The folks behind this new Spanish-style tavern on the western edge of Little Italy have cut their teeth at places like the Black Hoof, Brockton General, and Splendido, so expectations are sky high for this venture. With a late night menu and superb cocktail list, there's lots to like about the place on paper, so we stopped by last week to take a peek at the dishes and to see what all the fuss is about.
Read my profile of Bar Isabel in the restaurants section.
Toronto Events on April 3, 2013
BASEBALL | Season Opener
Baseball season is here, and while the Jays didn't get off to a great start last night, you'll probably have a better fate at the Garrison Creek Bat Company's "Season Opener," which is part celebration of art and part celebration art. With customized bats and 30 artists showing at Steam Whistle Brewery, it sounds pretty stimulating. Tack on live music from The Beverleys and a charitable component (a signed GCBC bat by the 2013 Toronto Blue Jays), and you've got the recipe for a good night.
Steam Whistle Brewery (255 Bremner Blvd), 7-11pm
ART | Square Derivations
The Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts presents a new exhibition the begins today: "Square Derivations," featuring the work of Robin Kingsburgh. Kingsburgh's work is concerned both with geometrical forms and an element of randomness, and her paintings straddle both worlds in an interesting fashion: patterns and shapes exist amidst chaotic textures and colours that embody incredible energy. She is currently part of the faculty at
the Ontario College of Art & Design University, serving as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences. "Square Derivations" has its opening reception this Friday, but begins today, and runs until the 14th.
Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts (984 Queen Street West) 12-6pm
BOOKS & LIT | Poetry NOW: 5th annual Battle of the Bards
The 5th Annual Battle of the Bards goes down tonight as part of Authors At Harbourfront. Both emerging and established poets will participate in this friendly competition, and the winner will be decided by a jury that includes Toronto Poet Laureate George Elliott Clarke, and Artistic Associate Jen Tindall. Each poet reads for five minutes, and the victorious poet will be invited to read at this Fall's International Festival of Authors, and have their latest book advertised in NOW Magazine. Susan G. Cole hosts this event.
Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West) 7:30PM $10 / free to members
+ students + youth
MUSIC | Rituals w/ Odonis Odonis + Elsa
Rituals hit The Drake Hotel tonight! This TO outfit, being described by many as a "buzz band," has an approach with roots in '80s post punk sounds and more modern influences, as well. They've been riding on a 2011 7 inch release for a while, and tonight they proudly launch their new EP, "Mesmerized." Two other bands, Odonis Odonis and Elsa will also
grace tonight's lineup, and Katie Stelmanis from Austra, and Brian Borcherdt of Dusted and Holy Fuck. Should be a good one.
Drake Underground (1150 Queen Street West) 9PM $7 / $10 with 12"
SALE | Warehouse Sale
It's something we don't always talk about, but let's face it - everyone likes getting a good deal! Muttonhead Studio is the place to go if you're on the hunt for just such a bargain in the clothing and accessories department. Starting today, and running right through
Sunday, a warehouse sale is going down that will connect you with an opportunity to grab amazing deals on new old stock from a huge selection of brands, including Naked & Famous, The Leather Atelier, Crown Shaving Co, Muttonhead (of course), and many more.
Muttonhead Studio (163 Sterling Rd. studio 9B) 12-7PM
ALSO OF NOTE
MORE EVENTS THIS WEEK
For more Toronto event suggestions, check out these posts:
Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events calendar or contact us directly.
Metrolinx unveiled its shortlist of taxes designed to fund the next phase of transit expansion in the GTHA yesterday. While this was happening, Rob Ford was declaring battle in another round in the war on graffiti at city hall. When asked about new taxes, Ford responded by making a mock-gagging sound. Naturally, GIFs happened here and here. Audio (in case you need it) is here (via @goldsbie.)
Ford's response, when he was done making retching sounds, was to pitch a casino as a way of funding the Downtown Relief Line and other necessary investments. As municipal activist Robert Cerjanec pointed out on Twitter, the projected funds from the gaming facility would take 2,500 years to build the entire Big Move. Is it time Ford dropped the casino rhetoric?
