I am working on my movie picks for the Toronto International Film Festival today. This is my favourite time of year. If you live in Toronto and you have never see a movie at the festival then you should put it on your to do list. It is a great experience.
I actually started going to the festival when a work colleague/friend was working in Toronto and decided to try it out one weekend. It was the year that American Beauty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Beauty_(film)) came out. The following Monday she came to work talking about the fact she saw Kevin Spacey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Spacey). The next year we made a pact that we would go together.
For the first few years, she would fly up from Chicago and we would rush movies. What that means is that you don't have an actually ticket. Its sort of like standby. Approximately 10 minutes before the film starts the volunteers count the number of empty seats and then sells those seats to the people in the rush line. If you are within the first 20 people there is normally a good chance you will see the film. I think we only had one movie we didn't get to see because we lined up 5 minutes before showing. Normally, if you line up an hour before you are in good shape.
I then met some friends at work that showed me how the festival works. The next year I bought some tickets and began working on my festival picks. You get a few days to pick your first and second choices for movies. You then drop off your choices. When you do the drop off you get a box number. It is on a lottery basis each year. They pick the box number and start filling boxes going forward from that number. For example, if you are in box 50, they will fill box 51, 52, 53... and then when they reach the top, they start at box 1. You then line up to pick up your tickets and start making changes to your schedules in case you don't like what you got.
The atmosphere at the festival is amazing. Everyone is friendly and wants to chat about what they saw. You meet so many interesting people from all across North America.
If you get a first showing, there is a good chance you will get to see some of the actors and directors at the film. Often, if there is time, they do a Q&A. I have seen Colin Firth, Kevin Bacon, Daniel Craig, Vince Vaughn, Matthew Modine and various other actors over the years. It is an exciting time to be in the city.
I have to get back to my picks. The festival starts the week after the long weekend. I hope to give you an update on the movies I see and what I think of them. Before having Master D I would see 35 films in a one week period. Some movies I didn't make it through (1 or 2) because they were boring and when you see 4 to 5 a day, you decide when you take a nap. For those of us that do that type of schedule, we look good at the beginning of the week but by the end of the week we are pretty rough.
If you really want an experience see a Midnight Madness film at the Ryerson. The crowd there is amazing. They are lively and lots of fun to be part of.
This year I am only seeing 10 films. A small drop from my 35 but I will take it.
Check out the festival if you have a chance: http://tiff.net/
Have a great day!
No comments:
Post a Comment