Oh, Snap
This month, the Toronto International Film Festival celebrates its 35th year with a glossy new home in the Bell Lightbox. Much has changed since the inaugural year, when Hollywood studios turned up their noses at the fledging fest. Then again, much hasn’t. It’s still two weeks of celebrities and fans behaving badly. Here, a look back on TIFF’s most memorable moments, from the coke-fuelled ’70s to the paparazzi-riddled oughties.
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The fun dozen stop: our top 12 TIFF tales
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This Saturday night, TIFF volunteers will roll up the red carpet for the last time in 2009. With the festival’s imminent end, we’ve compiled a list of the our most-read stories since the beginning of festivities on September 10. Here, the top dozen:
Drew Barrymore plays cuteness Ping-Pong with Ellen Page
Drew Barrymore at the press conference for Whip It (Photo by Karon Liu)
Sitting at opposite ends of the table at the press conference of the roller derby comedy, Whip It, Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page acted as the bookmarks of sweetness at the panel discussion.
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Patrick Swayze passes away during TIFF and the awkwardness of getting celebrity death reactions
Patrick Swayze (1952-2009) (Photo by Alan Light)
Every time a famous person passes away, news organizations call up a bunch of celebrities to get reactions, usually consisting phrases such as “I was shocked when I found out” and “Our thoughts and prayers go out to [famous person’s name]’s family.” What reporters didn’t count on yesterday was that some celebrities at TIFF, caught up in the hubbub of the festival, didn’t know about Patrick Swayze’s death until they were asked about it at press conferences.
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Whip It good: Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page at Tattoo Rock Parlour
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.
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Drew Barrymore ditches her Whip It after-party for Sweaty Betty’s
Drew Barrymore behind the bar at Sweaty Betty's
Still a wild child, Drew Barrymore ditched her own party for Whip It (see the red carpet photos here) at Tattoo Rock Parlour for Ossington’s Sweaty Betty’s. We knew that she had been before so pre-TIFF, we chatted with owner Pol-Cristo Williams. “If Drew came back, I wouldn’t be surprised,” he told us. “She had a great time.” It was this quote we remembered when we watched Barrymore, Ellen Page and Justin Long shuffle down the graffiti back alley of Tattoo and pile in an SUV. With no verification, we decided to chance it.
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PHOTO GALLERY: Drew Barrymore on the red carpet at the premiere of Whip It
We caught up with Drew Barrymore on the red carpet of the Ryerson Theatre for her premiere of Whip It. See the photos below.
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.
Skyy’s the limit: three celeb-inspired cocktails for TIFF
Splashmakers: Ellen Page, Lisa Ray and Sandra Oh have all been turned into beverages (Photo by Kenny)
Oscar buzz and party chatter were not the only things served up at the Hazelton Hotel’s TIFF event last week. Official sponsor Skyy Vodka unveiled its annual trifecta of celebrity-inspired cocktails, each with an unsurprising dose of—what else?—Skyy Vodka (although our preliminary research indicates that any kind of vodka can be used). The full list, after the jump.
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Thank you, recession: this year’s free TIFF events are surprisingly wonderful
Rock star Neil Young gives a free performance (Photo by F.A. Hernández)
Synonymous with velvet ropes, lavish parties and celebrities whose annual income rivals the GDP of Palau, the Toronto International Film Festival has never been a particularly thrifty affair—until now. TIFF is getting recession friendly in ’09 by offering expanded free programming at Yonge-Dundas Square (the kind that so irked Rex Reed last year), not to mention some A-list celebrity appearances. “It’s been a tough year for everyone, so everyone deserves a bit of a break,” says festival managing director Michele Maheux. And judging by the press release, it’s good to see they’re not phoning it in with the freebies: planned events include appearances by Neil Young, George A. Romero, Joan Baez, Sapphire and many more. The full list, after the jump.
Celeb spotting warm-up 2: let the speculation begin (again)
Drew Barrymore, seen here with Corey Feldman at the 1989 Academy Awards, screens her directorial debut, Whip It, at TIFF 2009 (Photo by Alan Light)
The titles of some of TIFF‘s films (and stars speculated to show up to promote them) have been announced over the past few days. They range from Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut—with a surprisingly star-studded, funny-lady cast—to Michael Moore’s latest documentary. The sequel to Todd Solondz’s Happiness (which we thought was unsequalable), the latest comedy by the Coen brothers and Werner Herzog’s new crime-fest will also be screened. A full run down of the latest flicks to be added to the Toronto International Film Festival schedule, after the jump.
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