Matt's Blog

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 16 July 2011

I’ve mentioned it a few times already but I’m off to the Toronto Film Festival in September.  It’s my first trip to a major international film festival and it’s been a learning exercise in terms of how to plan and get tickets.

My experiences to date have been limited to the Brisbane International Film Festival.  The program comes out a few weeks before, you pick what films you want to see and then you buy the tickets.  It’s that simple.  A few films sell out but if you get in early, it’s not a problem.

As you can imagine, Toronto is very different.

Firstly, there are three different types of screenings – galas, special presentations and regular screenings.

Galas are held at Roy Thomson Hall, a huge concert hall that seats 2,600 people.  You can look at its amazing interior by clicking here.  The list of Gala screenings in 2010 included Black Swan, The King’s Speech, Potiche, Sarah’s Key, The Town and Barney’s Version.  For many of these films, it is their world premiere and you can expect the filmmakers / stars to be in attendance.

Special presentations are held at the Elgin Theatre’s VISA Screening Room.  It seats 1,500 people and is another big venue.  You can view a photo of this beautiful theatre by clicking here.  Special presentations last year included 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Blue Valentine, Buried, Conviction, Easy A, Hereafter, In A Better World, Made In Dagenham, Never Let Me Go, Rabbit Hole and The Trip.

The regular screenings are held at a variety of other theatres.  The great news is that they are all centrally located.  I’ve booked my accommodation at the Hilton Toronto and I believe I’m within 1 km of all the major theatres.  Some of them can hold up to 1,000 people.

So how do you get tickets?  Of the world’s leading festivals, Toronto is one of the most accessible to the public but the problem is that as a result, demand for tickets is high.

There are two types of ticket packages – TIFF Choice and My Choice.

TIFF Choice packages are where you don’t get to decide what you want to see.  Instead, the selection is made by the Festival programmers.  It’s not completely random however.  One of the more popular packages (as it’s already sold out) is the Opening Weekend at the VISA Screening Room.  This costs $87 and gets you a ticket to the VISA Screening Room film at 6pm on the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  This is likely to be a special presentation but you can’t be 100% sure.

The problem with these packages is that you’re effectively taking a chance.  You may get a film that you don’t want to see.  That’s just how it goes.  It’s not until the program comes out in late August that you’ll know the names of the movies.

Other TIFF Choice packages include (1) the 5-film Sampler Pack which gets you 5 random films for $82, (2) the Midnight Madness which gets you 10 midnight screenings for $156, (3) the Double-Date Gala which gets you 2 tickets to 2 different galas for $299.

The reason you want to buy TIFF Choice packages is because it could be your only chance to get to a gala screening or a special presentation.  They aren’t available with other packages (as you’ll see below).

For this reason, the packages I’ve snapped up are the two Friday to Friday at the VISA Screening Room packages.  This gives me a ticket to the 6pm and 9pm screenings for every night of the Festival at the VISA Screening Room.  The cost of the combined packages is $464 but it should ensure I get to all the special presentations (and hopefully I’ll get to see a few filmmakers and actors).

My Choice packages allow you to select the films you want to see.  You can buy them in packs of 10, 30 and 50.  The 10 ticket pack costs $160 and you can use it to get up to 4 tickets per film (ideal if you’re going with friends).

It may sound simple but it’s anything but.  For starters, you may not necessarily get the films you want.  In late August, the program is released and you must pick up your Advance Order Book.  You then go through each day of the Festival, mark the films you want and note the number of the tickets you require.  You then must return the Book within a week to the Festival Office.  A great look at how this works can be found of the TIFF Talk website by clicking here.

Once the deadline is past, all the Advance Order Books are placed in boxes.  A lottery is then held to determine which box is opened first.  If the number 13 is drawn, the 13^th box is opened followed by the 14^th, 15^th, etc and the back around until the 12^th box is reached.

The reason it’s done this way is because some films will sell out.  You may have picked it in your Book but if your box is one of the last opened, you may still miss out of tickets.  That’s why you’re also asked to nominate a “second choice” film in case you don’t get your first selection.  Apparently, the hardest to get ticket in 2010 was Black Swan.

You may be saying “hang on, wasn’t Black Swan a gala screening?”  The answer is yes but a film often screens several times at the Festival.  The premiere of Black Swan with director Darren Aronofsky and star Natalie Portman was a gala screening but if you were prepared to wait a few days, you could see it as a regular screening (without the stars) during the day.

It gets a little more confusing because your TIFF Membership can come into play.  If you pay $300 a year and become a Contributor member, it means your Advance Order Book goes to the front of the queue (and bypasses the lottery).  This seems to be the best way of securing the tickets you want to the films you want (excluding galas and special presentations).  I’ve decided to pay this additional cost and order 4 of the 10 ticket packs (for me and my friends to use) to help us get tickets to the films we want to see during the day.  We probably won’t need them at night since we’ll be at the VISA Screening Room.