Also in Ford (it's been a few days after all), the Divisional Court has ruled the mayor must cover his own legal costs related to the Paul Magder case. A panel decided that Ford did not achieve an outright victory as he was only successful in winning one of his four grounds for appeal. They also agreed the case helped clarify parts of the Municipal Elections Act. The mayor later complained about the "ridiculous" decision, clearly without concern for respecting the will of a judge.
The city could be about to write off $26 million in payment arrears owed by the Toronto Port Authority, a federal agency. The TPA owes the city $31 million in payments in lieu of property taxes between 1999 and 2012, according to the Star. The agency plans to pay $5.27 million in cash and give the city 94 cents per air passenger until 2021 to make up for the debt.
The Gardiner Expressway, another briefly forgotten relic, was back in the news yesterday. The city will discuss the fate of the eastern portion of elevated highway while it begins renovations on the portion near Strachan Avenue. The deck between Jarvis Street and the Don River is in dire need of repairs that could outweigh the value of keeping it up. A final decision could fall during the next municipal election.
Digital images could be allowed on the city's transit shelters if Astral Media gets their way. The company wants to amend its agreement with the city and install screens capable of changing ad every ten seconds. The brightness should be no more than existing ads, said coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the public works committee. Do you mind if bus shelters go digital?
The Toronto Sun's graphics department went in to full-swing yesterday when the paper realized it didn't have a stock shot of Rob Ford in a Blue Jays cap ahead of the team's season opener. This is surely a contender for worst Photoshop job of the year so far.
Finally, the new look Jays' big home opener didn't quite go to plan last night - the team lost 4-1 to the Cleveland Indians in front of more than 45,000 fans. Manager John Gibbons urged fans not to hit the panic button. "'We've got a good ball club. They'll be back. They'll have a fun, entertaining year this year, I believe," he told the press.
CONTEST
The Place Beyond the Pines was the hottest ticket at TIFF 2012 so we're excited to announce that we've teamed up with eOne Films to give you a chance to be at an exclusive advance screening of the film for blogTO readers only! This riveting new movie from the director of Blue Valentine is a sweeping emotional drama, powerfully exploring the unbreakable bond between fathers and sons.
View all the contest details here for a chance to win passes to the screening as well as prizes courtesy of TIFF, the Trump Toronto and STOCK Restaurant.
IN BRIEF:
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Image: Dominic Bugatto/blogTO Flickr pool.
Daniel MacIvor's Arigato, Tokyo teaches us that there are a number of ways to say "yes" in Japanese, many of which help the speaker avoid having to say no. In the theatre, like in the pathways of language, a play can be told in any number of ways. The most successful modes of storytelling are ultimately the ones that best serve the narrative.
Narrative and storytelling are firmly intertwined in MacIvor's newest play, a fresh and reflexive examination of love and the base appetites we satisfy on the way to giving ourselves over. While we're at once pulled into the mystery that frames the play, we're equally as enraptured by the artist at centre pursuing desire in a foreign land.
Carl Dewer (David Storch), a popular Western philosopher, travels from Vancouver to Tokyo for a series of speaking engagements. After roaming around the city for drugs and sex with his interpreter Nushi (Cara Gee), a visit to Noh theatre provokes an unexpected fascination with Yori (Michael Dufays), performer and brother of Nushi. Etta Waki (Tyson James), an escort, is something of a spiritual guide and storyteller.
MacIvor has placed love at the centre of the play, but in an elevated way. What he avoids doing is leaning on popular tropes — blind love, a love quest, love triumphing over odds, etc. Instead, he revels in the ambiguity and messiness of the feelings love inspires. Carl's philosophical approach to love, that it lessens after sex with a new partner, is undermined just as quickly as what he's experienced is snuffed out.
The play is framed as a reading Carl gives to an audience, which acts as somewhat of a window on why and how writers reach their conclusions. There may be some autobiographical elements in MacIvor's piece and the concluding scene helps drives home the relationship between art and reality. If there is one aspect that needs more work, it's how the Etta Waki character functions as part storyteller, given we already have a writer to guide us.
Brendan Healy's staging oscillates between the overwhelming chaos of late-night Tokyo and the peaceful serenity of tea sessions and whispered conversations. The action strides confidently from scene to scene, but it's certainly more understated than his previous work. Healy is aided by a compartmentalized lighting design from Kimberly Purtell.
