TIFF 2024: Bits, Bites, Work, and Swag

Tom Hiddleston's TIFF dance, Sarah goes grump to party animal, Saturday's scrambles and Demi Moore, lifting Anderson. Paak, a Cate Blanchett payoff, my SNL crush, Gabrielle Union, a giveaway, and more

(Michael Hurcomb/ PICJER/imageSPACE/Chris Chew/UPI/Sam Santos/Ernesto DiStefano/Shutterstock)

Dear Squawkers,

Today is Sarah’s last day at TIFF, she’s screening Queer before she heads home. I still have four more days as my last TIFF assignment is on Friday at 4pm, unless something changes which is very possible because there have been so many adjustments this year. Still, we are through the busiest stretch, the first weekend, and in this newsletter, I’m sharing some of the Show Your Work highlights from the experience with a bonus at the end, if you make it that far.

Friday

The afterparty at RBC House for Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tom Hiddleston, Karen Gillan, Kate Siegel, Mark Hamill, and more. There’s a choreographed dance sequence in the film, which is why several cast members, led by Tom Hiddleston, obviously, broke out into a performance midway through the event.

You can see footage of this on Kathleen’s Instagram

kathleennb

A post shared by @kathleennb

– and that’s only part of it. The dance went ON. For like ten minutes. And we’re not complaining, it was great, but the point is that this is classic Tom Hiddleston, right? He’s the guy who’ll never pass when you hand him the mic at karaoke, who is always game to be the entertainment, unlike some people who secretly want to but can’t get over themselves long enough to indulge themselves. You need a person like Tom aka the theatre kid at the party. Theatre kids deserve more credit for adding some life to the proceedings. So let’s appreciate this man, and that’s not to say we can’t laugh at him affectionately, but we should also recognise his value. Because I can tell you, a lot of celebrities, at these afterparties, they are too cool in the corner, to the point where their performance of detachment looks sullen. One thing you can never say about Tom Hiddleston is that he’s sullen – in fact he’s the opposite, he is enthusiastic and extra, and I celebrate it!

But the real reason I had such a good time at this party is because, initially, Sarah didn’t want to go. As I wrote in my newsletter last week before TIFF, Sarah is more disciplined than I am. I can’t say no to a party during TIFF, and I run myself into the ground and am punished for it the next day while Sarah protects her energy tank. But during previous TIFFs, because of our conflicting schedules, we rarely get a chance to hang, and this year we happened to both have free time on Friday night. So I nagged her into coming with me to RBC House and she reluctantly agreed, basically texted me back like, “Ugh, OK, fine”. A real grump.