I know that I previously wrote about how 12 years a slave was a hot ticket item at TIFF that was difficult to get your hands on, but honestly, that was nothing compared to the demand for a ticket to Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron's new space thriller starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. There were 4 public screenings for Gravity, all of which were sold out the morning tickets went on sale. There was also a screening for press and industry which was in such high demand that the festival had to schedule an additional press screening. Needless to say, getting a ticket to the premiere was gonna be a doozy. Something that only crazy diehard lunatic TIFF fans could pull off-good thing that's what me and my oldest bro do best.
We decided that for the 6:30pm screening at the Princess of Wales theatre (capacity 2000), we would have to arrive at noon, and so we went about committing to a good 6.5 hours of waiting in line. As seasoned TIFF goers, we came prepared: blanket, snacks, drinks, clothes, books, crossword, a laptop, and even an environmental caselaw book!
The crazy thing is (especially after the crazy rainfall on Saturday) that sitting on John Street facing west into the blaring afternoon sun, it was INSANELY HOT. Hot to the point where I marched my jeans and sweater wearing ass down the street to Marshall's department store and bought a weird blue maxi dress and wore it out of the store (see picture at left). On a side-note about the dress, I'm very happy to report (as I try not to buy things made outside of NA) that it was made in Canada! Hurrah! Also notice mine and my brother's matching Mrk smile-frowns (thanks Norah for pointing this out!)
6.5 hours is a long time to wait in line, especially with some of the weirdos who rush at TIFF (I don't think I can talk about them-I want to try and repress those memories).
It's enough time to read legal cases and write 2 page reports!
Me and Al Mrk shared an Indian dinner picnic on the sidewalk! A Mrk has gotta eat!
As the time drew closer to 6:30pm, there were a few concerns in the rush line about some interlopers trying to bud in line. It almost became a vigilante situation on my behalf, but thankfully (?) it didn't come to that. A lot of people in front of us in line ended up getting free tickets (so frustrating!) which actually helped us out b/c it meant that we were number 11 and 12 in the rush line of 200 people and were bound to get in.
And get in we did! Actually, we even beat Sandra Bullock into the theatre, as she was still on the press line when we walked in.
SO relieved to make it in! Don't we look great in our 3D glasses?
Okay, on to the movie. It has now been 2 days since I saw the film and I am still struggling with finding a way in which to talk about it. Part of me thinks the movie is so good, that my brain isn't smart enough to even go there, but I'll try.
Now let me tell you about how this movie looks. The whole thing is in space, some scenes are inside a space station or space craft, but a lot of it is just out and about in outer-fucking-space. As there is no gravity in space, every scene is basically Sandra Bullock floating around in a zero gravity environment. Now, if I were a much dumber person than I actually am, I would have said that the director and crew took a spaceship up to space and filmed everything that happened in the movie, and that Sandra Bullock really wore a space suit and floated and flew around space doing crazy stuff. That's how real everything looks. It looks so real, that you don't even question the reality of it.
Then you start thinking about how they actually filmed the movie, and you realize that none of it is real. NONE OF IT. This is something I still have trouble with in terms of understanding-like if there is nothing there to film with a video camera, how do you make it show up on the screen (and this is why I don't work in film!) And they didn't even film it against a green screen. Sandra Bullock had to film every scene and shot with nothing around her and nothing to react to, and do all of it on wires (to make it look like she was in a no gravity situation) and have the rest of her actions animated in afterwards. I found out today that she didn't even wear the space suit in most of the scenes b/c it was too heavy to move around in, so someone had to go in and paint the space suit on her body in every single frame of the movie. At the Q and A, Bullock mentioned that 250 people worked on each frame of the film, EACH FRAME. This film, just from the technical and visual standpoints, is groundbreaking cinema. It is a game changer. But the best thing is that you don't even think about that while watching the movie. It just looks so perfect and real.
As some of you might already know, I only have 2 fears on this earth: the first is vomiting, and the second is outer-space. As this film is about the possibility of being stranded in space, it literally is the culmination of all of my nightmares. The movie is 90 minutes long (which is fantastic b/c I think all movies are too long these days) and I spent every single second of those 90 minutes with sweaty palms, feeling sick to my stomach like I was gonna have a heart attack, that is how suspenseful the entire film is. There really is not one wasted scene or frame in this movie. It is perfect in that respect.
