Parked at the Hyatt

People are talking about how the festival has grown, not just over time but even from last year, with more stars than ever and thus more parties than ever. One hot spot has always been the rooftop bar of the Park Hyatt, which on the weekend was filled with players, wannabes and stars such as Naomi Watts and Geoffrey Rush. The place was packed early, leaving many vets on the wrong side of the velvet rope. "We always got in last year, no matter what hour," said one publicist. Of course, that didn't stop some from trying their darndest. And if one couldn't use their body to gain access, well, then they'd try to use somebody else's.

"Don't you know who I am?!," said one belligerent one chap (yeah, he actually said that) to a bouncer on the weekend, trying to get access to the elevator. Now bouncers at this place aren't like bouncers at clubs. These guys at the Hyatt are more normal folk, more "Canadian," which means more nice. Still, you never know if they played hockey, so they could get tough.

"No I don't sir," said the bouncer, polite but firm. He had several more behind him, all quiet like, behind the rope. The chap, skinny and well-dressed in a suit, began describing impatiently and in the man's grill who he was. A little bit drunk was what he was. The bouncer wasn't letting him through.

"Do you know who Charlize Theron is?," the man said, a combination of a whine and desperation and anger.

"Yes, sir, I do."

"I will come here Monday night and bring Charlize Theron and she will sleep with you. I'm not lying. She will have sex with you."

"That's a very tempting offer sir but I would lose my job."

The supplicant was turning red. "Don't you understand? She will have SEX with you. I can guarantee it!" (Quite frankly, I wanted to know what Stuart Townsend, Theron's boyfriend in town for his directorial debut "Battle in Seattle," would have thought about this.)

The stand-off continued, with the guy begging to get in. When one girl tried to get in and was stopped, the bouncer said that only hotel guests could get up to the bar at this point. "Room keys only," he shouted to those waiting to get in. This just lit a fire under our chap. "Fuck this. Fuck this then. I want a fuckin' room," he said to anyone who would listen. "I want a room now!," Surprisingly, no one came. "Fuckin' now!," he spat. He would have bought the hotel if he could, that's how desperate he was. (Borys Kit)