TIFF party animals

There were a headache-inducing 22 TIFF events/parties on Saturday, starting with fest co-founder Bill Marshall's annual luncheon at Bistro 990, where the host was decked out in a spiffy Etro blazer from Off The Cuff, a designer consignment shop run by a film scriptwriter -- the floor of the shop is covered with quotes from his favourite movies.

(Bono attends Fox Searchlight Pictures, Belvedere Vodka And Vanity Fair Celebrate Martha Marcy May Marlene And The Descendants during TIFF at Thompson Hotel on September 10, 2011. (Photo by Toby Canham/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

The Hello! Canada party at the Ritz Carlton attracted a Canadian contingent including Kim Coates, Paul Haggis, Dean McDermott, Yannick Bisson, Rising Star Keon Mohajeri, Leah Pinsent and Peter Keleghan. Viggo Mortensen was pulling up as we pulled out.

We make a point of attending parties sponsored by champagne companies. At the Fox Searchlight/Vanity Fair at the Thompson Hotel, the Moet Chandon flowed; the boldface not so much.

There was George Clooney, James Franco, Juliette Lewis, Alexander Skarsgard, Elizabeth Olsen, Kirsten Dunst and the ubiquitious Bono.

Everybody else seemed to be at the Grey Goose/Soho House on Duncan St. swigging vodka: everyone including TIFF golden boy Ryan Gosling, Keira Knightley, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Giamatti, Emile Hirsch, Jon Hamm, Jason Reitman, Jonah Hill, Justin Long, Brian Cranston, Rachel Griffiths, Jimmy Kimmel, Anna Faris, Alexander Skarsgard, and Ewan MaGregor and Emily Blunt, the latter two fresh from the Blackberry party at Brassaii, where they laughed all through dinner.

Bono also dropped by Soho House. He simply refuses to leave TIFF. He should apply for a green card.

Meanwhile on West Queen West, Goon's castmembers Seann William Scott and Jay Baruchel nightcapped at The Drake.

-Rita Zekas

Crowd goes wild for Franco

James Franco in the BlackBerry Lounge at the Lightbox on Sunday afternoon = screaming.

-Linda Barnard

'Where Do We Go Now?' Lebanon's official selection for the Oscars

Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki, whose 2007 romantic comedy, Caramel was a crowd-pleasing hit at TIFF in 2007 was celebrating two things at TIFF this week: the successful North American premiere of her latest film, Where Do We Go Now? before a sold-out house Sept. 10 and the news her new movie has been chosen as Lebanon's official selection for the Oscars. In an interview with the Star, the actor-writer-director she said she's "honoured" to have been chosen for Academy Awards consideration. "There is no film industry in Lebanon," she explained. It's rare for the country to even submit a film for the Oscar race for Best Foreign Film, Labaki pointed out.

-Linda Barnard

Kindness of strangers

Talk about generosity of spirit. A woman in the cinema came up to two other patrons and gave them two tickets to a screening of a movie because she and her friend couldn't make it. - Debra Black

Keira Knightley's a drama queen

Keira Knightley, who is earning raves at TIFF for her portrayal of tormented psychiatric patient Sabina Spielrein in David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, is heading back to London Monday to complete the final week of rehearsals for another challenging part: the tragic heroine in Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. She spoke with the Star yesterday about taking on the role that has been previously played onscreen by Greta Garbo and Vivien Leigh. "It's daunting," she said. "But we hope it will take shape." Knightley said she's delighted to be working for the third time with director Joe Wright, who helmed Atonement and Pride & Prejudice, both also starring the English actress.

Keira Knightley and director David Cronenberg at A Dangerous Method premiere at Roy Thomson Hall/George Pimentel/WireImage

So what's her vision of the dramatic final suicide scene where she throws herself in front of a train? Knightley laughed and said, "I'm not going to tell you that! You have to see it. I'm not going to give that away."

But, she added, given that she immersed herself in the workings of the mind for A Dangerous Method, spending four months reading about Spielren and her relationship with Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, she finds Anna's final scene "very interesting psychologically."

-Linda Barnard

Hugh Dancy has a bag with his name on it at #TIFF

Bags with your name on it are the best kind of bags. It means that someone collected a bunch of treats and put them aside for you. Although, it can also mean that someone collected all your crap and put it outside the house and changed the locks. Or that you're getting your personal belongings back after 10 years in jail. I take it back. Bags with your name on it aren't always that great.

Hugh is here with Hysteria and that movie with all the ladies' names that begin with M.

-Malene Arpe

CENTRAL IMAGE AGENCY

Best photo ever of Viggo Mortensen at #TIFF

... here he is last night with Keira Knightley at the ... deep breath ... Perrier Societe/Canadian Club Lounge in Creme Brasserie. The hat is a masterpiece. It appears to be a crocheted rat. Or perhaps a ... no definitely a rat.

-Malene Arpe

9/11 remembered

Short film on 9/11 very moving, with those in attendance at TIFF that day recalling what happened.

Lipstikka a haunting film. Extremely provocative film about two Palestinian women and their relationship. It's a beautiful film that harkens back to an incident when they were teenagers. The film is about perception said director Jonathan Sagall in a Q and A after the screening. Very disturbing but a wonderful film.

-Debra Black