2018 Toronto International Film Festival - Days 6,7 and 8. - Featuring - Susan Sarandon, Nicole Kidman, Viggo Mortensen and more

The 2018 Toronto International Film Festival has ended, and here is my reports on the festival.

This is part 3, day 6 to day 8.
For part 1, day 0 to day 2, go HERE
For part 2, day 3 to day 5, go HERE

Day 6 started for me with a premiere at the Elgin for the movie Viper Club. It started with seeing former Once Upon A Time star Julian Morris there. Unfortunately I had nothing with me, since he was not on the original confirmed list. A little while later Susan Sarandon showed up, I managed two from the acting icon. A bit after that Matt Bomer arrived. He signed a handful of things, and took some photos, I managed to get 1 out of him there, but I was a little disappointed I couldn't get two considering where I was positioned. But, 1 is better than none.

Next up was the premiere for Green Book at Roy Thompson Hall.  I did pretty good there, I had a row 1A spot (its when you have part of your body in Row 1, but you arent fully in row 1), and it helped me in getting 3 Viggo Mortensen, 2 Linda Cardellini, a Mahershala Ali and a Peter Farrelly without ever having to leave my corner (which is an important fact coming up soon in this post). Everyone from this premiere was fairly accommodating, but Viggo certainly won it by going to every single person in the line.

I then went and lined up for Boy Erased, across the street. When it finally came time to let people in to the fan zone, me, and another autograph hound, were asked to get out of line. A security guy then told us we werent going in. When we asked why, he said because WE were "using our elbows and pushing" and when I asked where & when, he said last premiere. Now remember what I said about that earlier premiere.... I was in row 1A. Thus I didn't need to push, and outside of perhaps intentionally trying to injure someone, having your arms at such an angle that your elbows become prominent is NOT a goods technique to getting an autograph. You really want your arm extended as fully as possible, to get the best position. To top all that off, remember how I said, I never actually had to go anywhere? Its pretty common place in a premiere to move around and try at another place... but I didn't have to. I brought 6 items to the premiere, and got all of them done, right where I was standing the whole time. Thats also an important point, because do you know who was beside me, infront of me, and behind me? ALL autograph hounds. EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ONE of us in that corner were hounds... and you damn well know not of them complained. It gets better though, as I pointed out to the misinformed "head of security" that I can prove they are at least mostly wrong.... as the person with me was NOT even at that premiere..... so whoever made the claim, clearly targeted two people that couldn't have done it. An argument between me, 1 of the "head" guys peons escalated to him demanding I give back the wrist band they give to people lining up. I said, no, he told me its, get this "TIFF property" which I told him it stopped being theirs when they gave it to me. He then pursued after me to pester me to give it back. I ignored him, and he escalated things to "you are never coming back in ever again", which is funny since he isn't in charge. I then went back to arguing with the head guy. That eventually escalated to HIM asking for "TIFF property" back as well. He got the same reply, with me adding "go get a cop". Amazingly enough, for this 1/3 cent piece of fabric that has no use once the premiere starts... he went and got a cop. Cop then came, asked me as well, I told him no. TIFF head security guy fell back on their "TIFF property" claim, I told the cop, not true. It was given to me BY TIFF. It is now mine to do with as I wish. As I stated "if I want to take it off and piss on it, I can". The cop, realizing I was in the right moved to more of a "please, can you give it back?" attitude, which I then addressed the head security guy and said to him "you know why I'm not giving it back?"" he of course asked why, I told him "pettiness". Which he replied "fair enough". From that moment, his attitude did a 180 & he then went from "you are never coming in again, to, if you give us the band back, come see me tomorrow. I will review the case with the guard who made the claim, and if he says its mistaken identity, you can come back in". So I gave him the band back in front of the cop... and proceeded to try and work without access to the premiere.

I then tried the departures of Colette. I managed an autograph from Dominic West, but Keira Knightley ignored all requests going in (despite there only being about 4-5 people there at that time) & coming out.

Next up, I tried Hilary Swank at a talk at CBC. I got there, saw a much larger crowd than the night before talk had. Reports were she stormed right in on the way in. For the first, and ONLY time ever at this venue for events I have gone there for, the entertainer there didn't sign at all. Swank came out & went directly to her vehicle.

This nights "Midnight Madness" was unusually early as well. As long as I have done TIFF, its always been 11:59 PM. But for the second time this TIFF, they had one start before 11. The premiere of Assassination Nation had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, little of that potential showed up. I left there with 1 whole Odessa Young autograph, which I went there with 2 photos for her.... so its pretty sad when someone with that resume is that unwilling to sign that you can only get 1 at a "Midnight" Madness. I did see the other cast who showed signing, Colman Domingo was good, Suki Waterhouse scrawled her useless "S" on a variety of items, but the big stars no showed. Joel McHale and Bella Thorne were both not confirmed, but there was at least a hope they would come. Bill Skarsgard, who is literally in Toronto filming, also didn't come. Leaving me with little to get signed at this premiere, thus why I left there with only 1 autograph in total.

