My secondary source was the local newspaper which lead me to to an ad for the 30th anniversary screening of "Roger & Me" with Michael Moore (the director) appearing in person for a Q&A session afterwards. Apparently TIFF and VIFF were the first two venues to pick up his movie back in '89. Seems it was a bit to toxic at the time for American networks to touch. Having never seen the movie I was very intrigued and tried to buy tickets. This was on Thursday before the Saturday screening. Of course, there were standby tickets only by that point.
Undeterred I proceeded with my plan B. We usually get up early on Saturdays to meet with our jogging group but I chose to go downtown instead and lined up in the Vancouver Playhouse standby line. Turns out I'm either a Super Fan or an ultra-keener because I was the only person in line from about 9:30 to about 11:00 a.m. when the box office opened. However, in the meantime Shauna had texted me to ask if I'd had any success, and based upon the non-existent ticket line-up I'd reported she decided to skip our usual post-jogging coffee gathering and join me for the screening, assuming I'd score two seats.
Sure enough, by the time she'd arrived I already had bought one ticket from a fellow film goer with an extra ticket for sale. Then shortly after Shauna arrived I was able to buy the ONE ticket that the box office had in reserve.
Once inside seated in our 3rd row seat (!) Mr. Moore was introduced to a standing ovation even before he said anything. He had an interesting and humorous (albeit rather long) introduction, at the tail end of which he invited everyone present to join him afterwards at the Library Square Pub for more discussion and a drink, the first round being on his tab! He explained that this generosity was in thanks for our country's initial support of his first film.
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| Michael Moore with CBC's Stephen Quinn |
An extraordinary experience, to say the least. It turned out to be kind of a combination film screening/ Writers' Fest-style presentation. I make that comparison because this week we were also fortunate to attend a Writers' Festival event featuring Malcolm Gladwell (interviewed by CBC's Lisa Chistiansen).
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| Michael had to get a post-screening selfie to commemorate his standing ovation. Stephen Quinn, the host, posted this shot on Twitter. Shauna and I are in row 3 (with me looking at my phone to see if I had gotten a clear photo of Michael). |
