Rocket Talk: Can Sunday Subway Service Start Sooner?
Newsstand: November 19, 2009
Gender Studies Coming to a High School Near You
Please Insert Station and Try Again
The Art of Not Knowing
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.
Eugene Levy? Comedy genius—love him.
Samuel L. Jackson? Ultimate badass and a Raptors fan—love him.
The Man, starring this dynamic duo? Unbearable shite. This is a film that scored a stunningly low 11% on Rotten Tomatoes, and you should really take a moment to appreciate how we at Reel Toronto must often suffer for our art.
It's our second straight Toronto-as-Detroit flick, and, once again, the effort is rather pathetic. This is a film, after all, that peaks with fart jokes.
Most of this "film" involves Sam Jackson driving Levy around downtown Toronto, crossing far more locations than we can list. Really, just look up the financial district on Google Maps and you get the idea.
Richmond Street gets enough of a workout they must have spent a week driving up and down its length. Here, for example, is a grand comic scene where Levy is shown clearly with the Fisherman's Wharf restaurant behind him.
And here's a car blazing along through the Entertainment District.
Still haven't got your Richmond fix? Here they are outside the Cambridge Suites, just east of Yonge.
Yeah, there's lots of cars driving around "Detroit." Why, here's one cruising along under the Gardiner...
...and by the ACC.
And here's one driving down Yonge, past Temperance Street.
But that's all chicken feed. They couldn't even pull some stock film of Detroit's skyline, based on this shot...
...or this one. Oh well, at least there's no CN Tower.
What about Toronto's garbage cans? Do they use these in Detroit? Are things so bad in Hollywood, was the budget so fricking tight they couldn't take the time to turn the bin around before shooting?
Thankfully, they do go inside, from time to time. Even more thankfully, they visit our old friend, the Distillery District. This eatery is actually Pure Spirits.
Our two heroes have a bite at this diner, actually the oft-filmed Kingsbrae Diner on King Street.
Finally we get to a closing scene, full of tearful goodbyes and body cavity–search jokes. It takes place at an airport, but it's actually the Direct Energy Trade Centre at the Ex. And then the movie ends, and not a moment too soon.
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I saw them filming this one. What I saw was Samuel L. Jackson in a car, on a well lit trailer, being towed down Richmond while being filmed.
Unfortunately those few seconds were better than the entire movie.
How'd you figure out the diner?
Mr. Meslin - One of the secrets of Reel Toronto is educational guesswork.
The city has a list of locations used by most films though the list is often incomplete, sometimes vague, and never says what scene was shot where. Still, it's better than a stick in the eye.
(e.g. The Pure Spirits resto is only listed as "Gooderham & Worts." I had to recognize the brickwork myself and then Google pics of all the restos there to figure out which one it was.)
In this case, the city notes scenes were shot at the Kingsbrae Diner and the "Metropolitan Diner" - the latter does not seem to exist even though I have screencaps of an early scene at what seems to be its location (as the "Midtown Diner") on Victoria Street.
It was vague enough to leave out of the article and to gamble that the diner here is Kingsbrae.
Sadly, Reel Toronto is not infallible but hopefully you've enjoyed this insight into the work in which our, um, team of researchers are regularly engaged. Or maybe it's way more information than you wanted. Shrug.
You can almost always count on the Kingsbrae to be "The Diner" in almost any movie shot in Toronto it seems.
As far as I know, it's not even open anymore, but has a sign adorning the front door which reads something along the lines of: If you'd like to rent this space for a film call...
I'm pretty sure filming was the only thing keeping that place in business. The food was disgusting.