The 36^th annual version of TIFF kicks off in less than a week. I have purchased tickets to 30 films but this year I am somewhat less excited than usual. This is not to say that I won’t enjoy my annual film gorging week but there are no films on my list that are must see’s. I have however been more careful in my picks and while I am still hitting some Galas and Special Presentations, I am also going to see some interesting documentaries, foreign films and smaller films that may not make theatrical release. Among the Galas I will see are The Ides of March, The Killer Elite, Machine Gun Preacher and Page Eight. So…. This means George Clooney, Vigo Mortensen, Bill Nighy, and Robert de Niro but not necessarily in that order. I will also see three hockey movies, Breakaway which promises to be a classic sports film about an underdog team and Goon which is about…. Goons and should be very timely given the loss of Wade Belak and two other hockey tough guys this summer to suicide and substance abuse as well as The Last Gladiators – on the same theme. I have two or three interesting documentaries and many other films. So as I write this – actually – it’s not looking too bad. Tomorrow I pick up my tickets and lay out the week’s schedule. More when I have a better grip on all this. Oh and likely I will be attending my granddaughters soccer playoffs at some point which will interrupt the film going but which will be more than worth it. Nia is awesome!!!