Film Fest De-Virgining
Erin and I went to the Toronto International Film Festival to see The Machinist with Christian Bale. Actually, we didn’t get to watch the movie with Christian Bale because he wasn’t in Toronto but we still had a good time.
We stopped at Ryerson Theatre early to pick up the tickets and arrived during a gala premier for another movie. We soon guessed that this movie must have Orlando Bloom in it, based on the turnout of sweaty teenage girls with banners and signs that expressed in their own way, their appreciation for him as an actor. After getting our tickets we were going to join the stargazers but since it looked like we’d be waiting a while before anyone arrived, we instead chose to catch Urban Outfitters before it closed. Having Orlando Bloom autograph my appendix scar would have to wait. We got to Urban Outfitters five minutes before it should have closed but were still turned away. We had at least two and a half hours to kill before even thinking of heading to Ryerson for the midnight screening so we made a quick stopover at HMV before settling at a pub called “The Elephant & Castle”. It’s a really nice pub and we had some yummy beers and very yummy nachos. The logo is an elephant with a small castle on it’s back. The resemblance to the Oliphants from The Lord Of The Rings was uncanny. Sigh, if only Orlando was there too.
At 10:30 we passed by Ryerson and a pretty big line had already formed but we assumed it was the line waiting for rush tickets. At the head of the line we learned that it was actually for The Machinist ticket holders so we joined it and in minutes it doubled and eventually grew around the building and out of sight. The wait was pretty annoying thanks to these two young, drunk idiots right behind us. They were the epitome of loud nerdy fanboys who give us cool geeky fanboys a bad rap. Boy, they thought they knew everything about every movie and thought they should share it with everyone else in line. Apparently they also know everyone in the industry and were chilling with them only yesterday. Just ahead of us there was a gap in the line for the celebrity escape route and during the first wave of camera flashes and screams, Kevin Bacon walked out though we didn’t see him. One of the fanboys ran ahead and minutes later, after the excitement had died down and word had gotten to everyone that it was Kevin Bacon, the excited fanboy returned to the line and repeatedly announced that it was Kevin Bacon. The same thing happened when Bill Paxton left, even though he was originally convinced that it was Bill Pullman. One of the idiots repeated a Bill Paxton line from Aliens over and over again until the third and final entourage of VIPs arrived. Amidst this crowd I finally got my first celebrity sighting, Orlando Bloom. I don’t think many people spotted him because when I told Erin it was Orlando Bloom, everyone was like, ”huh, where?” Within seconds he was whisked away in a black van that had been idle beside us since before we arrived meaning it had been running for well over two hours. Thanks for the smog, you fucking elf. The fanboys also missed Orlando Bloom and the one that didn’t run off was wondering why Orlando was at the festival. Just to shut him up I told him that he was in the movie, Haven, which screened before The Machinist. When the other fanboy returned to the line the jackass behind me tells him, “Orlando Bloom’s here for his new movie, Haven. I just remembered.” Erin and I just stared at the jackass. It’s not like I wanted credit, but he outright lied about remembering while I’m standing right in front of him just to impress his friend. He even called his girlfriend to brag about seeing Orlando Bloom when he didn’t.
Anyway, the line was let in an hour late and we got great seats because a good portion of the people ahead of us optioned to go upstairs for balcony seats instead of sitting at the same level as the screen. Ted Raimi was sitting three rows ahead of us in the reserved seats but the only person in attendance associated with the film was the director. The Machinist was really good, that’s all I’ll say for now. Hope it gets a wide release.
We stopped at Ryerson Theatre early to pick up the tickets and arrived during a gala premier for another movie. We soon guessed that this movie must have Orlando Bloom in it, based on the turnout of sweaty teenage girls with banners and signs that expressed in their own way, their appreciation for him as an actor. After getting our tickets we were going to join the stargazers but since it looked like we’d be waiting a while before anyone arrived, we instead chose to catch Urban Outfitters before it closed. Having Orlando Bloom autograph my appendix scar would have to wait. We got to Urban Outfitters five minutes before it should have closed but were still turned away. We had at least two and a half hours to kill before even thinking of heading to Ryerson for the midnight screening so we made a quick stopover at HMV before settling at a pub called “The Elephant & Castle”. It’s a really nice pub and we had some yummy beers and very yummy nachos. The logo is an elephant with a small castle on it’s back. The resemblance to the Oliphants from The Lord Of The Rings was uncanny. Sigh, if only Orlando was there too.
At 10:30 we passed by Ryerson and a pretty big line had already formed but we assumed it was the line waiting for rush tickets. At the head of the line we learned that it was actually for The Machinist ticket holders so we joined it and in minutes it doubled and eventually grew around the building and out of sight. The wait was pretty annoying thanks to these two young, drunk idiots right behind us. They were the epitome of loud nerdy fanboys who give us cool geeky fanboys a bad rap. Boy, they thought they knew everything about every movie and thought they should share it with everyone else in line. Apparently they also know everyone in the industry and were chilling with them only yesterday. Just ahead of us there was a gap in the line for the celebrity escape route and during the first wave of camera flashes and screams, Kevin Bacon walked out though we didn’t see him. One of the fanboys ran ahead and minutes later, after the excitement had died down and word had gotten to everyone that it was Kevin Bacon, the excited fanboy returned to the line and repeatedly announced that it was Kevin Bacon. The same thing happened when Bill Paxton left, even though he was originally convinced that it was Bill Pullman. One of the idiots repeated a Bill Paxton line from Aliens over and over again until the third and final entourage of VIPs arrived. Amidst this crowd I finally got my first celebrity sighting, Orlando Bloom. I don’t think many people spotted him because when I told Erin it was Orlando Bloom, everyone was like, ”huh, where?” Within seconds he was whisked away in a black van that had been idle beside us since before we arrived meaning it had been running for well over two hours. Thanks for the smog, you fucking elf. The fanboys also missed Orlando Bloom and the one that didn’t run off was wondering why Orlando was at the festival. Just to shut him up I told him that he was in the movie, Haven, which screened before The Machinist. When the other fanboy returned to the line the jackass behind me tells him, “Orlando Bloom’s here for his new movie, Haven. I just remembered.” Erin and I just stared at the jackass. It’s not like I wanted credit, but he outright lied about remembering while I’m standing right in front of him just to impress his friend. He even called his girlfriend to brag about seeing Orlando Bloom when he didn’t.
Anyway, the line was let in an hour late and we got great seats because a good portion of the people ahead of us optioned to go upstairs for balcony seats instead of sitting at the same level as the screen. Ted Raimi was sitting three rows ahead of us in the reserved seats but the only person in attendance associated with the film was the director. The Machinist was really good, that’s all I’ll say for now. Hope it gets a wide release.