TIFF 2009: Movies, People and Movie-People!

(This post can also be found on Mondo Magazine)

I love TIFF. First and foremost, I love the films. They’re the reason I give up my precious 8 hours of sleep a night and balance a 40-hour work week with 15+ movies on average. Movies are the reason I run solely on trail mix, granola bars, and fast food for ten malnourished days. The tabloid-driven gossip-lover in me adores the red carpet glamour and celebrities at film premieres. I’ll even show up at a premiere with other fans to get a glimpse of my favourite actors, but more than that, I love the people. People who love movies.

Not the media and industry types, but regular Joes who line up, excited to see film premieres and movies that may never get a wide release. Torontonians, whom for the rest of the year I ignore in public and scowl at on the TTC, are suddenly my closest friends, united by TIFF. These people are my fellow movie-goers, waiting in line and sitting next to me in crowded theatres, that I end up striking up a conversation with. And it’s not just the people of Toronto whom I trade stories with, but also those who have travelled from near and far — from the world beyond the GTA, Ontario, and even Canada. These people become my best friends for ten days. We may not exchange names or intimate details of our lives, but we exchange thoughts, opinions, and reviews on TIFF films.

Waiting in line isn’t so bad when you have someone to chat with. Like many others, I usually fly solo during TIFF, not so much by choice as by necessity. There are simply too many movies that I want to see to try coordinating with friends whose tastes greatly differ. It becomes like a long-lost reunion on those off chances that we do happen to meet up at a screening. My real-life friends are replaced by my friends in line. I’m normally not a chatty person (especially with strangers since I shun small talk) but I love talking TIFF with my fellow line-goers.


Gyllenhaal needs the jacket. His eyes are that cold.
Film buffs are never one to shy away from an opinion, and are even more vocal during TIFF. By opening up my ears in line, I’ve heard about films that I wouldn’t have given a second glance that have now become must-see. When the film talk runs out, it’s all about where to eat, the fastest route between theatres, and the best books to pass the time in line. TIFF gossip is also productive. Tune in and you will learn which celebrities are overly generous with their time on the red carpet and like to take pictures with fans (Eva Mendes and Eric Bana) and those who will barely acknowledge the gaggle of fans politely calling their name (Jake Gyllenhaal and Ben Affleck are forever in my bad books).

It’s easy to suddenly find yourself in the middle of a raging film discussion since, when at TIFF, there is no such thing as a “private conversation.” Flipping through your TIFF schedule? Guaranteed your seat-neighbour is checking out your schedule and ready to offer an opinion. I have had someone literally reach over my seat from behind, point to a film, and tell me that “whatever you do, see this film!” And for the most part I value their opinions, because otherwise I wouldn’t have seen movies like The Hurt Locker and may have wasted my time with Married Life instead.

So when you find yourself killing time in a TIFF line, or in any number of Toronto’s film festival queues, nudge the person in front of you and ask how their festival is going, because you just might meet your new best friend for the next five minutes or find your new favourite film.

Day 4 Round-up

Films seen: 1
Celebrity Sightings: Colin Firth, Catherine Keener, director Michael Winterbottom
Buzz in line: that Colin Firth sure is charming!; met a couple who had already seen 15+ movies...ah what it is to be retired/on vacation during TIFF
Thoughts: 5 movies in and another 10 to go, the bagged lunches and take-out are already proving tiresome; I just don't have many movies that are starting on time which is bad news when you h ave back-to-back screenings

Day 3 Round-up

Films seen: 3
Celebrity Sightings: Adrien Brody, Sandra Oh, Don McKellar, Julianne Moore, mark Ruffalo, dnny Glover, Gael garcia Bernal, Dominic Monaghan, Evangeline Lily, and Fernando Meirelles. Also secondary cast memebers of Blindness, director of Blind Sunflowers Jose Luis Cuerda, and director of $5 a Day Nigel Cole. And Ben Mulroney. if you count him as a celebrity.
Buzz in Line: How unorganized can TIFF08 be? It just keepes getting worse;
Thoughts: I have now had 3 out of 4 movies begin more than five minutes late. One of which- a regular Scotiabank screening was almost 20 minutes late, meaning I only had enough time to watch 50 minutes of $5 a Day before runing to Blindness. Blindness was almost 40 minutes late, but that's to be expected for screenings at teh Elgin. there's no reason for a movie without long cast intorductions to be so late.

I'm so far behind in any movie reviews, but they'll come...

Day2 Round-up

Films seen: 1
Stars seen: zero...except for the director of Wendy and Lucy Kelly Reichardt
Buzz in line: JCVD didn't live up to expectations; the AMC process for rush lines and ticket holders is bizarre
Thoughts: lots of people leaving as soon as the credits started rolling for Wendy and Lucy instead of sticking around for the Q&A with the director is usually a sign your movie wasn't that good...and it wasn't (review to come later).

Only an Hour in line!

Picked up my ten pack last night and decided not to make any changes after seeing the length of the exchanges line. Instead, I was in and out in an hour with my 10 tickets in hand. Not too bad considering some horror stories I heard of 3 hour plus waits on Labour Day.

2 more days of peace, relaxation, and home cooked meals until my first TIFF screening.

Ten for Ten!

With box #9 drawn in the lottery on Friday, I lucked out and managed to get all of my picks in lucky box #33. Although, after perusing this year's film festival guide I've spotted a few films that I missed in my inital picks, so I'll try to arrange some trades at the box office. In particular, the new Charlie Kaufman film, Synecdoche, New York which boasts an all-star cast of Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Emily Watson, Samantha Morton, and Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman.

While reading the festival guide and searching online might introduce me to new films, it also has the opposite effect. After seeing the trailer for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, I'm not as eager to see it as I once was. And with a release date of October 3rd, I'd be better served saving my $19 per TIFF ticket for a cheap matinee. Judge for yourself here.

You don't need to live in Toronto, attend TIFF, or even live in Canada to purchase teh offical programme guide which outlines all the films at the fest, plus features on teh various programmes and programmers. It can be purchased online from TIFF's offical website.

UPDATE: I've added The Hurt Locker and Blindness to my films list

Fingers Crossed

Dropping off my selection for TIFF last night, I ended up with lukcy number box 33. Okay, calling it lucky may be a little premature, but here's hoping.

My whittled down list of 10 films, and 6 alternates are:

Wendy & Lucy
Blind Sunflowers
$5 a Day
Genova
Gigantic
The Brothers Bloom
Acolytes
Martyrs
The Paranoids
The Other Man

Alternates:
Uncertainty
Hurt Locker
Kisses
Is There Anybody There?
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World

I usually end up adding most of my alternates on for a healthy dose of film festival fun.