The performances match the energy of MacIvor's text. Storch carries the piece through its paces well as the ravenous hedonist. He expertly exudes a slimy kind of charm. But it's Gee who makes the strongest impression. In inhabiting all the complexities of love, her Nushi is the most interesting character to watch.
Arigato, Tokyo is a series of sexually-charged interactions that inspire bouts of poetic rumination. That action and reflection can be balanced in this way, through narrative and retelling, is a testament to the collaboration between MacIvor and Healy.
—
Arigato, Tokyo, written by Daniel MacIvor and directed by Brendan Healy, runs at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre until April 14.
This Week in Fashion rounds up the week's style news, store openings and closings, pop-up shops, sales and upcoming fashion and design events in Toronto. Find it here every Wednesday morning.
NEWS
North York residents with swanky taste in clothes can rejoice, because TNT has plans to open a fifth store at Bayview Village Shopping Centre (2901 Bayview Ave) in September 2013. Up until now, all Toronto TNT locations have barely touched north of Eglinton Avenue - this foray into a completely different neighbourhood is a risky but much-needed change. The store will be almost 5,500 square feet and carry the chain's coveted and progressive designer labels, including 3.1 Phillip Lim and Maison Martin Margiela.
EVENTS/PARTIES
A new Brimz hat boutique is set to open this Saturday (April 6), and there's no better way to celebrate head adornments than a *free* party featuring live performances by The Airplane Boys, Plaitwrights, and other talented, home-grown artists. There'll also be a fashion show by ReMix, a series of awesome giveaways, food, drinks, and general fun times, so drop by the new location at 321 Queen Street West from 7 pm onwards.
Next Wednesday (April 10), a panel discussion dubbed The BIG Debate will be held at the ROM (100 Queen's Park) at 7 pm. Industry professionals designer Jeremy Laing, Ryerson School of Fashion chair Robert Ott, branding/fashion lawyer Ashlee Froese, and Hudson's Bay Company vice president/buying director Nicholas Mellamphy will be discussing critical issues in the fashion industry today -- megabrands and globalism amongst others are slated to be debated. Moderated by Jeanne Beker, the event isn't one to miss - tickets are $15 and available online.
Fundraising fashion show Life's A Label will be held next Wednesday (April 10) at 7 pm in support of poverty relief charity Windfall Basics and scholarships for George Brown College students. Aria Entertainment Complex (108 Peter St) will be dazzled with local designers and boutiques (including Fresh Collective and Gerhard) alongside live music, complimentary hors d'oeuvres, and giveaways. Advanced tickets are $20 ($15 with a valid student ID) or $25 at the doors; email lifesalabel@gmail.com to reserve yours.
SALES
From today (April 3) until Sunday (April 7), you can get your Canadian goods fix from noon until 7 pm at the beloved bi-annual Muttonhead Warehouse Sale (163 Sterling Rd, studio 9B). In addition to their own collections from seasons past up for grabs, they'll be carrying a slew of other local designers - including Cuchara, Fresh Train Co. and Varsity Brown - at a great price. Don't forget to BYOB (bring your own bag) for ample environmentally friendliness.
Photo of TNT's Hazelton Lanes location
Find out what's new and hot with our our bi-weekly local music roundup.
ZEUS / COVER ME / APRIL 2ND
Let's cut the bullshit. We all like covers. It's super interesting to hear what a band does with other people's songs. A cover can really loosen a band up giving them the chance to explore things they would never dare with their own material. Other times the quest to do justice to a sacred song gives the artist a chance to hardworking acts a break with some mainstream exposure.
Then you have cover albums, which usually stink to high heaven. How many of your favourite artist's one black eye is because of a cover album? Mates of State, I'm looking at you. (Commenters: If any of you say anything else against Mates of State I'm going to delete your comment so fast you'll get skid marks on your fingertips). And so, it is very wise of our beloved Zeus to release a cover E.P. for their upcoming remaster of Busting Visions. Containing the likes of Zepplin, STP and Micheal Jackson it will surely please everyone.
*Obviously the craft of the cover has been perfected by "Weird" Al Yankovic with his Polka melody series.
THE MESS / STATES / MARCH 30TH
This Mess "States" is available NOW via digital download or cassette. And no, cassette is not a misspelling of Cassavetes. I'm talkin about a real, honest to god, cassette tape. Now don't be so quick to judge these boys. It's actually not as impractical as you assume.
