Day 7 was quite slow.

The best moment of day 7 was the 1st celeb encounter. Dexter star Michael C. Hall arrived for a flight that he apparently wasnt booked on. Despite the situation that for most of us, would be infuriating I'm sure, he took a minute to come over to the dozen or so professionals & fans waiting for him & signed 1 autograph per person & took photos with before him & his girlfriend went to their flight.

Next up was several hours later. Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe. After being borderline classless earlier this fest, his bodyguard talked to him inside his vehicle & agreed to take 1 item from the mere 3 of us inside the vehicle to get signed. After that was done, his guard & him drove away to the other end of the airport & speed walked through at such a fast pace that even though I knew where he was going, I never managed to get infront of him to get a photo. A couple  blurry distant shots from behind that I took was all anyone got of him, as the only pap there didnt even figure out where he went, and was still looking for him after I told him he was long gone.

I then headed back downtown for 2 premires.

The 1st premiere I got to late because of 1 of the famous TTC trips from hell (how the fuck does a city this size have such a fucked up, inadequate & incomplete system?), so I quickly focused om the 2nd premiere. I got to Isabelle Bader theatre with plenty of time.

With the threat of thunder showers that evening, the dozen or so of us waiting there nervously watched lightning get closer & closer as we waited for each TIFF vehicle showing up at the "Stay" premiere in hopes it was 1 of the people for the premiere, so we could get them before the rains started.

Michael Ironside showed up from somewhere not expected & passed by the crowd before someone spotted him & called out to him. He declined to acknowledge the person calling him as he walked straight into the theatre.

Eventually the films star "Orange Is The New Black" star Taylor Schilling arrived & signed for everyone, just as the 1st little bit of rain started. I realized it was about to pour, and got out of there as fast as I could & headed home.

Day 7 - 4 autographs - 90 total

A  Taylor Schilling
B  Michael C. Hall
B- Daniel Radcliffe
F  Michael Ironside


Day 8 was my last of TIFF 2013

Like the day prior, it was a slow one. However, I didnt expect it to be so slow. A lot of no-shows on the final day  of my festival put a gloomy end to a fairly productive TIFF.

I headed to the Elgin Theatre in hopes of getting Ed Harris at his premiere for "The Face Of Love", but the only person to show was Annette Bening.  I helped my buddy get a photo signed from her. She signed some, but didnt spend a lot of time with the unusually large crowd for a day 8 premiere with no A listers.

After that, I went to a hotel for awhile & got Will Sasso there before he headed off to his premiere. Not long after Catherine O'Hara came out, telling fans (there was 2, maybe 3) she couldnt meet them (note - they are literally standing 6 feet away from the door) because she was "in a hurry", despite the group telling her she wont be going anywhere right away because of the traffic in the drive way, then promptly sat in her vehicle for 5+ minutes doing absolutely nothing & then at the end, finding time to chat to someone she knew for another 3+ minutes. Yep, definitely in a rush she was.

Eventually the people for the Pierce Brosnan film "Love Punch" left in a large posse of vehicles all at once for their pre-premiere dinner. My friend found them & told me where it was. I showed up just moments before Emma Thompson came out. I had nothing with me, so I stood by watching her sign.

Then Pierce Brosnan came out. He was classy & smooth. Just like you would expect from james Bond. He signed everything asked of him before he headed off to his premiere.

At their premiere, I attempted to THEN get Emma Thompson for a friend who left me photos when he had to leave to catch his flight. But the star spent so much time interacting with each fan she signed for, that most people went away without anything from her. The few people she did interact with though, surely had great things to say as she did take plenty of time with each of them.

Pierce would end up being my last autographs of the Fest, as I did not go back on Day 10 for Jennifer Aniston.

