Paris Hilton.

More on her later.

Just after 1am at the internet cafe and there is nothing on the radio. That is disappointing. I like setting the mood for you, so let’s pretend it’s my favourite Neil Diamond song, Crunchy Granola Suite. Now, THAT is a good mood!

I had three documentaries today, but I purposely slept in because I was just so friggin’ tired. I missed the first one. The Wild Horse Redemption. It was about a bunch of prison inmates that get paired up with and train wild horses. You might wonder why I picked this in the first place. Well, it was directed by St. Catharines native (my hometown) and Oscar winner John Zaristsky. I felt a little hometown pride and wanted to check it out, but alas, sleep became more important. Get outta here horse documentary.

So, I started my day late. I have a movie at 2:45pm so I do have some time to kill. I head out to grab a coffee and I’m stopped by two female University of Toronto students. They are doing a survey about the stereotype of sorority girls. They have these t-shirts that say “Break the Stereotype.” In the 5 minutes that these girls spoke to me I believe they used the word “like” about 1,349 times. They also looked like models and were way too hot to be talking to me. They had the manicure and the make-up and they looked like Barbies. You know girls… if you really want to stop the stereotype then maybe you shouldn’t fit into it so perfectly. I answered their questions and they asked for my first name and they said “Thank you, Greg” I responded with “No problem. Have a good day Betty. Have a good day Veronica.” They just looked confused and I’m guessing they had no idea who Betty or Veronica was.

On my way to my first film I spot Paris Hilton. She’s coming out of some swanky store and there are paparazzi everywhere. She’s taller than I thought she was. People are screaming for her autograph. Why? What exactly has she done that makes everybody want a piece of her? I get why men like her…but good lord. I keep moving and I get hit with celebrity spotting number 2. Marisa Tomei. Now, this girl is attractive and she’s won an Oscar and yes she legitimately won it. If you haven’t heard, there’s this urban legend going around that senile actor Jack Palance read the wrong name at the 1992 Academy Awards. She was awesome in My Cousin Vinny and in retrospect…My Cousin Vinny was a very good movie. I just walked past her and gave her a head nod and said “Marissa.” Now, how friggin smooth was that?? I’ve never been one to get too excited over seeing someone famous. Never mind the time I blew out my knee jumping in the air when I spotted Guy Carbonneau walking the streets of Hamilton. If you have to ask who Guy Carbonneau is….I’m afraid we can no longer be friends.

My first film is a documentary about the depiction of the Chinese in Hollywood throughout the years. It was called Hollywood Chinese, oddly enough. Is it wrong that at a theatre with 12 screens I automatically lined up in the line that had 95% asians in it? I don’t think it is. I made the right choice. I mean…you all know if you were going to see Rocky you’d look for the line with the most Italians in it. Right? Anyway, the movie was directed by Arthur Dong. Stop laughing. It had interviews with many prominent Chinese and Chinese-American actors, directors and writers like Amy Tan (writer of the Joy Luck Club), and Ang Lee (director of Brokeback Mountain) and how they viewed the depiction. There were some funny moments….although I’m not sure it was supposed to be funny. Seeing John Wayne cast as an Asian was pretty funny. I never really thought about what it would be like seeing a movie where the only character of the same race as I was constantly depicted as evil or a buffoon. Or even worse…a director not bothering to cast someone of that race in that role…giving it to a white dude. That’s kind of fucked up. It was a good movie.

I saw a dude wipe out on a unicycle today. That was pretty awesome.

It poured rain all day today and I don’t have an umbrella and I was too lazy to see if my brother did so I took cabs when the subway didn’t work out. Remember that Seinfeld episode with the B.O.? I experienced that tonight. It was like a wall when I got in. I felt like I was punched in the face by Mike Tyson and the odour threatened to eat my children. Good lord.

I freed myself from the smell and headed to my next film. It was a documentary called Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who. This movie was excellent. It was completely authorized and had interviews with Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend and had some archival footage of Keith Moon and John Entwistle. We also heard comments from the band’s managers, Sting, the Edge and Noel Gallagher. I had a blast watching this movie. The live performances footage was amazing. Documentaries are great and they are even better when the subject of the film means something to you. I love the Who. They are one of my favourite bands and may be one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time. I rate them higher than the Beatles, the Stones, Zeppelin, Floyd…all of them. The Who were raw. They were wild. They were powerful and dirty. Towards the end of the film when the intro from Baba O’Reilly hit…I got goose bumps. When they talked about John Entwistle dying high on coke, with a hooker in his bed in Vegas it made me happy. That’s the best way for a rockstar to go. A great film. A great documentary. A great band. Check it out.

Since, I only saw two films I felt I was cheating myself. I needed to see one more. I got a free pass to see an exclusive screening of David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises. Before we get into anything, I’ve told some of you that I have a problem with CBC talk show host and former Muchmusic Veejay George Stromolopolous. The times that I’ve spoke to him he seemed very arrogant. Take one guess who sits next to me at Eastern Promises. If anyone said anything other than George then you deserve a punch in the scrotum or ovaries depending on your gender. Moving on…Eastern Promises. This was not your typical Cronenberg film. This wasn’t Naked Lunch or Existenz. This one stars Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. Mortensen plays Nikolai, a Russian who has ties to one of London’s biggest crime families. Watts plays Anna, a midwife, who sees a 14 year old girl die in the hospital only to leave behind a newborn. These two characters come together when Anna realizes that the baby might be tied to the crime family after reading the dead girls diary. I enjoyed this movie. Some pretty gruesome murders though. I imagine this will get a wide release and if you’re looking for a mystery or thriller I recommend it.

The day ended on a high note. As I walked out of the theatre, I saw Corey Haim. Now, I could have sworn I read something about him not being able to come back to Canada after filming his dumbass reality show because his legal troubles wouldn’t allow him back in the States, but there he was. Good ol’ Corey.

One more film to go. Hong Kong action at it’s best.

Greg’s 2007 Toronto Film Fest Report: Day 6
Greg’s 2007 Toronto Film Fest Report: Day 5
Greg’s 2007 Toronto Film Fest Report: Day 4
Greg’s 2007 Toronto Film Fest Report: Day 3
Greg’s 2007 Toronto Film Fest Report: Day 2
Greg’s 2007 Toronto Film Fest Report: Day 1

Around the Web: