Girl about The Town

Day 11 of my stay in Canada, and day 2 of my Toronto International Film Festival activites. I didn't stalk celebs on Yorkville. I didn't chillax in the Four Seasons. I certainly didn't seek out Emily Blunt's hotel room and smuggle myself into there in a laundry cart. Not for lack of trying, anyway.

I went to another premiere.

This time it was opening night for The Town, a crime thriller starring and directed by Ben Affleck. It was a much bigger affair that The King's Speech, and this time things didn't kick off until around 9pm for the 9:30 screening. I got there for 7:30pm, and I have to say I was taken aback by the size of the crowd at that time. I squashed my way into the back row of people, hoping that some of them would eventually get fed up, perhaps not really knowing what they were waiting for, and leave. A few did... I probably gained another row, but by 9pm I was still about three rows back, only now closed in by another three rows behind.

Eventually the cars began to arrive, and despite the first car "only" containing producers and other execs, I got a taste of what was to come. By that I mean, I began what would be a long hour of getting to know everyone around me far too intimately. At one point a woman behind me, who was dressed and made-up so beautifully that she could have been one of the actresses, went against the grain of her attractive aesthetics and tried to - rather unattractively - scramble her way to the front. Good luck with that, love. In doing so, she actually, with her hand, grabbed the side of my head and tried to move it out of the way. Now, I haven't really lived in Blackpool for around four years, so something that I like to call the "blackpool rage" has pretty much all but left my nature. Except for in moments like that. I turned around, gave her my very best evil stare (with added twist of "you digust me") and said:

"Are you SERIOUSLY... touching my head?"

"Oh, I'm sorry I just.... lost my balance."

Course you did, you silly tart. I chose to ignore that, and said goodbye to the Blackpool Rage, focusing my attentions back onto the unfolding events on the other side of the barrier.

We didn't have to wait too much longer before the stars began to arrive. First came established actor Chris Cooper, then Ben Affleck himself. The crowd went into such a frenzy in that moment that I struggled to see anything, and the only photos I managed to get either showed a blurry version of the back of his (very nice) suit, or obstructed images of his face. Next came his wife of five years, Jennifer Garner, who again I barely saw. However, the glimpses I did get confirmed that she's actually even more stunning in the flesh than on screen. After that, Mad Men's John Hamm, star of The Hurt Locker, Jeremy Renner, Canadian actress Rachelle Lefevre and The Town's lead actress Rebecca Hall.

And then, the moment I`m not remotely ashamed to admit that I`d been waiting for.... Blake Lively. Some of you may know her from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, most of you as Serena van der Woodsen from Gossip Girl. Some of you probably won`t know of her at all. But know this: she is devastatingly beautiful. She wore a stunning red Chanel sequined dress and the most amazing earrings, and probably needless to say, I couldn`t stop looking at the girl.

I got a decent enough photo of her, and of everyone else except for Ben and Jennifer. I discovered that my camera is pretty, well, shit, when in situations like this, where there is a lot of movement and flashing light. Note to self: Must save up for good quality camera next year.

All in all it was a great night. The atmosphere at these premieres is more than electric, and the spectacle of seeing these incredibly famous people, all dolled up to promote their work... Well, for me it doesn`t get much better than that. There was a pang of something else, though, while I stood there watching everyone waiting for the stars, and watching them all arrive and the frenzy that surrounded the occasion. That`s where I want to be. That`s what I want. Not to be one of the stars, necessarily, but to be a part of that, a part of the madness. Whether it be to document the event itself or - and this is the real desire - to be there because of something I did, something I worked on...

It definitely wouldn`t ever get any better than that.