Day 8 - 5 autographs. 95 Total (2 short of my record)

A+ Pierce Brosnan
A  Will Sasso
B- Annette Bening
C  Emma Thompson
F  Catherine O'Hara

You can find my "day 5 & 6" report HERE
You can find my "day 4" report HERE
You can find my "day 3" report HERE
You can find my "day 2" report HERE
You can find my "day 1" report HERE
You can find my "day 0" report HERE

My best & worst of TIFF 2013 will come up later this month.

Day 5 started off fast for me.

Getting into Toronto, I immediately went to the press conferences. Once getting there I saw Maria Bello go in & she promised the couple dozen people there she would sign on the way out. Shortly after Richard E. Grant showed up to do press for "Dom Hemingway" & signed for several people asking him. Emilia Clarke, & Jude Law arrived after, neither of them signed. The other star of the film Madalina Diana Ghenea did, and I got 2 photos done that my friend gave me the night before to try & get done. Shortly after, Maria Bello came back outside & signed for everyone before she left. On the way out of the presser, Law again didnt sign, and Clarke did the same thing she always seems to do, ignore everyone. This got a rousing boo from the majority of the fans & regulars that were there who realize its a low class move to not sign & meet fans at an event where your sole job is, promote the film. A TV camera for CP24 was there to catch her getting booed, whether or not they ever showed THAT on the air, I dont know. What I do know is, her people WHINED to TIFF about it, as the next day the security there came over & told some people there was a complaint made about the booing.

A long stretch of bad luck, timing followed me for awhile. I I headed over to the Elgin to get Ralph Fiennes. Unfortunately, I was greeted by 100s of fans waiting there....not for him, but for Taylor "I'm a celebrity mattress" Swift, who was making an unscheduled appearance at a film she had a song in. Instead of a few dozen fans being there for Ralph, there was now 100s, and most had no clue who he was. Ralph didnt exactly make it easy either, as he signed MAYBE 5 autographs total. So, still needing the In Bruges star to finish off an item I got signed the day before by Brendan Gleeson, I went around back in hopes he would duck out earliy, as most stars do. No such luck, 1 thing I didnt take into account, he was directing this film. So he stayed for it all.

This constituted me standing in the same crowded corner for about 3 hours as other autographing opportunities passed by around the city, including right on the other side of the building as the mattress signed for her delusional fans, and then the stars of the 9 PM film that followed Fiennes were showing up as well.

The star of Ralphs film "The Invisible Woman", Felicity Jones came out & happily signed. Short while later, Raph did the same, and I managed to get both photos I wanted done, done. A lot of waiting for 2 autographs, but I felt someone relieved to get him. By the time I left that pit, it was already 8:45 PM & I looked & figured only premiere I MIGHT have a chance at was Scarlett Johansson. But I had a new problem, serious strain in my knee & thigh was making me walk gingerly. So whatusually is a 12-15 minute walk seemed potentially longer. I battled through it, eventually making it there ina  pretty reasonable 25 minutes, and found a spot for ScarJo easily enough, despite the entire street being 2 deep already.

Once Scarlett showed up at the Princess Of Wales Theatre for the premiere of "Under The Skin", she walked to 1 end of the line & started signing & didnt stop till she got almost to the other end. Her guard/handler made things easy for her by constantly grabbing items out of the crowd & holding them for her to sign. This meant each item got a bit more of an autograph than most celebs slap down on red carpets, usually resembling a bastardized version of their initials.

Still sore, and unsure how bad my knee/thigh problem was, I ditched on the rest of the night. Earliest I think I've ever finished a night at TIFF.

Day 5 - 9 autographs - 64 total

A  Scarlett Johansson
A- Maria Bello
B+ Felicity Jones
B- Ralph Fiennes
B- Madalina Diana Ghenea
F  Emilia Clarke
F  Jude Law

Day 6 of TIFF was my 2nd highest total for autographs of any TIFF day ever... and I still feel I didnt do as well as I should have.

It started off in the morning, missing a press conference for a Julia Roberts film. I got there in time though to grab a couple autographs from Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard. She was there promoting "Blood Ties". After that, came a long gap of fail.

