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. Corey Stoll and Sarah Gadon were two of the celebs who showed up to toast their own buzziness at Hello! Canada’s Top 25 New Stars party at the Ritz-Carlton. The list of 2014’s MVP up-and-comers also included Chloë Grace Moretz, Eddie Redmayne and Elle Fanning. Madeleine Stowe also attended the bash, as did Shemar Moore, known alternately as Derek Morgan from Criminal Minds, Malcolm Winters from The Young and The Restless or Shemar Moore, from that time he was nearly run over by fans at the Hello! Canada TIFF party.
7. Hundreds of awestruck admirers formed a human moat around the exterior of the Ritz-Carlton yesterday evening, clamouring to catch a glimpse of a favourite star (though an un-favourite probably would be fine, too). Watching the whole scene from a corner of the lobby was Benedict Cumberbatch, who was obviously channeling his onscreen alter-ego Sherlock Holmes in the discreet-observer department. He was also channeling Samuel L. Jackson in a Kangol-style backward newsie cap – both a fashion statement and a way to keep those rabid “Cumberbitches” (the name for Benedict’s rather devoted fan base) off his tail.
6. True love means never having to say, babe, your armpit stinks. Or at least that’s the takeaway from last night’s Tusk after-party held at the Storys building. Tusk (directed and written by Kevin Smith) stars Justin Long as a man who morphs into a walrus, which sounds weird, though arguably not as odd as armpit-smelling in public, which is what Long did to his girlfriend Amanda Seyfried, who showed up to toast her beau’s big night (and hopefully applied deodorant beforehand).
5. Channing Tatum revealed that he was “on water” last night at the InStyle/Hollywood Foreign Press party at the Windsor Arms Hotel. It’s possible the Foxcatcher star had an early morning call today, but the decision to keep his wits at full capacity could also have something to do with the bounty on his head. (Earlier this week, a local DJ at 99.9 Virgin Radio offered $10,000 to anyone who could get Tatum into the station.)
4. It was an impromptu political powwow for Chris Rock, Michael Moore and Jon Stewart, who convened in the wee-wee-est hours of the morning at a party for Rock’s new movie Top Five at Grey Goose Soho House. Presumably stimulating conversation was drowned out by a soundtrack of dance tracks from Biggie to Iggy.
3. The Giorgio Armani bash easily wins the “most original location” award for their party at the top of the CN Tower. It wasn’t easy to get there (the only TIFF party thus far to include a full-on security check), but the party was worth the wait and extreme measures. Last year’s TIFF darling Jessica Chastain offered career advice to Chloë Grace Moretz. The new besties paused for a spontaneous couch groove session – hard to blame them given celebrity DJ Mark Ronson’s set of essential jams. Also at the Armani bash were the old guard of Richard Gere and Denzel Washington, The Good Wife’s Josh Charles and the still-adorable Quvenzhané Wallis (who sported tiny tuxedo pants because of course she did).
2. Cara Delevingne is best known as the biggest name in the modeling world, but last night she celebrated her first major movie role (the titular angel in The Face of An Angel) at a post-screening cocktail party on the second floor of Grey Goose Soho House. Ever the bad girl, she sported a black leather biker jacket and knocked back shots with her posse of PYTs because, you know, when you’re 22, talented and drop dead gorgeous, why wouldn’t you?
1. The ratio of celebs and civilians was close to 1:1 at last night’s InStyle party at The Windsor Arms, easily last night’s hottest ticket given the guest list that read like the Vanity Fair Oscar bash. Famous faces included Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jon Stewart, Channing Tatum, Laura Dern, Matthew Goode, Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Madeleine Stowe, Patricia Clarkson, Juliette Binoche, Chloë Grace Moretz, Josh Charles, Gael Garcia Bernal, Greta Gerwig, Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Dano and Chris Evans – who joked about his apparently devolving acting skills, telling pals, “I saw an old performance of mine recently and I think I’ve gotten worse in the last 10 years.” Inside there was a lot of “you were great in this” and “looking forward to seeing you in that.” Redmayne, who stars as a young Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, fielded a particularly high number of back pats. So did Dano, who stars as a young Brian Wilson in Love & Mercy. Gentlemen (and ladies), start your Oscar pools.