night, Ultra Supper Club had him deejaying—even singing!—but the half-full club couldn’t match his energy on the opening evening of TIFF. Even 2007’s opening party hosted by Australian supermodel Rachel Hunter had a bigger turnout. Rachel Hunter!

At least Apl’s return to Ultra showed there are no hard feelings after his bandmate Fergie fought with Perez Hilton at the downtown nightclub following last year’s MuchMusic Video Awards. Mr. De.ap looked like he was having a blast while deejaying, jamming his fingers in the air as he played hip hop, including his own Black Eyed Peas tracks, to which he sang along.

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 9, 2010 | 9:00 am

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The Toronto International Film Festival begins today. Here’s what you need to know

(Image: Karon Liu)

Woot! The 35th year of TIFF has begun. We’ll be covering all the major parties, celebrity gossip, movie news, red carpet fashion, and insider gossip here on The Hype. In the meantime, here’s everything you need to know about the film festival:

• 50 buzziest TIFF films: what to see, what to skip and how to slice through the hype

• 75 TIFF hot spots: the restaurants, bars, clubs, cinemas and party venues every festival-goer must know

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

• Guess who’s coming to TIFF: Eastwood, Hamm, Franco, Bardem, Portman and more

• Free Bell Lightbox block party: the details on Sunday’s public shindig

Psst. Don’t forget to sign up for our daily film festival newsletter to have event notices, photo galleries and news updates delivered to your inbox:

The Hype

Leave It to Bieber

August 25, 2010 | 2:15 pm

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Today’s Justin Bieber update: Kim Kardashian admits she wants to date him, Bieliebers gather weaponry

This makes us uncomfortable (Image: Elle)

Kim Kardashian is one brave lady. After receiving death threats in May when she was rumoured to be canoodling with Justin Bieber, the starlet appeared on Lopez Tonight yesterday and admitted she would date him “if he was of legal age.” “He definitely has this swag to him,” she said. (We assume she means “swagger” and not free stuff, although we’re sure he gets a lot of that, too.) When Kardashian posed with the Biebs in a Graduate-themed photo shoot for Elle, we wondered whether she was suicidal—the Bieliebers are a violent bunch. Now we know better: riding on Bieber’s 15 minutes is a good way to prolong your own.

• Kim Kardashian: I would date Justin Bieber “if he was of legal age” [Huffington Post]

The Hype

Pretty Young Things

August 23, 2010 | 12:29 pm

2 Comments

The Justin Bieber of Hong Kong is hiding out in Toronto

Maggie Q is filming the new Nikita series in Toronto (Image: Cameron Yee)

Justin Bieber would have to make like Johnny Depp and buy himself an island in order to go outside without being bombarded by hordes of teenage girls. But for Hong Kong actor Maggie Q (whom you may remember from such action films as Mission Impossible III and Live Free or Die Hard), Toronto is a perfect hideout. While some Canadians won’t recognize her name, in Asia, Q provokes a paparazzi feeding frenzy everywhere she goes; it’s even worse than Bieber fever because of the enormous demand for celebrity gossip in Hong Kong. “You’re incredibly recognizable wherever you go,” she told New York. “I could never have a boyfriend. I couldn’t grocery shop for myself. I got very depressed by it.”

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The Hype

Creative Types

August 10, 2010 | 1:55 pm

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William Shatner wants you to know he swears in front of children

Wild Bill's at it again (Shatner: Meredith P.)

Maybe a bit bitter about being passed over for a stint as the new governor general, William Shatner is waging war on political correctness. The fun-hating Parents Television Council (PTC), with no mildly racy “Gossip Girl” ads to provoke its outrage over the summer, is redirecting its boycott-urging energy to the title of Shatner’s new CBS sitcom, $#*! My Dad Says—and Bill is having none of it, reports the Sun.

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The Hype

Pretty Young Things

August 5, 2010 | 4:18 pm

4 Comments

Promoting Guess and Budweiser, how one Toronto socialite makes her money

Ainsley Kerr at a TIFF after party in 2009 (Image: Sonia Recchia/WireImage/Getty Images)

Bud Light Lime, that love-to-hate beer seen at many a party, has just gotten a little classier(?) with socialite Ainsley Kerr signing on to promote the suds. As an ambassador for the brand, Kerr, a mainstay at every Toronto event with a guest list, will talk about the ins and outs of planning a sophisticated summer soiree, including “ambiance,” the transition from “chic to casual,” “palette etiquette” (whatever that means) and at the centre of it all, Bud Light Lime as a cocktail of choice. Where she’ll be doing this, we’re not sure.

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The Hype

After the After Show

July 30, 2010 | 1:00 pm

7 Comments

Jessi Cruickshank moves to L.A., MTV cancels the After Show

One of our favourite moments (Image: YouTube)

After our favourite fiery-haired MTV host, Jessi Cruickshank, confirmed that she was moving to L.A. for a still-secret job, MTV has canned her reality show recap show The After Show. Apparently, the prospect of Dan Levy hosting the show solo or with Cruickshank’s Kelly Ripa replacement wasn’t palatable to the station’s execs. MTV VP Brad Schwartz said they “can’t imagine doing ‘The After Show’ without both Dan and Jessi together; it just wouldn’t be the same.” Have no fear, Levy fans, he’s getting his own show this fall, though the details haven’t been confirmed. To say farewell to the beloved reality show recap show, we’ve compiled a few of our favourite recent After Show moments, after the jump.

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The Hype

Hot or Not?

July 5, 2010 | 1:34 pm

36 Comments

Dan Levy: hot or not?

The evidence (Image: George Pimentel)

Remember that episode of Seinfeld when Jerry dated the woman who looked gorgeous one minute and ghastly the next? Well that’s what came to mind this morning when we stumbled on photos of Dan Levy from last week’s Lainey Gossip Smut Soiree held by The Society. Actually, the first thing that came to mind was “Damn, Dan Levy looks hot,” followed swiftly by, “Wait a sec, is Dan Levy hot?”

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The Goods

The Find

June 7, 2010 | 2:19 pm

3 Comments

Cuff ’em: affordable resin jewellery

The find: We’ve been spotting these celeb-approved resin cuffs, made by California-based Merx, in the pages of gossip mags, but the price is low enough to justify wearing them off the red carpet.
How much: $55.
Where: Accessity, 136 Cumberland St., 416-972-1855, accessity.com.

The Hype

Telling Tales

May 21, 2010 | 3:54 pm

1 Comment

Chatelaine magazine redesign results in murder

The redesigned June issue

Metaphorical murder, duh. One of the most shocking changes of the newly redesigned Chatelaine (other than the semi-controversial lack of features) is the death of Robin, the Markham woman found through market research who served as the model reader. In our 2008 piece on the tumult at the monthly, then-acting-editor-in-chief Lise Ravary showed writer David Hayes a sheet of bristol board covered in photos Robin had provided: snapshots of her children, a handbag, Bono, CDs, paraphernalia covering a fridge, an SUV with a trailer, and the inside of both a closet and a medicine cabinet.

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