Toronto International Film Fest - Part 1

So it's September and the film festival is on again. I must say, it's one of the few times that living in Toronto is really cool (other times are for the plethora of shops and concerts). Yorkville turns into a constant buzz with people swooning over possible celeb sightings and gala events, neither of which I really partake in incidently.

On Thursday, Barenaked Ladies performed outside Roots near Bay/Bloor so the school went out to watch it. It was filmed for e-Talk TV so amid the songs they played to a pretty intimate group, the band cracked jokes and talked to the audience when "on commercial break". They played "Easy", "Brian Wilson" and a few others I'm not familiar with (at one point I screamed for them to do "Be My Yoko Ono" to deaf ears), but being filmed by a crew, I thought it might be my first chance to be on TV since being interviewed about the goodness of M's Truth or Dare back in 1991, but alas, it was not meant to be. A bunch of student's heads were in it though. Super.

Yesterday, Ian and I went to Ryerson's theatre to try and catch the Korean mega-blockbuster, "the Host". Since we didn't have tickets, we had to stand out in the rush line, hoping for to get let in on the chance that there were remaining places left in the theatre after all the smart people had gone in. Right before entering and after enduring a downpour for 2 hours, some guy came up to me and handed me two free tickets. I was stunned and skeptical of their validity that I completely forgot to thank him. SO THANK YOU KIND STRANGER! We got in right away and watched the movie with a cheerful crowd and even the director who offered his request that we not sleep during it. LOL.

It was good, nothing like I expected. The special effects were pretty good until the end the obligatory fiery destruction of the monster. Still, other than having all the aspects of a Hollywood film, I don't understand why it had broken box-office records in Korea. There are much better films from there. Anywho, it's worth a see.

So...what's next? Having saved the $40 to see this movie, maybe we'll try to catch another. Stay tuned.