We’ll update Quoted regularly before and during the festival. Check back often.
“Taking the Toronto Transit Commission’s whisper-quiet subways from one film festival screening to another earlier this week, a Chicagoan couldn’t help but notice that the sound levels are a major shock to the El-conditioned system. The civility is relentless in Toronto. The taxi drivers, whatever their ethnicity or whatever sort of day they’ve had, display a startling lack of aggression behind the wheel.”—critic Michael Phillips [Chicago Tribune]
“King and Queen Streets in Toronto are all by themselves reasons for the city to exist.”—
Roger Ebert [Twitter]
“Do I look like Jake Gyllenhaal? If you want, I could tell you his workout regime. I had to hear about it for half an hour—half an hour I’ll never get back.”—
Jay Baruchel [
CBC]
“Toronto is America’s most important film festival, even though it takes place in Canada.”—
Adam Dawtrey [
Guardian]
“This city just gets more beautiful all the time.”—
Uma Thurman [
CTV]
“The reason I’m wearing this jacket is because I’m sweaty and I can’t take it off.”—
Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference [
Toronto Sun]
“Why would any kid want to come and see thousands cheer their parents? They’d rather see thousands boo their parents!”—
Bruce Springsteen on the absence of his kids at his shows [
Toronto Star]
“Everybody loves Jon [Hamm]. I was so attracted to him. I had to work with him because he’s so handsome.”—
Ben Affleck [
Toronto Star]
“TIFF’s wonderful new Bell Lightbox is one swell place to see a movie.”—
Roger Ebert [
Twitter]
“Each time we told Natalie [Portman] we had to push another three weeks, she’d say, ‘Another three weeks of eating carrot sticks and almonds? I am going to kill you.’”—
Darren Aronofsky on filming
Black Swan [
Globe and Mail]
“The Toronto audience is the festival’s charm. It is smart, open-minded and eager to find the best in films that are seldom perfect but almost always have something to say.”—
Michael Cieply [
New York Times]
“It’s fucking great.”—
Darren Aronofsky on
Black Swan [
Twitter]
“[Passion Play] is a movie that says, ‘You know what? I have the money to hire Mickey Rourke to play a washed-up saxophonist and Bill Murray to be a New Mexico gangster. I have the cash to have them fight over Megan Fox, who I’ll make an angel—not one of those Victoria’s Secret angels, but, like, one at a carnival freak show. What I don’t have the budget for are effects that make the wings seem real. I know they look like cartoons, but who cares?’”—critic Wesley Morris [
Boston Globe]
“I’m a director. You have to do what I say.”—
Paul Haggis at the Artists for Peace and Justice Party [
The Hype]
“You just made me cry. You are like the Barbara Walters of
ET Canada!”—
Megan Fox to Rick Campanelli [
National Post]
“
Barney’s Version film very touching, great performances, shed tears…”—
Margaret Atwood [
Twitter]
“He looks so good. How old is he?”—a guest at the George Christy luncheon about Anthony Hopkins [
The Hype]
“SUPER premiere was a fucking BLAST! I love you, Toronto.”—
Rainn Wilson [
Twitter]
“This party is so boring.”—guest at the Vanity Fair bash at The Thompson
“Canadians love piercings.”—
Rainn Wilson [
Twitter]
“We should go to a hip-hop club.”—
Steve Nash at the CBC Hazelton Takeover party [
The Hype]
“Sure, the glitz of Venice and the reclusive allure of Telluride set the stage, but Toronto is where the art-house armada gathers its fleet to prepare for the invasion of Yankee shores.”—
John Lopez [
Vanity Fair]
“I have celebrated my birthday here in Toronto for the last 10 years.”—
Colin Firth [
Hollywood Reporter]
“What do you do when Ben Affleck is in the urinal behind you? Wait and pee I guess? At least he didn’t have security in there.”—critic
Mohit Rajhans [Twitter]
“We shouldn’t be making 250 feature films in this country. I don’t think it can sustain. Where are those films going? I mean, are they just home movie productions done on credit cards?”—TIFF co-director
Piers Handling [
Toronto Star]
“I still send out scripts and get back the response ‘too Canadian,’ though I’m not exactly sure what that means.”—Canadian producer
Christine Haebler [
Globe and Mail]
Read the rest of this entry »
Local media types are gleefully running around the city today, shouting the greatness of the Toronto International Film Festival from the rooftops—well, rooftop patios. But it’s not just the local media that has its eyes trained on Hogtown. Journalists from around the world—particularly from Britain, a country with a number of flicks at TIFF—are watching the festival, judging it and giving their recommendations. Here, a short roundup of interesting TIFF-related reading from near and far. 
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