TIFF: The Results Are In!

We submitted our ticket order on Thursday Aug 31 (thank you Pavlina!) We were in Box 11 and TIFF randomly picked Box 22 (out of 40) to start filling orders. By the time they got to our envelopes, I got only 2nd choices and no group picks. When I get back at work on Tuesday, we'll go to the Box Office and see what's available for the group. I'm sure we'll find something in the 352 films screening this year !

Here is my current Festival Film List (total = 13):

Brand Upon the Brain! - Fri Sept 8, 6pm Elgin
The Wind That Shakes the Barley - Sat Sept 9, 12pm Elgin
Stranger Than Fiction - Sat Sept 9, 6pm Elgin
Catch a Fire - Sun Sept 10, 6pm Elgin
For Your Consideration - Mon Sept 11, 12pm Elgin
The Namesake - Mon Sept 11, 6pm Elgin
The Fountain - Tues Sept 12, 6pm Elgin
Radiant City - Tues Sept 12, 8:45pm Cumberland
Golden Door - Wed Sept 13, 6pm Elgin
Snow Cake - Thurs Sept 14, 6pm Elgin
Kabul Express - Fri Sept 15, 6pm Elgin
The Banquet - Sat Sept 16 12pm Elgin
Paris je t'aime - Sat Sept 16, 6pm Ryerson

Depending on what's available, I may trade my tix for The Banquet and get 4 for another suggested group pick: Fay Grim (starring Parker Posey and Jeff Goldblum)

haikugirl's final TIFF selections

Okay people,
After a concall with Pavlina yesterday (and based on her discussion with Alison) the first choice for the group pick is now Stranger Than Fiction on Sat Sept 9 at 6pm at The Elgin. Babel on Sun at 11:30am (Brad looks so sad) will be the second choice for the rest of the group if we don't get our Sat night pick. Ivana and Antonio - I will see you at both Saturday screenings and at Babel on Sunday (we may need to schedule a nap!)

R and I are only going to 3 movies together this year. Besides the group pick on Sat night, we are going to try for Volver Sat morning at 9:30am and Calgarian Gary Burns' Radiant City on Tuesday at 8:45pm.

I think this year's programmers are on Ritalin because the lineup includes a lot of guns and wars (remember 2001???)

Pavlina - I plan to leave work early Thurs Sept 7 to RUSH for The Pervert's Guide to Cinema at the ROM (Wanna come? Remember Le Fantome d'Henri Langlois??) This one sounds like a 2 hour rant by a guy who looks like the streetperson in Huff with musings on cinema from Hitchcock to The Matrix - and directed by Sophie Fiennes, sister of Ralph and Joseph. The perfect way to gear up for the fest - n'est-ce pas?

That concludes this broadcast till we can pick up our picks on Labour Day Monday.

Thanks Pavlina for filling in our orders - we owe you the first martini on Saturday!!!!

TIFF Schedule is LIVE!

Browsed the TIFF Official Film Schedule and I think the scheduling gods have smiled upon us this year. We knew about our 6pm VISA picks (which are quite good) but somehow the gods don't want me to see The Last Kiss at this year's fest because they did their best to put it up against every other movie I'm already planning to see. Not to worry - Zach Braff will be in theatres soon enough (and I did see the original Italian version of the film at TIFF 2001.)

We know from past experience that if we want to see stars, we'd better plan to attend the film's first screening at the festival. We are planning for Babel on Sunday morning at 11:30am after its 9:30pm GALA at Roy Thomson Hall the night before. We have seen stars in the daytime at the Elgin (Dogville, Punch Drunk Love) so I guess we'll see if Brad gets out of bed in time.

Saturday night's VISA screening of Stranger Than Fiction looks funny and brings a lot of star power including Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Gyllenhaal, all of whom are mentioned in the TIFF news release of stars coming to the festival. Guess we'll have to see what box we're in to know what our final picks are. The Fountain on Tuesday at 6 is a backup but Hugh Jackman isn't expected and the last time I saw him in a sci-fi historical thing was Van Helsing (one of the top 10 WORST moview of all time) so this one may bite too.

