Day 8: 2006 Toronto Film Festival

September 15, 2006 by Liam
Filed under: Movie News

Well, it’s Day 8 of the Toronto Film Festival, and this will likely be my last. With not a lot showing tomorrow that I’m interested in seeing and nothing going on in the press conference department, it’ll be time to pack my bags and get home to my family. So, without further adieu, here’s a quick rundown of everything that happened on Day 8…

There were actually a few movies I would’ve liked to have seen today, but I slept in. First up was a 9am screening of Bobby. However, I had tickets to the gala so there wasn’t really much of a point. (More on the movie later.) There were also screenings of All the Boys Love Mandy Lane which I’d heard good things about, as well as Seraphim Falls (which I talked about yesterday), Penelope (with Reese Witherspoon) and Ethan Hawke’s The Hottest State. I guess the need for sleep was just a little too much for me to drag myself out of bed, because I slept through it all. Instead, I started my day with a late afternoon screening of The Dog Problem. What a mistake…

The movie stars Giovanni Ribisi as a struggling one-hit-wonder writer who makes the life-changing decision (based on advice from his therapist — played by Don Cheadle) to buy himself a dog. Things get complicated when the dog goes missing. The movie also stars Lynn Collins and Scott Caan, who also directs. This flick was all over the place with characters that really seemed out of place. Generally, I like Giovanni Ribisi and respect the filmmaking choices he makes, but this wasn’t one of his better decisions. I don’t even know where to begin, so I’ll just end it right here.

I followed this screening by hanging out on the red carpet for the star-studded premiere of Bobby directed by Emilio Estevez. It helped that I also had tickets to the movie afterwards. There was a little bit of buzz that Lindsay Lohan might be making an appearance, but it turned out to be nothing. Check out the photos below:

Director Emilio Estevez

Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore

Christian Slater and William H. Macy

Sharon Stone

Nick Cannon

Joshua Jackson

Joy Bryant

Where do I start with my thoughts on this red carpet? Well, Emilio Estevez was a lot shorter than I expected. I grew up watching lots of his movies, most memorably “Young Guns”, and I was really a fan. It’s too bad he doesn’t make too many movies these days. Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore were probably the biggest stars here. But unlike the “bigger” stars of the Festival (ie. Brad Pitt and Russell Crowe) who willingly signed autographs for the fans, these two weren’t having any of it. Kutcher just went directly into the theater without even stopping for the press. Demi Moore only signed a few autographs at the very end, and it was only because she was getting booed. It was cool to see Christian Slater, but like Estevez, this guy has pretty much fallen off Planet Hollywood in the last few years. Which finally brings me to Sharon Stone. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I absolutely HATE Sharon Stone. And seeing her tonight only confirmed in my mind just HOW much I hate her. She got out of her car, waved to the crowd as if she were the Queen of England, did a few interviews and went into the theater. She acted like such a diva and a beauty queen that it it turned my stomach.

As for the actual movie, I’d probably put it in my top 3 in terms of movies I anticipated, but it was probably the most disappointing. Not a terrible movie – just nowhere near what I hoped it would be. The story was all over the place. The acting was sub-par. And there were too many scenes with the RFK voiceover that really just went on for too long. It’ll be a couple more months before this movie is released theatrically, so I guess there’s some hope that it can be cleaned up before then. Otherwise, I don’t see it making a splash at the box office. I went to the movie with Brendan who took the time to write up his review which you can read here.

Following the movie, I had two choices. I had tickets to the next Gala, which was Infamous (or as I like to call it, the “other” Truman Capote movie). So, I could either go back outside and try to grab a few photos, or I could stand around inside and try my luck. Well, I chose to stand around inside, and unfortunately didn’t get much. Here are my only photos:

Toby Jones

Sandra Bullock

I guess since I saw 2 bad movies today, it only stands to reason that the 3rd wasn’t much better. I imagine this movie would’ve been a bit more compelling had it not been labeled as the other Capote movie. Still, with a year separating the release of the two movies, you’d think this one would work a little harder to distinguish itself — but it didn’t. If anything, this movie played the first half for laughs before getting a little serious. But it wasn’t enough. You can read more by checking out my review.

Well, that pretty much does it for Day 8 in Toronto. As I said earlier, I’m not exactly sure if I’ll be sticking around tomorrow. There are a few screenings, but nothing I’m all that excited about. If I end up leaving tomorrow, check back in a few days when I’ll be posting the prize-winners for this year’s fest as well as my final thoughts. Until then…

Share This!