It would be several hours before my next autograph opportunity.

After seeing Brendan Gleeson snub several fans at his a hotel that I staked out after a lunch break, after a tip from a buddy telling me that there was a chance to get people there (I knew people stayed there, but assumed from the look of it, it was going to be impossible to get people....turns out, I was wrong)., Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch came out & signed for the people waiting. A bit later, Eli Roth came out & did the same. Nicolas Cage came out twice to to a growing crowd & both times, too the time to sign & meet everyone. I got the Con Air & Kick Ass star to sign several items, although he didnt put much effort into the 2 wavy lines he scrawled on most items. I also saw Keanu Reeves, who didnt sign 1 whole autograph before leaving. His "Man Of Tai Chi" co-star Tiger Hu Chen, who signed everything that was asked of him.

Shortly after, True Blood star Ryan Kwanten signed 1 for me, and I suddenly felt like I should wait there for awhile.... but I had a premiere coming up that I wanted to go to. So I took off from there after seeing the likes of Daniel Radcliffe run in & Michael C. Hall come out & deny the growing crowd.

At the 2 premieres that were starting at the same time across the street from each other, I managed a whopping 0 autographs between them. Michael C. Hall ( I didnt even wait for Daniel Radcliffe) went in without signing anything at his, I then went to a premiere  Scarlett Johansson was at, in her 2nd premiere of the fest. She signed some, but far less than the day before & skipped my item, twice. After ScarJo went in, I went back to the Hall/Radcliffe one & found them deep in the press pit & took a few photos of them working the line before they headed into their premiere of "Kill Your Darlings". Hall may have eluded me this night, but I would get another crack at the "Dexter" star later on in the fest.

Back to the hotel I went to kill a little time, and while there I managed an autograph from Golden Globe winner Jessica Chastain.

I then headed over to the Elgin/Wintergarden theatres for back-to-back premieres.

First up was a "How I Live Now" with Saoirse Ronan, and she signed, a much shorter autograph than the full namers I had gotten from her multiple times before. Some of the regulars took off as soon as she stopped signing the 1st time, and missed her coming back out from the photo pit to sign for fans across the street. I managed a couple more autographs there.

A bit later was the premiere for "Felony" and I managed a handful of autographs from its stars Melissa George & Joel Edgerton. An added bonus was that of Edgerton's "Warrior" co-star Jennifer Morrison, taking a break from filming "Once Upon A Time" in Vancouver to visit Toronto & see some films. I also saw the films other stars Jai Courtney & Tom Wilkinson go in, but I had nothing for them at the time.

I attempted to help a friend get Al Pacino during my downtime at a non-TIFF event, which didnt turn out well. It was, without a doubt, 1 of the craziest, most idiotic displays of fans losing their fucking shit that I've ever seen. Even as a grizzled veteran who has endured crushing mobs against rails & flavour of the minute boyband crowds, Pacino fans had them beat by a mile for being borderline braindead.

The insanity & pure spectacle of seeing grown ups practically wrestling each other for a scribble, and I do mean a scribble, was a sad statement on the celebrity culture, and an even sadder example of humanity. The professionals in the crowd were oddly enough, outdone by regular fans who made the terriblly unprepared exit of Mr. Pacino quite literally, unsafe.

After the Scarface star bolted past me (I was right near the door) I got the fuck out of there in fear of possible physical harm. These were not normal fans. These were mentally damaged wannabe gangsters with the IQ of a bruised turnip literally pushing, shoving & likely elbowing each other for a glimpse of a man they just saw on stage for 2 hours.

After that stupidity, I hung around at the back end of the Felony premiere, and managed a few more autos from Joel, Melissa & their co-star Jai Courtney for a buddy before I headed back to Hamilton for the night.

