I had the pleasure of seeing one of the opening screenings of Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie at the Cumberland 4. A true bonus, director Sturla Gunnarsson and David Suzuki were on hand for a question and answer after the screening. This a must see film and it earned a well deserved People’s Choice Documentary Award this year at TIFF.

David Suzuki’s contribution to science, the environment and Canada are well documented and respected. His legacy continues. The question of what additional things he hopes to do for the planet before he dies is not important. We should be asking ourselves what legacy we wish to leave future generations.

Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie
Opened this weekend in Toronto
at Cumberland Four
159 Cumberland Ave.
Toronto, ON,
M5R 1A2

Rated PG

I caught the new Atom Egoyan film Friday night. I missed it at TIFF and I’m glad I finally got to see it. Chloe is a well acted movie set here in Toronto starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried. An interesting “bonus” for the Toronto movie watcher is to see the city as yet another character in the film.

Originally this remake of the French film Nathalie, starring Gérard Depardieu, was to be set in San Francisco. I’m glad that Ivan Reitman simply produced the film and hired Egoyan work for the project. Egoyan brought an interesting take on the material. He also threw in a slew of Toronto locations which are shamelessly featured without the usual alterations to turn them into a real or fictionalized US cityscape. From Yorkville, Allan Gardens, The Rivoli, photos by Edward Burtynsky, even the quaint College retreat Café Diplomatico form the backdrop for this erotic thriller. The chilling subject matter is handled with sophistication.

It’s a relief to see some great cinema on the big screen. So few movie releases have Canadian content let alone a Canadian city as its location. Atom Egoyan delivers both and shines again.

Wow! Some great news on a Friday. There is talk of a revival of Carlton Cinemas. Magic Lantern Theatres and Rainbow Cinemas have been committed to keeping the tradition of neighbourhood and community movie theatres alive and will be working to bring back the Carlton. I can’t think of a better entity to do that. They hope to reopen it in June 2010. It will be great to go venture east of College subway again to catch a great indie, first-run, documentary, Foreign or Canadian-made features at the Carlton once more. A small piece of this city’s cinematic history is being revived!

The Fox Theatre is a Toronto gem. Operating for almost a century it remains the longest running cinema in the country. Starting this weekend they pay homage to special genre in the history of motion pictures, 3D movies.

Fox Theatre’s 3D FILM FEST features 9 classic 3D films and runs until July 23rd. Unlike Hollywood’s latest offerings these movies will be projected using film prints and not digital technology. Interestingly this allows for a more convincing 3D effect. During the festival there will also be a gallery of polarized prints and trippy aesthetics to get you in the mood for the anaglyph (red-blue) and polarized movies. Looking forward to catching the offerings from Hitchcock to Warhol to Friday the 13th!

3D FILM FEST – Fox Theatre
2236 Queen Street East

Recorded Film Listings: 416-691-7330

Forget about the garbage and take a trip back to the 80’s. Harbourfront Centre is kicking off their Wednesday night movie series tonight. This summer their movies will be all 80’s. John Hughes’ classic Pretty in Pink starts the ball rolling tonight at 9pm.

Retro Reels – Pretty in Pink
Wednesday, July 8th @ 9pm
Harbourfront Centre – Sirus Stage
FREE