“Here, take your ticket and that way, if they let the line in while I’m at Starbucks, you can save me a seat.”
As I walked down Gerrard Street I looked down at my ticket. The film I rushed my mom to, the one I made her hustle down Yonge Street for, the one I told her we’d end up at the end of the line for began at 12pm, not 11am. It was 10:35am.
TIFF is about “hurrying up and waiting.”
There is a lot of lining up. A LOT.
It starts in July when you buy your ticket packages.
Then comes August when you pick up your vouchers.
There’s even a line up to drop off the vouchers you picked up 5 days earlier for the big lottery.
And of course a big line up for (finally) the pick up of your tickets...
AND Lord help you if you feel the need to exchange tickets on the first day...pack your patience, a good book, a good friend, and wear your depends. (I once waited in line for two hours to exchange tickets!)
And of course during TIFF you’ve got to wait in line at least a half hour before screenings.
Luckily Mom took the news that we were over an hour early for the second screening of
The Oranges well. We opted to sit under the trees and enjoy the summer like weather, chatting, having snacks and me, sipping a coffee.
The Oranges was absolutely hilarious. More hilarious than it should be considering it is about two families who had been friends forever before the husband of family A falls in love with daughter of family B. The cast is full of familiar faces and the Director Julian Farino was as funny as his film when answering audience questions.
We were pleased with the film...though perhaps not as pleased as the man who sat beside mom. He had one of those loud laughs and talked to the screen. Or maybe the older ladies who sat in front of us, who continued laughing long after the moment was over. Does it really matter though? Our fellow TIFFers added to our experience, making us laugh harder too.
We enjoyed a leisurely afternoon, strolling around the Yonge-Dundas area, even stopping to take a photo in the square among fountains. It was Mom’s first time at the square and I felt compelled to capture the moment.
Hold a gold, platinum or infinite visa card?! It’ll get you in the priority line at the Visa Screening Room where our second film of the day was. We saw Whit Stillman’s return as writer/director after a 13 year hiatus with
Damsels in Distress. After the initial fun of seeing Jason Reitman sitting three rows in front of us...Adam Brody appears with a few of the “damsels” from the film.
While also funny, this film’s script was clearly written for people with a high IQ. (You know, MENSA types). The vocabulary was high and the characters spoke quickly. There was a particular cadence about their speech though that helped you follow along. Again, many, many laughs and an enjoyable Q&A with Mr. Stillman himself, Adam Brody, Analeigh Tipton, Greta Gerwig and Carrie MacLemore.
Updated rundown of films:
- First Position - A ballet documentary makes you fall in love with 6 young aspiring ballet professionals.
- 360 - Travel around the world, watching people making decisions that have ripple effects on the others in the film. Best line in the film “If there’s a fork in the road, take it.” Jude Law made this film REAL easy on the eyes.
- The Oranges - a really funny look at the collapse of two middle america suburban families when it shouldn’t be (funny).
- Beauty - An intensely power film about a middle-aged gay man living in a very straight world. Shot in South Africa. A couple of scenes were definitely NOT easy to watch.
- Damsels in Distress - a satirical look at privileged youth with high vocabularies and a ridiculous sense of reality.
- Girl Model - A documentary about the the modeling industry from the point of view of an ex-model turned model scout. Scouting little girls from Siberia and landing them in Japan.