There’s also an additional cost because I live in Australia and can’t pick up and return the Advance Order Book in person.  If you live closer to Toronto, you can pay $150 for a courier service which will deliver you the Book and allow you to return it within a week.  However, that’s not going to possible from Australia.  I’m therefore hoping to be selected to use the online version of the Book which is being trialled this year.  The problem is that I still have to pay the $150 but it’s the only choice I have.

It’s worth noting at this point that single tickets to films aren’t available until after all of the above packages are dished out.  Apparently they do hold back a few tickets for the major films but I don’t know how easy these would be to get your hands on.  There are also “Rush Line” tickets where you can line up (possibly for hours) and hope to get in to a movie because ticket holders don’t show up.  Can be risky.  You’ll shouldn’t have trouble getting tickets to the smaller films (TIFF says that only 30% of films sell out each year) but I still think your best bet is to buy packages and fill our your Advance Order Book.

Believe it or not, there is a TIFF Membership category that does allow you to buy individual tickets before everyone else (even the Advance Order Book folk).  You can pay $1,200 to join the Patron’s Circle and for that, you can pick the films (any you like) for $19 for regular films and $38 for special presentations.  Doesn’t seem worth it if you ask me but it’s there as an option.

The highest Membership category costs $10,000 and this gets you such things as (1) a personal concierge service for ticket purchases, (2) an invitation for 2 to a directors cocktail reception and dinner, (3) invitations to private screenings and dinner events with special guests, (4) access to press screenings, and (5) tickets to the Opening Night screening, cocktail reception and after party.  I’ve got some money to spend but not quite that much sadly.

Does that all make sense?  I haven’t even started about media accreditation but we’ll save that for another time.  My application has been submitted and hopefully I’m considered worthy enough by the wonderful Festival organisers!

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 12 July 2011

We’re half way through the year and releases are few and far between in Australian cinemas.  It’s left me with very little to talk about.

I therefore thought it an opportune time to go through my mid-year report card (as I have done in past years).

I went through this list with Kelly Higgins-Devine on 612ABC Brisbane radio and you can download a 9 minute podcast by clicking here.

I’ve seen 100 films so far in 2011 but none of them are worthy of my top rating – an A+.  Hopefully a few films will come along to change that over the coming months.

Total Films Released:  100 (slightly above last year’s 96 but down from the peak of 117 in 2008)

Total Films Seen Worthy Of An A+:  0

Total Films Seen Worthy Of An A:  4

Best Films:  127 Hours, Another Year, Inside Job (all 3 now on video) and Super 8 (now in cinemas).

Best Performances:  James Franco (127 Hours), Leslie Manville (Another Year), Paul Giamatti (Barney’s Version), Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole), Rachel McAdams (Morning Glory), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit).

Worst Films:  A Heartbeat Away, Soul Surfer, Yogi Bear, How Do You Know, Big Mommas, Hoodwinked Too and World Invasion: Battle LA.

Proof That Australians Will Support Local Cinema If You Have An Interesting Story:  Mrs Carey’s Concert still pulling in crowds after 10 weeks with $970k, Snowtown doing the same after 7 weeks with $985k, and Oranges & Sunshine leading the pack with $2.75m after just 4 weeks.

A Weak Year For Animation If You Ask Me:  Yogi Bear, Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, Rango, Gnomeo & Juliet and Hop.

Best Of The Animated Bunch:  Rio and Tangled.

You Can’t Beat A Good Documentary:  Inside Job, Catfish, Waiting For Superman, Mrs Carey’s Concert.

How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying:  The Hangover 2 has grossed $31.5m in Australia – a bigger total than any of this year’s other releases despite being a carbon copy of the original.

Biggest Box-Office Opening:  Transformers 3 (with $12.3m) despite many negative reviews from the public and critics.  I dare say this will be passed by Harry Potter in a week’s time.

Was A December 2010 Release But Worth Mentioning:  The King’s Speech spent 17 weeks in the top 20 and made $31m.  Not bad for a film about a guy with a stutter seeing a speech therapist!

Films I Surprisingly Liked:  Never Say Never, No Strings Attached, Bridesmaids, The Lincoln Lawyer, Water For Elephants.

Films I Surprisingly Disliked:  The Tree Of Life, Sleeping Beauty, Scream 4, Conviction, Rango, Thor.

Proof That Foreign Language Films Can Be Successful At The Box-Office:  The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest reeled in $2.3m and spent 6 weeks inside the top 20.

Films Looking Forward To In The Months Ahead:  Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, War Horse, Senna, The Inbetweeners.

Films Not Looking Forward To In The Months Ahead:  Green Lantern, The Smurfs, Final Destination 5.

