From its gleaming new Bell Lightbox headquarters, the Toronto International Film Festival packed in a lot of top Hollywood stars for 2011, while still offering the best in world cinema. More than 300 movies were shown on 33 screens.

As the smoke clears and we sift through the rubble of popcorn, designer gift bags and bleary eyed cinephiles, our reporters share their favourite moments. Cue the montage reel:

Josh Visser

During this Toronto International Film Festival, it became apparent to me that Canadian Ryan Gosling has joined Brad Pitt and George Clooney on the AAA list. He's gone over the top this year, his mighty abs in "Crazy, Stupid, Love" rendering grown women in movie theatres to blubbering schoolgirls, and his two films at TIFF should have him in a tuxedo come award season.

In both "Drive," a hyper-violent, minimalist crime saga, and political thriller "The Ides of March," Gosling is absolutely mesmerizing. Not bad for the nerd from "Breaker High."

Another trend at TIFF: full frontal nudity, both men and women. A lot of actors showing off their naughty bits in decidedly unsexy ways -- I'm looking at you, "Shame."

For the second year in a row, there doesn't seem to be much critical consensus on clear Oscar favourites. Many of the expected contenders, such as Clooney's "Ides of March" or Pitt's "Moneyball," have some pretty clear faults in them.

If you would have told me a silent film would be my favourite movie at TIFF, I wouldn't have believed you. But French director Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist," a romantic drama about a silent film star watching his career sputter as talkies render his talent obsolete, left me feeling like I was draped in a warm, cozy blanket.

My second favourite movie of TIFF, Gosling's "Drive," features one of my all-time favourite soundtracks with its modern electronic sheen that emulates 1980s synth pop -- the perfect melody to a brutal movie heavy on sudden violence and light on dialogue.

Canadian-made "Goon," co-written by Canadian actor Jay Baruchel and "Superbad' writer Evan Goldberg and directed by Michael Dowse (FUBAR), is easily the best hockey movie since "Slap Shot." It was a surprise hit at the festival, and was bought up for an estimated $2 million. That said, a super-violent movie about a hockey enforcer could not have come at a worse time for the NHL.

Favourite moments:

  • Due to random happenstance I happened to walk the red carpet into a premiere party with director Joel Schumacher. His "Batman and Robin," was the first movie I ever took a girl to. I wanted to tell him I blamed him for that relationship, but I'm sure he gets enough guff about the movie.
  • I walked passed Bono without noticing him and my Vancouver-bred friend hits me and she says, "Ugh, that is so Toronto of you!"
  • Glenn Close is as warm in person as all her characters are scary on film and television. Interviewing her was a treat.

Sheri Block

If there's one thing this year's TIFF has left me with, it's that every time I look up into the sky I'm going to wonder if the world is ending.

From Michael Shannon's paranoia in "Take Shelter" to Lars Von Trier's eerie "Melancholia," apocalyptic themes were everywhere.

Terrifying, entertaining, inspiring and at times shocking, many films at this year's TIFF have stayed with me long after I've left the theatre. George Clooney's "The Ides of March" and "The Descendants," Ryan Gosling's "Drive," and Mark and Jay Duplass's "Jeff, Who Lives at Home" had everyone talking, as did Steve McQueen's "Shame," a graphic look at a man struggling with a sex addiction.

Talking to the movie's lead actor Michael Fassbender about the role was actually one of the highlights of my week. He said he's surprised so many people are finding the movie shocking considering what else has become commonplace in film. Dressed in a leather jacket and Iron Maiden T-shirt, with a cigarette tucked behind his ear, this guy is the epitome of movie star cool and someone who has proved he's not afraid to take risks when he believes in a role.

I was also impressed with Scott Speedman, whom I talked to about his performance as a charismatic bank robber in "Edwin Boyd," and Ethan Hawke, someone who I've loved since "Reality Bites" came out in 1994. The down-to-earth actor was genuinely excited to talk about his new movie "The Woman in the Fifth," and made my year when he said there's a good chance they will be making another "Before Sunrise" movie.

Other highlights? Seeing Clive Owen and Geoffrey Rush (and having to pretend it was no big deal because I was wearing my media pass); watching Eddie Vedder drink a beer at the Pearl Jam press conference, meeting up-and-coming stars like Elizabeth Olsen and seasoned directors like Fred Schepisi and Whit Stillman; partying on top of the Bell Lightbox and sharing stories and laughs with all the other journalists in the TIFF "trenches."

My only regret? Not getting to hang with George Clooney and Ryan Gosling (or ‘The New George Clooney' as I like to call him). Ah well, there's always next year…

Constance Droganes

As TIFF 2011 fades into the sunset, several celebrity encounters bring a smile to my face.

I shared an elevator with Ewan McGregor at the Intercontinental Toronto Centre and literally smacked into Tilda Swinton in the hotel's lobby. The actress couldn't apologize enough for our collision.

I saw Madonna at her "W.E." press conference and walked away admiring her more for the way she handled one question about those hydrangeas she apparently detests.

I even chatted with George Clooney, who spoke with me at the press conference for "The Ides of March."

But two movies also topped my list of TIFF moments.

I've never been a fan of Danish director Lars von Trier. The same holds true for his 2009 TIFF entry, "Antichrist," which made headlines for its gratuitous sex and violence. But "Melancholia," von Trier's latest, is nothing like that self-indulgent mess. It's a movie to admire.

In this haunting tale about the end of the world, Kirsten Dunst hits it out of the ballpark as a bride who can't win her battle with depression.

Director Lasse Hallstrom also earned my praises for his wacky crowd-pleaser, "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen." True to Paul Torday's book, the film feels like a cross between "The Office" and "Yes Minister."

Ewan McGregor gives a touching performance as an introverted scientist who works for Britain's Department of Fisheries and Agriculture.

This scientist's job is boring and his marriage is mess. But his dull existence is transformed thanks to a scheme hatched by a fly fishing sheikh to introduce salmon to the wadis of the Yemen.

The plan sounds crazy, but it works. McGregor, Hallstrom and a script penned by "Slumdog Millionaire's" Simon Beaufoy make certain of that.