Day 6 - 22 autographs. Total 86

A+ Melissa George
A+ Marion Cotillard
A+ Tiger Hu Chen
A  Saoirse Ronan
A  Jai Courtenay
A- Al Pacino
A- Jennifer Morrison
A- Jessica Chastain
B+ Nicolas Cage
B  Joel Edgerton
B- Ryan Kwanten
C+ Scarlett Johansson
D  Keanu Reeves
D  Tom Wilkinson
F  Michael C. Hall
F  Daniel Radcliffe
F Brendan Gleeson

You can find my "day 3" report HERE
You can find my "day 4" report HERE

Day 4 got off to a so-so start.

I went to the "Belle" premiere at the Elgin Theatre. I hoped for 4 people to show up, only 2 of them did. The first, Miranda Richardson snubbed the crowd of people waiting literally 10 feet from her. Didnt even give so much as a "I'm sorry, I cant" lie. Just simply snubbed them. Not long after though, Harry Potter star Tom Felton arrived & made up for Ms. Richardson's rudeness. He signed not only for the people in the pit beside the doors, but actually crossed busy Yonge street to sign for the crowd of onlookers over there, then crossed back over & signed more for people on the other side of the doors. Class act.

Tom Wilkinson & Emily Watson also arrived for the premiere. Watson signed for those asking, Wilkinson signed for some before heading in.

Next up, I went to a premiere at the newly accessible Princess Of Wales Theatre for the premiere of "Philomena"

Unfortunately, the only person I went there for, Judi Dench, no showed. Steve Coogan showed, but I had nothing for him & he didnt come over to the crowd anyways.

I then walked around aimlessly for a bit, and found something I was unable to find 2 days earlier in my journeys. The door for the press conferences. I stood around there, only to see 2 people I didnt have anything for, Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Toni Collette.

Next up was a premiere for "The Grand Seduction" with Brendan Gleeson & Taylor Kitsch at Roy Thompson Hall.

With nothing else in between, I got there early & staked out a spot as I was really eager to get Gleeson. My spot was a good 1. I managed to get everything I had with me for that premiere signed with no problems, which considering Gleeson only signed maybe a dozen or so autographs total before leaving, says a lot about how good the spot was. Also on the red carpet was "Supernatural" cutie Liane Balaban.

More time was wasted till the evening premieres. I again tried RTH for the premiere of "Rush" & got REALLY lucky to get a Chris Hemsworth. While he did sign quite a bit, the crowd of people was so thick, even the most skilled graphers couldn't find too many, if any openings in the wall.

But, there was 1 chance. When he first showed up, he walked from the top, all the way to the end and started signing there first. I realized it, rushed to a fairly thin spot in the crowd there & got lucky enough to get him. Ron Howard showed up before him & completely stiffed the crowd. When the 3rd person showed up, Olivia Wilde, I couldn't even see anything, so I decided to give up on that premiere as I already had lucked out once at what I would consider the hardest premiere to find a space at.

I immediately went to the POW for the Jude Law & Emilia Clarke premiere of "Dom Hemingway". Both stars signed lots of autographs on the carpet, and I managed a Law. However, Emilia eluded me. partially dumb luck, partially her handler telling her she had to go as she was less than 2 feet from me.

I was determined to get Clarke, so I waited at the back of the theatre for THREE FUCKING HOURS (for a 93 minute film) & ended up getting 2 more Law autographs, but Emilia Clarke stiffed the 12-16 people waiting for her. A dozen people, and she couldnt muster 1 minute to sign & take pics.....even sadder to know when you realize she sat in her car for FOUR PLUS MINUTES before it took off.

I met Kit Harington in Vancouver, and he made me more of a fan of Game Of Thrones than I already was at that time. Emilia Clarke, just undid all of that. I'm done with the show. I wont be seeing her movie either. The red carpet stiff, understandable, I see that all the time & accept that happens. The after show stiff, nothing but classless. I'll have more on Clarke in another blog coming up that solidifies what a bitch shes become.

