(Image: Liam Mogan)
Ten-pin Queue Spot for a bachelor party Spot for a bridal party Yacht rental Saltwater dip Exercise craze
The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com
All stories relating to Natalie Portman
Canadian model Jessica Stam walks in Dior show in support of John Galliano, a “friend in a dark place”
Jessica Stam and John Galliano in 2007 (Image: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)
Natalie Portman may have withdrawn her support for John Galliano after a video surfaced depicting the soon-to-be former Dior designer unleashing an anti-Semitic tirade on patrons at a Paris bar, but Canadian model Jessica Stam remained committed to the label, walking in Galliano’s final Dior show in Paris last Friday. In the drunken rant, Galliano, who joined the fashion house in 1996, drunkenly proclaims “I love Hitler,” an offence punishable as a crime under French law.
Read the rest of this entry »
Photos from the Vanity Fair Oscar party: George Pimentel takes us through his shots of Bieber, Gwyneth and many more
Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber arrive at the Sunset Tower in L.A. for the Vanity Fair Oscars party on February 27, 2011 (Image: George Pimentel)
Toronto’s top celebrity shutterbug, George Pimentel, spent last week—Oscar week—stargazing in Tinseltown. His tour included the Academy Awards’ most VIP red carpet at the Vanity Fair Party. Here, George dishes on Justin Bieber’s new lady, Scarlett Johansson’s superior beauty and why (as we suspected) Natalie Portman is as smug and snotty as they come.
See the gallery and commentary »
-
- “This is why I do the VF party. You get the pictures that you just don’t get on the Oscar red carpet. When he came in, we all freaked out because they were holding hands, which is a first. They strategized and decided to finally give up the photo.”
-
- “I yelled out, ‘Kiss her, kiss her.’ He almost did; he leaned over, and then he realized it probably wasn’t a good idea.”
-
- “Any time Madonna shows up to an event we all go crazy. For me, she was definitely the highlight of this party. Everyone always asks, ‘What does she really look like?’ and honestly, she looks great. Really. This night was all about promoting her daughter, so Madonna kind of stepped back. She’s very proud. Her daughter is shy, though. She doesn’t have that Madonna exhibitionist quality.”
-
- “I was kind of disappointed that Gwyneth changed. That first silver dress was so much better. I’m not into the whole flesh-coloured thing. I don’t think she pulled it off, but it’s Gwyneth, and she doesn’t really take a bad picture. She is still the princess of Hollywood, and photos of her always sell well and get good placement.”
-
- “Colin was walking the carpet with his wife, and then Anne came along, and they decided to do a shot together. Colin was the big winner of the night. And Anne—I don’t think she’ll be asked to host again. And after seeing her, I don’t know if she can pull off Catwoman. We were all expecting James Franco to show up. I don’t know why he snubbed the party.”
-
![“Love her. She is so cute. The whole weekend, she was all over L.A. and just very sunny and fun. It was a great touch to wear her those Converse [shoes] to the after party. She’s not taking it so seriously, which is so nice to see.”](http://www.torontolife.com/daily/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/109428079GP581_2011_Vanity_-96x96.jpg "Hailee Steinfeld")
- “Love her. She is so cute. The whole weekend, she was all over L.A. and just very sunny and fun. It was a great touch to wear her those Converse [shoes] to the after party. She’s not taking it so seriously, which is so nice to see.”
-
- “Steven is back out there now doing the red carpets because of American Idol. He’s such a rock and roll guy, but he’s also a very affectionate father. He was hugging her and kissing her all night. Liv’s no angel, either. Let’s just say that girl parties.”
-
- “They’re friends with Graydon Carter, so they attend every year. The American media never know who they are, so I always make a big deal of yelling out their names. Sometimes I say their names in a British sort of accent so they don’t know it’s me. Once I start shooting them everyone joins in.”
-
- “Ugh. My nemesis. There’s always one star who is just difficult. In the history of the VF Oscar party, it is a tradition to pose with your Oscar. Everyone does it, but she refused. She just walked past and turned for one second. Let’s just say she is not the most-liked person among photographers. We actually booed her.”
-
- “She doesn’t show up to everything, so it’s special when she does. She’s a true star and just so beautiful. She’s happy to do the posing, and her amazing figure always looks great in the dress. Since her divorce, she’s been coming out more often.”
