TORONTO - Just like Christmas the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival has come and gone. As fans re-focus their pupils after a week of paparazzi camera flashes and major star glam there's plenty to remember about this year's big show on and off the red carpet.
Starting with Guy Ritchie's arrival for "RockNRolla" on opening night, Hollywood A-listers swooped into Toronto, turned heads wherever they went and sent autograph hounds scurrying about TIFF's major screening venues for tokens from their favourite stars.
Photographers weren't so lucky. They failed to get this year's big money shot: A snap of ex-marrieds Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston together. That was about as likely to happen as gas prices dropping below 60 cents a litre.
One felt a little sorry for Pitt at "Burn After Reading" press conference. Photographers leapt towards him with their cameras like wolves on a steak. But hey, that's showbiz and moments like these made TIFF's roller coaster ride this year a mighty entertaining show.
Best red carpet moment: Gerard Butler at the after-party for "RockNRolla"
It's easy for stars to look gracious on the red carpet before a big screening. But when the lights dim that's when real star quality shines. While Guy Ritchie and Thandie Newton bounded from their limos into their after-party at The Boiler House in Toronto's Distillery District, "300" hunk Gerard Butler worked the red carpet, chatting up photographers who had been waiting for more than a hour for the stars' arrival. Gorgeous and generous!
Best press conference moment: "Appaloosa's" Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen and Ren锟絜 Zellweger
It's not everyday that you see Viggo Mortensen be even remotely impolite. But when a journalist summed up this complex western as a film that jockeys between whores and schoolmarms Mortensen, Harris and Zellweger were not amused. As Mortensen fired back, "That's not what this western is about in case you didn't see it."
Most bizarre moment: Roger Ebert getting slapped in the face
Getting into TIFF screenings can be tough. But who ever imagined a journalist slapping film critic Roger Ebert for not moving his head during the screening so he could see? See what comes from eating too much popcorn?
Most glam moment: Valentino's arrival for "Valentino: The Last Emperor"
Forget Keira Knightley, Rachel McAdams and Anne Hathaway. Italian design king Valentino makes these three Hollywood starlets look like grit-covered babes in a daycare sandbox.
Most eerie to watch: Mickey Rourke on the red carpet
Don't even try to recognize the once handsome actor under all that plastic surgery. It's a losing game.
Most likely to win an Oscar: Mickey Rourke for "The Wrestler, Adrien Brody for "The Brothers Bloom and Peter O'Toole for "Dean Spanley"
Brody and O'Toole shine in their offbeat films. But that Oscar buzz around Rourke is there for good reason. Rourke's comeback as a has-been wrestler kicks ass.
TIFF's most glamourous actress: Rachel Weisz
Even at an the early morning round tables for her new film "The Brothers Bloom" Weisz looked as fresh and gorgeous as a newly carved Raphael statue.
Funniest TIFF moment: Bill Maher at the press conference for "Religulous"
"Religion won't go the way of the button shoe," Maher joked. What can we say? Maher made insulting believers, Alaska's governor Sarah Palin and people who shop for memorabilia at Holy Land gift shops an equal opportunity offence.
