Joaquin Phoenix wins my prize for being the most disheveled looking star at the Toronto International Film Festival news conferences, showing up for the “Reservation Road” presser looking like a man in desperate need of a shave and a comb. He made attention-getting jokes, even when reporters addressed co-star Jennifer Connelly, fiddled with co-star Mark Ruffalo’s ear and sometimes looked like he was falling asleep. Phoenix also removed the microphone minutes before the news conference was over and grumbled at the technician who came to help him put it back.

    
Still on the award front, I’m giving Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman my naughty schoolkids prize for whispering through much of their “Juno” news conference — with Bateman ogling the large rock on Garner’s right hand. If my lip-reading skills are right Bateman first mouthed the question “Three?”, and when Garner shook her head, upped the stakes to “Four?” She smiled and nodded yes. Does that mean it’s a four-carat rock? Hubby Ben Affleck likely knows for sure.

    
In a world of over-inflated egos, a consolation prize goes to Michael Moore, who shared his tips on how to shorten his film “Captain Mike Across America”. Moore said he has a sign up in the edit suite that says: “When in doubt, cut me out”.
“Trust me, the last thing you want to do is make a film about yourself and see yourself up there on the screen when you look like this,” Moore told reporters at a news conference promoting his film “Captain Mike Across America.”
“I’m sitting there watching (the premiere)… slinking down in my seat… ‘this is SO PAINFUL’,” said Moore, who was dressed in his usual get-up of baseball cap, T-shirt, shorts and running shoes.

The most unusual footwear prize goes to Jena Malone, one of the stars of Sean Penn’s “Into the Wild” who showed up in knee-length black rubber boots, with thick cork soles, worn over torn rust-colored leggings. Unless of course anyone has anything better to suggest.

Sorry folks. I couldn’t find a picture of the shoes.