-
-
“At the end of the night she was waiting for her valet. I asked if I could get one more of her in black and white. She agreed, and when I showed it to her, she said it was great and asked if I could send it to her.”
“So no now you have ScarJo’s e-mail address?” we asked.
“Yes,” replied George.
Oscar watch: 10 questions about the Academy Awards with Canada’s gossip girl Lainey
Read the rest of this entry »
Elaine Lui is Canada’s gossipmonger extraordinaire, with a master’s in Gaga and a black belt in Brangelina. This week, the blogger (find her at laineygossip.com) and eTalk correspondent is in L.A. covering the movie biz’s night of nights. Any news outlet can dish on Oscar outcomes, but only Lainey can tell you if Nicole Kidman has really lightened up on the Botox and whether James Franco and Anne Hathaway are secretly getting it on backstage. (They won’t be—but if they do, Lainey will know). We talked with her about Hollywood’s top dressers, celeb PDA and, of course, all things Oscar.
TIFF to Tinseltown: a tour of the 14 Oscar-nominated films that screened at TIFF
The Toronto International Film Festival may not have the glamour of Cannes, the street cred of Berlin or the skiing of Sundance, but it does have one thing going for it: it’s the unofficial kickoff of Oscar season. The filmmakers who come here every September to show and sell—a full five months before the awards ceremony—are well aware that they’re already in the race to the Kodak Theatre. The early jockeying often pays off: 14 of the 36 feature films nominated for Academy Awards this year screened here (the dubious likes of TRON: Legacy and Salt, for the record, did not). Before the big tally on Sunday night, we take a look at the films that embarked on their trip to the golden boy’s antechamber right here in our backyard.
-
-
Nominated for:
• Writing (original screenplay)—screenplay by David Seidler
• Sound mixing
• Music (original score)—Alexandre Desplat
• Film editing
• Directing—Tom Hooper
• Costume design—Jenny Beavan
• Cinematography—Danny Cohen
• Art direction—Eve Stewart (production design); Judy Farr (set decoration)
• Actress in a supporting role—Helena Bonham Carter
• Actor in a supporting role—Geoffrey Rush
• Actor in a leading role—Colin Firth
• Best picture—Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin
-
-
Nominated for:
• Actor in a supporting role—Jeremy Renner
-
-
Nominated for:
• Makeup
-
-
Nominated for:
• Foreign language film—Algeria
-
-
Nominated for:
• Actress in a leading role—Nicole Kidman
-
-
Nominated for:
• Writing (adapted screenplay)—screenplay by Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy
• Music (original song)—“If I Rise”
• Music (original score)—A.R. Rahman
• Film editing
• Actor in a leading role—James Franco
• Best picture—Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson
-
-
Nominated for:
• Documentary feature—Charles Fergeson and Audrey Marrs
-
-
Nominated for:
• Foreign language film—Canada
-
-
Nominated for:
• Foreign language film—Denmark
-
-
Nominated for:
• Visual effects
-
-
Nominated for:
• Actress in a leading role—Michelle Williams
-
-
Nominated for:
• Film editing
• Directing—Darren Aronofsky
• Cinematography—Matthew Libatique
• Actress in a leading role—Natalie Portman
• Best picture—Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin
-
-
Nominated for:
• Foreign language film—Mexico
• Actor in a leading role—Javier Bardem
-
-
Nominated for:
• Writing (original screenplay)—written by Mike Leigh
-
- We’ll have more Oscars coverage this afternoon and after the big event
Best Actress Oscar Curse: a U of T study shows there’s some truth to it, but can it predict this Sunday’s winner?
Our ears perked up last month when we heard about a study out of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management that gave scientific credence to the so-called Best Actress Academy Award Curse. For the uninitiated, the curse refers to how Best Actress Oscar winners seem more likely to split from their spouses than fellow nominees (see: Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, Kate Winslet, Hilary Swank and Halle Berry, as well as old Hollywood icons Bette Davis and Joan Crawford). At first, we wondered if crunching Hollywood heartbreak numbers is the most effective use of our city’s most beautiful minds (doubtful), but soon we moved onto more useful thoughts, such as: could the Rotman findings be used to help predict this Sunday’s Best Actress Oscar winner?