Day 4 - 12 autographs, 55 total

A+ Tom Felton
A+ Jude Law
A  Taylor Kitsch
A  Chris Hemsworth
C  Toni Collette
C- Brendan Gleeson
D+  Emilia Clarke
D  Julia Louis-Dreyfus
F  Ron Howard
F  Miranda Richardson

You can find my "day 2" report HERE
You can find my "day 3" report HERE

Day 3 started with a torrential downpour that went on well into the evening.

Of course, the 1st premiere of the day "Supermensch" had to be at Roy Thompson Hall, a big, long red carpet....all in the wide open lol. Rock legend Alice Cooper showed up 1st & signed enough that everyone got at least 1, but since they were in the rain, the risk of getting them wet hindered the chance to get lots as everyone took extra measures in putting them away to protect them from getting soaked. Mike Myers did a reasonable amount for the fairly small, but condensed crowd before he headed inside the dry tent for press.

The next premiere everyone seemed to go to was for "You Are Here" at Ryerson theatre, the ONLY venue with any level of cover. Even without the downpour minimizing the places to go, Iw as going to this one solely on the hope Melissa Rauch would show. But she didnt.

Maybe if the crowd knew ahead of time that Zach Galifianakis & Owen Wilson bailed on promoting it (Zack had a good excuse, as his wife was apparently in labour with their first child), the crowd would have been thinner for the only people to show up, Amy Poehler & Laura Ramsey. Amy signed a fair handful, but the autographs were horrendous looking & in many cases, with a dying, dried out marker...like the one I got. Laura was terrific with the crowd & signed for whoever asked.

With the weather not easing up, the next premiere everyone waited on was "Labor Day" with Kate Winslet, James Van Der Beek & Josh Brolin.

James showed up 1st, but few if any people even had stuff for him. Josh showed up next, he signed sparingly, but did a fair amount of the crowd in the dry area. I managed to get 1, in a purple marker, and was happy for it...after I saw some in an abysmal dying green marker he used for most.

While we waited for Kate to arrive, True Blood star Stephen Moyer snuck past most of the crowd & went into the theatre.

Next up was the very pregnant Kate Winslet. Despite being several months pregnant, she was a champ & signed almost as many autographs as she humanly could without holding up her premiere too much. Class act. Only disappointment was, she seemed to be picky on a few photos she didnt like signing...including 1 I had, which I foolishly tried 4-5 times,before I gave up & tried a different one & got it done on the 1st try. What can you do? After seeing her work the carpet despite being several months pregnant, I now dont ever want to hear ANY celeb with ANY excuse on why they "cant". Kate Winslet has just voided all your excuses.

It started to dry out by that point, and I SHOULD have used that time to go ANYWHERE but Ryerson, but, I foolishly got lured into the trap of going for someone I knew was a prick already. Daniel Radcliffe.

To his credit, he did sign a bunch. But he could have done MUCH more, and also came across as a pure cock when he not once, but several times grabbed items, then would put the pen almost on it, then let go of the item & move on. If he hadnt done that, I would have given him nothing but kudos despite me not getting 1. But it was that action, combined with the fact he left a lot of people hanging despite the fact he could have done more, is why he gets a failing mark in my books.

I managed to get 3 autographs from his "The F-Word" co-star Zoe Kazan, 1 myself, two others by handing to people infront who only wanted Daniel. She really was pleasant and probably made a few new fans out there. On the way out of their premiere, Radcliffe & his dwindling career ran by the crowd of mostly teen & 2o-something fans to his car. Didnt even given 1 wave or autograph. Good promotion Daniel.

The last premiere of the night was 1 I was waiting for. The Green Inferno, directed by Eli Roth.

It had a couple of actresses that I wanted to get before in Vancouver, but never managed to cross paths with. Magda Apanowicz (Continuum, Hellcats, Kyle XY) & Lorenza Izzo were both there & both were of course, great. The other girl I had a photo for was Kirby Bliss Blanton, who I wasnt familiar with, was also great. Several people had a photo of her, but didnt know who it was (I had the photo as well, but had it labeled as Skye Ferreira since IMDB said it was). Also there was co-star Ignacia Allamand.