Scroll down to the 6pm VISA Screening post Aug 26 to check out other trailers I've found online and tell me which movies you'd be picking. Others I'm hoping to see this year are The Wind That Shakes the Barley (Palme d'or at Cannes), Manufactured Landscapes, Radiant City (the latest from Calgarian Gary Burns) and The Banquet or Paris je t'aime.

Festival Schedule
second guessing programmers
always a crap shoot

haikugirl joins Your Blogs @ TIFF 2006

haikugirl @ TIFF
posting reviews on my blog
come back and comment!

Signed up today to be a member of the Your Blogs community at TIFF 2006. Participating bloggers must agree that their blogs will "contain a substantial portion of content" related to TIFF 2006 and agree to grant TIFFG and its subsidiaries "a perpetual, royalty-free, transferable, irrevocable right to reproduce and/or quote from the original content" on my blog. Pretty heavy stuff - should I be checking with my lawyers later? Still, my nightly movie reviews during the fest - and my patented 5-M movie rating system and brilliant haiku - are sure to meet those criteria and attract visitors. I welcome reader feedback and comments - please bookmark the TIFF link at the button above or my blog address http://www.haikugirl.blogspot.com and visit often during the fest!

Googled the movies in the 6:00pm VISA Screening Room lineup (see previous post) and am even more thrilled with the programmers' selection. Bravo! We're in for a great range of films and lots of visiting stars - my fellow filmgoers will be pleased.

Now if only we can be in a good box when we submit our selections for our 10-coupon books next Thursday to round out our viewing choices. The complete schedule comes out August 29th and we will be studying it carefully to make the best possible picks.

Check out my TIFF 2005 reviews in the September 2005 archive and be sure to scroll down to see my red carpet photos of Johnny Depp and Keanu! TIFF 2006 is 14th FilmFest and you can read my hommage to the festival through the years at MM's TIFF Flashbacks.
Note: Flash Player 5 or higher is required to view that site.

Talk to you online at www.haikugirl.blogspot.com!

6pm VISA Screening Room Schedule

Okay FilmFest friends.
Here are links to trailers and info on some of the films in the 6pm VISA Screening Schedule at "the beautiful and historic" Elgin Theatre. We can still try for Babel on Sunday Sept 10 at 11:30am but may want to consider one of these others as the "group pick" (or a back-up this year) or we might find something else (like The Last Kiss) once the complete schedule comes out on August 29th:

Friday Sept 8 - Brand Upon the Brain! (Guy Maddin - Director of The Saddest Music in the World)
Saturday Sept 9 - Stranger than Fiction (Marc Forster - Director of Finding Neverland and (coming soon) The Kite Runner) Starring Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, Emma Thompson
Sunday Sept 10 - Catch a Fire (Phillip Noyce) Starring Tim Robbins and Derek Luke
Monday Sept 11 - The Namesake (Mira Nair - Director of Monsoon Wedding)
Tuesday Sept 12 - The Fountain (Darren Aronofsky - Director of Pi and Requiem for a Dream) Starring Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz and Ellen Burstyn (who was nominated for an Oscar in Requiem)
Wednesday Sept 13 - Golden Door (Emanuele Crialese)
Thursday Sept 14 - Snow Cake (Marc Evans) Starring Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss
Friday Sept 15 - Kabul Express (Kabir Khan)

8 films + extra choices + full-time work
= an exhausting, exhilarating 10 days in Toronto!

TIFF - The Heat is On!

Just exchanged emails with my FilmFest gang. We are pleased with our 6:00pm VISA Screening Room lineup (but I'm still disappointed so many of the movies I want are Gala Presentations at Roy Thomson Hall - I'm not paying $50 a movie to see stars from the 2nd balcony).

We need to try for a group pick and Babel on Sunday at 11:30 stands out as a great choice. I want to take the Monday off to see For Your Consideration - the new Christopher Guest film with his cast of hilarious regulars. I am also interested in The Wind That Shakes the Barley by Ken Loach since it won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year. I can't believe I'll see Guy Maddin at TIFF on the first Friday night!! (used to loathe him, now I think he's marginally acceptable.)

