What was the coolest party of TIFF? The bash for Jason Reitman’s ‘Saturday Night’

Live from Toronto … it’s Saturday Night!
If there was any doubt, it was nixed by the sight of a giant white anchor desk situated on a usually less-trod part of King Street, west of Bathurst. In front of a pizza parlour. Doubling as the check-in for a party following the screening of Jason Reitman’s frantic new “Saturday Night Live” movie following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. On a Tuesday, no less.
Probably the coolest party of the fest, taking over the entirety of Pizza Wine Disco, it delivered what it promised: Neapolitan pies, discotheque balls and all-in-all basement party vibes. It was where this extra large cast had gathered — everyone from Willem Dafoe and Nicholas Braun to a knockout Kaia Gerber — and where we found Reitman, basking in the generally good notices for the Sony film. One that manages to give laughs, suspense and also heart, in a you-are-there telling of the final 90 minutes before the first ever “SNL” ep in 1975, with Gabriel LaBelle at its charming centre as Lorne Michaels. A film that kinda reminds me of “Birdman” in its urgency and whirling camera work.
“Has Lorne seen it?” I asked Reitman. “We text,” he replied cryptically. So: no.
It reinforced what he had told Deadline earlier, that “Lorne is someone who always looks forward. I think it’s part of his genius. From moment one when he made this show, he would finish an episode, and just put it behind him, and think about what’s next. It’s the reason that someone at his age, who has been doing this show for 50 years, is constantly evolving.”
The best part of this pizza party, sponsored by Don Julio? That it almost felt like a ’70s-era “SNL” rager with the rabbit-hole appeal of mingling with Instagram-era talents who are playing the role of classic “SNL” legends. Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, say. Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase. At one point, balancing a pizza, I found myself in convo with a young “Al Franken” and a young “Billy Crystal.” The latter, played by Nicholas Podany, told me that he did not talk to Crystal per se (that Reitman did not particularly want the cast to meet their counterparts), but did watch hours of Crystal’s standup. “A genius,” he went on although, interestingly enough, Crystal became famous doing impressions of Sammy Davis Jr. and Muhammad Ali. Ah, a different time.
Something that could not have happened in 1975, but did at this shindig, by the way: people at the party also being somewhere else geographically. Via their phones! So I deduced when I noticed a few guests hunkered over their screens, refreshing their feeds, to catch up on the big presidential debate that was happening the same night. Pizza. Wine. Disco. Politics. It was just that kind of night!
First supermodel in! And an OG one at that. That was the case this week when Christy Turlington warmed up the space at the most handsome new restaurant in town, Estiatorio Milos at 330 Bay. A restaurant that’s not even officially open yet, but has been very cleverly leveraging the buzz of TIFF with a slew of civilized film parties, courtesy of Roxstar Entertainment’s Cinema Center.
Mostly, they have been presided over by Costas Spiliadis, the 78-year-old impresario behind one of the most powerful family-owned firms in hospitality — the man who did for luxury Greek cuisine what Nobu essentially did for Japanese, and whose newest Toronto establishment follows an empire that actually started in Montreal but has since opened outposts everywhere from Cabo to Singapore. Turlington, here to support her long-time husband, Ed Burns, in Toronto with his new film “Millers in Marriage,” hit the white-table-top restaurant for its after-party, one that brought out quite the constellation of names. Julianna Margulies. Patrick Wilson. Benjamin Bratt. Gretchen Mol. Ben McKenzie. Morena Baccarin.
Squeezing in some time with the supermodel, I was told by Turlington that she and Ed are now officially empty-nesters, with both of their children off to college, and that her focus remains on her advocacy organization Every Mother Counts. Amazingly, it turns 25 next year! Burns, meanwhile, not only has this new movie out this September, but his first novel, “A Kid from Marlboro Road.” “I started writing it during the pandemic,” he confirmed. Also in the pipeline: a sequel he’s written to “The Brothers McMullen,” a Gen-X staple!
Other parties at Milos — sponsored by Range Rover Sport — have featured other stars. Demi Moore, hot on the trail of her new one, “The Substance,” was actually the first major celebrity in, making the scene at a special brunch held last Sunday, where she mingled with international journalists. Likewise, Pamela Anderson for yet another affair. And finally, Francis Ford Coppola himself was in when he celebrated his film “Megalopolis” with stars such as Adam Driver, found amidst the theatre of whole sea-bass in salt being carved and generous heapings of lobster ravioli. Not a bad way to launch a restaurant!