Mickey Rourke | torontolife.com

The swag series: what Megan Fox and Mickey Rourke are receiving

(Image: JJ Thomson)

What it is: Bask-It-Style presented a media lounge in the Royal York’s Prime Minister’s suite to preview the swag it will be giving stars. Rather than make the celebs trudge all the way downtown (after all, that Avenue Road and Bloor construction makes travel a nightmare), Bask-It delivers pieces to the Hollywood bigwigs’ suites.

Who gets it: Such celebs as Megan Fox and Mickey Rourke have already been sent bags.

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 12, 2010 | 11:25 am

Spotted! Josh Brolin smoking inside at the Thompson

Bad boy Josh Brolin, re-imagined by Swedish artist Sebastian Fritzon

The stars were clouded under a brief haze last night at King West’s Thompson Hotel, where Josh Brolin popped by the exclusive Fox Searchlight-Vanity Fair-Belvedere party. Sitting in one of the open bottle-service booths, the bearded actor engaged in what appeared to be an intense and hilarious conversation with a friend (he’s known for his gesticulations) and lit up a smoke without a second thought. Staffers and partiers didn’t stop him as he ashed into the small stack of white dishes set out next to a tray of snacks.

OK, smoking indoors is not much of a to-do (Sean Penn did it at a festival press conference back in 2006), but at a TIFF that has, so far, been scandal-free, we’ll take what we can get. Where’s Mickey Rourke when you need him?

= Find this story on our Celebrity Sightings Map, where we plot the locations of stars spotted throughout Toronto

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 11, 2010 | 12:06 pm

TIFF PHOTO GALLERY: Megan Fox, Bill Murray and Mickey Rourke at the Passion Play gala

Actor Megan Fox on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

Fan frenzy descended over the Ryerson Theatre last night as vampy vixen Megan Fox walked the red carpet with her Passion Play co-stars Bill Murray and Mickey Rourke.

Our photos are below, but a full report of the event is reported here.

: Actor Brian Austin Green with his wife, actress Megan Fox, on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actor Brian Austin Green with his wife, actress Megan Fox, on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actor Brian Austin Green with his wife, actress Megan Fox, on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actress Megan Fox on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actress Megan Fox on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actress Megan Fox on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actress Megan Fox on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actress Megan Fox on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actress Megan Fox on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actor Mickey Rourke on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actor Mickey Rourke on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actor Mickey Rourke on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actor Mickey Rourke on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actor Mickey Rourke on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actor Bill Murray on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Actor Bill Murray on the red carpet for Passion Play at Ryerson (Image: Karon Liu)

: Bill Murray gets some love from a fan (Image: Karon Liu)

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 11, 2010 | 11:17 am

Angry, horny, desperate fans flock to see Megan Fox at Passion Play gala

Spot the Fox: Megan Fox is mobbed by fans last night at the premiere of Passion Play at the Ryerson Theatre

While it’s common knowledge that being the presence of celebrities can render a person into a giddy puddle of goo, Friday night’s Passion Play gala at the Ryerson Theatre brought out a mixed bag of emotions among fans: confusion and entitlement, hatred and horniness.

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 11, 2010 | 10:46 am

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Spotted: Bill Murray’s in Toronto

Our favourite straight-faced party crasher, Bill Murray, was spotted last night at Buca, the amazing Italian restaurant on King Street West. He was out celebrating the premiere of Passion Play, his new film that stars Mickey Rourke as a washed-up jazz musician and Megan Fox as a winged circus freak.

= Find this story on our Celebrity Sightings Map, where we plot the locations of stars spotted throughout Toronto

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 10, 2010 | 5:28 pm

Toronto strip clubs see TIFF revenue increase as stars unwind with lap dances

Fortunately for Toronto’s classy (or conservative) reputation, Yorkville and King West bars and clubs see most of the late-night dollars at TIFF. But make no mistake, Hogtown’s more licentious hangouts see plenty of, er, action throughout the fest. According to Tim Lambrinos of the Adult Entertainment Association of Canada, strip clubs in the city enjoy a 20 per cent increase in sales (mostly in American cash) as stars indulge in a lap dance or two when they’re in town. “A lot of people come out after hours and they want to socialize,” he told the Toronto Sun. Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Mickey Rourke and Queen Latifa have been spotted at Four Your Eyes Only on King.

