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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.
Lessons learned while photographing celebrities
One of our favourite shots from the festival (Photo by Karon Liu)
We consider ourselves to be experts in taking red carpet photos, having attended quite a few of the galas and special presentations since TIFF began. With every premiere, we learned something new in mastering the art of getting the perfect shot.
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Elevated Oprah takes no chances with security (except sometimes)
Destination unknown: elevator numbers were switched off at the Hazelton when Oprah was changing floors (Photo by Karon Liu)
Going up? O, no you’re not.
When Oprah Winfrey rides the elevator, the numbers go black, or so claims a Yorkville insider we met at the InStyle party. The insider told us that although Oprah fans had swarmed the Four Seasons in hopes of catching their 4 p.m. saviour, the Precious producer was, in fact, staying at The Hazelton. We also learned that when Oprah wanted to go up or down the elevator, FBI tactics were in play: all the elevators went dark so no one could know which floor she was on. To further ensure her safeguard, security would block off the foyer to prevent other guests—A-listers or not—from getting to their room.
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A film festival photographer tells us about the best and worst celebrity subjects
Oprah Winfrey and Edward Norton (Photos by Karon Liu)
If not all-seeing, the most-seeing eyes of TIFF are the big photographers: George Pimentel, the Getty peeps, and so on. Last night, we asked a top WireImage lenswoman for her candid ops on the best and worst stars to shoot.
Best subject: “Oprah!” (Really, Oprah likes cameras?)
“She’s patient and enthusiastic,” said the snapper. “And very conscious. She knows what you need to get from her, and she’s really good at working with the rest of the cast on the red carpet, too.”
Worst (after a quick mental scroll): “Probably Ed Norton.”
To give a great actor the benefit of the doubt, we surmised he’s shy.
“No, he just hates it,” was the candid reply. “He gets uncomfortable. It’s really difficult”
Difficult for whom, we wonder? A private celebrity—that popular oxymoron—or a public-eyed photog? “For us, I meant. But now that I think about it…Yeah, maybe both.”
The Oprah effect: The press conference-turned-talk show taping
Oprah ropes in her fans at the press conference for Precious
“It’s like the president is coming,” said one photographer looking back at the burly security guards at the entrance of the room.
“It’s bigger than that,” replied another. “It’s Oprah.”
With our cameras slung over our shoulders, painfully weighed down by the giant lenses and flashes attached to them, 15 or so photographers negotiated spots and angles with each other so we all would have a clear shot at the mighty O behind the table she’d be sitting at for the morning press conference of the movie she co-produced: Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. (To see all photos from the Precious press conference, click here.)
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The day TIFF stood still: the Oprah, er, Precious premiere
Precious moments: Oprah Winfrey clasps her hand to heart at the world premiere of Precious (Photo by Karon Liu)
First the Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Then Tim Hortons opened in New York. And now, Oprah Winfrey comes to Toronto.
We stood at the exact same spot for seven hours last night at Roy Thomson Hall to capture our red carpet photos of Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Tyler Perry, Sherri Shepherd, Gayle King, Mary J. Blige and others. Still, we were latecomers; the girl beside us arrived at 8 a.m., and others started rolling in at 10 a.m. By six we could see a current copy of O Magazine in every direction (what else would Oprah sign?), which probably produced a spike in magazine sales and a possible solution to save the print industry.
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PHOTO GALLERY: Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Tyler Perry, Sherri Shepherd, Gayle King and Mary J. Blige arrive for the world premiere of Precious
Likely the biggest event of TIFF 2009, the premiere of Precious: Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire took place last night at Roy Thomson Hall. We were there to capture these 20 photos of Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Tyler Perry, Sherri Shepherd, Gayle King, Mary J. Blige and others.
Want more Oprah? Check out our full report of the event here>>
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- Sherri Shepherd poses exuberantly (Photo by Karon Liu)
PHOTO GALLERY: Precious press conference with Oprah Winfrey and Mariah Carey
We attended the press conference for Oprah Winfrey’s much anticipated film, Precious, and brought our camera along. Check out the photos below.