The cassette tape (as we already know but indulge me for humour's sake) was the last great analog format involving a length of tape with music on it contained within a plastic rectangle.
These days they are regarded as anachronistic as their bigger flashier brother the VHS, but they still remain popular in certain genres (such as punk rock) for their unique sound quality. Plus, if you're one of those people who don't like to pirate music a cassette tape is your cheapest option for portable music, particularly if you're a Prince fan. So maybe lay off This Mess, huh? If a cassette is not (or no longer) your bag just listen to States online, yeesh.
HΛRRISON / PROM KING / MARCH 15TH
Fake quotes about HΛRRISON:
BLUSH BEAT RED / BOYS AND GIRLS / MARCH 19TH
This track from Blush Beat Red has a certain sexy underwater quality to it. This is not a statement of chagrin, I rather like it. As someone who spent his childhood on a lake I can't tell you how many times I've gazed into the blue depths of mighty Huron and felt a touch melancholy as I imagined a ripping underwater party involving the cooler fish and mermaids doing all sorts of tricked out dancing and shit.
Of course, as a man I've given up such foolish notions. After all, what sort of mermaid would a fresh water lake produce? Most likely a SUPER SKETCHY one, only emerging to bum smokes and then get mad at you because they aren't waterproof even though water proof smokes don't even exist. Like WTF freshwater mermaids!?!
COOL VIDEO CORNER
SNOWBLINK / INNER MINI-MISSISSIPPI / MARCH 27TH
Hula Hoops are one of the few ways that ladies can gyrate their hips in public without it being sexualized. As a ponched man I could easily take for granted the fact that I can gyrate pretty much anywhere without fear of suggesting to some mouth breathing creep that he should take the act and my identity completely out of context and apply to it a context involving his dick. But I don't take it for granted: my life as a straigt white man born in Canada is easy as fishing. That's why I leave Hula Hooping to those without my gyrating social advantage.
HI, one last thing? You got cool new toronto music? Send it to your old pal Eric at eric boshart (AT) BLOG TO (D)(O)(T) COM
Next time you complain your home/apartment/condo is too small, think about the occupants of 128 Day Avenue, a property near Dufferin and Rogers Road. With a footprint of just 29 square metres, the house is officially the smallest in the city. It was something of a minor celebrity a few years back, appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres Show in January 2008.
According to its official site (yep, it's that famous), the home was shoehorned into the space between two existing properties by Arthur Weeden, a contractor involved with a series of west end building projects, in 1912. The tiny parcel of land was originally marked out for laneway access but somehow the curb stones were never lowered to allow vehicular access, rendering the gap useless.
Weeden pounced, building a pint-sized home, barely an arm's span wide, for him and his wife. They lived there together for 20 years, content in the tiny space, tending to their vegetable garden and bunking down for the night in the single rear bedroom behind the kitchen.
When Weeden died, the house passed through several owners. In 2010, the last time it was on the market, owners asked $180,000 - $1968 a square metre - for the smallest house in the city, well below the $400,000 average for the city. The publicity surrounding the sale reached its height when talk show host Ellen DeGeneres featured the property on her show.
The main floor of the bungalow features a living room, kitchen, and sleeping quarters with Murphy bed (the room is too small to accommodate a normal bed and furniture.) A hatch in the kitchen leads down to a small basement. The diminutive house has also inspired a song, "Come Back To Me" by Maria Lee Carta.
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Photos by Derek Flack
This bar (slash café) opened last month on Bloor Street across from Christie Pits, offering locals a nearby joint to get caffeinated during the day and tipsy at night. This establishment may be hard to label — is it a bar-café? café-bar? — but whatever you call it, the selection of local craft brews, potent cocktails, quality coffee and a patio on the way soon mean that it'll likely become a neighbourhood favourite.
Read my profile of Northwood in the bars section.
The Artscape Wychwood Barns got its style on last week when Mikhael Kale unveiled his AW13 Collection. Those not still hungover from Fashion Week came out to support the local designer, throw back some cocktails and see who has yet to transition their wardrobes from winter to spring.
Check out all the photos in our Style section.
