TIFF 2012 - Days 6, 7 & 8 of the Toronto International Film Festival

Day 6 for me started in the evening at Roy Thompson again. This time, the premiere of "Inescapable". My goal was Marisa Tomei. Oded Fehr showed up 1st, shockingly, I dont recall him coming over to the fans at all (or for a very short time). Alexander Siddig arrived next, and he was quite good with meeting fans. He signed for several minutes, and was doing his best to make sure everyone got him. Next to show up was "Fringe" star Joshua Jackson, along with his girlfriend Diane Kruger. both of the stars signed autographs along the carpet, of course, I was not in need of Mr. Jackson as I see him all the time in Vancouver. However, I was shocked to learn from those there that he seemed to avoid signing 8x10 photos all together there. A little while after that, Marisa Tomei showed up, and while she did sign some, she didnt sign too much, and I went away shut out by the "My Cousin Vinny" star.

As soon as that ended, I rushed across the street to POW to try & Jason Bateman & Paula Patton at the premiere of "Disconnected". I failed with Bateman, as the massive crowds were once again, impossible to navigate, but managed to find a good spot for Patton & got an autograph from her before she went in for her premiere.

I went back across the street to wait on In Bruges star Ralph Fiennes at the premiere of "Great expectations". Also there were co-stars Jeremy Irvine & Holliday Grainger. Grainger was 1st to arrive & didnt spend much time interacting with fans, and was booed by many for her lack of interaction despite being the 1st to get there. Jeremy Irvine was a bit better, signing for most of the people who wanted him, I managed 1. Next up was Ralph. I was in a good spot, and just like Will Smith a couple days earlier, I got burned despite having an amazing spot. Ralph signed off to 1 side of me, but never got as far as where I was, he then moved 40 ft in the other direction, completely bypassing me & several others. A group of fans from Venezuela in front of me called out to him several times "Ralph, Ralph" but he didnt acknowledge them. They then yelled at him "Voldemort, Voldemort" (some character he played in a movie I wont watch) and sure enough it got the stars attention and he came over, signed for them, and a couple others, missed me, and moved on. After Fiennes went in, Grainger came back out & signed for most everyone there, the boo birds had again coerced someone into signing. Funny part is, fans scolded those that booed, yet, fact is, it more often than not, works... and at a fest where so many celebs were ignoring the fans, it certainly was not unjust.

After my Fiennes disappointment, I went over to Ryerson for Midnight Madness premiere of "Aftershock". Immediately upon his arrival, i got Eli Roth, and a few minutes later I got the last 2 photos I had for him done. I was out, they a guy I had met at previous fests from Hamilton showed up, I told him Eli already had signed for the fairly small crowd but "probably will come over again" and then proceeded in watching eli deny him & 1 other guy, not once, or twice, but 3 or 4 times saying things like "I got to get inside for the movie" despite me reminding him it still didnt start for 11 minutes. Hard to believe a guy went from an A+ to an F attitude in literally 3 minutes. I also snapped a couple pics of his co-star in the movie, the incredibly gorgeous Lorenza Izzo, who I previously had not heard of, but now know of. She happily signed for the few people that had TIFF books.

Day 6 total - 7 autographs (51 total)

A  Alexander Siddig
A  Paula Patton
A  Lorenza Izzo
A- Holliday Grainger
B+ Jeremy Irvine
B  Joshua Jackson
B  Diane Kruger
C+ Ralph Fiennes
C  Eli Roth
C  Marisa Tomei
E  Oded Fehr

Day 7 was a short one.

My day started with the press conference for "Rhino Season" with Monica Bellucci. I managed 1 autograph from her going in, and another leaving the press junket.

I headed over then to the premiere at Ryerson for "Smashed" featuring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul & Nick Offerman. Unfortunately the latter 2 did not show, only Winstead showed of the 3 I wanted, along with Oscar award winning actress Octavia Spencer. Mary signed up a storm, despite the fact some of her autographs looked more like random short road maps, I still managed 5 or 6 decent enough autographs from the Death Proof star. My very short day ended with me getting a photo with the star.

Day 7 total - 10 autographs (61 total)

A+ Mary Elizabeth Winstead
B- Monica Bellucci

My final day of the fest started with the early afternoon premiere of "Son Of The Clouds" with Javier Bardem. The Oscar winning actor started off signing several out on the street before he got moderately annoyed by the same several people asking him over & over again. I did manage to get 1 from the star later on the carpet, but he really did seem disinterested in signing for awhile & was not terribly generous with his autographs.

After a long lunch break, I spent a little time around the Ritz Carlton Hotel. I wasnt expecting autographs there, but was more there just to kill time. While I was there I saw Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton & Javier Bardem returning from various places.

Next up was "Jayne Mansfields Car" premiere at RTH. I was hoping Kevin Bacon & his wife Kyra Sedgwick might come, but instead it was Robert Duvall & Billy Bob Thornton were the only stars to come. I managed 1 autograph from each of the stars, as well as a quite unjust accusation of "pushing" from the very rude fans who all too often make these claims simply based on whether or not you have an 8x10 or not. In this particular instance, the visually impaired idiot was telling the TIFF security "we got 5 of them right here" and felt the need to lump me in with others who may or may not have pushed. Since I wasnt pushing & frankly, cant even recall the others he fingered for being excessively pushy, I didnt take his claim seriously.... this didnt stop the TIFF people however from deciding to take it seriously. Later on after Mr. Thornton finished his press, 1 of the security people came over to talk to me, and we both discussed each others points of view, and I felt that he at least listened with an open mind to my point of view...even if if walked away going "whatever" in his head, he at least was professional enough to listen & acknowledge that the person making the claim may have been wrong. EVERY TIFF it seems theres at least 1 person who over reacts to the seemingly over aggressive hounds there, and somehow I get lumped in by association with them for no other reason than having 8x10s & a binder. Unfortunately, thats just part of TIFF that isnt ever going to change...dealing with the inexperienced public who are under some impression if you have a binder or a photo, you must be the 1 who pushed you. The amount of times I am pushed by NON-pros grossly outweighs being pushed by pros, but you dont hear me whining about it. The entitlement that some fans feel they have at these things is absurd.

After that idiocy, I went and met up for dinner with my buddy from www.outlaw-autographs.com and another Vancouver hound. I ended my TIFF with 1 last autograph, again with an over reaction from the bored TIFF security people, as Zac Efron came thru & signed 1 each for the whopping 3 of us that the 6+ security & volunteers encircled. making a calm enough situation, into a mildly annoying & hectic situation of course.

Day 8 total - 4 autographs (65 total)

B- Billy Bob Thornton
C+ Robert Duvall
C+ Javier Bardem
C  Zac Efron