GregMO ROberts

It was a crappy day in the city of Toronto. Torrential rains and high winds ripped through ticketholders as we huddled outside of theatres with our umbrellas in seemingly unending long lines. Although tensions between the polite volunteers asking for lines to be considerate to the storefronts to which our lines were impeding and the rude self-entitled ticketholders that believed their $15 ticket gave them some kind of VIP treatment was at times embarrassing and unquestionably rude, the spirit of the festival could not be shaken by the parade of wet droplets that fell from the sky.

The first showing of the day was Ben Affleck’s Argo and by the time the actor, director, Academy Award Winner took the stage, the heat of anticipation in the room had dried out even the most drenched of TIFF supporters.

Affleck was the articulate gentleman as he took the stage to announce his film. He pandered to the crow with his pro-Canada views and the audience lapped it up like a parched desert dog. The movie itself was more than satisfying. Expect to begin hearing ‘Argo for Best Picture’ heading into the winter months.

The World Premiere of Cloud Atlas was the place to be on Saturday night. The movie brought to us from the Wachowski family was able to trot out Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Jim Sturgess, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and David Keith onto a packed stage of whos-who. Unfortunately, the movie was a spectacular looking mess, but it was still an electric atmosphere and other non-starring actors such as Joseph Gordon Levitt were seen seated in the audience.

Day 4 gets even more congested than Day 3. 95 separate films will be screening on Sunday highlighted by Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep and The Impossible starring Ewan McGraggor and Naomi Watts that is getting plenty of Oscar buzz.