A week after the Toronto final of the MadeWithLove cocktail competition (which drew angry accusations of bias and profiteering from the wonderful commenters on this fair website), popular Kensington bar Cold Tea, in conjunction with neighbouring delicatessen Thomas Lavers, hosted its own competition, with a somewhat more altruistic motive: to raise as much money as possible for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. All bartenders worked for free, and donated 100% of their tips to the charity.
Matt LaRochelle, the venue's co-owner, explained: 'almost everyone has someone close that has been affected by it (breast cancer). We thought if we could get a bunch of industry people together and throw a huge party, maybe it could make a little difference.' After raising over $3000, Matt plans to make the event an annual affair.
With initial round pairings of famed Toronto mixologists, chefs (Top Chef Canada participants Dustin Gallagher and Steve Gonzalez faced off in the first round), and colleagues old and new (including bartenders from new Ossington hangout Oddseoul, and the ever-popular 416 Snack Bar), cocktails were presented to a judge's panel comprised of Robin Kaufman of Toronto Temperance Society, Cold Tea's own Sarah Parniak, and Dr. Andrew Toplack.
During the six rounds of fierce contest, Cold Tea got down to doing what it does best, hosting a packed house of party-goers, with Negronis being necked alongside tallboys of Labatt 50. A selection of DJs kept the party atmosphere up, until a winner was eventually declared: Matt Turenne, of Mr. Pong's, with the Alfred E. Newman.
Alfred E. Newman:
1.5oz Tromba Tequila
0.5oz Amaro Montenegro
1oz Lemon Juice
0.5oz Honey-Ginger Syrup
Contestants:
Round 1: 'MKT'
Bryan Lavers vs. Matt LaRochelle
Round 2: 'Top Chef Canada Participants'
Steve Gonzalez vs. Dustin Gallagher
Round 3: 'Brothers'
Matt Turenne vs. Rob Turenne
Round 4: '416 Snack Bar'
Adrian Ravinsky vs. Dave Stewart
Round 5: 'Odd Seoul'
Johnny Mac vs. Jess Houston
Round 6: 'The Veterans'
Megan Jones vs. Aja Sax
With so many of Toronto's cocktail industry coming together for one cause, and so many revellers coming out to enjoy a great night, let's hope that this represents the beginning of a trend.
Additional Photos
Photos by Jesse Milns
I so often find myself standing outside of a building in Toronto, be it a new condo development, a building restoration or a certain set of warehouse lofts, wondering what it would be like to step inside. The Schoolhouse, a 19 unit conversion of the original Loretto College (now situated at St. Clair and Rosemount), is one of those buildings. The facade features the same (or similar) red brick that once stood, updated with vertical rectangular windows and a view of the sweeping balconies featured in the Penthouses.
It's warm and inviting, and a welcome change to the influx of pseudo-Bauhaus glass buildings that have swarmed the city in the past decade. The penthouse itself is spacious yet cozy, and features more outdoor space than one often sees in a development like this: a wrap-around balcony and private roof top terrace. I'd say the developers of this building ought to "school" the folks down at CityPlace on what makes a house (or condo) a home.
SPECS:
Address: 391 Brunswick Avenue (Penthouse 1)
Price: $1,749,000
Size: 2,092 sf
Bedrooms: 2 + 1
Bathrooms: 3
Parking Spaces: 2
Locker: 1 (oversized)
Monthly Maintenance: $$1,248.08
Taxes: $10,497.82 (as of 2012)
Building Amenities: Shared courtyard with barbecue
NOTABLE FEATURES:
380sf private roof terrace + 150sf balcony
Marble/granite ensuite bathroom with jacuzzi and stall shower
Gas oven/stove
NEFF kitchen feat. Viking appliances
Large walk-in closet
As noted on the site: surrounded by the intellectuals of Toronto, right?
GOOD FOR:
The "intellectual" home owner who prefers a building with a bit of character to the wash of glass-buildings popping up all over Toronto. A family man or woman who wants style and function married in one slick home.
MOVE ON IF:
The ghosts of your Catholic School past still haunt you. Or if you are buying a condo to avoid having to get a gym membership. They don't have one here.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
If you had the dough, would you buy this home? Let us know where you stand in the comments below.
Read other posts in this series via our Toronto Condos and Lofts Pinterest board.
