- 09/15/13
I was introduced to Banh Mi Boys by Nicole, who shared her sweet potato fries with me as we sat on the balcony of the Hot Docs Theatre to watch The Double. We dipped the fries in mayonnaise, another first for me. The year prior, we attempted to bring potato wedges from Pizza Pizza into Ryerson Theatre to see Imogene (now titled Girl Most Likely), our first-ever screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. Despite our best efforts to smuggle the food into my bag, a volunteer picked up the scent and asked the guilty offender to come forward.
- 05/28/15
After reading multiple posts on Tumblr about Mad Max: Fury Road as a subversive blockbuster, I finally asked a classmate to watch it with me at the Yonge-Dundas Cineplex Theatre. With our tickets in hand and ready to take our seats, I suddenly craved a burrito bowl from Chipotle and journeyed over to Front Street. A 21-minute walk, 15 minutes if you’re motivated. After I grabbed my meal, I speed-walked back and landed in my seat high on adrenaline, digging into my order: white rice, black beans, fajitas, mild salsa, lettuce, and guacamole. My heart pounded against my chest, first as I narrowly avoided the late arrival walk of shame, then as Charlize Theron raced across the desert in search of her homeland. Sometime later, I learned that there was a Chipotle location around the corner and wondered how I had missed it.
- 08/11/19
In another instance where I miscalculated my ability to purchase food before a screening, I picked up a penne arrabbiata from Fresca that I falsely believed I could devour the entire plate on the 13-minute walk to The Royal Cinema for What The Film Festival. Usually, my aversion to grease prevents me from eating with my hands, but my entire attention was held by Surfer: Teen Confronts Fear, an emerging cult classic constructed around home video footage of the filmmaker’s son surfing. The film’s bizarre narrative and technical flaws were mesmerizing, at once complementing and distracting me from the messy, leftover tomato sauce and the garlic butter-topped baguette on my lap.
- 08/02/17
Our schedule for the Telluride Student Symposium was packed with screenings, leaving little time for proper, sit-down meals. One afternoon, I was faced with a long line at the sandwich cart I had relied on for lunch. With my tomato melt finally in hand, I dashed to a converted school gymnasium called Galaxy Theatre where Kean, or Disorder and Genius, a silent biopic about stage actor Edmund Kean, was accompanied by a live score. The program coordinator congratulated me, “Good hustle,” as I leaped up the stairs to enter. For the first few minutes, I struggled to pay attention to the film as I burned the roof of my mouth biting into the grilled cheese.
- 08/02/17
During the symposium, our mornings began at 8am and the last screenings would often begin at 10pm, leaving little time to recover from the previous day. After dozing off for the first few screenings, I slowly drank an iced coffee throughout the screening, determined to stay awake for the entirety of The Rider at Masons Hall. Later, a fellow student jokingly applauded me for this rare instance of sustained alertness. Film festivals are always, in my experience, disguised tests of physical endurance.
- 10/28/15
Even having seen the film one month prior at the Lightbox, even knowing all its beats, I was caught off guard by my second viewing of Moonlight. Watching the way Little carries himself, Chiron’s retaliatory act of brutality, and the charged reunion that takes place over arroz con pollo, my body soaked up the tactility of the images and became acutely aware of every sensation. The straightening of my spine against the seat. The long exhale of a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. A bead of condensation sliding between my fingers from green tea poured over ice, a source of comfort I sought out from the concession stand.
- 03/07/12
After nearly two years of harbouring a crush for Andrew Garfield, I was overjoyed to see him on the big screen again in The Amazing Spider-Man. During grade school, my movie theatre of choice was Silvercity Fairview, housed in a mall with a large food court, though I rarely took advantage of this fact. (I have also never been particularly interested in the gastronomic offerings at movie theatres; popcorn and candy feel too obvious, impersonal, and prescribed.) However, I felt particularly indulgent this Tuesday afternoon and snuck in poutine from New York Fries. Most people will tell you that the cheese curds should retain their shape and remain chunky, but I liked keeping on the plastic lid for a little too long, trapping the heat to melt the cheese.
- 10/20/15
Years later, I returned to Banh Mi Boys by myself for an illicit snack at a TIFF screening. I remained downtown for hours after my university classes to see Mulholland Drive, a film I hadn’t seen despite my claim to being a fan of David Lynch through Twin Peaks. Even with ample time to eat dinner, I only registered my hunger half an hour before the screening began at 7pm. I explained my situation to a sympathetic theatregoer who agreed to watch my belongings while I went to grab a fried chicken bao, wrapped in the red-white checkered packaging I had grown to love. My voracious appetite unknowingly served me well and I scarfed down the sandwich, ensuring that I had plenty of time before the chilling confrontation at Winkie’s diner. After, my stomach remained tight as I braced for more food-preceded frights, watching close-ups of guiltless espressos, celebratory wine, and dinnertime walnuts.
