Mingling at the Filmmakers Lounge (and a review of Super too) - TIFF 2010 Street Level - Action News
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Mingling at the Filmmakers Lounge (and a review of Super too) - TIFF 2010 Street Level

Mingling at the Filmmakers Lounge (and a review of Super too)

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The cast of the superhero movie Super answer questions at the film's screening. (Submitted by Sachin Hingoo)

By Sachin Hingoo, citizen contributor


sachin-profile-52.jpgRushing out of the house after a "refreshing" three hours of sleep following the Midnight Madness of Fubar 2, I'm back downtown for 8:30 a.m. and am put to work checking passes for entry to the Filmmakers Lounge, a converted club space that's being used for directors, producers and other industry people to meet during the festival.

After a few hours of doing this (during which Morgan [Super Size Me] Spurlock comes through briefly), the volunteers are informed that David Schwimmer, Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez and Clive Owen will be at the lounge for interviews. I'm not really a celebrity chaser, but the other volunteers I'm working with are pretty excited to see them (especially the latter).

When you're working at a theatre or a venue like this, celebrities tend to be more work than glamour, due to the crazy and often improvised logistics of getting them in and out of the building. This is no exception. Before we know it, we're forming human chains between the crowds waiting to snap pics and get autographs, and the stars.

You can't help but be a bit star-struck though when Sheen, always the gentleman, shakes the hands of all the volunteers in appreciation. Schwimmer looks a bit like a deer in the headlights as the orange-shirted volunteers rush towards the now-iconic TIFF-logo-emblazoned Cadillac SUV and surround the car doors.

Friday night finds me at Midnight Madness for James Gunn's Super -- the superhero film that's been blowing up the film blogs like Ain't It Cool News and Twitch. This will now go down as my favourite Ellen Page performance -- she's so incredibly unhinged and manic that you barely recognize her. Rainn Wilson and Kevin Bacon also turn in some fantastic performances and, as a whole, Super beats the crap -- in every possible sense -- out of Michael Vaughan's Kick-Ass from earlier this summer.

During the film, I felt some anxiety that others won't be able to see this gem, as it didn't have distribution at the time. But we later find out that IFC will be picking it up and it will get at least a limited release.

This is one of the coolest things about TIFF for me -- seeing a movie that you love make good and get a deal (still waiting on Australia's The Loved Ones from last year, which was far and away my favourite of the Midnight Madness screenings and one of the best horror efforts I've seen in years.) Kudos to Gunn and the cast for this one!

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