* The gala screening of Drew Barrymore's "Whip It" went fantastically well Sunday night, so well that Drew couldn't speak yesterday.

At the screening's after-party at the deafening Tattoo Rock Parlor, Drew held court with boyfriend Justin Long, stars Ellen Page and Eve (looking amazing in a blouse with neckline that plunged to her waist) and others. Dropping by before their eardrums split were director Jason Reitman ("Juno," "Up in the Air") producer Harvey Weinstein, Gabourey Sidibe (star of "Precious") and Rebecca DeMornay, who continues to follow Tattle around.

* One thing you always see at a festival are herds of people standing outside hotel entrances with their point-and-shoots and cell-phone cameras.

That Clive Owen ("The Boys Are Back") was doing interviews at the Intercontinental yesterday led almost 200 people to line up by the hotel in search of a brief glimpse.

About 10 minutes after the crowd dispersed, "Whip It" stars Alia Shawkat and Page walked down Bloor Street past the hotel and no one even noticed. If they'd walked out of the hotel they would have been mobbed.

* It's all about movies here at the festival but with so many volunteers not everyone can be up on everything. Rex Reed has been a respected film critic for more than 40 years. He's written numerous books, appeared in movies and was a regular on TV long before Roger Ebert. He's probably been coming to the Toronto festival since it started.

When he checked in at the press office, however, the first thing the person behind the table said to him was, "Can I see a photo ID?"

* After "Precious," "Up in the Air" and "Whip It," one of the most talked about films at the festival wasn't even at the festival. Paramount guerilla-screened its upcoming horror film "Paranormal" yesterday morning and it's probably fair to say that the people who saw it didn't get much sleep last night.

* Director Scott Hicks was talking about the wonderful reaction he got from the family of Simon Carr when he screened "The Boys Are Back" for them. It is, after all, based on a tragedy in their lives. He also mentioned the reaction he got from Philip Glass when he screened his documentary "GLASS: A Portrait of Philip in 12 parts" for the composer.

"I think you made a wonderful film," Glass said. "I just wish it wasn't about me."

Elsewhere in Tattleland . . .

Already needing a "True Blood" fix since the HBO hit ended its second season Sunday?

Here's a tasty morsel, fang-bangers. Seems that affianced Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin aren't the only true-life couple emerging from Alan Ball's Louisiana vamp romp. New York magazine and other Web sites report that statuesque Swede Alexander Skarsgard - aka icy vampire sheriff Eric - and Evan Rachel Wood, who joined the cast this season as Louisiana vampire Queen Sophie-Anne, are an item. They were seen together in Shreveport, La., this weekend, where Skarsgard is filming a movie.

Hey, she used to date shock rocker Marilyn Manson. A vampire's not much of a stretch.

Kate's lament

"I could stop and I'll still have all of the flak and the lack of the paycheck. I'm a single mother. I, now more than ever, have to be out there working."

Surgically practical Kate Gosselin cut right to it as she made the first of two guest-host appearances on "The View" yesterday, explaining to the "V" crew why she has no plans to cancel "Jon & Kate Plus 8" even though that equation has turned into the great divide.

Gosselin is said to be enjoying "The View" so much, she'd like to get one of her own. Marc Malkin reports that she's in talks to develop a morning show with Southern cooking diva Paula Deen.

"They're looking around and casting for other women to be on the show with them," a source said. "They want all the women to be moms."

Being with Bobby Brown

Whitney Houston told Oprah Winfrey yesterday that ex-husband Bobby Brown didn't beat her but that he did beat her down emotionally, even spitting at her once. Houston, staging a career comeback with a new album and a two-part appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," said that Brown "slapped me once, but he got hit on the head three times by me."

That said, Houston told Oprah that Brown had the upper hand in their relationship, and she found the control attractive.

And the Emmy presenters are . . .

Tina Fey, Kiefer Sutherland and Simon Baker - nominees all - will be among the presenters at Sunday's prime-time Emmy Awards telecast scheduled for 8 p.m. Others include Jon Hamm, of "Mad Men"; "Gossip Girl's" Blake Lively and Leighton Meester; Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel of "How I Met Your Mother"; "True Blood" 's Moyer; NBC late-night host Jimmy Fallon; Dana Delany, of "Desperate Housewives"; and Chandra Wilson, of "Grey's Anatomy."

E-mail gensleh@phillynews.com

Daily News wire services and staff writer Laurie Conrad contributed to this report.