Newsstand: November 23, 2009
The Making of a Medley
The Daily Photoist: November 23, 2009
Televisualist: A Kinder, Gentler Televisualist
Transit City and Transit Cities
Toronto's extensive work on the silver screen reveals that, while we have the chameleonic ability to look like anywhere from New York City to Moscow, the disguise doesn't always hold up to scrutiny. Reel Toronto revels in digging up and displaying the films that attempt to mask, hide, or—in rare cases—proudly display our city.
We darn near didn’t know what the heck to make of Shoot 'Em Up. Here’s a movie that’s basically an absurd, over-the-top action movie that seems to have a sense of humour about itself. So, is it an ironic send-up of such films or could they just not figure out what they were really going for? We’re still not sure, even though it starts with a dude killing another dude with a carrot.
Equally baffling is the movie taking place in the worst-disguised Toronto we’ve seen this side of Short Circuit 2.
You want obvious street signs? We’ve got those, as in this chase along Adelaide.
You want to see skyline shots that make virtually no effort whatsoever to hide that their generic American city is actually Toronto? How about this one, from over the portlands, with a clearly visible Redpath Sugar and Jarvis Street Loblaws…
…and this one, from near the convention centre.
Oh well, you say, at least they didn’t make the cardinal sin of showing the CN Tower, right? Well, how about this!?
And this!
We tend to go on and on about how much they shoot films in the Distillery District, but under the Gardiner is pretty common too. We know we saw it in The Incredible Hulk and Blues Brothers 2000, and here it is again…
...and again, by Cherry Street, apparently.
Did they make ANY effort at all to pretend this wasn’t Toronto? Well, they did disguise the Ricoh Coliseum as a “Miltary Annex.”
And this? We’re just throwing this in because we love Paul Giamatti, and so you know about what level of humour this flick’s operating at. Quelle disappointment.
We're not asking for the moon, Hollywood! All we're saying is if you're going to shoot here and show the city, and it's taking place in some generic place anyway, why not just set the darned thing in Toronto? Must we be forced to live with The Love Guru as the sole example of what we're talking about? Surely you owe us a solid after all the TV movies we've given you!
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One of my favourite movies because it's so over the top and senseless. Now I have an excuse to watch it again without my wife giving me the "look". It's my own brand of "city-patriotism".
This film is so silly - but very enjoyable. Clive Owen does a great line in protecting baby movies. Also McHattie is ace in it.
I don't remember what city it was supposed to be set it, so I'm going to pretend it was meant to be Toronto.
Wow, I cant believe somebody actually enjoyed this film.
Clive Owen, the best worst actor ever, I love the guy but he has the worst agent - each movie he act's in is a little worse than the last one.
If you want to see a good Clive Owen flick, I strongly recommend Children of Men (2006).
Shoot Em Up wasn't even cheesy funny, it was total garbage and I felt bad for the actors as it seemed the whole thing was contrived and forced. What else can you expect from the director of Double Dragon, Prehysteria! 2 and Prehysteria! 3.
I didn't like Children of Men. Gruff, world-weary white man with a heart of gold rescues initially feisty, ultimately helpless black girl, pausing momentarily to douse the film in Christ imagery (barn scene, anyone? that scene which got inexplicably expanded into a whole movie, the rest of which was substanceless?) in which she, despite being modest, decides to strip and hold one hand beautifully over her breasts instead of just showing her belly or saying "I'm pregnant. Yeah, motherfucker. Pregnant." You spend an hour watching them run through a dystopia in which it's been decades of dystopia but all the characters keep discussing how dystopic it is, and of course there's the requisite scene where Mr. Heart of Gold breaks down and weeps and we get to marvel at what a great actor Clive Owen is, how well he plays that typecast role of the charismatic, clever, swaggering dude in a long coat who occasionally (once per film) shows some emotion and reveals his love for The One That Got Away. Either I've seen a lot of movies like this, or that was the kind of movie that makes me think I have.
That said, Shoot Em Up wasn't an improvement.
I guess I just hate Clive Owen, same as I hate Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp. They're all totally serviceable actors who keep choosing roles that sell out their characters just for a little irony and cleverness.
Haha, blasphemy!! (I thought CoM was overrated as well, but I can't tell people because they just think I'm trolling.)
At least Shoot Em Up wasn't pretending to be serious and deep. The FUK U TOO scene was hilarious.
The honeymoon is over montauk; CoM is my favourite movie.
Uh oh. Now our love is forbidden.
Don't Die Edgar!
Also speaking of Edgar and his Bloor picks would The Brood or Last Night not count?
Totally unrelated, but I JUST WATCHED THE TRAILER FOR THE MOVIE "ORPHAN" AND I RECOGNIZED THAT WOODEN PARK IN HIGH PARK AND I DID IT WITH NO HELP FROM TORONTOIST! Never had one of those "Reel Toronto" moments before unassisted. Feel very proud even though it was an easy one.