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 1, 2010 | 4:11 pm

4 Comments

TIFF Oscar buzz begins: Natalie Portman wins critics’ support in Black Swan

(Image: James Helmer)

The Oscar baiting of TIFF films has officially begun, with acclaim for Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan pouring in—with overwhelming praise for Natalie Portman’s starring performance—after its international premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The film, scheduled to screen in Toronto on September 13 at Roy Thomson Hall, follows Nina (Portman) as a spotlight-craving ballerina who becomes entangled in a pas de deux with a rival dancer played by Mila Kunis. Eventually Nina’s plight takes a Cronenberg-esque turn (hey, this is an Aronofsky flick), with her eyes discolouring and wings sprouting from her back as she becomes the swan she strives to portray onstage.

See our picks and rejects »

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 1, 2010 | 2:52 pm

20 Comments

50 Buzziest TIFF Films: what to see, what to skip and how to slice through the hype

Tickets go on sale tomorrow for all the screenings at TIFF 2010, but with over 300 titles, guessing at what film is worth the money (and queuing) is as challenging as ever. Well, fear not: our guide cuts through the hype surrounding the 50 most anticipated flicks to reveal which films are likely to give the most bang for your buck.

The Hype

TIFF Talk

August 24, 2010 | 12:26 pm

4 Comments

Official TIFF guest list released: Jon Hamm, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard, Will Ferrell and more

The young, the old and the fugly

Woot! Woot! The exhaustive official guest list for TIFF has been released (James Franco! Jon Hamm! Uma Thurman!), meaning we can finally provide a definitive stargazing guide to the fest. Here’s a quick primer. See the full list after the jump.

The acclaimed
Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Robert De Niro, Helen Mirren, Nicole Kidman, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Woody Allen, Catherine Deneuve, Harvey Keitel, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, Martin Sheen, William H. Macy, Catherine Keener

The Hype

RIP

March 10, 2010 | 5:35 pm

3 Comments

Corey Haim (1972–2010): the death of an ’80s icon

Forget Edward vs. Jacob! The Coreys sent teen hearts into overdrive in the '80s

Any self-respecting culture vulture who came of age in the ’80s should be able to answer the following questions: Vuarnet or OP? Boy George or George Michael? Corey Haim or Corey Feldman? Just as the teeny-boppers of today wrestle with the eternal Edward or Jacob question, boys and girls of the pre-Internet era once pledged undying allegiance to Team Haim or Team Feldman.

Corey Feldman was dark, brooding and dangerous, while Corey Haim (who hailed from Toronto and cut his acting teeth on The Edison Twins, one of the weirdest chapters in CanCon history) was, ironically, the all-American dreamboat with a sensitive side. Kind of like Kirk Cameron if he’d found drugs instead of Jesus.

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 22, 2009 | 2:53 pm

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.

The Dish

Pantry Raid

February 20, 2009 | 2:57 pm

The best food and drinks for an Oscar party

If hosting an Oscar-night party is your kind of thing, then we bet kitschy movie-themed drinks and snacks are, too. So, we’ve compiled the best ideas for Sunday night, starting with celebrity cocktails from Gourmet.

Gossip Hound

September 10, 2008 | 12:07 pm

The Wrestler after party: Marilyn falls, Weinstein bustles, Aniston disappoints

The Park Hyatt rooftop was crammed on Sunday night for The Wrestler after party. Again, barrelling through the scene was broad-shouldered Harvey Weinstein. Hey, Harv: just because it’s The Wrestler doesn’t mean you have to be so aggressive! Bad boy Sean Penn accompanied his wife, Robin Wright Penn. They were joined by No Country for Old Men’s Josh Brolin and Jennifer Aniston, whose reviews in Management are just so-so. Looks like over-sensitive and bubbly Rachel was your calling, honey, ’cause we haven’t been impressed with anything since your fab mid-’90s haircut. Although Evan Rachel Wood, who will forever be 13 in our mind, was loitering in the lobby, we did not see her when boyfriend (and, yes, that still makes us choke) Marilyn Manson was falling against, and sliding down, a wall. He’s just too skinny. Maybe if he hadn’t removed his rib cage he might be able to sustain a night of heavy drinking like The Wrestler star Mickey Rourke. That said, perhaps not—Rourke did get mighty sauced at TIFF ’02 at the Bovine Sex Club, where, following some naughty lap dances, he reportedly dropped his pants. When is someone going to make a film about celebrities behaving badly at a festival, Mr. Weinstein? That’s your cue.—Jen McNeely

Industry Standard

September 9, 2008 | 5:03 pm