Day 2: Paramount Day

Its the Paramount. I dont care how much some financial institution pays for branding/naming rights. It started as the Paramount, it'll always be the Paramount to me.

Yes. I'm fully aware of the irony inherent in that statement.

I've got a gaping hole in my schedule today - my first film just ended, and the next (also at the Paramount - like all my films today. Love when that happens) isnt until 2:45pm, so me and the jBook are camping out at a Harbucks and making use of Toronto Hydro's wireless mesh. Mmmm. Wireless. This explains why there'll only be a single film update at the moment.

But first - a small digression. Those who've seen my film schedule may be a little shocked/surprised to see relatively few films listed. There are a bunch of reasons for this, but waywaywayway near the top is the truly usurious prices that TIFFG is charging for festival passes this year. $509. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

When I first got the pass in ah... 2001 I believe it was, it was $300. For those counting at home, thats over a 67% increase in 7 years. I'm not David Dodge, but I think I can say that a 67% increase slightly outpaces inflation over that period of time. Greedy mofo pikers. I suppose part of the cost can be attributed to needing to build the Festival Theatre... errr.. "Bell Lightbox".

OH NO WAIT! ITS STILL A GAPING PIT IN THE GROUND! WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED!

*grumble*

You, The Living

(no film hotlinking - the TIFF website is hosted off an abacus, and his been down for the last 10 minutes)

Another minor digression. Stop complaining. You all love it.

The seasoned festival attendee quickly leards to hate (hate!) the opening bumpers and shorts that precede the actual film. I'm pleased to report that while the content is as stupid as ever (Death Shark!), the bumps are blissfully short this year. Yay.

I was entering this film with just the tiniest bit of trepidation. When you need to wake up early and hie one's ass downtown for a 9am film, you start wondering if scheduling a Swedish exisitentialist film was possibly the wisest idea in the world.

Fortunately, things worked out mahvelously. Less existentialist, and more absurdist. Which is fine. Absurdity is great - and those whacky Scandanavians seem to have a strangehold on that particular genre.

I still havent seen a Scandanavian film that wasnt washed out, from a color palette standpoint. I dont know if there's a government mandate to have everything look bland, but perhaps there's a reason that certain countries rank high on this list