The Toronto International Film Festival will take place from September 4-14, 2014 this year & includes films like
THE EQUALIZER (Antoine Fuqua) Denzel Washington, Chloe Moretz, Marton Csokas
THE JUDGE (director - David Dubkin) starring Al Pacino & Robert Downey Jr.
A LITTLE CHAOS (Alan Rickman) Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Stanley Tucci
MAPS TO THE STARS (David Cronenberg) Robert Pattinson, Julianne Moore, John Cusack, Sarah Gadon
THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU (Shawn Levy) Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, jane Fonda
FOXCATCHER (Bennett Miller) Anthony Michael Hall, Mark Ruffalo, Steve Carell, Channing Tatum
ROSEWATER (Jon Stewart) Gael Garcia Bernal, Jason Jones

Plus 100s more. I will try to have blogs on each days adventures like I did past years. But due to the intense schedule of the event, they likely will not go up every day.

My 2013 TIFF saw me go 14/25 (got my technical #1 Benedict Cumberbatch... my original #1 Melissa Rauch did not come)
My 2012 TIFF saw me go 10/25 (got my #1 Johnny Depp)
My 2011 TIFF saw me go 9/30 (got my #1 Chloe Moretz though)
My 2010 TIFF saw me go 8/20 (got my #1 Michael C. Hall)


Who do YOU hope I will get at TIFF? Vote here, leave comments below if your choice is not there.

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

September is a monumental month for autograph hounds in Canada. Its the start of the NHL pre-season, our most popular sport across the country, as well, the Toronto International Film Festival takes
place.

TIFF 2013, the 38th annual festival, takes place from Sept 5-15 & as usual, I'll be there taking in the opportunities to get autographs from some of the largest names of TV & movies. As always, there is a lengthy list of notable names with films there.  Academy Award winners like Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Jessica Lange, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Kate Winslet, Sandra Bullock, Nicolas Cage, William Hurt, Adrien Brody, Colin Firth, Kevin Kline, Robin Williams, Jim Broadbent, George Clooney, Juliet Binoche, Judi Dench, Marcia Gay Harden & Tilda Swinton are all in 1 or more films at this years festival. Popular stars of this generation like Daniel Radcliffe, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Emilia Clarke, Ralph Fiennes & Dakota Fanning also have films at the festival. Theres then an even longer list of "hey, I know them from something" names.

With so many names, so many shows going on over only 10 days, you need to prioritize if you are planning to catch celebs...and that means picking & chosing who is most important to you. Whether as a fan, or a seller, you need to generate a list of who you want to get the most, because you simply cant get everyone.
(please vote on the poll below for who you most want me to see at TIFF)

So here is my list of my top 20 for TIFF 13. Its a mixture of who I want to get for myself, or just want to get to say I got them or for financial benefits.
(note - not all names are guaranteed to be at the festival, so please dont take my list as a guarantee of their arrival... it is merely who I would like to get if they are there)

1- Melissa Rauch (The last 3 years in a row I have gotten my #1 on my list. Johnny Depp, Michael C. Hall & Chloe Moretz. This year, I am picking someone that was not on the initial guest list... so theres a good chance getting my #1 wont even be an option. )
2- Benedict Cumberbatch (If Ms. Rauch doesnt show,
Benedict, the man who brings Sherlock Holmes to life, will be my #1)
3- Michael C. Hall (Former #1 target of 2011 is still high on my list since the last season of Dexter is under way)
4- Emilia Clarke (Hot girl who walks around naked 1/3 of the time on Game Of Thrones? Yeah, like I wasnt going to have her on the list)
5- Chris Hemsworth (As Thor, hes become a household
name.)
6- Jessica Chastain (back-to-back Academy Award Nominations. Shes gonna win 1 sometime in the next 5 years)
7- Brad Pitt (If he comes, he will be sought after target for no other reason than to right the fact I haven't gotten him the 1st 2 times I saw him)
8- Hailee Steinfeld (Always some newcomers to my list every year, this year, Hailey has grabbed my attention as someone to nab, 2010 Academy Award nominated actress)
9- Meg Tilly (This Golden Globe winning recluse was most recently on the hit Bomb Girls. She is making a rare public appearance this festival for the 30th anniversary of The Big Chill)
10-  Magda Apanowicz (My crush of her character on Hellcats not withstanding, I've quite liked her work on everything I have seen her in, most recently the Canadian sci-fi hit Continuum)
11- Lorenzo Izzo (Saw her a couple years ago at TIFF & was so taken aback by how gorgeous she was, I had to find out who she was. Now that I know, time to get her autograph.)
12- Karen Gillan ( I may not watch Doctor Who, but I know enough to know I'd be a fool not to go for her)
13- Scarlett Johansson (A household name now adays.
ScarJo will be on most peoples list, regardless if they ae fans of her work or not.)
14- Kurt Russell (Grindhouse & Miracle. Thats all)
14- Julia Roberts (Academy Award Winner should be enough to make the list...but I just want to get her really because of Pretty Woman)
15- Joel Edgerton (I've met Tom Hardy, I've met Jennifer Morrison, I've met Nick Nolte. So obviously I need to meet the final piece of the "Warrior" main cast)
16- Brendan Gleeson (Huge In Bruges fan, so excited that 2 of the 3 are at the fest)
17- Ralph Fiennes (see Brendan Gleeson)
18- Meryl Streep (when a legend this big is at any event, even if you dont care for them...you go for them)
19- Jennifer Aniston (met her once many many years ago & had nothing of note to get signed, now I will.)
20- Hugo Weaving (V For Vendetta, that about says it
all)
21- Liam Neeson (even though hes a prick, still love most of his work)
22- Marcia Gay Harden (kind of an off the map 1. Really only want to meet her because of the amazing job shes done this year on The Newsroom)
23- Mke Myers (met him several times, but still always excited to meet him again)
24- Kate Winslet (Titanic is all I really know her from. But isn't that enough reason to go for her?)
25- Daniel Radcliffe (I loathe the Harry Potter franchise. But that said, I like money. So I will go for this stiff)

