Hey folks, Harry here... Wanna know why Copernicus and Anton Sirius are in Toronto, cuz that's where the best stars are right now... check it out, they're gonna go blind up there!
Suddenly I wished I spoke Cantonese. Or Mandarin. Or some sort of pidgin blend of the two.
This year's star-studded Toronto film fest lineup has the usual Hollywood types of course, but given these probable attendees, who cares?:
Maggie Cheung (of course Maggie's here. I'm sure at this point someone's TOLD her about my many futile attempts to meet her, and she's just tormenting me by coming to Toronto all the damn time. Devil woman!)
Johnnie To
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Ziyi
Stephen Chow
Add in the likes of Joan Chen, Clara Law and honorary Asian Chris Doyle, and my language skills are sadly lacking.
Here's the gwai lo (and non-whities too!) in attendance:
Directors with that Vision Thing: Istvan Szabo; Agnes Varda; Catherine Breillat; Olivier Assayas; John Waters; Alex de le Iglesia; Paul Cox; Claire Denis; Bill Condon; Wim Wenders; Antoine Fuqua; Ousmane Sembene; Volker Schlondorff; Amos Gitai; Bille August; Alejandro Amenabar; John Sayles; Ken Burns; Sally Potter; James Toback
Young Whippersnappers: Shane Meadows; Asia Argento; Lukas Moodysson; David O. Russell; Danny Boyle; Gregg Araki; Todd Solondz; Alexander Payne; David Gordon Green
The Menfolk: Don Cheadle; Sean Penn; Jeremy Irons; Kevin Spacey; Bob Hoskins; Matt Dillon; Brendan Fraser; John Leguizamo; Patrick Fugit; Henry Thomas; Rhys Ifans; Orlando Bloom; Bill Paxton; Stuart Townsend; Nick Nolte; Dustin Hoffman; Jason Schwartzman; Mark Wahlberg; Jeff Daniels; Liam Neeson; Joseph Fiennes; Al Pacino; Andy Garcia; Chazz Palminteri; Paul Walker; Topher Grace; Jamie Foxx; Aidan Quinn; Danny Glover; Javier Bardem; Kevin Pollack; Doug E. Doug; Michael Imperioli; Ziggy Marley; Paul Giamatti; Chris Cooper; Thomas Haden Church; Billy Crudup; Kevin Bacon; Mos Def
Let's Not Forget Those Ladies Y'all: Annette Bening; Kate Bosworth; Jennifer Jason Leigh; Sandra Bullock; Jennifer Esposito; Selma Blair; Helen Hunt; Penelope Cruz; Sigourney Weaver; Laura Linney; Natasha McElhone; Susan Sarandon; Ellen Barkin; Hilary Swank; Kelly Preston; Connie Nielsen; Virginia Madsen; Maria Bello; Joan Allen
Funny Folk: Johnny Knoxville; Martin Short; Jan Hooks; Tracey Ullman; John Goodman (don't ask him about his new sitcom!); Lily Tomlin; Joe Flaherty; Eddie Izzard
The Locals (and by "Locals" I Mean "Canucks"): Bruce Greenwood; Sandra Oh; Maury Chaykin; Don McKellar; Liane Balaban; Bruce McDonald; Guy Maddin; Hugh Dillon; Graham Greene; Jennifer Tilly; Colin Firth; Neve Campbell
Belle of the Ball: There will be no Belle of the Ball competition this year. Not because of the overwhelming protests, mind you, but simply because it is no competition this year at all. Zhang Ziyi wins hands down (sorry, Selma slaves.)
My interview targets this year: the aforementioned Miz Zhang; Stephen Chow; John Sayles; Chris Cooper; Danny Glover; Johnnie To; John Leguizamo; Lukas Moddysson; Ken Burns.
Don't hold your breath on any of those. I sure ain't.
