As our American friends get ready to eat their turkey dinners this week, we can’t think of a better way to help them celebrate than to watch one of our favourite holiday-themed flicks, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. The John Hughes classic stars Steve Martin as Neal and John Candy as Del, a pair of mismatched strangers who become road trip companions as they try to get Neal home to Chicago from New York in time for Thanksgiving.
Even as he inches closer to his 70th birthday, Neil Young isn’t ready to be a stale nostalgia act yet. Young and Crazy Horse’s Monday night show at the Air Canada Centre might not have satisfied those who came seeking his old classics, but any true rock fans in the crowd of 18,000 got their money’s worth, nevertheless.
Henry Rollins has always had something to say. Whether it was as the lead singer of the now-defunct punk band Black Flag in the ’80s or as a writer, radio DJ, activist and spoken word artist, the Washington, D.C. native has never been shy about expressing himself. Now he hits Toronto with his spoken word tour. We caught up with the tatted talker to chat about Toronto’s punk scene and speaking live.
Despite some serious health challenges, comedian Christi Olson is seriously funny. A transplant from Regina, Olson has quickly moved up the ranks in the Toronto comedy world, even landing this year’s Tim Sims Encouragement Fund Award. We chatted with Olson about fear vomiting, hecklers and laughing through the pain of EDS.
“Rosebud.” It’s the infamous last word uttered by Charles Foster Kane, the wealthy media proprietor, played by Orson Welles. The enigmatic line, which was named the 17th best movie quote by the American Film Institute, opens the sweeping masterpiece, Citizen Kane, and sets its story into motion. The flick is considered by many cinema critics (including the AFI) to be the greatest film of all time. It plays this Sunday at the Yonge & Dundas Cineplex.
Tonight comedian Pat Thornton will run a comedy marathon, performing stand-up for 24 non-stop hours at Comedy Bar, all in the name of charity. It’s the fourth year that Thornton has attempted the feat to raise funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation (he raised $14,000 last year; the goal is $24,000 for this year) and he has no plans to stop the charitable, comedic craziness.
The different levels of movie engagement tend to fall somewhere along the lines of passive or interactive. Occasionally we want to be taken away to another world; other times, we want to unravel a mystery. And then there is Holy Motors, a film about films; a commentary on cinema and acting by French director Leos Carax that simultaneously engages you and sets you adrift, leaving you wondering just exactly what is going on, and what, if anything, it all means.
For four days only, Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody will play at the Panasonic Theatre, mixing the excitement of Fifty Shades of Grey with the hilarity of The Second City. For those looking for pre-show drinks, a Spank! cocktail will be served. Stay after the show and you can grab a photo with Mr. Dangerous and meet the other cast members.
I didn’t mind the mumbling. At this point, it’s so firmly entrenched within Bob Dylan’s persona that it would almost be disappointing to hear him sing clearly. I didn’t even mind the virtual invisibility. Dylan’s never exactly been known for his stage presence, so struggling to see him while he was obscured by his grand piano failed to take away from the experience. In fact, you could make an argument that it even enhanced The Bard’s aura.
So yesterday the folks at Oxford University Press chose “GIF” as the U.S. Word of the Year, thanks in part to the word’s transition from noun to verb. GIFs were pretty much everywhere this year — kittens were GIFfed, and so was Obama. And Toronto was no stranger to the craze. Below, five of our favourite Toronto-esque GIFs.
Former Toronto news anchor delivers top story of true love
Announcing the final rose of the evening on The Bachelor Canada is a pretty important job, and its host, Tyler Harcott, knows it. A veteran of hosting roles (he’s held 14 in his 17-year career) Harcott says his latest gig as bachelor Brad Smith’s wingman has been pretty “magnificent.” We chatted with the statuesque host about his stand-out contestants, finding love on TV and what we can expect from the Women Tell All episode.
