For those interested, I discovered a handy blog (via Greencine) dedicated to the entire TIFF experience, from ticket buying to venue sight-lines to food and transit, it’s all here: http://1stthursday.blogspot.com/
Well, armed with a press pass and a few tickets on top of that, I’m salivating for this years TIFF here is my short list from films announced that I’m going to be catching (pending scheduling of course!):
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Coens) - Just finished reading the book and other than the ending, it reads just like a screenplay!
PLOY (Pen-ek Ratanaruang) - has to be better than Inivisible Waves
NIGHTWATCHING (Peter Greenaway) - Tim!
THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS (Bruce McDonald) - Ellen Page and split screens!
MY WINNIPEG (Guy Maddin) - Maddin!
JUST BURIED (Chaz Thorne) - Black Comedy
THEY WAIT (Ernie Barbarash) - Chang Pei Pei & Michael Biehn!
THE ORPHANAGE (Juan Antonio Bayona) - Spanish Horror!
CONTROL (Anton Corbijn) - Ian Curtis biopic!
THE BRAVE ONE (Neil Jordan) - Jodie Foster Channelling Charles Bronson by way of Neil Jordan!
SILK (François Girard) - Big fan of The Red Violin and bigger fan of Michael Pitt
THE MAN FROM LONDON (Béla Tarr) - Maybe this is the year I finally bust my ‘Bela Cherry’ - A filmmaker (like Bresson, Ozu, Dreyer and Powell/Pressberger) which I’ve just not had a chance to sit down with yet.
EASTERN PROMISES (David Cronenberg) - C’mon, it is Cronenberg - even though he rarely shows up to morning screenings after the Gala (Grrr!)
THE STONE ANGEL (Kari Skogland) - I quite like the novel which was forced upon most Canadians in high-school, and Ellen Burstyn as Hagar!
THE BANISHMENT (Andrei Zviaguintsev) - oooh! The follow up to one of my favorites, Zviaguintsev’s THE RETURN!
Quite a few for such a limited number of titles announced!
BUZZiW NEWS | TIFF Adds Eight to Special Presentations
The Toronto International Film Festival has added eight additional titles to its Special Presentations section, joining 17 films previously announced. According to TIFF, the films “offer the latest achievements from an array of veteran filmmakers, directors on the rise, and celebrated actors working behind the camera.” Films set to screen include: “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” directed by Andrew Dominik (U.S.); British romance “Atonement,” directed by Joe Wright (U.K.); World Trade Organization uprising feature “Battle in Seattle,” directed by Stuart Townsend (U.S.); Todd Haynes’ story on influential musicians of the 20th century, “I’m Not There” (U.S.); Paul Haggis’ story of a soldier that goes missing, “In the Valley of Elah” (U.S.); Sean Penn’s story about a young man who sells his possessions to live in the wilderness of Alaska, “Into the Wild” (U.S.); Noah Baumbach’s story of family dysfunction, “Margot at the Wedding” (U.S.); and Tamara Jenkins’ story of two siblings who re-unite to care for an elderly parent, “The Savages” (U.S.). The Toronto International Film Festival runs September 6 - 15. For more information, visit the TIFF website. [Brian Brooks]
a Dutch press announcement just landed in my mailbox stating that Blind, the directing debut of Tamar van den Dop, has been selected for the TIFF Discovery program. I thought I had wrote something about that movie on the old forum, but couldn’t find it. It’s a small movie but I think some of the Twitch folk might like it. The photography and music are beautiful and leading lady Halina Reijn is in my opinion the best Dutch actress there is at the moment. She is impressive on stage and International movie audiences have seen her in Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book and will see her again soon in Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie (both opposite her close friend and another amazing actress Carice van Houten).
Looks like the ‘full list’ of TIFF films will be delayed until tomorrow morning…
“In light of the tragic passing of our esteemed colleague and dear friend, Richard Bradshaw this week, and his scheduled funeral for next Tuesday, August 21, 2007, the Toronto International Film Festival Group has decided to cancel its launch press conference scheduled for Tuesday, August 21 at 11:00am. Press announcements scheduled for that day will now go live on the website on Wednesday, August 22. Our thoughts and condolences go out to Mr. Bradshaw’s family and friends and our colleagues at the Canadian Opera Company.
