I was at Roy Thomson Hall last night for the premiere of FOTM Sean Menard's MuchMusic documentary 299 Queen Street West. Some great footage was unearthed for this nostalgic romp through the history of the nation's music station. After the movie and an intimate and interactive with VJs heard in
Last night I enjoyed the premiere viewing of Subversives, the new Lowest of the Low documentary directed by FOTM Simon Head. It was great seeing so many FOTMs there and taking in thorough and entertaining tribute to Toronto's most underrated and under-appreciated rock band. Next stop for me is the
An early disappointment for me was Big Top Pee-Wee. Big Top Pee-Wee came out in 1988 and starred Pee-Wee Herman a.k.a Paul Reubens and Susan Tyrrell, Kris Kristofferson, Penelope Ann Miller, and Valeria Golino. I was very, very excited about Big Top Pee-Wee. Trailer for Big Top Pee-WeeI
I've never seen Dr. Doolittle with Eddie Murphy. When it came out in 1998, I was just too old for such silliness. Even though Norm Macdonald voices a dog in the flick, that wasn't enough to lure me in. My 7-year-old was watching Dr. Doolittle yesterday, and I popped in
On a cold winter's night, Lynn's quest for a one night stand is complicated when the guy she goes home with lives two hours away via public transit.
When my wife and I watch a movie together, we usually save our thoughts on the film until the end when we look at each other and make the reveal. The exception I suppose is an awful movie when we look at each other after 10 minutes and decide to
I'm not a documentary filmmaker, but sometimes when alone with my thoughts on a bike ride, I fantasize that I am one. I love the way someone like FOTM Alan Zweig can bring a story to the screen. There are so many great stories to share, and perhaps that's why
One of the great perks of having a Toronto Library Card is a free account with Kanopy where you can stream great old (and not so old!) movies. One great Toronto Christmas movie currently streaming there is The Silent Partner, an unabashedly Toronto flick! It's a great Elliott Gould / Christopher
There's news today that there will be a Weird Al movie, and Daniel Radcliffe will play The Weird One. The biopic is written by Yankovic and Eric Appel, which makes sense, because they teased us with this very film back in 2010. I loved this then, and I love it
Here's the trailer for Stu Stone's new film "Faking a Murderer". You might know Stu from his appearances on Pandemic Friday episodes of Toronto Mike'd. Produced in partnership with Hollywood Suite and Astrolab Studios, the film is set to have its world broadcast premiere on the Hollywood Suite channel on
As a kid, watching The Wizard of Oz seemed like a big deal. The 1939 film was appointment viewing when it would come on TV, and pretty damn epic. I must have seen it a hundred times. Watch this movie on 123 movies. It's the end of an era, as
Every year I tell myself the Oscars are nothing more than an irrelevant circle jerk, but every year I try and see every film nominated for best picture and end up watching the Academy Awards regardless. It's harmless silly fun, afterall. I watched Fences last night and was blown away
Is there a pop culture marker you completely missed? For example, are you in your 40s but have never seen Star Wars? Against all odds, I have somehow never seen Top Gun. I'm willing to bet very few movie-watching guys in this country who are my age can make the
I recently watched Creed, the seventh film in the Rocky series. It reminded me a great deal of The Force Awakens, the seventh film in the Star Wars series. There will be no major spoilers below, but if you really want to see either movie knowing as little as possible,
I saw the new Star Wars film this afternoon. I'm not going to say a word about the film itself, just the experience, as it was a number of firsts for me. This was the first time I purchased movie tickets in advance. I bought four regular tickets for today's
I'm toggling between two stellar documentary series during my free time this holiday break. One is quite old, and the other is quite new. The World at War is a British documentary series about World War II that aired in 1973-74. I only recently discovered this 26-episode series existed, and
My kids will never know a world without the internet. As far as they're concerned, it's always been there, a pervasive connection to a massive database of facts and myths. Periodically, I'll remind them that I didn't surf the web until university. When I was 13, my buddies and I
I just saw the official poster for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, and it's left me with one big question. Here's the poster if you haven't seen it yet, then I'll ask my question... Where the hell is Luke Skywalker?
So few directors can actually get me into a theatre these days, but Quentin Tarantino is definitely one of them. Without a doubt, he's my favourite director, and he's yet to disappoint me. His latest film, The Hateful Eight, arrives in December. The teaser trailer was released today.
I attended the Canadian premiere of I Am What I Play at The Royal last night. You might recall me writing about this documentary. It features Meg Griffin, Charles Laquidara, Pat O'Day and our very own David Marsden. Marsden was at the premiere, and we chatted before the curtains went
At the 1:05:00 mark of Police Academy, Hightower is speeding down Lake Shore in New Toronto while Mahoney teaches him to drive. He blasts by a gas station, as you'll see in the screen cap below. That gas station is now Maple Leaf House, a grill & lounge.
I spent most of last week offline enjoying the kids during the March break. We rode our bikes, played some basketball and football, watched a lot of March Madness and had a blast. It was awesome. It also meant I missed a whack of stuff. For example, Adam Sandler's new
For the first time in many years, I've seen all the films nominated for a Best Picture Oscar before the award is handed out. Here's my personal ranking. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments. WhiplashBoyhoodThe Theory of EverythingBirdmanThe Grand Budapest HotelThe Imitation GameSelmaAmerican Sniper
I didn't know I Am What I Play existed until David Marsden told me about it in episode 106. It's a documentary about rock radio DJ's featuring Meg Griffin, Charles Laquidara, Pat O'Day and our very own David Marsden, best known as the driving force behind CFNY in the 1980s.
