I was worried that we’d joined the line for Rocknrolla (tiff) too late. We were half an hour ahead of the screening, but the line at the Ryerson still stretched all the way down to Gould Street and wrapped around nearly to Victoria by the time we got in it. I was a little concerned about seats, since I was with two other people and we wanted to sit together, but we made it in and got seats with no problems. These friends were amused by the cries of “Yarrr!” when the anti-piracy message went up.

Since the film had made its big debut the night before at the Elgin, and the screening was before noon, we figured we’d get no glimpse of the cast or crew, but it turns out Guy Ritchie dragged himself out of his hotel room long enough to come down and introduce it for us. Nice of him.

I must say, I was pleased with the film. Arthouse cinema this was not. It was precisely what I’ve liked about Guy Ritchie films in the past: fast-paced, fast-talking, hard, violent, funny, gritty and sexy. I thought of it as a logical arc from Lock Stock to Snatch and then to here. Highly enjoyable, if you liked either of those films.

B-

Oh, and on the way out of the theatre HBO stopped my friend’s wife and asked if we’d liked to be interviewed. I wanted no part of it; she hemmed and hawed for a while but eventually decided no. I don’t like the fawning celebrity worship that’s (predictably and understandably) become part of the TIFF, but this was only to be my first little taste of it at the Ryerson that day.

[tags]tiff, tiff08, rocknrolla, guy ritchie[/tags]

-HBO