Launched at the Toronto Bike Show a few weeks ago, this new Toronto bike company has just opened its storefront space at Bloor and Manning. Selling city/urban bikes designed, painted, and assembled in Toronto, the concept behind the brand involves a level of customization that's more commonly associated with high-end manufacturers. With sample bikes currently on display and regular stock on the way by the end of April, I stopped by to find out how it all works.
Read my profile of Gallant Bicycles in the service section.
The best late night souvlaki and gyros in Toronto are not only a great way to wrap up an evening out, but also, an easy favourite for being light on your pockets and full of big flavours. Loaded with garlic sauce, chopped salad and sometimes fries or feta, this is a genre seemingly unfazed by trends. These big fat Greek delicacies aren't exclusive to Greektown (though the Danforth certainly represents), but rather found on well worn menus in greasy spoons, take-away counters and diners across the city.
Here is the list of the best late night souvlaki and gyros in Toronto.
Want more late night eats? Download our Toronto bars, pubs & late night eats iPhone app.
See also:
The Best Souvlaki and gyros in Toronto
The Best Greek Restaurants in Toronto
Lead photo by Danielle Scott in our blogTO Flickr pool.
ART | Shannon Dickie: Reflection
Artist Shannon Dickie appreciates moving images and expands on topics of memory and nostalgia by using archival family footage to create paintings that exist between reality and abstraction. In her new exhibit Reflection, opening at The Gladstone tonight, Dickie will display these oil paintings that explore human relationships with digital media as attempts to create memories. The exhibit is open to the public from now until April 14th from 12-5PM daily.
The Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen Street West) 7PM Free
THEATRE | Hold Mommy's Cigarette
Comedian Shelley Marshall presents an autobiographical theatre piece in Hold Mommy's Cigarette, her newest show directed by Linda Kash that opens at Alumnae Theatre tonight. Described as sharply intelligent, this funny and sometimes shocking performance features Marshall reenacting her rise from Hamilton street kid to world-touring comedian. The show contains adult content like all the best do. Visit www.holdmommyscigarette.com for ticket info.
Alumnae Theatre (70 Berkeley Street) 8PM $25
FILM | WIFT-T Short Film Showcase
Women In Film & Television Toronto present nine short films directed by or about women as part of their short film showcase, opening tonight. Taking place each spring, the showcase is a platform for filmmakers of all experience levels to screen their films that focus on the journeys of women. Films include Charlie Gauvin, Bent, Frost, and Yahrzeit, all screening at Deluxe Postproduction tonight. Check the WIFT-T website for ticket details.
Deluxe Postproduction Studios (424 Adelaide Street East) 6:30PM $15 members, $20 non-members
FILM | MONITOR 9: New South Asian Film + Video
Independent filmmakers screen films at MONITOR 9, programmer Nahed Mansour's video event that features artists exploring various mediascapes. Nine short films and videos will be screened by Canadian and international south Asian emerging filmmakers, such as Buy This, Ink, A Ripe Volcano and Coming Out, at Innis Town Hall tonight. A panel discussion with the programmer, Nahed Mansour, as well as Camilla Singh and Arthur Imperial, will follow the films, which are presented by South Asian Visual Arts Centre.
Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Avenue) 7:30PM $10 non-members, $5 students, free for SAVAC members
ART | Through the Looking Glass: Inside My Domestic Portrait
Artist Julius Poncelet Manapul constructs a domestic space around the fictional child Christian James, using collages that signify the artist's identity and his life with his husband in Through The Looking Glass: Inside My Domestic Portrait. Visitors of the exhibit interact with the child, who represents the harmony of identities, while piecing together the many components of the artist's life. The opening reception takes place at UTAC Gallery on the U of T campus tonight. The show runs until April 13th.
UTAC Gallery (15 King's College Circle) 6PM Free
ALSO OF NOTE:
MORE EVENTS THIS WEEK
For more Toronto event suggestions, check out these posts:
Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events calendar or contact us directly.
Still from Frost, screening at WIFT-T tonight
Nathan Phillips Square will get a Hero Burger after all. After a two-hour debate, city council voted 22-16 to put the homegrown hamburger outfit in the new concession stand building after a committee had earlier rejected the brand. The debate went on so long the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty were forced to return today to hear council discuss shelter beds.
