We had to get up a lot earlier than we would have liked this morning to catch our 9 AM movie.

Note to self: croissants at Starbucks blow.

Sandwiched in between two TIFF movies today, I had dinner with Nellie and T-Bone at Fieramosca. Damn, I love it there.

This afternoon I saw Little Fish (imdb | tiff) with T-Bone. Though I liked it slightly more than she did, I didn’t think it was great. The two best parts about it were Hugo Weaving’s performance and the little details that slipped into the frame…like how Cate Blanchett looks at a bunch of bottles on a dresser. But it was a bit too long, too slow, too…not predictable, but unsurprising.

Rating: 5 out of 10.
Star Power: Zip. Nothing. Zero. No cast, no crew. Not even a festival programmer.

However, Nellie and I suffered no such disappointment with Sorry, Haters (imdb | tiff). It was an extremely tense film, very thought provoking. Not difficult, though; by that I mean that it wasn’t working hard at making you think, but it was working hard at making you try to understand Robin Wright Penn’s character. The best sign of how interesting and challenging the film was: after the credits began to roll it took a good 30 or 45 seconds before anyone clapped…we all just sat in our seats, murmuring about what the final few scenes had meant until our Canadian politeness took over.

The director gave some terrific comments up front (he stuck around to see the third festival screening after his flight to New York was cancelled…he figured it was “destino”) and answered several questions afterward. All in all, an excellent film, well worth the hour-long wait in the cold rain and the lack of leg room.

Rating: 9 out of 10.
Star Power: Just director Jeff Stanzler.

I just got three CDs in the mail — The Dandy Warhols‘ Odditorium Or The Warlords Of Mars, Sigur Ros‘ Takk… and Cuts Across The Land by The Duke Spirit. I’m listening to that last one right now, and I’d forgotten how good it was. I downloaded the MP3s months ago, listened to them once and immediately ordered the CD. I suspect it’ll be on my year-end top ten list.

Heading out in a couple of hours to see a fesitval film (Little Fish) with T-Bone, then meeting up with Nellie for some dinner before film #2 (Sorry, Haters) starts.

This Wanda Sykes quote might be the funniest, most politically astute thing I’ve heard all week (except for Kurt Vonnegut’s tear on The Daily Show Tuesday night):

“I don’t think the President should have taken responsibility…. I don’t blame the President. I blame the American people. Y’all knew the man was slow when you voted him in. You can’t blame the blind man for wrecking your car when you’re the one who gave him the keys.”

[via]

Ouch. I’m glad we didn’t waste a pick on this.

I’m in a cab, heading down the DVP, listening to the Arcade Fire. Heading home.

Free from the compound, brain bursting with newfound knowledge and memories of friends growing closer in two month time lapse. Listening to brilliance, heading home to my wife. It’s not often we get to feel this alive.

One year down. Three to go. I can’t fucking wait.

“Fifty Cent is such shit.”

via

Jeeeeeeeuuuuuuuust about done. Presentation this morning, exam this afternoon. It’s been an easy one so far…I won’t be falling asleep in the cab on the way home this week.

So…what’d I miss?

Day 4: still no role playing. Still no group hugs. Still no overt emotion. And today we watched an episode of The Office. Kick ass.