9-10-2002: DAY FIVE

For those of you not in Toronto who may have been waiting with bated breath to discover the outcome of the Moonlight Mile press conference, I have the following piece of distressing news: the annoying moderator was in charge. And guess what? He was SUPER annoying. He can't introduce ANY actor without a monumentally long, wordy and un-funny preamble. "She's graced screens for three decades, enchanting the universe with her luminescence and highly charged eroticism that had even me, as a boy, completely under her spell. Enraptured by her aura. Astounded by her abilities. She's proven herself... blah, blah, blah, blah, blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh... you know her, you love her, please welcome, Susan Sarandon."

And that's only a *slight* exaggeration of what he actually said. (He used one less "blah.")

I was up at the crack of dawn today, because today I was going to attempt to snag a same-day ticket to a film to fill in the gap left when one of my originally selected movies sold out during the ticket lottery. Same-day tickets go on sale around 8 am every day at the various theaters and there are almost always at least a dozen tickets available per screening... even for ones that were previously sold out. So, despite staying up past 2 am to watch the aforementioned press conference, I was out the door by 7:45 this morning. My early rising paid off, and I actually got a ticket to the very same film I had been denied last week. Whatever.

The first movie of the day was Auto Focus, the new BIOPIC (take that, Salma Hayek!) about Hogan's Heroes star, Bob Crane (played in the film by Greg Kinnear). The drama traces Crane's downfall from beloved TV star to down-and-out has-been with a serious sex addiction. Problem is, the film is (in my opinion) kind of boring. The movie starts when Crane gets the series, and ends with his death at the hands of an unknown killer (despite the fact that the filmmakers make it pretty clear they believe it was Crane's pal, John Carpenter - played by Willem Dafoe - who was responsible). In between, there's pretty much just one scene after another of Bob seducing women and then taping or photographing them during sex. That's it. For almost two hours. And the film isn't graphic, so it's not like those encounters are titillating or daring or even interesting. Yawn.

Following that was Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, a new western-inspired comedy-drama from director Shane Meadows (A Room for Romeo Brass, twentyfourseven). Robert Carlyle stars as a down-on-his-luck guy who spots his ex-girlfriend on a TV talk show being proposed to by her nerdy boyfriend (Rhys Ifans). It's a dysfunctional-family type film, with plenty of colorful folks to spice up the action. Shane Meadows, whose previous two films both premiered at the fest in years past, was there and was lively and made us all laugh during his Q&A.

As a writer, it's not surprising that I really, really liked Roger Dodger, my third film of the day and one anchored in a terrifically written screenplay. Campbell Scott stars as the title character, a cocky womanizer who prides himself on "knowing" women... what they want, what they think, what they need. Enter his young nephew, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg, big brother to Pepsi kid Hallie Kate Eisenberg), who's in town for an unexpected visit. He asks Roger for help wooing women, and the two head out for an eye-opening (for both of them) night on the town. Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Berkeley co-star and do some really nice work as a pair of women lured into Roger's shenanigans for the evening. Since the movie is basically just lots of people talking and explaining and debating, the dialogue needed to be sharp and it was. Witty, crisp, clever, well-choreographed. And to think I started out wondering if I'd even stay to watch the whole film, since it was essentially chosen as a "filler" between other movies.

Last up, Try Seventeen, a light and fluffy comedy about a seventeen-year-old (Elijah Wood) who moves away from home to go to college and moves into an apartment in a huge old house with lots of wacky neighbors. Mandy Moore and Franka Potente (Run Lola Run) co-star as the potential objects of affection for our young hero. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. It had some great moments, but didn't really go anywhere. It felt a little too cute at points, and occasionally seemed to be throwing in quirks just for the sake of throwing in quirks. It was okay.

I heard a rumor today that my favorite theater in all of Toronto (and one of the anchor theaters of the fest) will be torn down at the end of next year and turned into condominiums. This is not a rumor I wanted to hear. I hope it's not true. I also heard the story (which was widely reported in the Toronto papers today) about a little hissy fit thrown by, of all people, Roger Ebert (!) yesterday. Seems he was being denied access to a sold-out screening (or some sort of press-ish event) and tried to play his "But I'm A Big-Shot Reviewer And You Should Let Me In NOW!" card... without much success. Guess what, Mr. Ebert? Here, you and every other film critic from all over the world are all on the same level. Nobody gets special treatment just because he has a show with the über-irritating Richard Roeper.

I also interspersed some walks through celebrity-ville at various points in the day - not an easy task with the sun baking the city in 100F temperatures. My only sighting (but a good one!): Susan Sarandon out shopping.

The annoying moderator is, as I type this, introducing John Cusack (at the press conference for Max, his new pre-WWII drama). Sweet lord in heaven! I just looked at the TV and the annoying moderator is wearing the biggest sunglasses known to man!! These things are ENORMOUS, jet black and round, and are sitting atop his head like two giant fly's eyes. Who IS this freakish little man?!?!

Scary.

Scarier? The fest is now more than half over. :-( Only four days, and 13 films, left.

*sigh*

— Vickie

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS:

Susan Sarandon, Elijah Wood, Wes Bentley (again...geez, man, give the spotlight a rest for a second, wouldja?) and Leonard Maltin.

ROGER EBERT SIGHTINGS:

To quote Etta James, "At laaaaaaaaaaaaast!!!!!" BINGO! FINALLY! He was in attendance at Roger Dodger and sat a few rows in front of me. I am SO relieved, but bummed that my sighting comes after the hissy fit that brought down his popularity level in the city.