Honourable mention
- Nicole Kidman, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael Fassbender, Mila Kunis, Olivia Wilde, Judi Dench, Tom Welling, Keanu Reeves, Tobey Maguire, Pierce Brosnan, Jude Law, Katheryn Winnick, Peter Sarsgaard, Alia Shawkat, James Van Der Beek, Metallica, Alice Cooper, Hugh Jackman, Sandra Bullock

Notables not on my list
- Reese Witherspoon ( she isnt going to sign more
than 2 or 3 autographs anyways...just long enough for the cameras to get pictures of her interacting with the "common folk" so why waste my time. Shes a bitch, thats the nicest thing anyone who has ever met her can say about her)
- Glenn Close (got her 2 years ago. I really am not impressed enough by her work to care to chase this fairly elusive signer)
- Jake Gyllenhaal (the lesser talented of the Gyllenhaal siblings, hes a douchebag. I'd rather ask homeless people for their autograph than giving him the satisfaction of ignoring me)
- Zack Galifinakis (outside of the Hangover, has he done ANYTHING to warrant such a big ego? No? Thats what I thought. When he comes back down to reality, maybe I'll care. Till then, his self importance of himself makes him irrelevant to me)
- Owen Wilson (really untalented, terribly unfunny, and a
bit of a prick. Cant be bothered)
- Keira Knightley (I got her last year & was really underwhelmed by her. Maybe once her ego comes down to reality I'll place more value on her. For now, shes a mediocre actress with too much of an ego & an abysmal autograph.)

My 2012 TIFF saw me go 10/25 (got my #1 Johnny Depp)
My 2011 TIFF saw me go 9/30 (got my #1 Chloe Moretz though)
My 2010 TIFF saw me go 8/20 (got my #1 Michael C. Hall)

How will TIFF 2013 go? Who will I get? Who will I miss? Will Ms. Rauch show up? Will my 3 year streak of getting my #1 continue to 4 years?

I will update this blog as the festival goes on. I will TRY to do it everyday, but as those of you who read my previous years blogs know, it will probably be more of every 2-3 days.

Tonight is the series premiere of another Canadian made crime drama "King & Maxwell" on cable network TNT.

Set in Washington, DC. This series will star Rebecca Romijn (X-Men, Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me) & Jon Tenney (The Closer, The Newsroom) as 2 Private Dectives who used to be in the Secret Service solving crimes in the U.S. Capital.

The pilot, shot in Toronto, ON will air tonight at 10 PM ET/PT on TNT. The 2nd episode on, were shot here in Vancouver.

I caught up to the production in its 1st week here & found the shows leads, Jon Tenney (Sean King) and Rebecca Romijn (Michelle Maxwell) filming a scene where they talk to Chris Butler & Michael O'Keefe (Agents Carter & Rigby of the FBI).

I'll have a few more photos up later this month of another shoot with just rebecca Romijn, along with a small set of recurring character Ryan Hurst (Sons Of Anarchy).

For now, I give you my 1st set from King & Maxwell.