Toronto, Day 4 1/2: Buzz and Buyers

{NOTE: This entry was originally posted by Ty Burr, and was reposted to fix a technical glitch.)

Now that Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" has won the top prize at Venice, everyone's suddenly jonesing to see it at Toronto, buyers are circling, and I'm already hearing that, well, it isn't all that , even if Mickey Rourke's performance is. Remarkable how you can't have an opinion here without somebody immediately offering a countervailing opinion in a spirit of semi-friendly can-you-top-this industry insider-dom. The "Wrestler" had its public premiere last night -- according to Variety, Aronofsky smartly cautioned the audience, "There's no way we're going to live up to that hype. It's a gentle, small film" -- and the press and industry screening is this afternoon at 3. I expect it'll be a bit of a scrum.

There aren't that many deals being made this festival, though -- everyone seems gunshy. A few documentaries will probably get picked up: the "Chorus Line" doc "Every Little Step" seems poised to find a mate and "Soul Power," about the mega-concert that preceded the Ali-Frazier fight in Zaire in 1974, has been bought by Celluloiud Dreams. And the next few days should see some high-profile acquisitions; Variety also correctly notes that the fest has been buoyed by several films ("Slumdog Millionaire," "Rachel Getting Married") that are both good and feel-good.

In news of the weird, director Wayne Wang has announced that his film "The Princess of Nebraska" will have its premiere release on YouTube on October 17, with a theatrical release to follow. I do believe this is the first time such a thing has happened at this level of the industry, but it certainly won't be the last. And actor Edward Norton and actor/director Tim Blake Nelson held a press conference to announce their new film "Leaves of Grass," in which Norton plays twins, one an Ivy League professor, the other a pot farmer. It's a comedy, I'm guessing.