VIVE LE FESTIVAL!

Mon blogue

Surfing on a saturday morning I discovered evene.fr and an online tribute to Bernard Rapp, a French TV host (and author and filmmaker). Interesting to read about his life.

Speaking of "son amour pour le 7e art" (le film) - I am getting excited to see the final list of films at TIFF 2006 which is announced this Tuesday, August 22. Seems the latest News Releases only mention the Galas, of which Volver by Almodovar is one. Guess he's gone mainstream because we always saw his stuff in the VISA screening room. Hopefully they'll have some great, edgy films in this year's lineup. Anything must be better than Snakes on a Plane.

Saw World Trade Center
Human story worth seeing
Stone was respectful

TIFF 2006 - the Buzz has begun

I've been checking out the News Releases on the TIFF 2006 website at bell.ca/filmfest. One GALA All the King's Men features an INCREDIBLE CAST of stars, including Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Unfortunately, we won't be seeing that this year since A) GALA tickets are almost $40 - I'd rather see a play or live music and wait to see the film in the theatre) and B) the last film we saw with Sean Penn (The Assassination of Richard Nixon) was pretty slow and dull, saved only by his appearance before the screening - only rent it if you can't sleep because it would be more effective than Ambien.

I'm also excited about the Talent Lab - TIFF invites leading filmmakers (Paul Haggis and Mary Harron are coming this year) to share their expertise and stories with up and coming filmmakers esspecially selected for the program. Talk about a dream come true! One of the lucky directors is Lara Fitzgerald - I know her sister Justine through David Chemla who used to room with her and went with her to Law School at McGill.

Another interesting GALA is Dixie Chicks - Shut Up And Sing - a documentary of the Dixie Chicks after the lead singer's remark about George Bush on the eve of the Iraq war. I bet they'll come to the screening - it's the first time a documentary has been screened as a GALA in 14 years.

Guy Maddin is screening his latest silent film Brand Upon the Brain! this year with orchestral accompaniment. Likely in the 9:30 VISA series and we switched to the 6:00 VISA sreenings this year. Now that we have a new time slot we will need to stake our claim to our regular seats on the right hand side of the Elgin near the front - the perfect spot to see the stars walk by as they come offstage.

I am still on tap to do my annual Learning Lunch presentation at work for my former Ministry of Finance colleagues. It's always a lot of fun to eat lunch and talk movies for an hour and give them tips on how to buy last minute tickets. I have started preparing my presentation and have to finish while I'm away in Winnipeg because that's the week the schedule comes out.

To prep for the SJR Reunion, Anne Gregory came over Thursday night and we spent the evening scanning old photos from "back in the day". I need to get that montage ready, but first - another coffee!

high school reunion
lots to do before the day
better book my flight

Little Miss Sunshine

A friend gave us a pass to an advance screening on Wednesday night of the movie Little Miss Sunshine. This film was laugh out-loud funny and maybe the best movie I've seen this year. Each character is so well drawn and the performances are truly amazing. It's a family road movie that will have you laughing and sometimes crying at the same time.

I LOVED IT! SEE THIS MOVIE when it comes out this Friday, Aug 4th - the start of the August long weekend. And check out the trailer and soundtrack on the website.

August means I only have 1 month to get ready and confirm things for the SJR Reunion in Winnipeg. Can't wait!

Uma as G-Girl and British Open

My Super Ex-Girlfriend was fun. Uma was a great super-hero but her character was pretty neurotic and she did really mean things to Luke Wilson (like throw a shark at him!) Luke was okay and Anna Faris (of Scary Movie fame) was quite funny. Wait to rent it unless you love Uma like we do. I will re-watch Kill Bill for my Uma fix next time.

We saw it last night at Yonge & Eglinton because it wasn't playing at any of our regular theatres downtown. Afterward, we wound up at a nice little restaurant in south of Eglinton: Mirabelle. Yummy prix fixe menu and great chat with the South African owner afterward.

Because of him I got up to watch Ernie Els and Tiger Woods play in The Open Championship (they only call it the British Open in North America). Very challenging course in Liverpool and then in a flash thunderstorm our satellite went out so I only caught the end result (Els had come back from -10 to tie Woods at -12 (71). Quite an amazing comeback. Looking forward to Sunday.