It was a great way to end a so-so day, getting an entire cast on all the items I brought is rare.

Day 3 - 16 autographs, 43 total

A+ Kate Winslet
A+ Magda Apanowicz
A+ Kirby Bliss Blanton
A+ Lorenza Izzo
A  Laura Harris
A  Zoe Kazan
A- Eli Roth
B+ Mike Myers
B  Alice Cooper
C+ Josh Brolin
C- Amy Poehler
D  Daniel Radcliffe

You can find my "day 1" report HERE
You can find my "day 2" report HERE

Day 2 started for me at the previously impossible Princess Of Wales Theatre. A venue everyone loathed, dreaded & hated with an utter passion for its lack of space for people to stand.  Well, shocker of the festival.

The 1 thing TIFF seemed to do better this year than previously... they closed down Kings St & made the whole street an area to stand. This made it MUCH MUCH MUCH better. I'll someday have to thank Tom Hanks, who the rumour goes, is the one who complained about the old POW set up & said it was not fan friendly.

The 1st premiere of the day for me was a a film with Kristen Wiig, Sami Gayle & unfortunate no-show Hailee Steinfeld.
"Hateship Loveship" The new set up was appealing to the stars, both of whom walked over & signed for a good portion of the crowd. I got 1 from each of them

After an extended lunch break, my friends & I went back to POW to stake out a good spot for the next premiere. "12 Years A Slave" had lots of name appeal with Benedict Cumberbatch & Michael Fassbender starring in it. But it was 1 of the people who had a very small role in the film, and was a producer on it that drew the crowds out. Brad Pitt.

I will say it right now. Brad was a champ. He got out of his car about 100 feet before the planned drop off area the TIFF personnel had set up so he could get out of his car & start signing. He signed for almost everyone that was in the 1st or 2nd row who could get an item near him.... of course, problem was, you couldnt move to save your life, as the street was at times, 10 people deep. So the hope of getting him & quickly moving to another spot was a fruitless venture. I managed 1, after he skipped me & I told him "c'mon I've been here 2 & 1/2 hours" which he stopped what he was doing, and said "wheres the guy whos been here 2 & 1/2 hrs" at the sae time I was saying to him "Brad, please" he clearly recognized the voice, and happily signed for me before going back to his stroll down the line. He must have signed for 20+ minutes.

Michael Fassbender was also a champ on the carpet. Maybe not to the extent of Brad, but everyone that wanted 1 from him seemingly got him..

Oddly, the movies star Chiwetel Ejiofor not only didnt come over, but didnt even acknowledge the 1000s of people waiting.

From there, I rushed over to the Nicole Kidman premiere just as she was working her way down the carpet. I chose a spot that had a nice 3-4 foot space between two morons on ladders in row 2 (yes, row 2.). The photogretards cried "hes pushing" to the security, then the 2 or 3 people in the row infront of him (you know, 2-3 feet away from him...enough room for 5 people to squeeze in, parroted his whining) & before I knew it, the security people were all standing around that area looking thru the crowd to see what was going on. Of course, there was going to be no time to explain why the 2 guys standing 4 feet from the carpet on 3+ ft ladders were in the wrong, so I just moved 3 feet over, but it was too late, as that space filled quickly with others & I never got near Kidman.

From there I went & checked out the back of the POW for the Pitt movie leaving.

I managed another Fassbender, but was disappointed when Benedict Cumberbatch, who must have arrived super late showed, and signed on 1 side, but didnt come over to our side. I, like several fans followed him. Great thing about T.O. downtown is, traffic doesnt go too fast sometimes. My friend & I caught up to him at a light 2 blocks away, he asked him if he could sign while they waited for the very long light. he declined saying "not on the street". We then attempted to find where he was going, but eventually our foot speed couldnt keep up with his SUV speed.

