A brief look at the some of the films and events happening at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Until now, the anti-piracy security at the festival screenings have been relatively inconspicuous. I generally don't notice them, and actually haven't seen any security at all at many screenings. That all changed today at a screening of Mira Nair's The Namesake. The first thing I noticed when I walked in were the two big security guards standing in front of the screen wielding what looked like video camera guns, ready to shoot down your cameraphone as soon as you pulled it out. They moved to the side of the screen once the movie started, but they sure made their presence felt.

The good folks at Torontoist linked to this ridiculous blog post on one man's journey to Toronto for the festival. Which made me think of a conversation I had today with a lovely old lady from Seattle at the Varsity. Waiting in line for one of the many screenings of the day, I could tell that she was struggling to stay standing up, so I asked a volunteer if I could grab a chair for her, and they complied. After I had set up the chair and she had sat down (legs still trembling) she shared with me a small anecdote: "When I was at Sundance in a two hour line up and asked for a chair, the people at the festival yelled at me and told me if I was too tired to wait in line, I shouldn't be at the festival anyways. You people in Toronto are just so much nicer."

Does anyone remember when the Cinematheque in Paris was shut down causing protests and riots in the 60's?

I miss the time when film was considered such an radical part of the human expression through art and was a medium to be constantly analyzed, discussed and dissected by great film theorists like Andre Bazin. These theorists weren't concerned about stars, thumbs or any other ratings but chose an academic high road in understanding how the medium breathes and functions not simplifying things for sound bites and in turn became famous, respected and timeless.

Sophie Finnes's documentaryA Pervert's Guide To Cinema harkens back to the days where classic films burned with undiscovered dialogues waiting to be tapped by thirsty minds.

I was fortunate enough to score a ticket to a screening at TIFF thanks to blog-mate Sameer. I've only attended TIFF once before so I was excited at the opportunity. I'm not quite a film nerd but I do enjoy movies. I'm just too lazy to try and get tickets to the festival, lol. I attended the world premier of End of the Line preceded by a short film called The Eyes of Edward James. Both movies are of the horror genre and I am by no means a fan or an expert. I was afraid of the song from Dr. Who as a child how was I going to watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Even to this day I haven't seen this movie. One thing I can say is that I went into the screening with an open mind.

The Eyes of Edward James is the directorial debut of Rue Morgue creator Rodrigo Gudiño. He directed and wrote the script. To sum it up succinctly I will say this, it was one terrifying session at the physiatrist. I really enjoyed this short film. It had a great premise and definitely made you uncomfortable while watching it. Of course, if you want to read some critics from real film people try these links at Twitch Films and Dread Central. Gudiño debut has me wanting more and I look forward to seeing a full length feature.

A brief look at the some of the films and events happening at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

You want to know the true meaning of fear? Fear isn't what you feel when you sit through one of those Japanese horror films. No, instead, fear is that feeling you get when you stare at the faces of people with press and industry passes that are turned away from a screening because it has reached capacity. Scary stuff, I tell you. Today was a day where I got to witness industry hotshots being turned away from at least three P&I screenings (The Last King of Scotland, All the King's Men, Pan's Labyrinth), and it wasn't a pretty sight.

I also managed to catch a parade that was passing by outside the Varsity this afternoon that had drawn quite a big crowd of festival-folk. I'm not exactly sure what the parade was about, but they were loud and musical, so people stopped and stared.

Oh, and if you're not a celebrity, the best way to get noticed at the film festival is definitely to wear an interesting t-shirt. Too lazy to dress up this morning, I decided to throw on some jeans and a favorite t-shirt of mine for the festival screenings. I'm glad I did, because no fewer than 35 people came up to me and asked about t-shirt, with at least half of them recognizing the fact that it was from Threadless. I felt like a minor celebrity. Very minor, but a celebrity nonetheless.

This was my view (with a zoom lens) for the North American premiere of the Palme d'Or winning film at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Despite being virgin to Canada's soils, The Wind That Shakes the Barley has actually been playing in Ireland and the UK to big crowds.

There are plenty of reviews and interviews with director Ken Loach floating around the internet, so I won't bother adding to the noise here.

During the post film Q&A, Cillian Murphy paid homage to the director and joked that the film had no script - or at least one that the actors were privy to. To be honest, it kind of showed. I found the film to be a bit uneven. (although it's still worth seeing)

Every year at TIFF, I get tickets to the Palme d'Or winner only to be slightly disappointed and I guess this year wasn't an exception.

Due to a little mixup, I couldn't connect with Chitra Palekar at our original scheduled time, but thankfully, the director of Maati Maay (A Grave Digger's Tale) took some time out to talk to me before the world premiere of her debut feature.