Toronto Film Fest 2006, Day Seven

I've totally hit the exhaustion wall, and am days behind on reviews, but it continues to be a darn good fest this year.

( Daniel Auteuil goes looking for a best friend, James McAvoy wants to be a quiz show hero and a Japanese bugmaster tries restore balance in the world. )

Toronto Film Fest 2006, Day Eight

This was the day I saw the second screening of Alatriste, and the film's gone even higher in my estimation as a result. And I'm even more impressed with Viggo. He attended the Q&A, was generous toward his co-stars and passionate in talking about the film. (Sorry, faramir_boromir, I didn't get called on to ask your question.) It's his intellectual curiousity that I appreciate most. He apparently went crazy, getting books on 17th century Spain and CDs of music from the period and sharing them with the cast and crew.

I did rather feel sorry for him afterward, though. He got completely cornered by a pack of rabid fangirls in the lobby after the Q&A and though he was handling it as graciously as ever, he did look like he felt just a bit trapped. (This would be exactly why I don't usually do the autograph thing. I don't like imposing on someone's ability to appear in public just because they're an artist whose work I enjoy.)

( A Korean take on Farewell, My Concubine and a supreme example of the Hong Kong gangster film. )