Toronto, September 7-12, 2007 – OAN headed north again this year for the Toronto International Film Festival, and what a starry city that was this week! 

Fans waited all day long hoping for a glimpse of Brangelina at the premiere of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, forcing police to finally close off the entire block in front of the theater.  At one point, a Visa Screening Room staffer came outside and handed out chocolates to gawkers standing 4-deep in the street.  Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie went right over to the fans when they arrived, but the barricades were quickly knocked down, and police had to hold back the crowds while the couple scurried into the theater.  Inside the theater, the entire audience was standing and facing the rear of the room, breathlessly waiting for Brangelina to enter, since the stars were to introduce the movie. 

Sean Penn acted within societal norms for once, and did not smoke during his press conference for Into the Wild; he lit up freely during previous TIFF appearances.  Penn did get annoyed at the constant clicking of cameras, and offered to look in every direction so photographers could stop shooting for the rest of the press conference. 

We witnessed a couple of minor wardrobe malfunctions: Sigourney Weaver adjusted Kate Bosworth’s dress at the end of their Girl in the Park press conference, before cameras could snap anything untoward, and an assistant tugged Reese Witherspoon’s very low-cut in back dress into place at the premiere of Rendition.  Witherspoon and costar Jake Gyllenhaal arrived separately at the screening, spaced far enough apart to avoid meeting on the red carpet. The two have been rumored to be dating, and they did not sit together during the press conference for Rendtion.

Jude Law had reportedly missed his flight to Toronto, so he wasn’t at the Sleuth press conference, and only got to the premiere that evening just as the film was starting. 

On our first night in the city we met Sienna Miller, who did not have any films in the festival.  The actress and her sister Savannah launched their Twenty8Twelve clothing line at Holt Renfrew; the store closed the street for a party featuring stilt walkers and a fire juggler.

The weather in Toronto was great, except for September 11, when Keira Knightley, Michael Pitt and Sei Ashima dodged a downpour at the screening of Silk. - with Joy E. Scheller reporting