My 2017 Toronto International Film Festival hits & misses for days 0 thru 4

The 2017 Toronto International Film Festival has ended, and now that I have some time, here is my reports for my time at the festival at who was great & who was terrible with the fans,

On Day 0 I met 3 celebs that day. It started with Armie Hammer, he was in town to promote his film Call Me By Your Name. Hammer was accommodating enough, giving out autographs to anyone that asked, but refused to stop walking while doing them.

A while later, former Sons Of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam came through the airport. The star of the TIFF debuted Papillon made fans line up to get their autographs & selfies. then when they failed to follow his instructions shut it down & got in his truck....but after a minute or so, he got back out when the hounds showed him that they had re-assembled the line up, and he signed willingly for everyone there.

Just as I was about to leave, music legend Grace Jones came through. She signed for anyone that had their items on them at the time.

GRADES
A+ Charlie Hunnam
B+ Armie Hammer
B  Grace Jones

Day 0 Total Autographs - 5

On Day 1, I started things off with a press conference for the Shia LaBeouf & Stellan Skarsgard led movie Borg VS McEnroe. I managed 1 autograph from the often odd LaBeouf, and two from Skarsgard there. Both entertainers took lots of time out to sign on the way into their presser. On the way out, torrential rainfall deterred most from staying around, so there was little to no one left when they came back out to leave.
I lucked into an encounter with former Davincis Inquest star Nicholas Campbell as he walked down King Street towards the TIFF Bell Lightbox. I managed 2 autographs from the star.

A bit later, I went to the premiere for Papillon, and managed 1 more Hunnam autograph, after he told me "I got you already" & I replied back with "yes, but not today".. I found Charlie a fair bit less accommodating on this day, but still did well.

The Midnight Madness showing for day 1 was supposed to be 1 of the biggest events of TIFF. But the name everyone went for, of course no showed. Music legend Eminem was originally on the confirmed guest list for TIFF, but as many who follow his career predicted accurately, he didnt show for this event. I did manage to get autographs from the cast of Bodied with 1 from both Calum Worthy and Rory Uphold. But the lack of Slim Shady being there soured everyone on this event, and left most leaving there disappointed, myself included.

GRADES
A+ Stellan Skarsgard
A+ Calum Worthy
A+ Nicholas Campbell
A  Shia LaBeouf
A- Rory Uphold
B  Charlie Hunnam 

Day 1 autographs total - 8
TIFF 2017 autographs total - 13

Day 2 started with me attempting to go to the premiere of the Toronto shot Kodachrome with Ed Harris & Jason Sudeikis. However, the fest closed down the red carpet for it early, leaving a sparsely attended red carpet for the cameras. I did luck into getting Sudeikis still however, as he walked to the red carpet, and luckily, right past where I was standing. But I was still unimpressed with TIFF closing off a carpet so early, and with so few people in the fan zone.

I then checked out a new place that some celebs were going. UNFORTUNATELY, the cast that was there during my time was those for Stronger. Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany and Miranda Richardson, three of the lease friendly people you can have the misfortune of meeting all in 1 spot. They didnt waver from their cancerous reps, as the 3 of them combined signed 0 things, and took 0 photos with anyone, and in the case of Maslany, she practically speed walked & dove into her vehicle.

Next up I went to the premiere of The Death Of Stalin. I was lucky enough to get a Steve Buscemi autograph there, and 2 from Andrea Riseborough. While I hoped for more from Buscemi, I didnt go away disappointed at least. Jason Isaacs, who was not on the original confirmed list showed up as well, and I managed 2 autographs from him as well.

I waited around at that venue to him up Mollys Game premiere an hour later with Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba. Both stars signed multiples for me, but there was a substantial difference in which one was most accommodating, as Chastain spent several minutes meeting fans, and Elba spent less than 2, maybe even less than 1.

I next got Ben Schwartz, Kaitlyn Dever and Jay Duplass as they left the the premiere of Outside In. Unfortunately Edie Falco didnt show to that. 

Shortly after I went to the front of that venue to do the premiere of Lady Bird directed by Greta Gerwig, and starring Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamat, Laurie Metcalf and others. Despite an unfortunate no show by Ronan, this cast was quite good with those waiting to meet them. Even Ms. Gerwig, who I once gave a scathing review in a past TIFF was good here. The least friendly was The Big Bang Theory recurring guest star & former Roseanne star Laurie Metcalf. She only obliged maybe 1/4 of the requests for autographs or photo ops that were asked of her.

