First shift of the day meant setting up the red carpet. It's a bit of a beast this year, being one continuous strip. I was pretty impressed with the engineering of the photo backdrop stand though. It opened and closed like an accordian.
"Trishna" was the first film. An easy film to let in, since there wasn't a red carpet. Still, two ladies showed up over an hour after the film started and tried to get in. We usually allow people who are late to go in, but after a while the theatre is closed so that the people inside watching the film aren't disturbed by people walking back and forth (other than the ones who need to use the restroom or something). They were giving me some attitude, so I promptly passed them off to a supervisor. They continued to argue for another twenty or thirty minutes. Apparently they had come a long way to be at the festival and they had friends inside or they "knew someone" or something. They were still hanging around outside the theatre when I went on my break.
The next film was "Goon", a hockey film. I knew it was going to be crazy when a bunch of guys on rollerblades, wearing hockey jerseys and covered in fake blood came around the red carpet. It got worse when the zamboni pulled up. Yes, we had to rip up part of the red carpet in order for the zamboni to drive up and park next to it. The first film let out around the time that the red carpet started, so of course it was madness trying to get people to keep moving in the right direction and quit looking at Seann William Scott. Amid the throng, a lady came up to me and told me that she was Alison Pill's mom and she was looking for Jay Baruchel's mom, who had her tickets. I thought that was super cute. I let her in to see if she could find her. A little while later, a man approached me, also looking for Jay Baruchel's parents. I made a stab and asked if he was Alison's dad, and he was. Extra cute. I found out later that Allison and Jay were engaged. Cutest thing in the whole world.
We got out of our shift a little early, which worked for me since I had to run down to the Elgin to try and rush "The Descendants". Yonge Street was blocked off, as expected, but they were erecting a stage in front of the theatre, which I thought was odd. I found the rush line and stood behind a girl who was waiting for "The Oranges", which started two hours after my film. She REALLY loved Hugh Laurie, and as it turns out she was a real doctor too. Luckily, someone came up to the line soon after we had gotten there and was selling tickets to the screening, so she was able to get out of the line and go relax somewhere for a few hours.
After an eternity on my feet, I got into the theatre, and got a decent seat in the balcony. A very enjoyable film, and a slightly different role for George. Slightly predictable but it has some twists in it, and some really funny parts. The Hawaiian scenery was amazing. And dear lord, Matthew Lillard has aged! At the end, the director and cast came out for a Q&A. I finally figured out where I had seen the girl who played the older daughter, she's the lead character in "The Secret Life of the American Teenager". Both she and the younger girl were really good in the film and during the question period. George was as charming as ever.
I found out while watching the late night news that the stage was for the following film, "Breakaway", a singing, dancing, Bollywood style film about hockey. One of the actors is also a singer, and he came up to the stage on a white horse and started singing while a hundred bhangra dancers and drummers paraded down the street, followed by an elephant. It was apparently a recreation of a scene from the movie. Russell Peters and Rob Lowe were also there, both of whom were pretty blown away by the extravaganza. Just when you thought you'd seen it all...
"Hit me with your best shot, fire away"
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