Saturday evening we went to the final of our five TIFF films, What We Do In The Shadows. Julian had booked a ticket too so we all went for dinner at Lisa Marie’s on Queen Street West. Julian was appalled when we said we hadn’t found Toronto to have much good food, so he took it as his mission to change our minds. The pressure was on, but he succeeded in his first attempt.

Lisa Marie’s serves a variety of tapas-sized foods so we chose a selection of them and shared. Phad thai fries, some potato and sausage dish, a bun stuffed with duck, three types of schnitzel, a tune ceviche and a couple of other dishes. We were sated by the end of it…but still with room for a dessert crepe from the shop near Scotiabank theatre.

We went into the cinema at 9pm, half an hour before the movie was due to start. It was in the IMAX theatre so we figured there would be space. We ended up in the third row from the front. It was not a pleasant experience as you’ll soon see.

What We Do In The Shadows is a mockumentary about vampires living in Wellington, New Zealand. One of the producers, Jemaine Clement, was there at the start to read out a humorous letter he’d received from the New Zealand Documentary Board asking him to make this documentary. His intro set the tone for the film.

We loved it. A great retelling of vampire stories all done in front of the sad backdrop of three (vampire) housemates just trying to have a good time in Wellington. I really enjoyed all of it, but my favourite parts were the New Zealand police and their concern for the community, and the werewolves (who go around saying, ‘werewolves, not swear-wolves.’). If you can see it, go see it (I think it’s on in Australia at the moment).

The one downside for us was that the filming is quite jerky (a la Blair Witch) so sitting so close, the three of us came out of the theatre feeling incredibly nauseated. It was a bit of a relief for the film to end so I didn’t feel so ill.

After the screening, Jermaine came out the front, along with one of the actors (Stu), and they answered questions in character. Great way to round out the film, and to finish the festival.

Sunday is Shopping Day

On Sunday afternoon, Glen and I went ‘outside’ to do a bit of shopping. First was a trip to the bank to top up our accounts, then we cycled to Eaton Centre to look at white pants at Le Chateau for Diner en Blanc this Wednesday. Glen found some that were on sale. Unfortunately they’re a couple of inches smaller around the waist than he usually buys, though he says he’ll survive. We were just glad that was one more thing out of the way for this event on Wednesday. If we’d realised how much effort was required, we wouldn’t have bothered.

We also stopped into Harry Rosen to have a look at the Canada Goose jackets. Glen nearly convinced himself to buy one of the new ones, and I nearly convinced myself to buy some other jacket. However, paying more than $700 (and in Glen’s case, more than $1000) for a jacket is not a decision to be taken lightly. We left empty-handed.

From Eaton Centre, we rode on our Bixie Bikes to Chinatown so Glen could look for some new glasses. Along the way he had an $8 haircut. Once inside the optometrist, it took a while to find a pair Glen liked, eventually being shown a pair of Prada Sports glasses. They had thicker rims than he’d normally wear but they look really good. They even looked good on me too and I had to resist buying a pair for myself. Alastair has already paid us out for buying the same (style) tshirts (Glen’s is black and grey, while mine is orange and brown), and jackets (which we originally thought were the same but have since discovered there are a couple of differences in design that make them dissimilar). Who knows? I might change my mind and buy them anyway.

We then took a ride on one of the new streetcars along Spadina Ave. We’d seen them on their test runs a couple of times around the city but this was our first time on one. It still had that new streetcar smell. They’re pretty nice, and they don’t have such a death drop to the street anymore.

In the evening we failed to help Julian carry stuff up from his car as Glen had missed the message and mine didn’t come through. We felt terrible and went down to visit him, ending up staying for about an hour and a half watching the Mindy Project. It was a good Sunday.