I then hustled over to try the back end of the I Tonya premiere with Allison Janney, Margot Robbie and Sebastian Stan. Unfortunately they didnt sign at the venue, but I was lucky enough to stumble acorss their after party, and managed 1 from Margot and 1 from Allison Janney there. Shockingly, the usually super nice Sebastian Stan, didnt oblige any requests asked.

My evening ended with stumbling across the after party for The Upside with Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman. Unfortunately Ms Kidman no showed for the party, and Mr. Cranston snubbed the dozen or so people waiting out there, despite telling them all "just 1 minute".

GRADES
A+ Jessica Chastain
A  Andrea Riseborough
A  Jason Isaacs
A  Timothee Chalamat
B+ Jay Duplass
B+ Ben Schwartz
B+ Marielle Scott
B+ Odeya Rush
B  Steve Buscemi
C+ Greta Gerwig
C+ Allison Janney
C  Idris Elba
C  Kaitlyn Dever
C- Margot Robbie
D+ Laurie Metcalf
F  Jake Gyllenhaal
F  Tatiana Maslany
F  Miranda Richardson
F  Sebastian Stan
F  Bryan Cranston

Day 2 Total Autographs - 25
TIFF 2017 Total Autographs - 38

Day 3 started for me by sitting and waiting. Like many in Toronto I was suckered in to waiting around for the 3:45 PM showing of The Carter Effect at the Princess Of Wales Theatre. With the promise of large profile NBA stars, including 1 of Torontos most popular players ever & Canadian TV actor & wannabe musician drake confirmed to be there, many people went.  Unfortunately, the entire thing was just a hair short of a complete farce. Vince Carter no showed his own event, drake came 20 minutes late,  didnt even acknowledge the fans, got loudly booed by the crowd for not doing anything, and hurried inside, then afterwards allowed his hired meatsuit to get into a traffic altercation. The Toronto Raptors showed up, but their teams security guy thought alienating fans was a good sales tactic & refused to allow them to go over and meet fans who called out to them. The only exceptions were Chris Bosh, and Patrick Patterson, who both only signed a small handful before going inside. In fact, the ONLY person who showed any class there,had nothing to do with the movie at all, and that was Canadian track superstar Andre Degrasse. He actually spent tenfold more time meeting fans than the entire basketball roster and former Degrassi actor drake combined. All in all, 1 of the worst premieres I have ever been to. Needless to say not many people from Toronto will feel inspired to ever see the Carter Effect after that fiasco.

Because of how late the last event was, I had to skip an event right across the street that i had planned to go to and instead went across the downtown core to a different event. The premiere for I Love You Daddy had a large cast of mid-level names, and for the most part, it was a mixed bag. Charlie Day from Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia was terrific, while Louie CK & Pamela Adlon signed sparingly, and John Malkovich and Edie Falco ignored everyone. I managed 5 autographs from that premiere, and felt ripped off for the time & effort that had to be put in for them.

On my way to my next event, I cane across several cars sitting at a hotel waiting to leave for the premiere of Mary Shelley. Excited to find them, I pulled my stuff out, went across the street to the hotel & had to wait all of 10 seconds for the person from that cast that I wanted the most to come out. Maisie Williams from Game Of Thrones strolled out the front door, and after a breif discussion with her, her publicist, and the hotel security, she eventually walked down the driveway to sign for me before heading off to her premiere. 

Back to the place I started my day, where I wasted hours of valuable time. I again waited around for the premiere of The Current War with the Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch. Unlike the last time he came to TIFF where he went down every side of the red carpet for 20+ minutes, Benedict was more sparingly using his time out there this time, and met with maybe only 60-75 of the 1000s of fans out there.  was lucky enough to get 1 of the VERY FEW autographs he handed out, and even rarer, on an item. He was more like the Benedict I met the 1st time he came to TIFF, than the last time where I managed to get him on multiple occasions. I also managed an autograph from Nicholas Hoult there.

I had planned from there to head to a large party that takes place every year, and I really should have...... instead I got lured in to the appeal of a row 1 prime centre spot at the back of the theatre for Cumberbatch. I had hopes he would leave immediately after introducing the film, but he did not, and after it was apparent that was going to be the case, it was a bit of "well, I've already invested this much time, i might was well wait it out" then. So I did, to no avail. When Benedict left, I followed after him to their afterparty where he pretended I didnt even exist. I did salvage getting Katherine Waterston there at least, which was good since, I didnt hear of anyone else even seeing her while she was here.