Walking back, we stumbled across Hugh Jackman & Jake Gyllenhaal having dinner before their film "Prisoners".

A good crowd was already there, but with no one on high alert I found myself a nice row 2 spot behind a photographer right near the rear SUV door. In front was a little girl with just a notepad, so I asked her mom if she wanted a photo instead & gave them a photo of Hugh & Jake to get signed.

Jake did his best Jake Gyllenhaal impression & left without even lifting his head. But Hugh came out, and while the autographs were nothing even close to what I got 15 years ago, he signed a good 10-15 autographs on both sides of the exit.

On my side, he of course stopped, signed for the little girl which made her & her moms night. Then signed for me. Before he was about to get into the car I yelled at him about a girl standing behind me who was literally on her moms shoulders trying to get him. He turned, looked up & signed her magazine, then bent down, trying to look thru the crowd to say hi to the girls mom. Classy thing to do for someone who had a premiere to get to.

I had a string of not so much luck for awhile. Getting to the Parkland premiere too late to find a good spot for Tom Welling and then got a spot for Zac Efron, but he skipped over me & stopped signing shortly afterwards.

I ended my night going all the way up to Isabelle Bader theatre for the "Last Robin Hood" premiere with Susan Sarandon, Kevin Kline & Dakota Fanning. I missed Dakota & Susan going in, but saw Kevin. The Oscar award winner happily signed for those who asked. On the way out, Susan, another Oscar Winner came over to the whole TWO of us that were there & signed. However, the diva Dakota Fanning, who USED TO BE nice, snubbed us. Two people, and she didnt even muster a "no" or even a turn of her head to acknowledge someone was there. Well, guess whose film I WONT be going to see. Wonder how the production companies Big Indie Pictures & Killer Films would feel knowing her ONLY job there, promote their film, alienated people instead of promoted it.

Dakota Fanning should really take lessons from the two Academy Award Winning castmates she had in this film.  Her turn to the dark side was 1 of the larger shocks to me of the festival.

Day 2 -  7 autographs, 27 total
A+ Brad Pitt
A  Michael Fassbender
A Hugh Jackman
A  Susan Sarandon
B+ Sami Gayle
B  Kristen Wiig
B- Nicole Kidman
C+ Benedict Cumberbatch
F  Jake Gyllenhaal
F- Dakota Fanning

You can find my "day 0" report HERE
You can find my "day 1" report HERE

Day 1 started with a text from my buddy "theres nothing downtown, come to the airport". So I did.

In whats becoming a tradition for me at TIFF, I always seem to have 1 single trip from hell day and this seemed to be that day. It took me over 2 hours for what is usually a 75-90 minute trip.

Once I got to the airport, I was underwhelmed with the fact I didn't get to see anyone till well afterwards.

Finally, after a long long wait, Dan Stevens, from "Downton Abbey" came thru to promote "The Fifth Estate" & for the few of us that had stuff, he was willing to sign whatever we had.

A little later Zac Efron showed up. With a posse of TIFF personnel & airport security, they tried to sneak the young star out a side door, but the paps & a couple fans were alert enough to find him & soon the rest of us did too. Once he got to his car he put his bags down & turned around for about 1 minute & signed about 4 autographs & took a couple pictures with & left. Leaving most of the growing crowd who were  still just getting there empty handed.

I headed into town to work my first premiere of TIFF, The Fifth Estate at the Elgin Theatre. But no one showed. In the past some stars will show, some wont. I knew it was a gamble & this time, it didn't pay off.

Over at Roy Thompson Hall a little later was the actual premiere for TFE. The 1st person to show up was Benedict Cumberbatch, my "official" #1 target for all of TIFF. He signed a handful of autographs for the couple thousands fans & onlookers that had gathered there. He got close to me a couple times, but never close enough to get denied...which seemingly was what he was doing to people with actual photos to get signed.

