The big news this week involves a beloved elder statesman of cinema, whose name begins with R, that is finally reappearing after a heartbreaking absence and an uncertain future. We talk, of course, about the return of, yes… Rocky Balboa!

Who can’t wait, huh? Rocky! In what is essentially Rocky VI! He’s going to like, slur incoherently, punch big bits of meat, look confused, and probably get a total doing off his opponent! Opens this Wednesday!

Oh, wait, you thought we were talking about the Royal?

Perhaps that was a bit of an unfair fake out, we agree. We’re actually dead glad that Theatre D are reopening it, tonight, with Monkey Warfare at 7pm and 9:30pm. The Royal, in case you forgot, is situated at 608 College St. And listen, whether we like the film they’re showing or not, we urge you to go out and show your support for the cinema. It’s just nice to have it back.

And it’s perhaps nice to have more healthy competition in the city. Of course, the competiton is already pretty healthy, with Cinematheque Ontario revealing their winter season, which starts January 12th. Obviously they have their Canada’s Top Ten programme, but there’s also surprising films such as Lars Von Trier’s latest, The Boss of it All, with cinematography from a computer set on “random” (seriously), and, amazingly, a retrospective of Russian sci-fi. Excellent!

Anyway, this week! Films released include The Good German, The Pursuit of Happyness [sic], Snow Cake, Cheech, Eragon and Charlotte’s Web, but as it’s the festive season it’s more worth noting that the Bloor is showing White Christmas on Monday and Tuesday at 4:30pm, and the Fox is showing It’s a Wonderful Life on Tuesday at 7pm.

Plus, did we mention? The Royal reopens tonight!