Fox Searchlight, the arm of 20^th Century Fox that specializes in independent and British films, bought Shame, which stars Michael Fassbender as a depressed sex addict and Carey Mulligan as his equally twisted sister. Shame received rave reviews and Fassbender even won the prize for best actor at the Venice Film Festival (Oscar hunch, anyone?).

Sundance Selects bought Honore’s French film Beloved (Les biens-aimes), which stars Catherine Deneuve and her real-life daughter Chiara Mastroianni. The film spans 45 years and follows Madeleine (Deneuve), a prostitute in the 1960s, and her daughter Vera through misadventures in love. Honore and Sundance Selects seem to like each other: this is the fifth time the two have collaborated, having previously partnered on Dans Paris, Love Songs, La Belle Personne and Make Plans for Lena.

• Toronto 2011: Michael Fassbender’s ‘Shame’ Sells to Fox Searchlight [Variety]
• Toronto 2011: Sundance Selects Picks Up ‘Beloved’ [Variety]

TIFF co-director Cameron Bailey prepared to hand out the People's Choice awards (Image: Karon Liu)

And that’s a wrap.

The official closing ceremony for the 35th Toronto International Film Festival took place at the Intercontinental on Front Street yesterday. The King’s Speech took the Cadillac People’s Choice Award, joining previous winners (read: Oscar bait) Precious, American Beauty and Slumdog Millionaire. The People’s Choice Award for best documentary went to Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, and the People’s Choice Award for the best midnight madness film went to Stake Land, with Fubar II getting the runner-up prize.

Full list of winners here.

Through some crack investigative work—and one very-soon-to-be-sorry radio room intern—The Hype has managed to get a hold of the entertainment department’s top-secret “ridiculously absurd virtues for entertainment” equation, or RAVE for short. This classified formula reveals just how critics manage to award stellar reviews to such universally acknowledged dreck as Alice in Wonderland (3 1/2 stars, but 53 per cent on metacritic.com), the remake of Death at a Funeral (three stars, but 51 per cent on metacritic) and, shudder, The Twilight Saga: New Moon (three stars, but a pitiful 44 per cent on metacritic).

Herewith, the math behind a Toronto Star movie review.

The formula breakdown, after the jump.

RR - A rave review from Star critics Peter Howell, Bruce Demara, Susan Walker, Linda Barnard or freelancer Jason Anderson, who’s usually saddled with reviewing films that a) the other critics don’t want to see, or b) aren’t screened for critics (flop alert!), and thus has to catch Friday showings for his review to make it into Saturday’s edition.

PE – The number of “populist” elements in a film, i.e., does the movie star George Clooney and/or other audience favourites, such as Tina Fey, Johnny Depp and talking dragons? (Also acceptable: vampires.) But if the film is directed by Michael Bay, automatically subtract one star.

USA – How American is the film? If it’s a Hollywood superhero blockbuster, this variable should be the only boost a film needs to achieve three- or four-star glory. (See Howell’s four-star review of Kick-Ass.) Subtract accordingly if the film is a teenage sex comedy, despite its unique American-ness.

CC – The all-important CanCon variable. This one is tricky: if the film is Canadian-made and -funded, then it must, by necessity, result in a loss of one star. If it’s made by Canadians who have achieved considerable success stateside, though, then this variable can be the key to the film’s success. (See Jason Reitman, James Cameron—basically anyone who will allow the Star to yell “Look, a Canadian!” when the Oscar nominations come out.) Beloved Canadian actors apply here, too—see today’s four-star review of Splice, starring Sarah Polley. Also: the rare times when a film is made by a Canadian in Canada but stars Hollywood types. (See Atom Egoyan’s generally reviled Chloe, to which Howell awarded 3 1/2 stars.)

SNB – All equations must be divided by SNB, or the “snobby” factor. Star critics surely recognize that they are writing for the most eloi of readers (to borrow a phrase from Hollywood Elsewhere blogger Jeffrey Wells describing average moviegoers), but they are critics, after all, and thus must keep up appearances. So, such award darlings as Precious, The Hurt Locker and even the emo-puppets-gone-mad Where the Wild Things Are get four-star props.

FP – Finally, any film that’s foreign or has the air of European sensibilities (cough, Chloe, cough) is also given a token rave review—whether the picture’s from Sweden (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), France (A Prophet) or—why not?—Belgium (A Town Called Panic).

