FILM FEST DIARY

9-14-2003—Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi wins audience award, and Vickie suffers from withdrawl 9-13-2003—Last day of the fest! Waaahhhhh! Now what? 9-12-2003—Naughty bits and pieces do not a good movie make 9-11-2003—Gina Gershon as a punk-rock goddess? We love it! 9-10-2003—Toni Collette delights again and Vickie gets a second wind 9-9-2003—One of those days where Vickie should have stayed in bed 9-8-2003—Prediction: Love Actually may be frontrunner for audience fave 9-7-2003—Finally! Casa de los... CRAP! Where's Maggie Gyllenhaal?!?! 9-6-2003—Pieces of April: one of the best of the year? 9-5-2003—First day of festing, and immediately an encounter with Mouthy Martha 9-4-2003—An ode to the glorious Uptown theatre, soon to be demolished 9-2-2003—After shaking her fist at The Man, Vickie is forced to eat crow 9-1-2003—LO! All is not lost... Vickie scores most of her films 8-28-2003—CRAP! The ticket lottery is drawn, and Vickie is screwed 8-26-2003—Anxiety over choosing films and dealing with inept volunteers

Wait. What? September??? Time for TIFF'n?!?! Cool!

It's hard to believe that my absolute favorite ten days of the year are already here: the Toronto International Film Festival!

Once again, I'll be documenting the fest's highs and lows and occasional moments of stagnant middle-ground as seen through my—sometimes keen, sometimes bleary, sometimes altogether crossed—eyes. The who, what, where and when of my festival experience, from the films I'm seeing to the celebs I'm spotting to the horrific junk food I'll no doubt be downing between screenings and regretting shortly thereafter.

New this year: a daily report (well, not so much a report as a short blurb) I'm calling "Line Buzz." Basically, it'll be a look at what people were talking about in line on a given day since, as many TIFF regulars know, that's where you can get invaluable information on what's terrific and what blows in terms of films. Last year's Line Buzz was made up largely of consistent raves for Whale Rider, Bend It Like Beckham and Winged Migration, all films that went on to critical and box-office success. Hopefully, Line Buzz will also allow for some delicious gossip about who was seen where doing what with whom. Colin Farrell, I'm looking at you.

I'm also starting the diary a few days earlier than last year, just so that you, too, can share the excitement, frustration and stress of the ever-unpopular ticket-ordering system as it unfolds.

If you'd like, you can revisit last year's film festival diary, wherein you'll find all sorts of rants, raves, reviews and random thoughts from the 2002 proceedings. Newcomers may want to familiarize themselves with the handy list of DOs and DON'Ts that every fest-goer should memorize to optimize enjoyment of the film festivities.

And, really, everyone should take a moment to recall the story of my obnoxious, ubiquitous film fest arch-nemesis, Mouthy Martha. You can be guaranteed that she'll be around again this year, loudly nattering on about herself for the world to hear and for me to vent about within these pages. I can't wait. Mwahahahahahaaaa!

You can also check out TIFF'S official website for info on screenings, schedules and tickets. On deck this year are some 336 films, representing 55 countries, and an incredible star-studded guest list that includes a whole bunch of my favorites—not the least of which are Maggie Gyllenhaal and Parker Posey (see: last year's shameless adoration of same).

For those of you attending this year, see you in line! I'll be the one holding the Frappuccino, searching for Roger Ebert and trying desperately to avoid the wafting exhaust fumes from the ForkChops on Yonge St.

:-)

—Vickie

FESTIVAL MOVIE REVIEWS:

Recommended! A red arrow means that Vickie rated the movie six (out of eight) slices or better.

The numbers following the title show Vickie's rating of the film; i.e. (5/8), means five out of a possible eight slices.

16 Years of Alcohol (UK) (7/8)    Afropunk (USA) (4/8)    Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (USA / UK) (4/8)    Bon Voyage (France) (5/8) Bright Leaves (USA) (6/8) Casa de los Babys (USA) (6/8) Cheeky (UK) (6/8)    Code 46 (UK) (5/8) The Cooler (USA) (6/8)    Cypher (USA) (4/8)    Dallas 362 (USA) (4/8)    Emile (Canada) (5/8) Evil (Sweden) (7/8)    Falling Angels (Canada) (5/8) Hollywood North (Canada) (6/8)    I Love Your Work (USA) (5/8) Intermission (Ireland) (6/8) Japanese Story (Australia) (7/8)

Lost in Translation (USA) (Linda 7/8) (Vickie 5/8) Love Actually (UK) (Rachel 8/8) (Vickie 7/8) Mayor of the Sunset Strip (USA) (8/8)    Nathalie... (France) (5/8) Pieces of April (USA) (7/8) Prey for Rock & Roll (USA) (6/8)    The Principles of Lust (UK) (3/8)    Rhinoceros Eyes (first half) (USA) (4/8)    Shattered Glass (USA) (5/8)    The Singing Detective (USA) (4/8)    Testosterone (USA) (3/8) Touching the Void (USA) (6/8)    Underworld (USA / Germany / Hungary / UK) (5/8) Veronica Guerin (USA) (6/8)    Wonderland (USA) (5/8)