ollowing a week of high-profile parties, celeb sightings aplenty, and more film screenings than even the most committed cinephile could endure, the Toronto International Film Festival is on its last legs. If you aren't Lohan-exhausted, then you're doing something wrong.

For those in "the industry" (and that ranges from big-shot producers working on an expensive deal to reporters desperately trying to keep up), jumping from screening to screening has taken its toll on both the patience and the eyes. While many films inspired fevered anticipation of the Christmas-morning ilk, reasons for the hype differed. Some drew their allure from heavy-duty star-power, while alternative and indie films subsisted on word-of-mouth buzz.

Another year of crowded streets, drunken hazes, and star-spotting galas

Anton Corbiin's hotly anticipated Control. a biopic of late Joy Division crooner, Ian Curtis, fell into the latter category. Similarly, Ang Lee's Lust, Caution and the Canadian film, the subtly titled Young People Fucking got many people chattering.

Other screenings have been crowded for an entirely different reason: celebrity spotting potential. Just ask Brangelina. The couple, who were here for the premiere gala of Brad Pitt's star-vehicle, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, were continually swarmed by fans, reporters, and paparazzi. Fervent crowds don't stop at red carpet herding. Try walking by the Park Hyatt or the Intercontinental Hotel without fighting your way through a gaggle of photographers and eager celeb-stalkers, all trying to catch a glimpse of George Clooney or Reese Witherspoon. It can't be done.

On the plus side, while touring the streets I did spot British funny man, Simon Pegg, and skateboarding Jackass, Bam Margera. I also spoke to a photographer who regaled me with tales of a wasted Michael Cera (although, I wasn't exactly lucid-minded myself).

Cera wasn't the only celeb that tested the Toronto party scene; Paris Hilton was in town filming a movie, so she was naturally ubiquitous. Meanwhile, the Motorola Late Night Lounge Party saw Mena Suvari and Justin Long grinding to some DJ-spun tunes (although, not with each other; I don't want to start any rumours here). Even odd couple, Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood managed to hit every party they could. Tuesday night's InStyle Magazine party at the Windsor Arms Hotel managed to lure the biggest A-list roster, including Colin Farrell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joaquin Phoenix, Mira Sorvino, David Schwimmer, Harvey Weinstein, and party mainstay, Jude Law.

Calvin Klein's 25th Anniversary Launch Party for new line, "Steel," found local stars out in force. Jarvis Church (aka Gerald Eaton) and Raptor superstar, Chris Bosh, schmoozed the crowd, while the beautiful and the freeloading (ahem) enjoyed the elegant feast, both for the eyes and the mouth.