The Devil Wears Prada

Finally saw The Devil Wears Prada with Ivana and Antonio Wed night. Our book club was supposed to go see the movie together and discuss it afterward but nobody's schedule could coincide.

Liked the movie and especially the fashions. Meryl Streep was perfect and Anne Hathaway had the BEST Chanel outfits (I wanted them all). Paris in March looked great (if a little chilly) and Stanley Tucci was fun.

The clothes were so amazing my hairdresser said "It makes Sex in the City look like Old Navy." Brilliant and true! Well, I took the quiz and found out the designer for Sex and the City is the same as The Devil Wears Prada movie (Patricia Field). Take the quiz on the website and learn ALL YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW about fashion. I scored 100% on my second attempt and here is what Miranda said:

"Never in wildest imagination did I suspect you would actually succeed. You've done fairly well and while I detest fawning over anyone, I am, in my own way, rather proud of you. Now get out of my sight - you are as irritating as that vulgar thing you call a shirt."

Next movie: Uma in My Super Ex-Girlfriend.

Scotland

R & I just got back from 6 days in Scotland. Flew into Glasgow on Canadian Affair - nice service and meals included - and then caught a train to Edinburgh. Stayed in the hip Hudson Hotel on Hope St. near St. Charlotte Square. After 1 attempt at a Scottish breakfast (including Haggis and Blood pudding) stuck with Starbucks for lattes and muffins the rest of the trip ;-) Edinburgh is a gorgeous, medieval city with Edinburgh Castle on the hilltop at one end and then across the Royal Mile The Palace of Holyroodhouse - the Queen's home in Scotland. Both lovely to tour and we covered the entire city on foot (tiring but worth it!) On to Glasgow where the people were also very friendly. Lovely seafood dinners at the Mussel Inn in both cities - fresh mussels with a spicy tomato sauce. mmmmm. Bit of shopping then turnaround and come home! Next time we'd go further out into the Scottish countryside but only with a driver since I am not comfortable on the wrong side of the road.

Gone wireless!

We finally took the plunge and bought a wireless modem. Only problem is we still have a problem with our home Internet connection so we're mooching off somebody else's wireless in the 'hood and trying to do basic things like pay bills and search for flights. Meanwhile work is still hectic (someone said if I were a cartoon character, I would have circles around my body and exclamation marks around my head - like the Tasmanian devil.) I think it's more like my head is spinning around like the girl in The Exorcist (that's v.o. version originale les amis, not some cheesy 21st century remake) and I actually feel like there are sharks swimming around that.

Let's see if I can successfully book tickets for Spamalot using this wireless connection. STAY TUNED!

Happy 40th Birthday & Happy 4th Anniversary

Today is Richard's 40th birthday. Happy Birthday Rich!

It's also our 4th wedding anniversary. Hooray!

Tonight we're celebrating with dinner at Canoe.

A toast to you all... From us and the Topless Girls of Glitter Gultch.

Check out the latest updates on the sjr81 blog

My friend Joe the filmmaker

Got an email from my friend Joe Kuehne in Washington, DC who is one of my filmfest buddies. He recently entered the 5-day Documentary Challenge and placed in the Top 12 worldwide!! Here is his email:

It was a documentary short competition (9 minutes max) that was open to teams worldwide and had to be completed in five days. We did it at the end of March, and found out two days ago that we were selected as one of the Top 12 from the competition. That means our film will be packaged with the other 11 finalists as a feature-length series that will be sent to film festivals around the world.

They already have commitments from events in DC and New Zealand, and there's even one in Canada (I think it's in Toronto). That last one is sponsored by the National Film Board of Canada and the Documentary Organization of Canada. There's also a TV distribution deal in the works, and we're still eligible for all the major
awards for the competition, which will be given out in July here in DC. I'll keep you posted on dates and other info.

CONGRATULATIONS JOE!

Met in line at TIFF
Now documentary STAR
Joe we're proud of you!