I hurried back across to the premiere I wasn't allowed in for their departures. LUCKILY I DID... because the person i went there for, Joel Edgerton, I managed to coerce to come out & meet the fans on the other side of the lane they are in. He came over & told fans "I wont take photos, but I'll sign some things" and boy did he ever, I managed to get the 3 items I brought with me all done in a span of maybe 45 seconds. Of course Nicole Kidman did NOT meet any fans there... but that wasn't who I went there for, so I left there pleased. All that drama from earlier, was technically for nothing, as I got all the things I wanted to get done in the fan zone, anyways.

My day 6 total autographs - 15
My TIFF 2018 Total - 99 (ohh, so close.. damn you Odessa Young)

A+ Viggo Mortensen
A+ Joel Edgerton
A  Colman Domingo
A- Linda Cardellini
A- Julian Morris
B+ Susan Sarandon
B+ Dominic West
B+ Peter Farrelly
B  Matt Bomer
B  Suki Waterhouse
B  Mahershala Ali
C  Odessa Young
F+ Nicole Kidman
F  Hilary Swank
F  Keira Knightley

Day 7 was when you could feel the fest was really winding down. With only 5 total events all day, it was a late start for me.

First thing I did, was head to Roy Thompson Hall, the place where I allegedly "elbowed" people the day before. I instantly searched out any guard I recognized, and found one I know all too well. The guy I always thought WAS the head of security. I told him what happened the day before, I told him what the head guy told me to do today. After a breif talk, he ok'ed me to line up, with the knowledge, we might still say no. So I did, as it turned out, I was allowed in. They 1 of the main wrist band guys came to talk to me as well, I told him what I was told the day before, what the security guy here said, and he said ok. Then he gave me a lecture on being good and not pushing and shoving, which I listened to, then told him that I realize he was under the impression I did something wrong, but that I already knew all of that.

The red carpet eventually started for What They Had, and first up for me was Robert Forster. Thankfully I had a good enough spot that I managed to get one from Robert.  A bit later, I managed an autograph from Michael Shannon. However, the person most everyone was there to see, Hilary Swank ignored MOST requests, and the few times she did sign, I was told (my angle I couldn't see WHO she signed for, just that she did) seemed to be mostly for women. Taissa Farmiga also showed up for the carpet, and signed for most people, but I did not bring her since she was not on the original confirmed list.

In between red carpets, I squeezed in time to try the CBC building for Maggie Gyllenhaal, but unfortunately she told us "not right now" and went in side.

A few hours later, another red carpet at the same venue. This time for The Land Of Steady Habits. With several names confirmed, this SHOULD have been a good carpet. It. Was. NOT! While the 4 stars who DID show all signed at some point, their level of willingness varied greatly. Elizabeth Marvel was pretty good for those who knew who she was, while I managed to get Thomas Mann to sign, I was pretty disgusted to see Charlie Tahan ignore my multiple requests while he literally was just standing in a corner doing NOTHING, before he decided to go down the carpet just to avoid being asked again. Ben Mendelsohn on the other hand, did sign some, but turned down MOST items, including 3 different items I showed him. Thats some top shelf divaness there. So I left a premiere that I SHOULD have got at least 4 autographs from, with 1. Not the best of uses of my time.

After the premiere, I headed back to CBC to wait for Maggie Gyllenhaal leaving, and it was worth the effort. I managed 3 autographs from her leaving.

My night ended at the Midnight Madness premiere for The Standoff At Sparrow Creek. I managed to get both James Badge Dale items I brought signed, but after being told by another hound that the studio for the film said all the cast was coming, I was disappointed the only other person I brought, a Patrick Fischler photo, didn't get signed, because he wasn't there. Brian Geraghty was asked by quite a few people for photos and autographs, and he obliged most or all of the requests.

My day 7 autographs Total - 8
My TIFF 2018 Total - 107

A+ Michael Shannon
A+ Robert Forster
A  Maggie Gyllenhaal
A  Brian Geraghty
A  James Badge Dale
A  Thomas Mann
A  Elizabeth Marvel
A- Taissa Farmiga
C- Ben Mendelsohn
C- Hilary Swank
D- Charlie Tahan

Day 8, which I did not know when I started the day, would be my last TIFF day ever, started pretty late. With only 4 events going, I didn't have to get in to Toronto till late afternoon.