The six types of TIFF reporters
The foreign press descends on to Toronto today, specifically the TIFF press office on the second floor of Sutton Place, creating a United Nations of sorts with the common goal of snapping a photo of George Clooney. The real frenzy starts this evening at the opening gala so for now we’re knocking back free sandwiches at the press lounge and noticing that reporters, showing off their photo IDs hanging from green lanyards and toting a TIFF gift bag (which contains a Metropass!), all fall within six categories:
The Broadcaster Read the rest of this entry »
Attire: They are impeccably dressed at 9 a.m. For women, it’s flower-printed sundresses and blister-inducing espadrilles. For men, it’s the slightly more comfortable blazer and jeans combo.
Attachés: BlackBerry, small shoulder bag or purse.
Behaviour: Constant texting and phone calls to segment producer.
Posse: Middle-aged camera crew carrying all the heavy stuff.
Celebrity goal: An encounter with camera-friendly George Clooney so that five-second, self-congratulating clip can be replayed over and over again in promo clips until TIFF 2010.
Canada’s queen of gossip, Lainey, tells us what she knows about the coming of Oprah, Mariah, Clooney, Cage and more
Goss boss: The queen of "fun" smut, Lainey (Photo courtesy of CTV)
TIFF starts tomorrow, so for our last-minute update on what to expect, who to look for and where to go, we sat down with none other than Elaine Lui, a.k.a. Lainey of eTalk and Lainey Gossip.
Where Oprah goes, the congregation will follow—even to Sotto Sotto.
TIFF.TO: What does it mean that Oprah Winfrey is coming to Toronto for the world premiere of Precious? Read the rest of this entry »
LAINEY: For a long time I’ve referred to Oprah as ‘The Mighty O’ and use capitalized pronouns when referring to her because people act like she’s God. Sometimes, I feel like she acts like she’s God. So it’s almost like God is coming to Toronto…like we should have a temple or something in her honour.
Five reasons we’re thrilled Oprah is coming to TIFF
Fan yourself off, Oprah. It's hot in Toronto
Yesterday, we reported that Oprah Winfrey has confirmed her attendance at TIFF—she’ll be here in support of the world premiere of Precious. We can’t wait for every entertainment reporter (ourselves included) to jump on Oprah Watch ’09. But here are five other reasons we’re happy her Harpo-ness will grace Toronto this September.
1) She could Skype in her shows Read the rest of this entry »
The new season starts on September 14, smack in the middle of the festival, but since Oprah has been Skype-ing in her guests rather than flying them in from the other side of the country (Oprah loves Skype, we get it), we think she’ll be more than happy to do an entire show via webcam.
Celeb spotting warm-up 5: The full list of celeb guests is out, and Oprah and Clooney are on it
He's a-coming (Photo by Attit Patel)
The much-anticipated official list of celebrities scheduled to attend TIFF arrived in our in-boxes this morning. We’re happy to report that two of the biggest names rumoured to be heading our way, George Clooney and Oprah, are definitely coming.
A lot of our other favourites have also confirmed: Big Love’s Amanda Seyfried, a reformed David Duchovny, Demi Moore, Drew Barrymore (perhaps we’ll spot her making eyes at locals at Sweaty Betty’s again), two of our three favourite Jennifers (Garner and Connelly; Aniston is a no-show), many Michaels (Caine, Cera, Douglas, Moore), the always lovely Natalie Portman, Nicolas Cage, Penélope Cruz, Ricky Gervais, Sarah Polley, Tilda Swinton, Tom Ford, Viggo Mortensen and so many more.
See the full list of guests after the jump.
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Celeb-spotting warm-up: let the speculation begin
TIFF bound? Tina Fey stars in The Invention of Lying (Photo by George Arriola)
No celebrity’s attendance at TIFF has been officially confirmed, but yesterday’s announcement of opening galas and special presentations gives us a good idea of who’s expected to venture to Toronto in September. Here’s a quick breakdown of which movies are being screened and which stars we expect to see milling about Yorkville 50 days hence.
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