Ryan McNeil
Tickets picked up…an extra screening or two added to the slate…nothing to do now but sit back and wait for the fun to begin.
Actually, that’s not quite correct – there’s one other thing I need to do over the next few days: Ignore the Buzz. (Both good and bad).
I should begin by pointing out that never before have I personally known so many TIFF-goers as I do this year. Beyond those one or two dozen trusty folk, there’s another half-dozen or so that I’ve never met, but through the wonder of social media I feel like I have. Let me be clear about one thing: Knowing all of these local filmgoing folk, is a wonderful thing.
Except when they vehemently disagree.
You see, like Giamatti and Wilkinson up there, my friends have sometimes been known to violently disagree on a film’s quality (and it’s not like I sit and watch from the sidelines). Ordinarily, that doesn’t matter. If one of them wants to sit in the bar with me and argue that The Coen Brothers are overrated hacks, so be it. But during TIFF, the chatter regarding the films playing the fest can be a bit distracting.
The biggest reason for this is because settling on that damned schedule is tough enough…so much so that my wife and I never even agree on the same schedule. But once that’s all done, and the tickets are in hand, the last thing one needs is to be distracted by dissent.
Already, with press screenings underway for more than a week, I’ve heard here and there that some of my selections are less-than-stellar. Ordinarily, hearing such things from the folks I have would result in me re-thinking what I’m seeing. But as if the “dif’rent strokes” defence doesn’t apply hard enough, it’s all underlined by the fact that switching out selections at this late stage is a pain at best, and downright impossible at worst.
What’s worse, is that if you give yourself a few hours, you’ll often find someone else who dug what someone else went out and drubbed.
So, as much as I advocate talking to other patrons and measuring the festival vibe, there are just times when you have to cover your ears and hum. You’re better off finding out the hard way, then when it comes time to join the fray, you’ll know for sure which side of the line you’re on.
Whenever people around me argue about the merits of a film I prefer to take the high road…. I wait until the debate has a clear winner and then side with that person. If there is no clear winner I quickly change the subject by yelling out “so I hear George Lucas is changing Star Wars again” and then everyone’s back on the same page (*checks off topical reference for the month*).
Seriously though, what I find most often happens is the people I’m surrounded with come up to me and say something like “Transformers 3 was awesome, you seen it yet?” and I just half-smile and say “no, not yet.” Then they proceed to tell me why it was so awesome for the next hour or so because I’m too polite to tell them the odds of me sharing their point of view on this is roughly the equivalent of being struck by lightening three times during a Sheryl Crow concert and that they’re wasting their time.
I hear what you’re saying man. In the last few days I’ve found it even tougher to stay above the fray and allow myself to make my own mind up when there’s such a glut of material I’m interested in, and so many voices chiming in about so much of it.
Here’s hoping I can stay blissfully unaware.
Def. enjoyed reading this post! Normally this time I start to hear buzz on certain films and I haven’t heard much yet so I have been a bit worried but will try to relax. I have learned to leave the last two days of the fest to try and get in some “waiting in line people are talking about buzzworthy” screenings and so far that seems to have worked for me. That is how one year after talking to many people in the lines I was able to see a film I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about Lovely, Still and thoroughly enjoyed it.
And if nothing else, perhaps try to zero in on the positive. If you keep hearing good things about a particular title, chase it down. On the other thing if people start to deride something you’re interested in, perhaps block it out and allow yourself to make up your own mind.