Last Friday brought together Toronto filmmaker Paul Saltzman, producer Patricia Aquino, Academy Award–winning actor Morgan Freeman, and members of the city’s most well-to-do families at the Varsity Cinemas for a "VIP Screening" of Prom Night in Mississippi, Saltzman’s feature-length documentary chronicling the efforts of a Charleston high school hosting their first "integrated prom."
This film should have been great, what with honourary Torontonian Sam Jackson and the cool special effects and all. The filmmakers also went all out, filming in Tokyo, Egypt, Rome, and…Peterborough. That's right—no matter how exotic you get, you can't make a film this flawed without giving Toronto and the GTA a little love!
This is a movie about a taxi/limo driver, played by Jackie Chan, who wears a magic suit that makes him do kung fu shit, and he fights evil criminals with help from a scientist or secret agent or something played by Jennifer Love Hewitt. Yeah, this is precisely the sort of movie that usually gets shot here.
Toronto's undead community is set to rise up for the second time in less than seven days.
We have to admit we kind of like Fever Pitch. Sure, it's a formulaic rom-com, but it's a lot better than what we typically have to sit through. More to the point, it makes such great use of its Boston locations (particularly the stuff in and around Fenway Park) that you would hardly know how much of it was shot here.
It's hard to deny that Robin Williams can be a funny fellow, and he even earned an Oscar for Good Will Hunting, which, of course, was shot here.
When Reel Toronto has nightmares, they are about films like Cheaper by the Dozen 2. You might not think it possible to take so many talented, funny people and make such a dreary, soul-sucking blockbusterish family movie. But they did it. Twice.
Technically, the season of films that you may have paid a premium to see early began last week—though admittedly, often with talent in attendance—at TIFF, with Midnight Madness opener Jennifer's Body receiving a full release (while TIFF was still on, too!). This week sees the release of TIFF films Bright Star and The Boys are Back, both of which have received decent enough reviews. But we're not especially interested in that, because there's a film festival currently running that rivals TIFF for its importance, NNAFF—the Nollywood North America Film Festival (though admittedly, it's all the way out in Mississauga). We've previously mentioned our fascination with Nollywood, and the documentary which covers what is reputedly the world's most productive film industry, Nollywood Babylon, plays this afternoon at at 5 p.m.
By now, all the red carpets are rolled back up and sitting in a broom closet at the Elgin (or something, wherever they keep them), Clooney's handsome footprints are stored away for another long year, and all the hottest celebs have flown off to resume being glamourous in their own cities. We're sad, kinda, but we'll always have our special memories of another TIFF gone by. And even better/lazier than memories, we have photos! Now that the shots flowing into the Torontoist Flickr Pool have slowed to a safe trickle, we gladly brings you the best (or just the most celeb-y) of the lot. Eat 'em up.
A veteran of the Toronto theatre scene, playwright and producer trey anthony is best known for turning her one-woman play 'Da Kink in my Hair into an international success story, selling out the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, as well as shows in London (U.K.) and San Diego. She has earned four Doras and four NAACP awards and created a national television series based on the play. Trey is currently producing her brother's debut play, Secrets of a Black Boy, which opens September 23.
Yesterday, while diehard TIFF-goers were well into their second screenings, Torontoist was getting a preview of the future of the festival: the Bell Lightbox. Spanning the northwest corner of King and John, the enormous 175,000-square-foot space already feels like TIFF Central, despite being at present uniformly grey, dusty, and full of building materials. Artistic Director Noah Cowan, who has encyclopedic knowledge of seemingly every detail of the project, has been shuttling media through for the past few weeks, trying to promote fundraising efforts, which is paying off. After hearing what's in store for the Lightbox, it's no wonder benefactors are coming forward.
The TIFF screening of Giuseppe Tornatore's Baarìa on Tuesday night at the Elgin Theatre had all the makings of an incredible film festival premiere: the director was there, and so were his stars; the theatre was packed with excited filmgoers; the popcorn was pretty good—and so, thankfully, was the movie. We're doing our detailed reviews elsewhere, but suffice it to say that Baarìa gets a recommendation. With all that in mind, you might wonder why the crowd let out a long "BOOOOO!" in unison during the programmer's introduction, prior to the film.
This year's edition of TIFF marks the first time in quite a while that the opening film—Creation—isn't a "Toronto film" in some sense. But don't think that that's an indicator the festival has forgotten its hometown roots.
When Chris Adams and Hugh Evans talk about the rewards in producing their film, there's a remarkable sincerity in their words. Amidst all the TIFF buzz, it's a relief to see such a lineup outside the door for a work that's about the real world, with an audience engaged in the contents of the presentation rather than the contents of the star's dress (we're looking at you, Megan Fox fans). At this event, no one's talking about what anyone's wearing, nor do they really care—in fact, someone showing up in Valentino might be downright embarrassed by the presentation's end.
Ahead of this year's Zombie Walk on October 24, organizers held a "Special Directors Cut Edition" Saturday to celebrate director George Romero—already a Toronto resident—becoming a Canadian citizen, as well as the premiere of his new film, Survival of the Dead. Several hundred zombies gathered in Alexandra Park before the walk, and there was a very un-undead-like buzz of excitement as participants fretted over their torn rags and seeping wounds in anticipation of meeting the cult director at their destination, Yonge-Dundas Square. Organizer Thea Munster warned zombies not to mutter "brains" within earshot of Romero, as his zombies do not speak. However, no one mentioned the half-dozen or so people dressed as security agents from the Umbrella Corporation (a creation of the Resident Evil franchise).
The Toronto International Film Festival begins tonight with opening-night gala Creation, a controversial choice not because of the subject matter (Charles Darwin) but because it's only the third time a non-Canadian film has opened the festival. Surprising, but Festival Co-director Cameron Bailey stated that they "fell in love with this movie," and we felt it was the one that set the tone to have the kind of conversations they "hope will happen around the film fest."
Wow, it’s a critically acclaimed, shot-in-Toronto movie! And you can’t really tell it was shot here! Reel Toronto lives for these rare moments.
In an earlier TIFF post, we joked that the film Five Hours From Paris won our award for the "worst summary we've ever seen from TIFF" with: "In a suburb of Tel Aviv, an Israeli cab driver who longs to fly and a Russian music teacher who is soon to board a plane find out that romance is only a cab ride away."
Quiet week when it comes to film criticism, as all of our major local publications are gearing up for TIFF, which means that most of this week's films are going largely unnoticed—but then pity the films that come out next week, because even we won't pay attention to them.
Frequency is certainly better than your average shot-in-Toronto thriller, and not just because it makes such subtle use of local locations that you'd never notice.
Last week one of our regular commenters, Derek Jensen, said he'd be going to see District 9 again rather than anything new. Perhaps this week we can convince him (and you?) to go and see In the Loop, because it's still playing and still fantastic. It's at the Cumberland (159 Cumberland Street) daily at 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:15 p.m. and 9:50 p.m. The last film we trailed repeatedly was probably the final cut of Blade Runner, so that should let you know how much we like In the Loop.
Rocket Talk: Can Sunday Subway Service Start Sooner?
Newsstand: November 19, 2009
Gender Studies Coming to a High School Near You
Please Insert Station and Try Again
The Art of Not Knowing
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