- 09/15/13
I was introduced to Banh Mi Boys by Nicole, who shared her sweet potato fries with me as we sat on the balcony of the Hot Docs Theatre to watch The Double. We dipped the fries in mayonnaise, another first for me. The year prior, we attempted to bring potato wedges from Pizza Pizza into Ryerson Theatre to see Imogene (now titled Girl Most Likely), our first-ever screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. Despite our best efforts to smuggle the food into my bag, a volunteer picked up the scent and asked the guilty offender to come forward.
- 05/28/15
After reading multiple posts on Tumblr about Mad Max: Fury Road as a subversive blockbuster, I finally asked a classmate to watch it with me at the Yonge-Dundas Cineplex Theatre. With our tickets in hand and ready to take our seats, I suddenly craved a burrito bowl from Chipotle and journeyed over to Front Street. A 21-minute walk, 15 minutes if you’re motivated. After I grabbed my meal, I speed-walked back and landed in my seat high on adrenaline, digging into my order: white rice, black beans, fajitas, mild salsa, lettuce, and guacamole. My heart pounded against my chest, first as I narrowly avoided the late arrival walk of shame, then as Charlize Theron raced across the desert in search of her homeland. Sometime later, I learned that there was a Chipotle location around the corner and wondered how I had missed it.
- 08/11/19
In another instance where I miscalculated my ability to purchase food before a screening, I picked up a penne arrabbiata from Fresca that I falsely believed I could devour the entire plate on the 13-minute walk to The Royal Cinema for What The Film Festival. Usually, my aversion to grease prevents me from eating with my hands, but my entire attention was held by Surfer: Teen Confronts Fear, an emerging cult classic constructed around home video footage of the filmmaker’s son surfing. The film’s bizarre narrative and technical flaws were mesmerizing, at once complementing and distracting me from the messy, leftover tomato sauce and the garlic butter-topped baguette on my lap.
- 08/02/17
Our schedule for the Telluride Student Symposium was packed with screenings, leaving little time for proper, sit-down meals. One afternoon, I was faced with a long line at the sandwich cart I had relied on for lunch. With my tomato melt finally in hand, I dashed to a converted school gymnasium called Galaxy Theatre where Kean, or Disorder and Genius, a silent biopic about stage actor Edmund Kean, was accompanied by a live score. The program coordinator congratulated me, “Good hustle,” as I leaped up the stairs to enter. For the first few minutes, I struggled to pay attention to the film as I burned the roof of my mouth biting into the grilled cheese.
- 08/02/17
During the symposium, our mornings began at 8am and the last screenings would often begin at 10pm, leaving little time to recover from the previous day. After dozing off for the first few screenings, I slowly drank an iced coffee throughout the screening, determined to stay awake for the entirety of The Rider at Masons Hall. Later, a fellow student jokingly applauded me for this rare instance of sustained alertness. Film festivals are always, in my experience, disguised tests of physical endurance.
- 10/28/15
Even having seen the film one month prior at the Lightbox, even knowing all its beats, I was caught off guard by my second viewing of Moonlight. Watching the way Little carries himself, Chiron’s retaliatory act of brutality, and the charged reunion that takes place over arroz con pollo, my body soaked up the tactility of the images and became acutely aware of every sensation. The straightening of my spine against the seat. The long exhale of a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. A bead of condensation sliding between my fingers from green tea poured over ice, a source of comfort I sought out from the concession stand.
- 03/07/12
After nearly two years of harbouring a crush for Andrew Garfield, I was overjoyed to see him on the big screen again in The Amazing Spider-Man. During grade school, my movie theatre of choice was Silvercity Fairview, housed in a mall with a large food court, though I rarely took advantage of this fact. (I have also never been particularly interested in the gastronomic offerings at movie theatres; popcorn and candy feel too obvious, impersonal, and prescribed.) However, I felt particularly indulgent this Tuesday afternoon and snuck in poutine from New York Fries. Most people will tell you that the cheese curds should retain their shape and remain chunky, but I liked keeping on the plastic lid for a little too long, trapping the heat to melt the cheese.
- 10/20/15
Years later, I returned to Banh Mi Boys by myself for an illicit snack at a TIFF screening. I remained downtown for hours after my university classes to see Mulholland Drive, a film I hadn’t seen despite my claim to being a fan of David Lynch through Twin Peaks. Even with ample time to eat dinner, I only registered my hunger half an hour before the screening began at 7pm. I explained my situation to a sympathetic theatregoer who agreed to watch my belongings while I went to grab a fried chicken bao, wrapped in the red-white checkered packaging I had grown to love. My voracious appetite unknowingly served me well and I scarfed down the sandwich, ensuring that I had plenty of time before the chilling confrontation at Winkie’s diner. After, my stomach remained tight as I braced for more food-preceded frights, watching close-ups of guiltless espressos, celebratory wine, and dinnertime walnuts.