Hosting an Oscars party is going to be tough this year. With 10 nominations for best picture, instead of the usual five, making movie-themed munchies will be twice as hard. To help Toronto hosts get their bearings, we suggest the following dishes from across the city, each inspired by the films hoping for the ultimate Academy prize.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
The soul food at newly re-branded Harlem Underground mixes Cajun influences into hearty southern dishes. Or, for a DIY approach, may we suggest pig’s feet from the Healthy Butcher? Whatever is served, though, we suggest appending the film’s tongue-tripping suffix (i.e., artichoke dip: based on the novel Push by Sapphire).

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.

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.

1. The red carpet media section is overrated
Those who don’t have the coveted green lanyard that gives them access to red carpet calls need not be jealous, for most celebrities are boring once they walk the red carpet. Think about it: there are 20 other photographers who are all taking the same photo of the actor in the same pose, against the same ugly background decorated with a bunch of tacky logos. Being in the fan section allows opportunities for candid shots of celebs interacting with fans with genuine smiles rather than forced grins.

2. Be overly patient
Three hours is the minimum amount of time we spent waiting for the red carpet call in the fan section to secure a spot at the front of the barricades. Here’s how much time we spent waiting at the following premieres, depending on the celebrities expected to show up:

Creation (Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly): Two hours
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (Keanu Reeves, Robin Wright Penn): Two hours
Leaves of Grass (Edward Norton, Keri Russell): Three hours
Chloe (Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried): Three hours
Up In the Air (George Clooney, Jason Bateman): Five hours
Precious (Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey): Seven hours

3. Bring a collapsible stool
They cost less than $10 at Canadian Tire, can fit in a tote bag and weigh less than two pounds. These babies provide a seat during long waits and double as a stool to stand on should there needs to be an extra foot to achieve a good angle. Those who are hard core can purchase a step ladder but be warned: during the Precious premiere the crowds got so rough the woman standing on a two-step beside us almost fell.

4. Understand the dance known as hogging space
Sit on the ground and place a bag or backpack on the side to allow extra space to stretch out while waiting for celebrities to arrive. People will slowly inch closer and closer toward the front but a well-placed bag and the phrase, “That’s my bag, I’ll move it when it gets closer to the premiere so you can move in,” will ensure others will stop crowding, knowing they are guaranteed a better view once the bag is removed.

5. Know when to give up
If there is more than two rows of people in front and there is no chair or stool to stand on, it is near impossible to snap a good photo so don’t bother because it will result in a photograph of blurry arms and the pavement.

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.

While it’s exciting to know that Bond-style techniques were used to protect the big O, we find it rather odd that she would eat at Sotto Sotto. Once the media got wind of her dinner plans, why didn’t reservations get swapped to a more discreet spot? When she did arrive for dinner, the usual autograph hounds were replaced by a huge pack of desperate housewives.

It seems a bit inconsistent for her to have the elevators blacked out within the protected lobby of a guarded hotel when, hours later, she’s willing to step into a public arena with rabid fans squealing for attention. Perhaps she should have taken a cue from George Clooney and opted for something more inconspicuous, like Jack Astor’s.

1. Was George Clooney Eating at Jack Astors?

2. John Riley apologizes to Jennifer Connelly for tearing her picture in half

3. Drew Barrymore ditches her Whip It after-party for Sweaty Betty’s

4. Why it’s easy (and a bad idea) to hate Megan Fox

5. Jennifer Connelly is torn apart by bigwig exec but exacts her revenge flawlessly

6. Isabella Rossellini emulates fish fornication at the ROM

7. Perez Hilton tells us why TIFF is better than Cannes and how he is happy that Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page are making out

8. The day TIFF stood still: the Oprah, er, Precious premiere

9. Spotted: The Jonas Brothers enjoying reasonably priced cashmere

10. A limo driver dishes on chauffeuring George Clooney

11. Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner is denied VIP access at the Holt Renfrew party

12. The invisible (Venk)man: Bill Murray golfs instead of attending Get Low press conference with Sissy Spacek and Robert Duvall

(All photos by Karon Liu)

Rock ’n’ roller derby: performers prepare for the Whip It after-party (Photo by Jen McNeely)

Roller derby chicks whirled around a TTC streetcar outside Tattoo Rock Parlour on Queen West on Sunday, giving the red carpet crowd a terrific tease for the arrival of director Drew Barrymore and homegrown sweetheart Ellen Page to the Whip It after-party. Blaring classic rock tunes and serving up mac and cheese, this was a Hollywood party with a dirty, down-home feel. We stood in line to get a Whip It tattoo branded on our arm and chatted up some of the real-deal derby girls before sneaking into the VIP section to hang with—well, adjacent to—Drew, Ellen, Jason Reitman and Justin Long.