Daniel Bruhl arrived a bit after & I managed to get 2 from the star. Making it 2 days in a row I got him.
The rest of the cast, I either missed chasing Benedict, or couldn't get close enough to.

Eventually, I gave up on the hope of getting Sherlock Holmes and headed over to Ryerson to do the last premiere of the evening.

At the "Only Lovers Left Alive" premiere, what can I say. All of them gave their all for the fans.

Tom Hiddleston signed anything he was able to get to, Mia Wasikowska got a pretty good chunk of the fans as well, Anton Yelchin also signed lots.

All in all, hard to think there will be a better all around cast this TIFF. They have set the bar high for the rest of the films.

After I ran out of things from that cast, I headed back to RTH on the usually faint hope that I could snag anyone, specifically Benedict Cumberbatch, leaving their premiere.

The karma gods were smiling. After my trip from hell that day, I was rewarded for my persistence, Benedict came up the 300 foot ramp to the crowd of 30-40 fans & signed for about 2-3 minutes. At 1st he outright was avoiding any photos, but eventually, he got to a point where he just seemed to think "ahh the hell with it" signed about a 1/2 dozen of them before leaving, mine being 1 of them. Great way to end my day.

DAY 1 - 14 autographs, 20 total

A+ TOM HIDDLESTON
A- MIA WASIKOWSKA
B+ ANTON YELCHIN
B  DANIEL BRHUL
B  DAN STEVENS
B- BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH
C+ ZAC EFRON

You can find my "Day 0" report HERE
You can find my `Day 2`report HERE

The 2013 Toronto International Film Festival is off & running. My TIFF started on "day 0", aka - the day before. With stars from around the globe coming in to Toronto, I waited out at the airport for awhile, and just like the year before, the results were pretty underwhelming.

I arrived from Vancouver at 2:15 PM & by about 3 PM was already on the board.

Daniel Bruhl, from Inglourious Basterds, had arrived to promote The Fifth Estate & Rush at the festival. He was nice enough & I probably should have gotten more from him, but his publicist was a grade A bitch. Using the absurd excuse "he'll be here all week" which I replied "yeah, but hes HERE, RIGHT NOW, in front of me" which she didnt have a reply for. Luckily Daniel was nice enough to still sign a few more times while he waited 5+ minutes for his car. But the publicist made it so awkward.
I can just imagine the conversation later with Daniel, his girfriend & the publicist.

Daniel "Why didnt you just let me sign them all & they would have been gone in 2 minutes"
Publicist "uhh... Uhh, I'm a publicist. Its my job to make things inconvenient & awkward"
Daniel "Oh, I thought your job was to tell me my schedule"
Publicist "*chuckles* haha, no silly. I am here to constantly tell you that you are in an urgent hurry to get anywhere but where you are when fans or professionals are within ear shot of you...and if that doesnt work, I have 39,492 other excuses pre-planned into my database"
Daniel "so basically, your job is to annoy people, and at times, me?"
Publicist "*nods head in agreement*"
Daniel *facepalms, shakes head*"

Quite awhile would pass before my next chance at anyone.

Tom Hiddletston, of course best known as "Loki" in The Avengers movie franchise came thru. He was making fans left & right. His handler would at times try to stop people by saying "you already got one" which was adorable, considering no one left there with less than a couple each, and at least 1 person I talked to, got 12. Note to all publicists. If your star WANTS to sign, stfu, stand in a corner & wait till he looks at you with a "ok, can you get me out of here" look.

I "missed" Jake Gyllenhaal, but since I had little interest in him, I wasnt too disappointed.

My day ended earlier than usual because the last couple flights I would have been waiting for were deayed till well after I could have waited. So I took off & got the rare treat of leaving Toronto early. I headed to Hamilton to relax & prepare for the real festival.

DAY 0 - total autographs 6

A+ TOM HIDDLESTON
B  DANIEL BRUHL

You can find my "day 1" report HERE