Hollywood is one thing, but FOMO gets so much more acute when all of the fun is happening in our own backyard. Here, a rundown of last night’s festival festivities, ranked from the mildly exciting to the maaaaaaan, you really missed out.
8. 90210-MO Alert! Brandon Walsh (aka Jason Priestley) popped into the Mongrel Media 20-year anniversary bash, held far away from the party fray at the giant event space Brickworks. Like everyone else there, JP did his best to ignore the soggy weather conditions (a little more challenging at a semi-outdoor venue). Yes, the red carpet was more or less submerged, but a great performance by the Montreal-band Stars and a multi-table massage station more than made up for the downpour.
7. On the FOMO: Foodie Edition front - tiny black bean tacos were the miniature nosh to beat last night, on the menu at a fête to celebrate Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig and their new movie, Welcome To Me. That party was on the main floor of The Storys Building, a festival hotspot that will be hosting events over the next few days. Other FOMO-worthy food moments included the perogies at the Mongrel Media bash, the lobster tempura sushi at Michael’s and the meatballs at Soho House — by now as essential to the festival as the movies themselves. (What? They’re amazing!)
6. Chris Evans could have used some of those Captain America superpowers while trying to outrun a pack of overexcited paparazzi on his way into Soho House. Evans is in Toronto for his directorial debut, Before We Go. Other celebs who stopped into Soho House (aka festival Grand Central) last night included Jennifer Garner, Chris Pine, Eddie Redmayne and (dun-dun-duuuuuun) Harvey Weinstein.
5. The Drop, which premiered Friday, is James Gandolfini’s last movie, so it was pretty sweet to see his 14-year-old son, Michael, on the red carpet. Of his dad’s final professional accomplishment, his mini-me progeny kept it simple, saying, “I’m just really proud of him.”
4. Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman arrived together at a party to toast their new movie, Ruth & Alex, and toast they did — a server actually greeted Freeman at the door with a vodka martini, three olives (apparently he’s a fan). The location was Michael’s on Simcoe and the crowd was a little on the unseemly side, snapping photos and swarming the booth where the two stars were sitting. Ever the fashion icon, Keaton wore a flowing, feminine gown. Ha — kidding! Of course she wore a pantsuit and a floppy hat. When it comes to fashion this woman knows how to commit.
3. Given Bill Murray’s reputation for showing up in unexpected places, his appearance at a screening of one of his own movies (Ghostbusters) was a rare instance of normalcy. The actor wore a plastic gold crown in celebration of Bill Murray Day, but was ultimately shown up by a baby dressed as the Marshmallow Monster. Murray definitely won’t be doing Ghostbusters 3, by the way (sigh), but he does like the idea of a female-cast remake.
2. Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo stopped in at the Grey Goose Soho House pre-party before the world premiere of their movie, Nightcrawler, It’s Jake’s first-ever producer credit, and he really went all out for the role, losing thirty pounds and sporting a bizarre short-long hair style. Needless to say, it was a relief to see him back at his dreamy best, wearing a black-on-black tux and boots.
1. If your FOMO receptors started kicking into high gear last night around midnight, there was good reason for it. A soirée to celebrate Bill Murray’s festival movie, St. Vincent, turned into an impromptu dance party with Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and Mr. Meatballs himself hitting the dance floor to a soundtrack of old Hollywood (meaning over-40) classics from Michael Jackson and Journey. The party — held at Patria, a Spanish restaurant on King West — has easily slipped into the TIFF-party-to-beat slot with an army of other celebrity guests including Naomi Watts, Josh Charles, Tom Hardy and Harvey Weinstein.