Why I’m Excited:  I’m off to the Toronto Film Festival in September!

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 04 July 2011

It’s time to unveil my nominations for the 12^th annual Toomey Awards.

I started this back in 2000 as my way of honouring the best films and performances of the year.  It’s kind of like my best and worst lists in the sense that I like recording this information for posterity.  It’s fun to look back on previous lists and it prompts me to check out many of these films again.  You can view past lists of winners and nominees by clicking here.

I base the awards around the financial year.  Many Oscar contenders come out in America in December and we don’t see them in Australian cinemas until January or February.  For this reason, it made it hard to use the traditional calendar year format.

Oh, and as much as you’d like to abuse me for some of my selections, I can inform you that the Toomey Awards are voted on by the Toomey Academy and there is only one member – Matthew Toomey.  His decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into! :)

I’ve reviewed 197 films over the past 12 months (slightly down on previous years) and so there were plenty of films to choose from.  I went through the list and quickly noted down my favourites.  Then came the tricky task of reducing the rather lengthy lists down to 5 nominations for each category.  I don’t know how real Academy members do this each year.

The winners will be unveiled in 4 weeks time on Monday, August 1.  I’ll post the winners in my blog and in the meantime, hopefully you’ll get a chance to see some of the films amongst the nominees that you might have missed.

On that note, you can check out the nominations for the 2011 Toomey Awards by clicking here.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 June 2011

Rory McIlroy

Let me start off by saying woohoo!!!  Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland is the 2011 U.S. Open champion.

For those who don’t know me too well, golf is a major passion of mine and I’ve been closely following Rory’s career since I played a game with him in Australia back in 2005 (he was 16 years old at the time).  You can read what I wrote way back then by clicking here.

This quote seems somewhat prophetic – “These two are destined for bigger and better things and I hope they have a very successful golfing career. I'd love to be able to gloat one day and say that I played a game here in Australia with Rory McIlroy and Oliver Fisher.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m gloating right now.  For the first time in my golfing career, I can say that I’ve played with a major champion.  Congratulations to Rory and I hope there are many more majors to come!

Rating Brisbane’s Movie Clubs

Back in November 2007, I wrote up a blog detailing the major movie clubs that you can take advantage of in Brisbane (many of which run Australia wide).

Given the time lapse, I’ve decided to update my notes and you can read all about them below.

Some of these clubs offer fantastic value and if you get to the cinemas fairly regularly, you’d be a fool not to join.  You can spend what you’ve saved on overpriced snacks!

I’m a member of all of these clubs and so here they are…

Palace Cinemas Movie Club

Membership is $16.50 a year and $25 for two years.

Brisbane’s Palace cinemas are located at New Farm and the Barracks and they are my two of the best you’ll find.  As a member, the ticket price for you and a guest is just $10.  In addition, you get a complementary ticket on joining and on your birthday.  So even if you see just two Palace movies a year, it’s paid for itself.  Members also receive invites to advance screenings where there are nibbles, drinks and guest speakers.  You can pick up an application form at a Palace cinema or go here to find out more.

Club Dendy

Membership is $15 a year and $25 for two years.

The Dendy cinemas can be found in Brisbane at the Portside Wharf (Hamilton).  Your card will get you and a friend into any Dendy movie for just $10 each.  There’s also the chance to attend special advance screenings for members only.  You can join at the box office and find our more here.

BIFF Film Club (Brisbane only)

Membership is $75 a year.

This one’s not cheap but there can be some great benefits.  Each month, there’s at least one advance screening where you and a guest can go along for free.  They also have special advance screenings where a director/writer/actor does a Q&A session after the film.  It’s definitely worth it.  You can also pick up cheaper Film Festival tickets (when it’s held in November) so make sure you join here.

Australian Film Institute

Membership is $55 a year and $95 for two years.

It may sound a little pricey but this is a good deal.  With this card, you get concession rates at almost every cinema in the country.  You also get a regular newsletter which offers free tickets to selected events.  You can download a membership application by clicking here.

Event / Birch, Carroll & Coyle Cinebuzz Club

Membership is free.

You may as well join this one since it won’t cost you a cent.  Just click here and you’ll find your way from there.  Once you’ve joined, you’ll get monthly invites to special advance screenings at discount prices (often less than $10) at Event/BCC cinemas.

Hoyts Movie Club

Membership is free.

Hoyts Cinemas and Event Cinemas seem to follow the same models when it comes to cinemas and ticket prices (such a rip off).  Their movie clubs are very much the same too.  You can join the Hoyts Movie Club for free by going here.  You'll get regular invites to special advance screenings at discount prices.  You can also pick up points which can be redeemed at the candy bar.

There you have it.  Now you’ve just got to find time to get to the movies!