Oh how Precious

There are many things that I love about TIFF. There's a buzz in the city. An energy. Yorkville has been insane the last few days. Over the weekend they had to close part of the street. Crowds gather outside restaurants and hotels at the mere mention that a celebrity is inside. The best is when you approach such a crowd asking who everyone is waiting for and the excited response you get is "We don't know!!!!"

Waiting in line for a screening can also be very entertaining. At last nights screening of Precious I was waiting in behind a hilarious TIFF volunteer and his friend. The volunteer delighted us with tales of first hand celebrity behind the scenes gossip. For example, apparently Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones had a tiff at TIFF. There was also a gut-busting story about volunteers miscommunicating the arrival of Matt Damon. You had to be there, but I assure you, it was hilarious.

And of course, there are the movies themselves. It's rather fun getting to see a movie weeks (sometimes even months) before they are scheduled to be released. It's also fun to watch movies in beautiful theatres like the Elgin and Roy Thompson Hall. If you're lucky, you get to see a really great movie. If you're really lucky you get tickets to the Gala premiere. (Which means the big stars of the film will be in attendance). Last night I was uber lucky. I was at the Gala premiere for Precious. Almost all the stars were there - Sherri Shepherd, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton. But the most highly anticipated star was the executive producer. OPRAH!! The crowd at Roy Thompson went BANANAS when she took the stage. Staging ovation before she spoke a single word. 

With all the build up, star power, and Oscar talk surrounding this movie expectations were extremely high. Precious did not disappoint. I thought it was amazing. Dark, yes. Often disturbing. Several times it seemed the air had been sucked out of the theatre. But it was deeply moving. The performances were unbelievable. (Mariah Carey redeemed herself from the disaster that was Glitter, and newer comer Gabby Sidibe will blow your socks off). I think this movie will do very well come award season - especially with the support of Oprah. The movie is scheduled to be released November 12. Go see it!