I really can't do this film justice by writing about it. You must see it. It was worth every minute of the 6.5 hours I waited to see it. To be honest, I would wait in line for another 6.5 hours to see it again. The film has changed everything. And Sandra Bullock is incredible in it, especially when you actually break down the kind of acting she had to do-all purely imaginary with nothing and no one around to react to or guide her actions. It is acting in the purest form. She will absolutely be nominated this year for Best Actress, and I would say that if she hadn't won 3 years ago, she would win this year. I think she deserves to win this year, but you know how Oscar season goes-it ain't about who the best was!
Oh yeah, one last thing about how awesome the premiere was: they invited Canadian astronauts Roberta Bondar and Chris Hadfield to the screening, and during the Q and A, Chris Hadfield jumped on stage and said that although his time in space was much easier than in the movie, Alfonso Cuaron made it look perfect visually.
We decided that for the 6:30pm screening at the Princess of Wales theatre (capacity 2000), we would have to arrive at noon, and so we went about committing to a good 6.5 hours of waiting in line. As seasoned TIFF goers, we came prepared: blanket, snacks, drinks, clothes, books, crossword, a laptop, and even an environmental caselaw book!
6.5 hours is a long time to wait in line, especially with some of the weirdos who rush at TIFF (I don't think I can talk about them-I want to try and repress those memories).
It's enough time to read legal cases and write 2 page reports!
Me and Al Mrk shared an Indian dinner picnic on the sidewalk! A Mrk has gotta eat!
As the time drew closer to 6:30pm, there were a few concerns in the rush line about some interlopers trying to bud in line. It almost became a vigilante situation on my behalf, but thankfully (?) it didn't come to that. A lot of people in front of us in line ended up getting free tickets (so frustrating!) which actually helped us out b/c it meant that we were number 11 and 12 in the rush line of 200 people and were bound to get in.
And get in we did! Actually, we even beat Sandra Bullock into the theatre, as she was still on the press line when we walked in.
SO relieved to make it in! Don't we look great in our 3D glasses?
Okay, on to the movie. It has now been 2 days since I saw the film and I am still struggling with finding a way in which to talk about it. Part of me thinks the movie is so good, that my brain isn't smart enough to even go there, but I'll try.
Then you start thinking about how they actually filmed the movie, and you realize that none of it is real. NONE OF IT. This is something I still have trouble with in terms of understanding-like if there is nothing there to film with a video camera, how do you make it show up on the screen (and this is why I don't work in film!) And they didn't even film it against a green screen. Sandra Bullock had to film every scene and shot with nothing around her and nothing to react to, and do all of it on wires (to make it look like she was in a no gravity situation) and have the rest of her actions animated in afterwards. I found out today that she didn't even wear the space suit in most of the scenes b/c it was too heavy to move around in, so someone had to go in and paint the space suit on her body in every single frame of the movie. At the Q and A, Bullock mentioned that 250 people worked on each frame of the film, EACH FRAME. This film, just from the technical and visual standpoints, is groundbreaking cinema. It is a game changer. But the best thing is that you don't even think about that while watching the movie. It just looks so perfect and real.
I really can't do this film justice by writing about it. You must see it. It was worth every minute of the 6.5 hours I waited to see it. To be honest, I would wait in line for another 6.5 hours to see it again. The film has changed everything. And Sandra Bullock is incredible in it, especially when you actually break down the kind of acting she had to do-all purely imaginary with nothing and no one around to react to or guide her actions. It is acting in the purest form. She will absolutely be nominated this year for Best Actress, and I would say that if she hadn't won 3 years ago, she would win this year. I think she deserves to win this year, but you know how Oscar season goes-it ain't about who the best was!
Oh yeah, one last thing about how awesome the premiere was: they invited Canadian astronauts Roberta Bondar and Chris Hadfield to the screening, and during the Q and A, Chris Hadfield jumped on stage and said that although his time in space was much easier than in the movie, Alfonso Cuaron made it look perfect visually.
This is an awesome post and read and one of the best ones on this great blog. Reading it while having coffee and my head is BUZZZING!
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