The Toronto study looks at what happens post-Oscar, but apply a little Freakonomics-style chicken-and-egg skepticism and all of a sudden it’s unclear what came first: the golden statue or the marital strife. Perhaps a troubled personal life is more likely to inspire an Oscar-worthy performance. With this hypothesis in mind, we examine this year’s nominees »
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)
Looking back at TIFF 2010: Eight films to watch
As with any film festival, TIFF 2010 had its share of disappointments (Miral, Hereafter) and outright disasters (Passion Play, What’s Wrong With Virginia), but the general consensus is that this was a pretty good year. Critics and audiences found more than a few gems, and an astounding 18 films that arrived here without North American distribution have already found buyers. By our reckoning, however, eight films stood out as the biggest winners of the festival.
Read the rest of this entry »
Black Swan director owns up to girl-on-girl action, apologizes to Natalie Portman for making her eat carrots
Actor Natalie Portman at the Black Swan press conference (Image: Karon Liu)
“How do you make an independent film that makes people curious and want to come to it? Just get a couple of girls kissing, and it’s all set,” Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky said to a room full of laughs at yesterday’s press conference. Of course, he’s referring to the Natalie Portman–Mila Kunis make-out scene in the trailer that nearly made the Internet explode when it was released.
Aside from the kiss, Black Swan is arguably the most talked about film this TIFF because it appeals to many different audiences: film buffs who follow Aronofsky’s work (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler), dancers and everyone who’s taken an intro ballet class, and fashion types who want to ogle the Rodarte costumes.
Read the rest of this entry »
Toronto the boring? Fashion at TIFF duller than at Venice film fest
It’s a tale of two festival cities: on the left, we have Natalie Portman attending the TIFF premiere of Black Swan last night, and on the right, the actor attends the same premiere two weeks ago in Venice. Can you spot the difference? Read the rest of this entry »
TIFF Fashion Poll: Natalie Portman and Winona Ryder at the Black Swan premiere
We spotted these ladies at last night’s premiere of Black Swan. Who do you think was best dressed?
TIFF PHOTO GALLERY: Natalie Portman and the cast of Black Swan at the premiere
Natalie Portman at the North American premiere of Black Swan (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan was one of the most anticipated films at TIFF, being the director’s follow-up to The Wrestler and boasting a sex scene between stars Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. The stars (save Kunis) came out last night for the premiere at Roy Thomson Hall. Below, our red carpet photos from the gala.
-
- Actor Natalie Portman attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Natalie Portman attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Natalie Portman attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Natalie Portman attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Vincent Cassel attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Vincent Cassel attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Vincent Cassel attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Winona Ryder attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Winona Ryder attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Emmanuelle Chriqui attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Emmanuelle Chriqui attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Barbara Hershey attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Barbara Hershey attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Actor Dominic Cooper attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
-
- Fashion model Biko Beauttah attends the North American premiere of Black Swan at Roy Thomson Hall (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
Oh boy, George: Toronto society types head to the Four Seasons to toast George Pimentel
One of Pimentel's festival snaps (Image: George Pimentel)
The city might not be in the full throes of TIFF just yet (official celebrations begin tomorrow), but that didn’t stop the society types from fêting noted celeb photographer George Pimentel with a lavish party at the Four Seasons’ Avenue Bar. The room, though festooned with shots of such bigwigs as Robert De Niro and Scarlett Johansson, wasn’t packed with the Hollywood crowd, but Toronto royalty—Stacey Kimmel, Hello! magazine’s outgoing editor Ciara Hunt, Food TV’s Rocco DiSpirito, ASC PR honcho Alexandra Weston (preggers again) and Canada AM’s Seamus O’Regan—congregated to congratulate Pimentel on the exhibition of some of his most memorable festival photographs (see a slide show of the works here).
Read the rest of this entry »
See celeb photographer George Pimentel’s favourite film fest shots
Read the rest of this entry »
Toronto’s resident paparazzo George Pimentel knows all about the pleasures and perils of shooting Hollywood’s A-list. This evening, the celebrity shutterbug will debut a collection of his festival snaps at the Four Seasons’s Avenue Bar and Lounge. We sat down with Pimentel to get a sneak peak of the exhibit and the scoop behind his favourite shots. See the slide show now >>
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
Follow Toronto Life on Twitter, Facebook and via RSS