Ryan McNeil
As I ease myself back into real life allow me one last look back on my favorite eleven days of the year…
21 Thoughts on TIFF 2015
- Favorites of the week; SICARIO, ANOMALISA, GIRLS LOST
- No bad movies out of 25, surprisingly! Just one that could have been better, and one bad screening experience that slanted my whole opinion (THE LOBSTER)
- For the second year in a row, I didn’t see The People’s Choice Award winner, but I am reading the book that inspired it now.
- Ticketholder lines at The Scotiabank Circle are a special circle of Hell.
- The entire TIFF gastro-scene felt upended when Sweet Jesus opened mid-fest. Pity that Carnitas wasn’t quite ready to follow suit.
- Strangest thing – after riding solo for just one screening in 2014 I was on my own for about one third of my selections this year.
- Films I most wish I’d caught; YAKUZAPOCALYPSE, MISS SHARON JONES!, and EQUALS
- You know you aren’t seeing as many of your friends in line when you finish a 700 page book
- I do believe this is the first time I went the whole festival without mistakenly going to the wrong venue for a screening! Only took me fifteen tries!!
- Not much Canadian content this year, not many docs. Might need to rectify that in 2016.
- Being part of a sparse crowd for SEMANA SANTA might have made me love the film more.
- I love how even a TIFF audience thinks that just yelling “lights!” from their seat will indicate to the house staff that there’s a problem in the theatre.
- Apparently, if I want to throw people off, all I have to do is leave my baseball cap on the shelf for a week.
- Best Q&A moment all week: Patron – “I’m confused, why didn’t the guy come back?” Director – “Because he was dead.”
- It was really distracting keeping tabs on what The Blue Jays were doing all week.
- Media members thinking about Twitter-shaming volunteers should be boiled in oil (Pretty sure the offending moron came to his senses, but he was poised to tap “post”)
- Will we ever get a year where the TTCÂ doesn’t schedule subway maintenance during the festival?
- Highlight of the week: A very brief chat with Ava DuVernay. She’s now officially my spirit animal.
- One wonderful screening was five years in the making
- There are out-of-towners I hope to see in 2016. You know who you are.
- Anybody want to help me answer this glut of work emails?
I did not know Room was based on a book. And my library actually has it available. (As opposed to Girl on a Train, which I’ve been waitlisted for 2 months) Thank you for that!
I’m sorry you had a bad theater experience with The Lobster. I hate when that happens.
You read a 700 page book in line? Hah, I do admire your commitment to reading. Thanks for signalling your favs, I’ll be on the lookout for chances to see them (SICARIO is in cinemas today actually)