Hollywood is one thing, but FOMO (aka Fear Of Missing Out) 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.
Maps to the Stars (hint: they’re in the booth)
It was life imitating art at the party for David Cronenberg’s TIFF offering, Maps to the Stars, a Hollywood send-up starring Julianne Moore, Robert Pattinson and John Cusack among others. The movie is about the hierarchy of the celebrity universe, which felt particularly on-the-nose since all of the talent (including the aforementioned A-list trio) were cordoned off from the crowd, lounging in VIP booths while everyone else tried to convince security that they belonged behind the rope. The location of the party was C-Lounge, which subs in for an L.A. hotspot in the movie. It was the type of opulent affair that only a celebrity could be used to, though according to Moore, the best way to stay happy as an actor is to stay away from all of that fanfare. “I think all of us realize that the only way to really have a connection is to have a family and friends,” she said at a press conference earlier yesterday, apparently forgetting that third “f” word – free booze.
The Good Hawke
Ethan Hawke, star of The Good Kill, took the prize for most congenial TIFF celebrity at an intimate post-screening cocktail party at STORYS building. Co-star January Jones was a no-show, but Hawke hung out for hours, chatting with guests and even politely shooing away the bodyguards who had been hired to protect his table because, you know, he is a man of the people. On the way out, he shook hands with almost every person he passed, proving that multiple decades in the business do not necessarily make you a self-absorbed jerk. At the time of exit, the party buzzed with the rumour that Wayne Gretzky was planning a late night appearance – but by 3:30 a.m., the Great One had yet to materialize.
Tragedy for “Cumberbitches”
For the third year in a row, Soho House was the place for Harvey Weinstein’s annual TIFF extravaganza. The movie this year was The Imitation Game, which has already started picking up Oscar buzz for its leading man Benedict Cumberbatch. Sadly, the Sherlock star had left town directly after the movie’s gala premier, leaving dozens of “Cumberbitches” in a state of serious despair. On the plus side, his ridiculously attractive co-stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode attended the party, the latter hanging with regular folk on Soho’s streetside patio. Other big names in attendance included Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (aka Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones), who chatted in Danish with a friend, plus Pattinson who came from his own after party to hang out with friends at Soho. As for Weinstein, he seemed to be having a low-key night, though he did take time to improve international film world relations, chatting with TIFF CEO Piers Handling before heading out.