TIFF

The Toronto International Film Festival is now in full swing and I personally have had a fantastic time so far. I’m kicking myself for not partaking in last year’s festivities even though I was in the city at the time. For it being my first film festival experience I couldn’t ask for anything more...well, except someone else paying for my tickets but that’s only wishful thinking. So what has made this experience great? I’ll tell you.

The People
Happy, outgoing, and informative volunteers. I applaud these people. I can only imagine the repetition, inane questions, and public outbursts these people have to face. Yet, each time I need assistance, whether it finding a venue, finding a line, or just asking for the time, they’ve greeted me with a smile, and more importantly THE CORRECT INFORMATION. Most seem to be willing to chat about the upcoming shows, what they’ve seen, what you’ve seen. They’re generally interested in film and are there as fans as much as anyone else. And if you don’t want to talk they won’t bother you. Yes, if you’re in the way of a red carpet or standing in the middle of the road waiting for a celebrity they’ll tell you to move but I haven’t run across the volunteer with the god complex yet, though there is still time.

Free Stuff
Yonge and Dundas Square is offering free screenings of documentary films, short films, and some other cool things. They’re not new and a lot of them are concert or music based, but it’s still something to do for free in the city. Yesterday I found myself watching the “Woodstock” documentary on the big screen in the heart of downtown Toronto. Even though I own the DVD it’s interesting to watch something like that in a group. People clapped after each band took the stage. People cheered for The Who. People cheered for naked women. It was a fun experience and a good place to spend time between other screenings.

Last night was also the Toronto Roller Derby showcase and premiere of Drew Barrymore’s Whip It. I had no idea that sport still existed let alone there were clubs in at least 4 nearby cities. The Roller girl’s played an exhibition and showed a lot of people what Roller Derby was. I for one still have no idea what was going on or how on earth points were scored but it was a new experience and actually pretty interesting. Rick the Temp (he will never be known as anything else to me...) and the roller girls handed out Whip It swag. To keep people in the seats (or standing against a barricade) the main cast of Whip It made an appearance at half time and walked the read carpet. Drew Barrymore introduced her cast (Trying not to use the F bomb, but alas failing) and the posed for pictures with the skaters, before heading to the movie’s screening.

The Films
This is where you can see movies you wouldn’t normally see. True, the big names get a lot of the press and attention but I’m not going to spend my money on seeing The Invention of Lying, when I can see it in a month when it comes out. So far I’ve only gone to two screenings but as really impressed.
Valhalla Rising, by Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, stars Mads Mikkelsen as One-Eye, a mute Viking warrior with no past. It was a strange movie and played on fate, redemption, heaven and hell, and Christianity. The director explained during the Q&A that it could be what ever you read into it and he’s right. On the surface it’s a truly violent and gory tale about basically some guys either sitting in a boat or walking through the woods. I enjoyed it and Mads Mikkelsen is badass but I don’t know if I’d watch it again, though I would like to know what happened in the ten minutes cut for the Canadian viewing.

My favourite of the two so far is Perrier’s Bounty, by Irish director Ian Fitzgibbon. This movie was a hell of a lot of fun. Cillian Murphy plays, Micheal McCrea, a man down on his luck and in debt to gangster Darren Perrier (Brendan Gleeson). Trouble ensues. Along with his nutty father (Jim Broadbent) and his neighbour (Jodie Whittaker), McCrea tries to survive the night. Perrier’s Bounty is in the vain of guy Ritchie and really works well. The characters are quirky and the actors are great. Broadbent’s coffee eating, sleep deprived character is hilarious, and murphy’s reactions to him are priceless. It really is a fun dark gangster-filled comedy. As of yet it doesn’t have North American distribution but I hope it will. I would love to watch it again.

Well, that’s all for now. We’ll see what the rest of the week brings.