GRADES
A+ Charlie Day
A  Andre Degrasse
A- Emma Thompson
B+ Katherine Waterston
B- Nicholas Hoult
C+ Maisie Williams
C  Pamela Adlon
C  Benedict Cumberbatch
C-  Louis CK
F+ John Malkovich
F  Lebron James
F  Edie Falco
F- Drake


Day 3 Total Autographs - 11
TIFF 2017 Total Autographs - 49

Day 4 started for me doing a couple press conferences.

While Matt Damon no showed both of his premieres at TIFF, he did get in to Toronto long enough to do his press conferences for both films. 
The Suburbicon presser snagged me a Julianne Moore autograph, but racking machine George Clooney, skipped me 3 different times.Not sure if it was bad luck, or if he just didnt like the item I had out, but its odd to be skipped by him 3Xs. Odder, a guy with a sign stating "Clooney Is Looney" had a better chance of getting an autograph than me, as George saw the sign, he said to the guy "I can sign that for you if you want"?. Despite my bad luck with Mr. Clooney, cant say too much negative about his effort out there, many other celebs would have been soured by such a protester. For the Downsizing presser, I got no one, as Christoph Waltz didnt sign anything, and Matt Damon barely took 20 seconds with fans in 1 corner before bailing. Certainly not the Matt Damon  we all hear about most times.

The press conference for The Current War was nest, and as I saw the night before, Benedict Cumberbatch was being a lot more selective on what & how often he signed. I managed another Nicholas Hoult autograph, and got a Michael Shannon autograph out there, but for ther most part this was a waste of my efforts.

I then waited around for the press conference for Mother! with Jennifer Lawrence. No shock, she didnt sign going in..... while I heard she did some coming out, I never waited around for that. So, all I saw of her was her worst. 

I then headed over to what I THOUGHT would be a pretty easy premiere considering the venue it was at, the Battle Of The Sexes premiere at Ryerson. For reasons I cant quite explain, the crowd was the largest I had ever seen there outside of a Johnny Depp premiere there a few years ago. I did manage to get a few autographs there, including Steve Carell and Elisabeth Shue, but the amount of sparingly or outright unwilling signers for this premiere was surprising. Normally good Sarah Silverman was terrible here, and Alan Cumming, another person frequently considered a good signer, refused all requests. I also managed autographs from Andrea Riseborough and Bill Pullman on the red carpet. But considering how many cast were in attendance, I found the results underwhelming.

From there I went a few blocks over to go for my #1 target of TIFF. Ruth Wilson from Luther. Her premiere for Dark River was my main target of the day, and I passed on names like Denzel Washington and Jennifer Lawrence to schedule it in. It was worth it, as the woman who brought Alice Morgan to life did 3 for me on the way in to her premiere.

I then headed back for the departures of Battle Of The Sexes, and managed two autographs from Emma Stone there, which certainly made up for being snubbed by others in that cast. 

Then right back to Ruth Wilsons departure, and got two more from The Affair star.

Then back to Ryerson and tried for Denzel on the way out, but he did what Denzel always does when I have a good spot, ignores everyones requests. 

I then headed to the front of that theatre to do the Midnight Madness premiere of Revenge. Sadly, I ran in to the movies only cast member I needed, Matilda Lutz. The no name actress opted to stand on the red carpet, literally 1 foot from me, for well over five minutes with her photo in plain sight of her and instead of spending the 1 second it would take to scrawl her 1 1/2 letter autograph on them, she chose to ignore me, till a 2nd person came and finally got her attention. Her reaction to signing for the whopping two people there was comparable to if I had asked her to give me blood and money. Definitely one of the least friendly "celebs" I met during TIFF. Oh, and her choice to ignore me for those five minutes..... cost me missing my last drect bus back home, and essentially cost me 2 hours and $15 in cab fare. Definitely not worth the wait.

GRADES
A+ Emma Stone
A  Ruth Wilson
A  Julianne Moore
B+ George Clooney
B+ Bill Pullman
B+ Andrea Riseborough
B+ Elisabeth Shue
C+ Michael Shannon
C  Steve Carell
C- Matt Damon
D+ Benedict Cumberbatch
F+ Matilda Lutz
F  Sarah Silverman
F  Christoph Waltz
F Jennifer Lawrence
F  Denzel Washington
F- Alan Cumming

Day 4 Total Autographs - 15
TIFF 17 Total Autographs - 64 

​For Days 5 thru 9 go HERE