Sunday, September 03, 2006

Let the Games Begin

I got my confirmation email at 9:36 p.m. Sunday. I was, needless to say, stressing out all afternoon. Again, I had faith in TIFF, I was worried about FedEx. "Maybe it didn't get delivered." Looking at the list on the confirmation, my fears about my box # were realized.

I read that someone dropped their packet off at 9:15 a.m. on Friday and was placed in box #17. My tracking # said mine was dropped off at 10:30 a.m. The winning box was #22. I was positive that my package was in somewhere between 20-24. It must have been 20 or 21. Despite this, I still got most of my choices, simply more #2s than in the past. Again, picking films in big auditoriums helps. Now it's time for the real fun. The haphazard fun of filling in the gaps to your schedule and determining how many RUSH lines to hang out in. Here's my list.

Thursday, Sept. 7
2 p.m. - The Magic Flute (can't say I'm a huge Mozart fan, but I trust Kenneth Branagh)
6 p.m. - The Wind that Shakes the Barley (Cannes winner)
9 p.m. - The Lives of Others (2nd choice to Bothersome Man)

I knew there was a possibility of not getting "Bothersome Man" b/c it was in two theatres, both in smaller auditoriums. I also did not get the midnight opener, "Borat". I will go to the Rush Line after the 9 film is over. There's no reason not to wait in a Rush Line for a midnight, even if you get there only an hour before. Either I get in, or I get to go to sleep early.

Friday, Sept. 8
5:45 pm - The Silence
9 pm - Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show (2nd choice)
Midnight - The Host (the film I'm looking most forward to seeing)

I did not get "Time" at 12:15 pm nor did I get "Evening with Michael Moore." If I don't get into "Borat" the night before, then I should have no problem getting up early and heading to the Paramount to pick up films for the morning and afternoon.

Saturday, Sept. 9
12:30 pm - King and the Clown
3:45 pm - Fido
9 pm - End of the Line
Midnight - All the Boys Love Mandy Lane

The fact that I did not get "Volver" at 9:30 a.m. at The Ryerson convinces me I must have been in box 20-21. The 9:30 ams at The Ryerson do not typically sell out. It's too early and The Ryerson seats 1200. There's the possibility that they sell out the bottom first and then decide later whether or not to open the balcony. Regardless, this will be an easy decision to RUSH for as I can't believe everyone will wake up early on Saturday to get to the show. I also did not get "Stranger than Fiction" but that's not a huge surprise. Not having a 6 p.m. show will force me to a) find another show b) wait the Rush Line for the gala of "Babel".

Sunday, Sept. 10
9:30 am - A Good Year
1:30 pm - Never Say Goodbye
9 pm - Shortbus (2nd choice)
Midnight - Black Sheep

Why was TIFF so cruel that they scheduled the 2nd show of "Babel" at 11:30 a.m. Normally they schedule the galas second show so that both can be seen. "A Good Year" gets out at 11:28 a.m., "Babel" starts at 11:30 a.m. Physically impossible to make both. Arrrghh. The big gap in the day is so I can watch the Dallas Cowboy game. I picked the gala b/c a) I like Bollywood movies. b) When it's over I'm within minutes of several sports bars. What I didn't count on was that "Never Say Goodbye" was over 3 hours long.

Monday, Sept. 11
Noon - For Your Consideration
3:30 pm - 10 Items or Less
6 pm - Fay Grim
9 pm - Mon Colonel (2nd choice)
Midnight - The abandoned

Pretty good set here. Didn't get "Little Children".

Tuesday, Sept. 12
11:15 am - Indigenes
6 pm - Quelques jours en Septembre
9 pm - Mon Meilleur Ami
Midnight - Trapped Ashes

I did not get either of my afternoon choices (Shortbus (which I got as a 2nd choice on Sunday) or Catch a Fire), but it may turn out to be a blessing. Due to the Program Guide not arriving till Thursday morning, there were several films that I forgot about when choosing. I'm going to try and get into several shows at The Paramount (D.O.A.P. (love controversy) and Renaissance (cool looking animation).

Wednesday, Sept. 13
11:45 am - Pan's Labyrinth
3 pm - the Namesake
6 pm - Starter for Ten
9:30 pm - Bugmaster

No problems with Wed.

Thursday, Sept. 14
Noon - Alatriste (this hour was tough as "Breaking & Entering", "Black Book" and "Alatriste" all started at Noon)
3 pm - The Fountain
6 pm - The Caiman (2nd choice)
Midnight - Severance

I didn't get either of my 9 pm choices (Pervert's Guide to Cinema, Jade Warrior). My complaint about Sunday's 2nd showing of the galas goes double for today. Both films "Breaking & Entering" and "Black Book" start at the SAME time. Why couldn't one of them been at 9:30 a.m.?

Friday, Sept. 15
12:15 pm - Infamous
3 pm - Seraphim Falls
6 pm - Kabul Express
9 pm - The Postmodern Life of My Aunt

Will probably skip "Infamous" and find something else. Unless I hear great things about it, I think I would have a hard time not nitpicking how it compares to "Capote."

Saturday, Sept. 16
9:30 am - Exiled
Noon - The Banquet
2:30 pm - The Last Winter
4:45 pm - Rescue Dawn
6:30 pm - Amazing Grace (This should have been a 2nd choice to "Rescue Dawn", not "Outsourced". I can't see both.)
Midnight - Sheitan

So despite being at the bottom of the lottery I still got 37 films, pretty good. And what fun would the festival be if you didn't have to work a little.

1 comment:

GregM said...

Good to hear that you're fairly happy with your schedule despite all that you've endured!

I believe that I was in box #14 (a volunteer took my envelopes in the pre-9am lineup and I could see the box number through the window, but I don't know for sure if mine were placed in #14) and I didn't get Volver but surprisingly I did get Penelope in the next time slot.

I can relate to a lot of the issues that you had. I also had wanted to see Black Book, Alatriste and Break & Entering and I'm limited to the pre-5PM films. I also chose A Good Year over Babel, but that was a tough call!