Joe also spent the past weekend doing the 48-hour film project, also in DC, which started Friday at 7:00pm (read: NO SLEEP this weekend.) He is directing, his cohorts are writing and another TIFF buddy Shawn is the DP.

GO TEAM JOE! We can't wait to see the final product - pls bring tapes to TIFF in September.

Breast Friends Forever

I'm posting this message from my friend Joelle Segal on the anniversary of this event:

One year ago today, my sisters, friends, and I held Breast Friends Forever for the first time ever, an evening designed to tribute the strength and courage of all women & men who have battled breast cancer. The whole concept was inspired by my mother, Dody Segal, who lost her own battle with breast cancer in 2004. The night was both magical and extremely successful!!

With about 100 cancer survivors attending and about 400 supportive guests, we raised over $30,000 for Gilda’s Club Barrie Ontario! To celebrate the first anniversary of Breast Friends Forever, we’ve re-vamped the website, adding pictures, slideshows, and videos from the best moments of Breast Friends Forever 2005. If you were unable to attend the event, or if you did attend and you would like to re-live the magic, TAKE A LOOK!

-> Click on http://www.breastfriendsforever.ca/
-> Go to the Video and Pics page
-> Now have some fun!

My personal favourites are the BFF Video Clip (a brief synopsis of the evening, rolled into a very entertaining 1.5 minutes) and the Atmosphere/Action at the Silent Auction. You will also find Laugh Therapy, Silks performances, the amazing singer Liz Rodriquez, who made everyone cry, and more! You might even see yourself on the videos!

Due to popular demand, we are in the works of trying to bring Breast Friends Forever back next May 2007. If you have any suggestions, or if you would like to be involved, please email me at joelle_segal@yahoo.ca

Thanks again for all your 'support'!

Joelle Segal
34A

Akeelah and the Bee

See this charming movie! Akeelah and the Bee is a fictional story (unlike the documentary Spellbound) which follows an 11 year-old girl through a series of spelling bees. Starbucks Entertainment is a co-producer so they are advertising on all their coffee sleeves.

I love how Akeelah taps or skips as she spells and it's lovely to watch the relationship develop between her and her coach (Laurence Fishburne). I especially liked the idea of "50,000 coaches" - how everyone we know plays a role in our success.

Great message - nice movie - take your kids (but note the 2-hour running time) MMMm

Viva Las Vegas II

Flew to Vegas April 20 on WestJet for a quick 4-day, 3-night package. For the second year in a row, it was the perfect getaway. Stayed at the Hilton once again, right on the Las Vegas Monorail (my favourite mode of transport). Richard and I walked the strip and saw all the hotels, went shopping one morning, had an amazing dinner at Joe's Seafood & Steakhouse (delicious) in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace (beautiful) and saw Cirque du Soleil "Mystere" at Treasure Island (ti).

We got to meet up both with my Uncle Wes and Aunt Marcella AND with my parents whose trips coincided with ours. Here we all are at the Freemont Experience - the lightshow in old Vegas.

Addicted to Sopranos Season 6

Okay, I never gave this show the time of day for the first 5 seasons but now I am hooked on The Sopranos Season 6. They had a catch up weekend and showed the first 4 episodes back-to-back on Saturday and then the 5th episode on Sunday night. It is so well done. Forget the violence, it is a total psychodrama. I must see all the episodes this year.

I've seen 3 episodes of Huff season 2 and it's okay ("a-ight"). It seems to be missing some soul. But Tony Soprano has got soul and self-discovery in spades.

Or maybe I'm just watching too much TV.

I admit I'm hooked
Sopranos on TMN
Tony - what a guy

See you in September!

I received the letter from the SJR Alumni Office this week. We finally got it out! Don't recognize some of the names of the missing - are they sure they're part of our class? Still, looking forward to seeing people in Winnipeg this summer.

Another STAR SIGHTING: Saw Dustin Hoffman outside the Indigo at Bloor and Bay last Thursday. He was smiling so I knew it was him (didn't talk to him, though - did wonder if he thought Indigo was better than Borders in the US.)

Maybe I'll hit a movie this weekend. The premiere of Huff on Monday night was aight but depressing.