”
I’ll be going but since I am a TIFF virgin I will be going in circles like a sucka. Is it a good idea to buy these ticket packages that they are offering on the website? I’m most interested in the Midnight madness at the moment but there are a bunch of films I really want to see as well.
I’ll be going but since I am a TIFF virgin I will be going in circles like a sucka. Is it a good idea to buy these ticket packages that they are offering on the website? I’m most interested in the Midnight madness at the moment but there are a bunch of films I really want to see as well.
The packages are nice, but not necessary. An enterprising person can buy tickets for the films they want in advance and/or wait in rush lines all week and see pretty much anything. It’s tough (I’ve heard), but it can be done. I’ve always bought the packages and coupons, myself, but those have the additional hassle of requiring the purchase of the out-of-town package to choose one’s films, which adds an extra $150 on top of the tickets.
Honestly, it sounds more complicated than it is. I’d personally recommend the Midnight Madness pass (especially since this year’s lineup looks exceptional) and one or more 10-coupon sets (unless the out-of-town packages aren’t available). Or, just buy tickets individually, either online or through the rush lines. Whichever way you do it, you’ll have a blast, I guarantee. The people are fun and the movies are almost always worth the effort.
BTW, you have a place to stay in Toronto, right? If not, this should definitely be your top priority. Rooms are notoriously hard to find during the festival, especially right now.
I’ll be hitting up as many films as my finances and time allow, but it kind of stinks they got rid of the 30-ticket pass. My friends and I used to buy one or two and divide them up and save some cash. Alas.
I just wish I could be one of those guys who schedules their vacation around TIFF, show up in town and see every movie under the sun, 12 hours a day for a week and a half. Sure, your eyes fall out at the end, but that’s how you spend a vacation. :D
BTW, you have a place to stay in Toronto, right? If not, this should definitely be your top priority. Rooms are notoriously hard to find during the festival, especially right now.
Crunchy Squirrel
Yea I have a place to stay so that’s not a problem.
I just wish I could be one of those guys who schedules their vacation around TIFF, show up in town and see every movie under the sun, 12 hours a day for a week and a half. Sure, your eyes fall out at the end, but that’s how you spend a vacation. :D
We call that the TIFF-hangover, it lasts about 3 days where you are a full on zombie unable to do much of anything while try to acclimatize back to the ‘real world’. It’s worth it though if you can do it.
I just wish I could be one of those guys who schedules their vacation around TIFF, show up in town and see every movie under the sun, 12 hours a day for a week and a half. Sure, your eyes fall out at the end, but that’s how you spend a vacation. :D
We call that the TIFF-hangover, it lasts about 3 days where you are a full on zombie unable to do much of anything while try to acclimatize back to the ‘real world’. It’s worth it though if you can do it.
Haha, true enough. Me, I scheduled myself at my day job on the overnight shift (ironic) so I could see movies all day and work all night.
I figure I’ll get at least four or five days of solid movie watching in before I spontaneously begin to bleed from every orifice.
In my festival experiences (at the IFFR in the Netherlands but I think that’s very similar to the TIFF in size, atmosphere and programming) I found out that sometimes less is more. I am very greedy and always want to see everything, but I now always plan 3 or 4 movies a day (sometimes 5 when the films are not that long and the schedule allows for it) making space for q&a;session after movies so you don’t have to rush to a next screening. And after three days I always plan a ‘day of rest’. Which altogether usually results in about 25 movies per festival spread over 7 days, all experienced fully conscious and totally relaxed. And usually at the last day I have a feeling of ‘it was good’, ‘let’s go home’ instead of the zombie burnout or a feeling that I have missed something.
Anybody planning on buying any premium (Visa and Gala) single tickets tomorrow?
Now that Visa screenings are premium, I doubt there will be any tickets left for those of us who wish to use our vouchers except by rushing.
Anybody planning on buying any premium (Visa and Gala) single tickets tomorrow?
Now that Visa screenings are premium, I doubt there will be any tickets left for those of us who wish to use our vouchers except by rushing.
Does anyone know exactly how to purchase these? Are they going to be for sale online on the TIFF website or at a specific box office in the city?
It was my arteries and neurons after all the coffee and carbohydrates to keep going! Amazingly none of the screening rooms were uncomfortable back then!