Rob Ford's old high-school football coach Dave Price is his new "director of operations and logistics," a job the mayor's office is refusing to provide any details about. Price was also was also Doug Ford's campaign manager during his successful 2010 campaign. Should the mayor's office explain the role?
Speaking of Doug Ford and elections, the Etobicoke North rep says he'll run for the Ontario PCs at the next provincial vote. The party is apparently "thrilled" to have the older Ford on the ballot, though he hasn't started the nomination process. He'll have to quit city hall if an election is called before the next municipal election. Could Ford succeed at the provincial level?
Speaking to the Toronto Sun, Ford claimed he and his brother had saved the city over $1 billion since they were elected in 2010. Wait, what?
Churches located in heavy industrial areas will have to move now that a new bylaw has been approved by city council. Places of worship often seek properties on industrial lands for the cheap lower rent. 414 churches are located in industrial areas in Toronto, but it's not clear how many are on properties designated for heavy industry.
Charging road users a per-kilometre fee to use GTHA roads was one of the transit taxes pitched by Metrolinx earlier this week. A 3-cent fee, tallied up at the gas pump, could yield $1.9 billion a year for new transportation projects and improvements. The Star found out more about GPS tracked road tolls.
Hydro bills are likely to jump by around $3 a month now that the Ontario Energy Board is close to signing off on a $750-million spending plan to upgrade the city's aging electrical infrastructure. $184 million will go to building a new transformer on Bremner Blvd., just south of the Rogers Centre, the first to be built in the city for more than 50 years.
CONTEST
The Place Beyond the Pines was the hottest ticket at TIFF 2012 so we're excited to announce that we've teamed up with eOne Films to give you a chance to be at an exclusive advance screening of the film for blogTO readers only! This riveting new movie from the director of Blue Valentine is a sweeping emotional drama, powerfully exploring the unbreakable bond between fathers and sons.
View all the contest details here for a chance to win passes to the screening as well as prizes courtesy of TIFF, the Trump Toronto and STOCK Restaurant.
IN BRIEF:
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Image: Subjective Art/blogTO Flickr pool.
This Week in Film rounds up noteworthy new releases in theatres, rep cinema and avant-garde screenings, festivals, and other special cinema-related events happening in Toronto.
NEW RELEASES
Jurassic Park 3D (Scotiabank)
The Titanic 3D-ification that hit screens almost exactly a year ago to the day was apparently successful enough to warrant another blockbuster 'upgrade,' and I suspect there are many more where these came from. Perhaps Spielberg's most consistently thrilling film (it at least has the most jump scares), it's not much of a mystery as to why Jurassic Park is getting the post-conversion treatment. I'm not going to pretend I understand how older movies can even be adapted to 3D - at least with Pixar animations one can imagine them just adding another camera for the additional perspective - but whatever: giant prehistoric reptiles jumping out the screen into your face, ladies and gentlemen.
Also opening in theatres this week:
REP CINEMA
Intolerance (Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30PM; TIFF Bell Lightbox)
Inception, The Fountain, and Three Times - and that's just looking at the last eight years to find films whose structures were spawned from this, D.W. Griffith's greatest epic. Only a year after The Birth of a Nation raised a glass to slavery, Griffith toned down the (contemporarily accurate) hate and shifted his focus to a grander historical narrative, or rather, the way narratives never really change through time - only the superficial particulars do. In that sense, this may be one of the most damning inquiries into humanity ever attempted, all the more admirable because it does it without a surfeit of KKK propaganda.
More rep cinema this week:
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Brave New World: The Films of Barbara Hammer (April 4-7; TIFF Bell Lightbox)
As a preamble to the Images Festival kick-off next week, The Free Screen at TIFF Bell Lightbox offers an exciting, rare, and extensive retrospective of one of the most internationally well-known and pioneering female avant-garde filmmakers ever, Barbara Hammer. Highlights from her 45-year career are all represented, "from her very first Super 8 psychodramatic self-portraits, to her mid-eighties experiments with the abstract possibilities of the optical printer, to her later documentaries that attempt to trace a queer artistic lineage through the political and artistic turmoil of the early twentieth century." All six film programs are free, while a special performance of Witness: Palestine at Jackman Hall is $6.