I started my day off going to the Roy Thompson Hall for the premiere of The Lie. For a fan of The Killing, such as I am, this was a pretty exciting premiere to do. It had Mireille Enos AND Peter Sarsgaard in it. As well, show creator Veena Sud directed this, and also had Patty Kim, who had a role in season 3 of the series. Of course, the unknown factor was, would Alan Ruck, the husband of Mireille, also come to the premiere. The first car to show up was Mireille, and to my excitement, Alan came with her. So I managed to get the two photos I brought of him with me done, as well as a couple autographs from her. Shortly after Peter showed up, and I managed 1 from him. Patty Kim arrived a bit later, and signed for those who needed her, I had not prepared for her.. so that was an opportunity missed moment. Lastly, Joey King arrived, and signed quite a lot... but more disappointing, was she had a peon lurking over her like an abusive guardian telling her what not to sign. Don't forget, shes an ADULT. This guy would go through and push away photos HE didn't want her signing. I don't know who this moron is, but it was pretty outrageous in this current social climate we are in, seeing a man making decisions for an adult woman without her having a say in the matter. It was fucking weird & creepy. I hope she manages to get away from this guy eventually.

Next up was another premiere at RTH. This time it was for The Kindergarten Teacher. Luckily it was a short carpet, as the only cast to come for it was Maggie Gyllenhaal. I still had a couple left overs from the day before, so I went in, and managed to nab 2 more autographs from her.

I ended my TIFF (not that I knew it at that time) with a Midnight Madness premiere for In Fabric. It starred Star Wars & Game Of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie. Up till this meeting, I had heard from others she wasn't the most friendly, so I was nervous that this was going to take some effort to get the 3 photos I brought done... but nope. I got all 3 done in the first minute she was there, and left that evening feeling really good about things.

What happened next, unfortunately, ended my TIFF career 1 event short. Lets just say cliff notes version, I sprained my ankle.
Longer version, Once I returned to Hamilton I was in the almost always happening position, of having to race from the intercity Go Bus, to the Hamilton Bus stop. Somehow, despite probably hundreds of times of this happening since GO moved to double decker buses for the route, The City Of Hamilton has not clued in to the routes slightly longer run times, and have their city buses run at a time that frankly, they could change to adapt to the change in the GO scheduled arrivals... but they haven't. This has gone on for TWO straight TIFFs now... but this year was the worst yet. Of the 6 nights prior where I took that specific GO bus, 1 time I raced to the Hamilton Bus stop, just to get on while the bus was already there getting ready to leave, another time, my GO driver was nice enough to get the Hamilton bus drivers attention to ask if I could get on right there, and he allowed it. Four other times, I had to take a cab up the hill... and in ALL FOUR cases, I could SEE my bus just ahead of us. We were literally missing it by seconds, or at most a minute every time. So to my joy, we were slightly ahead of the buses on Thursday night. I was set to use some of the limited sprinting skills I still have left to get there before it goes by, since I did not exactly know HOW far ahead we were, all I knew for certain was, it was scheduled to leave its starting spot about 20-80 seconds after we passed it. So I got off the bus first, and went into full sprint mode. I remember on my 1st or 2nd step actually feeling like I caught an edge. It wasn't enough to break my stride, but I didn't know yet, it caused a juice in my backpack to pop out and down under me. I remember hearing it hit the ground, and less than a fraction of a second later, I stepped right on it. This caused multiple discomforts in my leg, which eventually eased up to just the ankle problem. Adrenaline alone got me to the bus stop... and wouldn't you know it, I really didn't have to run at full speed, I could have made it there with probably a hurried walk & a little bit of light sprinting.... but I couldn't have known that beforehand. So, I got a serious ankle sprain out of the deal... and it took more than a week before I started walking on it without the aid of crutches. It will probably be at least another week before I am walking on it normally. It will probably be a few more weeks before its fully healed. All because of the fucking Hamilton Bus Schedules cant fucking adapt to changes to the intercity bus routes... but yeah, I realize I did this to myself too... but I wouldn't have done it, it I didn't feel pressured to make that bus. Anyways... because of the injury, I was unable to do the final event of TIFF, and thus, end my TIFF career on my own terms. It sucks. It sucks even more that I will never know if I could have broke my record. I was less than 10 away. While thats a lot to get form 3 people, it isn't impossible. But, instead, I end this TIFF tied for my 3rd highest total..... also, I managed to break the 1,000 career autographs mark at TIFF the day before. So not a terrible TIFF. In fact, I'd say it was decent... till my ankle injury.

My day 7 autographs total - 14
My TIFF 2018 total - 121 (tied for my 3rd best)

A  Gwendoline Christie
A  Patty Kim
A  Maggie Gyllenhaal
A- Mireille Enos
A- Joey King
A- Alan Ruck
C  Peter Sarsgaard