Earlier in the evening, Barrymore was emotional and nervous when introducing the film at Ryerson Theatre to a pack of die-hard fans. “This is a sport where you can be any age, any size, the mother of three, any ethnicity—it doesn’t matter what your economic background is, it’s a welcoming sport.” Oh, Drew. We loved her as the rebel who flashed David Letterman, but now she’s our rock-a-roller derby idol.

Page was the first to show up at Tattoo, appearing fragile and sad while sitting lonesome on the VIP risers. Hard to believe the pretty and petite actor could rough and tumble on the rink, but a derby chick set us straight, “She’s really good and practised for a month before filming. The cast misses the stink of our equipment—our pads smell really bad.”

“It was so great to work with Drew, she has done so much for roller derby!” said another hotrod honey, adorning her uniform with the name Bloody Holly (the derby team from the movie was flown in from Austin, Texas for the premiere and the party).

While doing some bad-ass poses on the dance floor to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” we weren’t surprised to get shoved, for a third time, by Harvey Weinstein. We were surprised, however, that Precious star, Gabourey Sidibe, had to wait a couple of minutes before the dense security would let her up the VIP steps. Reitman tossed his hair while pacing the gated area and looked up to say “hey” when passing us by. Long waited for Drew in a corner booth. Killing time, we ventured downstairs so Manic Panic could glam-rock us up with an obnoxious fluorescent orange hair extension and some glitter eyes.

Barrymore finally arrived and looked both gorgeous and elated, knocking back Bud Light in her Alexander McQueen dress. We spotted her and Long holding hands, so we’re guessing the passionate smooch with Page was a one-off.

With a bit of luck, we found ourselves in the VIP section, watching Barrymore bend over to get her dress zipped up. While spying and noshing on a slider, we observed that the stars appeared to be cooking up an exit strategy. We followed them down the graffiti back alley and met them later at Sweaty Betty’s (not Woody’s, which was one rumoured locale for the after after-party), where Barrymore served beer from behind the bar.

Waking up with neon hair, sparkly eyes, a tattoo and a bottle of 50 on our bedside, we popped an Advil, scrolled through our pictures of Barrymore at Betty’s, and decided last night we partied like a rock star.

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.)

Never mind that there will be 11 other people sitting at the panel inside the Four Seasons. No one seemed to know (or care) that Mariah Carey (actor), Tyler Perry (co-producer) or Mary J. Blige (she wrote a song for the soundtrack) are also involved. All anyone wanted Ms. Winfrey.

The announcement of her entrance triggered the scrum of a lifetime. The camera flashes made a strobe light look like a car blinker by comparison, but Oprah remained calm and became giddy from the excitement.

With her hair pulled back and wearing head-to-toe purple (her favourite colour, natch) she smiled at every photographer and mouthed her famous Oprah yell. It’s the same woman we watch on TV who gives away cars and decides what everyone’s favourite things will be.

Once we got our photographs, we traversed to the back of the room to listen to the rest of the conference, but what happened in the next 40 minutes was nothing like the typical presser.

For one thing, it was being taped for a future episode of Oprah, no doubt an entire hour devoted to the film that Oprah co-produced (best friend Gayle King did red carpet interviews that night). Secondly—and this was truly bizarre—people clapped each time Oprah said something.

We were at a taping of Oprah.

***

But to be fair to the film, it does have a rather tear-jerking, uplifting message. It’s about a poor, overweight, illiterate and pregnant teenager named Precious (played by Gabourey Sidibe) who is trying to get an education and has to overcome an abusive mother, played by comedian Mo’Nique, who didn’t come to Toronto but already has Oscar buzz surrounding her performance. (To see all red carpet photos from the Precious premiere, click here.)

“When I finished watching this movie, I really had to breathe…I recognized myself in that character and I have seen the Precious girls of the world and they have been invisible to me,” said Oprah on why she got involved with the film. “The message of this film is that none of us who sees that movie can walk in the world and allow the Preciouses of the world be invisible to us again.”

Cheers, whistle and applause ensue.

“We take so much for granted, I take so much for granted. I take the fact that I can breathe for granted. I take the fact that I can read for granted. I take the fact that I’m healthy for granted, and I’m grateful,” said director Lee Daniels. “Precious’ story makes me grateful to be alive because so many people don’t have what I have and I’m always complaining about what I don’t have.”

He also revealed some interesting casting tidbits. He originally envisioned Oprah to play the mother (“I didn’t know nothing about that,” she interjects in her charming colloquial tone she can turn to on a dime) and Helen Mirren was supposed to play the guidance counsellor role that eventually went to Mariah. Mirren dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and Daniels had Mariah in mind after just working with her on another project.