Full schedule for Brave New World:
FILM FESTIVALS
Cinéfranco (April 5-14; The Royal)
Oh là là, etc., another year of Cinéfranco has arrived, bringing Toronto cinephiles local premieres of the hottest French films from the past year. While, based on this year's line-up, the past year doesn't seem to have been a particularly good one for the cinéma français, there is a trio carried over from last year's Cannes film festival that are all worth your time and money.
Camille Rewinds offers a clever twist on the tired 13 Going on 30 scenario; Les Invisibles is a poignant trip down memory lane for a handful of octogenarian gays and lesbians, recounting their experiences growing up in front of the camera; and Our Children is a brutally realistic drama about a woman who, along with her three children, suffers the consequences of having one too many domineering men in her life. Tickets ($12 Regular/$10 Students/$8 Under 18) are on sale now here.
TIFF Kids International Film Festival (April 9-21; TIFF Bell Lightbox)
TIFF Kids International Film Festival (formerly went by the name of Sprockets, but last year split into two - the other being TIFF Next Wave, which took place last February) offers a narrow scope of titles targetted at an age range from 3 year-olds to the early teens. The festival is the perfect cinematic relief to kick off the Summer break, and takes place entirely at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. A highlight in this year's festival - and one of the few titles that parents might end up enjoying more than their little ones - is Ernest & Celestine (see trailer above), a funny and moving tale of the relationship between a mouse and a bear. Regular ticket prices apply and can be purchased online or at the box office.
CONTEST
The Place Beyond the Pines was the hottest ticket at TIFF 2012 so we're excited to announce that we've teamed up with eOne Films to give you a chance to be at an exclusive advance screening of the film for blogTO readers only! This riveting new movie from the director of Blue Valentine is a sweeping emotional drama, powerfully exploring the unbreakable bond between fathers and sons.
View all the contest details here for a chance to win passes to the screening as well as prizes courtesy of TIFF, the Trump Toronto and STOCK Restaurant.
Lead still from Intolerance.
The Holt Renfrew Centre at 50 Bloor Street West is due for a serious makeover in the next couple of years. If developers get their way, the existing low-rise shopping centre will be renovated, expanded and topped by a gigantic residential tower so tall it could pip the Aura project under construction at Yonge and Gerrard as the tallest condo in the city.
The designs, recently chewed over by Toronto's Design Review Panel, call for a new 83-storey condo - five metres taller than Aura's projected height - and a totally reworked street-level facade. The familiar concrete edifice between Bay and Yonge streets will be radically altered by the addition of new retail space and other architectural embellishments, including large helpings of glass.
The DRP praised the design for its "jewel box" look and the glazed "portal" that would terminate Balmuto Street. The size of the building, while huge even compared to surrounding buildings, was considered appropriate for its location between two major intersections on a busy artery.
The panel felt the building fell short in its proximity to neighbouring towers and potential shadow impact on the Jesse Ketchum Schoolyard on Davenport Road (yep, it's that tall). There was also criticism of the "overly grand" vehicle loading area off Mayfair Mews and lack of a mid-block pedestrian connection between Bloor and Cumberland Street.
The exterior roof deck above the mixed-use podium will be publicly accessible but the DRP thought there needed to be a clearer way to access it from Bloor Street. In the end, the group voted unanimously for refinements, not a total overhaul of the design.
What do you think of the new look for Bloor between Bay and Yonge. Is this an appropriate place for what could be Toronto's tallest residential tower? Is this an improvement on the existing Holt Renfrew Centre?
VITAL STATS:
Projected height: 277 metres
Number of floors: 83
Podium height: 36 metres
Podium floors: 8
Total floor area: 111,660 square metres
Non-residential floor area: 41,080 square metres
Bloor Street facade length: 115 metres
Residential units: 600
Bachelor units: 75
1-bedroom units: 275
2-bedroom units: 200
3-bedroom units: 50
Parking spaces: 620 (below grade)
Bike spaces: 292 (8th floor)
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Images: Sweeny Sterling Finlayson & Co. Architects Inc.
Toronto Restaurant Openings highlights the latest restaurant openings and closings in Toronto and also gives a preview at some of the places coming soon. Find us here every Thursday morning.
OPEN NOW
COMING SOON
CLOSING
Have you seen restaurants opening or closing in your neighbourhood? Email tips to liora@blogto.com
Photo of Sean Riehl from Seven Lives
