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Life in the rush line

By guest blogger Matthew Prescott Oxman

My friend Adam and I had originally planned to get our Saturday fix of Toronto culture at the CN Tower. But then we thought of the Toronto International Film Festival, and decided that the CN Tower wasn’t going anywhere.

The tickets to the movies we were interested in were long gone (TIFF doesn’t cater to college students who decide to go to popular screenings the night before), so we took the advice of a floor mate and joined a rush line.

The rush line was for the world premiere of It’s Kind of a Funny Story at the Ryerson Theatre. Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), the movie’s biggest star, was set to make an appearance.

You know the guys who camp out on the sidewalk for Lord of the Rings and Star Wars premieres? I’ve never been one of those guys. I’ve always been happy to wait for the DVD release (so that I can download that shit), but I’ll try not any, but some things once.

Our floor mate had told us that getting in line two hours before the start of the movie would be sufficient. We opted for six and a half. And if you think we were hardcore, you’d have been amazed to see the people at the very front of the line, who’d arrived at 6.30 a.m. for the midnight premiere of a Japanese film.

Sitting in line was not half as bad as I had imagined. We were allowed to hold a spot for one other person, which meant Adam or I could walk back to rez to eat, rest, change, etc., while the other held our place in the queue. I guess there are benefits to living on campus when your school hosts blockbuster premieres.

I was also lucky enough to have my Mac and iPhone with me. It must have sucked rush lining for TIFF back in the day, before the discovery of these cures for boredom. I imagine a couple of guys my age whirling a spinning top over, and over again (in black and white, of course).

When we weren’t using our electronics, we people watched. People ranged from super stars to hobos. Unsurprisingly, we did not see any superstar hobos.

Hour after hour, and scalper after scalper passed, but we waited it out and. In the end we were rewarded tickets for the “best seats in the house”, courtesy of Diet Coke. Seeing a movie for free, sitting directly across the aisle from Galifianakis and receiving heavy gift bags (mostly full of cosmetics), Adam and I felt like a couple of Charlies in a chocolate factory,

The actual movie was a somewhat funny story, with an extremely dumb title. But Zach (yeah, we’re on a first name basis now) was hilarious both on- and off-screen (during the question and answer period after the movie, he announced that he’d knocked up his 19-year-old co-star Emma Roberts at the wrap party, and that they were now engaged).

Was it worth it? Absolutely. Rush lining was a great experience, but we’ll probably play it smart and order our tickets ahead of time next year. Then again, sometimes being smart just can’t compete with dumb, lucky fun.

Photo by Marta Iwanek

1 Comment

  1. That was you in the best seats?! ARRGGGHH haha. We had been waiting in line since 3pm. 6 hours!! That’s okay though. My cousins and I ended up becoming friends with the people sitting next to us and we also met K-0s the rapper!

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