***

And like the end of the show, the press conference turned to more of a banter between guests as the subject of Carey’s and Sherri Shepherd’s unrecognizable onscreen looks came up. Carey’s character had dark brown hair and no makeup while Shepherd had cornrows.

“I brought in all my wigs for the character and [Lee Daniels] was like, no it isn’t happening,” said Shepherd.

“I don’t believe in makeup,” said Daniels.

“Oh come on, you put makeup under my eyes. And the overhead lighting was not my friend,” said Carey. “And you knew what you were doing to me and you loved it.”

“Not an eyelash curler to be found,” added Shepherd.

Lee revealed, “We were in a scene and I’m doing my directing thing and I’m looking at Mariah in my peripheral vision and I see her putting on blush.”

She interrupted, “It was a little bit…”

Lee continued, “…and I said, ‘What is this? What are you doing?’ She said ‘Nothing. What? Precious has makeup on.’”

With that the press conference was over with a final round of applause and a standing O for the standing O.

Unfortunately, she didn’t give away any cars.

• See all red carpet photos from the Precious premiere
• See all photos from the Precious press conference

Full disclosure: we arrived at Roy Thomson Hall yesterday around 4 p.m. to secure a spot behind the barricades for the Precious premiere that night and completely forgot about the gala for Atom Egoyan’s Chloe earlier in the evening.

However, things worked out for the best as we had the best view to catch a glimpse of stars Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried (Liam Neeson pulled out of TIFF after the death of his wife) as well as Egoyan and Jason Reitman (his dad Ivan also made an appearance). Mayor David Miller, apparently suffering from a George Hamilton-level faux tan, walked to the red carpet instead of arriving in a car, but his thunder was quickly stolen when Seyfried arrived seconds later.

We’d like to thank Oprah for this bountiful gift.

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.

Gayle King holding the signature Oprah mic (Photo by Karon Liu)

This was easily the biggest crowd of the festival so far. A security guard told us there were 14 rows of people behind us, which we felt when Gayle King got out of the first car. No one expected Oprah’s best friend (and editor of O) to arrive, but it all made sense when she got into the media pit with her own camera crew: there’s going to be a future episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show on the subject of Precious (the press conference was also being filmed that morning).

Since she was visible on the red carpet throughout the arrivals, the mob chanted her name repeatedly in hopes of luring her out for a meet and greet. It worked, but she darted back into the pit when the mighty O arrived. As expected, there was a temporary lapse in the crowd’s sanity when co-producer Tyler Perry escorted her out of an SUV. He quickly disappeared into media land (the crowd singing “Happy Birthday” to him), while Oprah did a twirl in front of us and clenched her heart, showing how touched she was by the overwhelming fanfare. Unfortunately, she did not sign autographs, leaving the sidewalk strewn with shattered dreams and tear-stained copies of unread Os.

Up next was Sapphire, author of the novel Push upon which Precious is based, who was new to having fans scream after her and was a touch overwhelmed. Then Mariah Carey arrived to show her how it’s done: smile, jiggle, pose. The guards had to push back the barriers. We were told that Nick Cannon would be her date, but she arrived solo and blew kisses to the crowd as she walked by. (A note to the apoplectic fan who couldn’t stop waving her hand in front of our camera in an attempt to get Mariah’s attention: thanks).

Sherri Shepherd poses exuberantly (Photo by Karon Liu)

The View co-host and Precious co-star Sherri Shepherd arrived next, and gets our award for best red carpet pose as she eschewed the hand-on-hip statue option for a eagle-like stance that cracked us up. Another pleasant surprise was seeing Paula Patton arrive with hubby Robin Thicke (son of Alan). We also felt slightly awkward for Gabourey Sidibe, looking fresh and fun in bright orange, because everyone behind us kept calling her by her character’s name. There were no autographs handed out until the final major arrival, Mary J. Blige. The singer, who wrote the song for the movie, went down the entire line of fans to sign and shake hands.

And as if there wasn’t enough star power that night, just when we thought the red carpet was finished, a black car rolled out. “It’s someone very important. You’ll see,” teased the security guard with the ear piece.

It was Robert De Niro.

Surprise guest Robert De Niro (Photo by Karon Liu)

He got out of the car, waved at fans and went straight to the media pit. Fans continued to chant Oprah and Gayle’s names in hopes of coaxing them back out, but, sadly, the night was over for those outside. It was an unforgettable encounter, and we went home to ice our bruises and wipe the many footprints off our camera bag.

See our all 20 photos from the premiere of Precious: Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire>>

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>>