Thursday, July 10, 2008

TIFF Pulls the rug out from under me

I've been going to the Toronto International Film Festival for about 5 straight years now... and I have a system worked out. Sort of. I know the theatres I like to go to and the types of films I like to see and where to sit in each theatre both to get an unobstructed view of the film (I'm short) and see the movie stars up close (I like to gawk).

And what do they do? They change the packages on me. I did get something in the mail from the TIFF last week or the week before, but I was so neck deep in my revisions that I didn't even open the envelope.

Tonight I went to the web site to try to decide whether or not to buy a pass again and... Pout.

At first I was pleasantly surprised, because the Festival Pass, which I usually buy and is good for up to 50 films seemed cheaper, or at least not much more expensive than last year... (at $509) But then I read the details and it's no longer valid for the screenings at the Elgin Theatre. My favourite place to see films and stars. Pout. This is where I saw the premieres of Crash (2003) and Lost in Translation (2003) Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Into the Wild (2007) and many more really great films. Pout. Pout. Pout. And where I saw some big stars in crappy films (Jennifer Lopez in El Cantante 2006, Brad Pitt in The Assassination of Jesse James... 2007) This is the theatre where big stars often show up to see films they're not even in... I swear the entire Oceans 13 cast was at the Jesse James screening last summer.

I often pick both of my evening films to be at the Elgin so I didn't need to go running around the city between a 6:30 and a 9:30 screening, too. And they have this nice lounge downstairs for Visa Gold card holders where you can get in ahead of the line... Pout. Plus the Elgin's freaking gorgeous. Just a nice place to be. Fabulous place to see films. This was the first photo of the theatre I found online. Doesn't do it justice. Gorgeous old theatre. Wonderful place to see films.

Then to make things worse, the packages you can get to *just* buy tickets for the Elgin are all sold out. They usually sell out fast, but I wasn't rushing because I knew I could buy a Festival Pass and I've never had much trouble getting my picks for there...

Perhaps this is a sign. Maybe it's time to break my film fest habit. It is expensive and more to the point, it's nearly 2 weeks of my life when I get nothing else done. And I usually end up with a cold from lack of sleep and eating bad food and not exercising and breathing inside air after seeing 4-5 films a day... Hmmm...

Better decide soon or the passes I usually go for will be sold out, too.

3 comments:

Annette Gallant said...

That's a bummer! I hate when things suddenly change on me and I don't realize until it's too late.

I never did get to the TFF when we lived in TO, even though every year I said I would. I was still teaching then and Sept. was always too crazy.

Barrie said...

I feel your disappointment. Because I LOVE your TFF posts! Pout from my end too. ;(

Elizabeth said...

Your blog is so gorgeous I have no idea even what you wrote about, I'm just dazzled.
I'm going back now to reread the post.

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