No line up at Scotiabank Theatre for 10 p.m. screening of Restoration. Immediately ushered into theatre.
Conversation tidbits overheard in audience:
-- Debra Black
Andrea Riseborough is back at TIFF, this time to promote Madonna’s W.E. where she plays Wallis Simpson.
It’s a less-punishing press tour than last year when she was here for three films: Made in Dagenham, Brighton Rock and Never Let Me Go.
And she said during an interview Tuesday she’s glad to be back in Toronto for one simple reason: turkey bacon.
“I ate turkey bacon every day when I was here last year,” the British beauty said with a laugh. “You have the best turkey bacon.”
Linda Barnard
Argentinian filmmaker Carlos Sorin claims his hometown of Buenos Aires has the most people undergoing psychoanalysis in the world – and that it’s becoming the norm.
He didn’t give a specific reason for the trend, but, speaking through a translator, said the practice is openly discussed with people comparing their pyschologists and psychiatrists.
It’s no surprise then that his latest work – The Cat Vanishes – focuses on a man recently released from a sanatorium to a wife who isn’t quite sure he's cured.
Sorin was speaking at the City To City symposium at the TIFF Lightbox along with a host of other Argentinian filmakers whose work is being featured at this year’s festival.
Carlos Sorin/Paul Irish photo
It’s the third year for the forum which is described as an “exploration of the urban experience, highlighting the best in emerging cinematic talent in a particular locale."
Cameron Bailey, co-director of the festival and host of the forum, said he and others have been keeping a close eye on what’s been happening in Argentina and that there’s a whole new generation of filmmakers and a thriving film culture.
Eight new films are being featured at the festival including Pablo Trapero’s Crane World, a look at the life of a man trying to make a living as a crane operator in Buenos Aires.
Sorin would not be pigeonholed when the discussion came to genre or a “new wave” of Argentinian filmmakers.
“When people talk to me about The Cat Vanishes they say: "'This is such an Argentinian movie.’” he said. “But that’s very hard for me to see. It’s a movie with no localism.”
But Sorin is certain of one thing: the growing prestige of the Toronto International Film Festival.
“This is a very important festival,” he said. “It has an international audience – a real audience. You can tell by the questions we keep getting asked.”
-Paul Irish
You know Neil Young's classic hit "Helpless," the one where he sings about Omemee, Ontario as the place with "dream comfort memory to spare"?
Turns out not all those memories are so comfortable, especially if you happen to be a turtle or an old lady who ran afoul of Young's youthful brand of mischief.
The Canadian rock icon was at the Princess of Wales Theatre Monday night, for the TIFF world premiere of Neil Young Journeys, the third in a series of musical documentaries on Young, each of them directed by Jonathan Demme.
It's mainly a concert movie, concerning Young's Massey Hall visit last May. But the music is framed by road-trip memories, as Young drives a vintage 1956 Ford Crown Victoria around places of his youth, including the Village of Omemee, celebrated in "Helpless."
Young jokes about what a holy terror he was there as kid, when he used to dress up in a homemade cowboy outfit (there's a picture of him in the movie doing just that).
He'd collect fish and turtles from the local watering hole and carry them through town on his wagon. Sometimes he'd stop at Coronation Hall, a local landmark, to make his own kind of personal statement.
"I think I killed a turtle by sticking a firecracker up its ass ... so my environmentalism roots aren't all that deep!" Young says.
He was in cahoots with a local troublemaker called "Goof," who would pay him five cents to say outrageous things.
"I'd do anything for a nickel," Young said.
"He'd give me a nickel if you'd say, 'You have a fat ass!' to an old lady."
The same pal told him that it was okay to eat the tar bubbles caused by road crews laying asphalt because "it would turn into chocolate."
Young didn't fall for that one.
A screening of Neil Young Journeys was followed by a Q&A with Young, Demme and audience members, moderated by TIFF programmer Thom Powers.
Canadian music icon Neil Young arrives at Princess of Wales theatre/RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR
An expansive Young announced that's he's written the first volume of his autobiography -- no release date yet -- and he's working on the second volume.
The Q&A was like old home week for Young.
Former classmates stood up to offer their memories. Someone who claimed to know Goof gave Young a letter purported to be from him.
Young wondered what Goof wanted him to do now for five cents.
And his old flame from Grade 4, a woman called Mary-Ellen, stood up in the audience to say hello. He hadn't seen her for decades.
"Mary-Ellen, is that you?" Young said, incredulously.
Young topped it off by giving her a dog collar that he won in a contest.
"I still haven't lost my touch," he joked.
-- Peter Howell
Seems I was caught up in the enthusiasm when talking to The Hunter director Daniel Nettheim on King St. on the weekend.
I erroneously blogged his new dramatic thriller The Hunter, starring Willem Dafoe, had been picked up for distribution.
Nettheim corrected me outside the eOne party at The Royal Conservatory Monday night: there’s some great enthusiasm surrounding the picture, but no sale is inked yet.
Guess you could say I jumped the gun. Fitting for a title like The Hunter.
- Linda Barnard
Man on Ground @amc - an interesting film about xenophobia in South Africa by Akin Omotoso.
The film is set in Johannesburg's slums. It is a film about carrying baggage from one's past and making choices, the director said in the Q and A following the film.
It is based on riots that swept Johannesburg in 2008 when a Mozambican immigrant was burned alive. A haunting film about a serious issue that still plagues many parts of the African continent.
- Debra Black
Wonder of wonders! Am at amc for Man on Ground and we're actually waiting in another cinema in — wait for it — SEATS! Yahoo!
— Debra Black
Categorize made-in-Vancouver dramedy 50/50 any way you want, but don't label it a bromance, says co-star, Canadian actor Seth Rogen.
Rogen co-stars in the movie written by his close friend Will Reiser and inspired by the real story of how they dealt with Reiser's cancer diagnosis. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Adam, who is based on Reiser's character.
"I hadn't even heard the word "bromance" until a few years ago," Rogen told a press conference at the TIFF Bell Lightbox Monday afternoon. "To me, it's like an invented thing. We don't sit down and say "yes, a bromance, what do we need? We need weed, we need beer jokes."
"I was best friends with Will. He got sick. I was f------ useless. It seemed like a good movie," concluded Rogen with a laugh.
50/50, which premiered at TIFF Monday, opens at theatres Sept. 30. Anna Kendrick, Anjelica Huston and Bryce Dallas Howard also star.
— Linda Barnard
(Photo of Seth Rogen by Steve Russell/Toronto Star)
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