It’s too bad that the continental buffet spread at TIFF’s annual kick-off press conference is no real barometer for measuring the quality of the festival itself. Lined with thermoses of Starbucks coffee, danishes, sliced fruit, yogurt, and granola cups, and these delicious little bite-size bagel thingies crammed with smoked salmon and cream cheese, not to mention three whole kinds of fruit juice, this morning’s TIFF 2011 announcement spoke to the attention to detail TIFF puts into just about every facet of their operations. And when all the bagel dough, lox, and blueberry smoothie silt had settled, there were the films. Yes, the films. Because this is a film festival, dammit!

Following the build-up all throughout last week—from the stars, to the fashion, to the films, but mostly the stars—Bollywood's gods and goddesses finally descended upon Toronto en masse on Saturday evening (and some of Sunday morning) for the 2011 International Indian Film Academy Awards.

Illustration by Sasha Plotnikova/Torontoist. A veteran of the Toronto theatre scene, playwright and producer trey anthony is best known for turning her one-woman play ‘Da Kink in my Hair into an international success story, selling out the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, as well as shows in London (U.K.) and San Diego. She has [...]

The Falconer report on violence in Toronto schools talks of a “culture of fear,” saying that many students bring weapons to school, and many crimes go unreported. Some of the basic recommendations to fix things include more social workers and after-school basketball, fewer suspensions, more diverse teaching staff, and gun-sniffing springer spaniels to roam the [...]

Repo! The Genetic Opera!––the upcoming musical about an organ donor program that goes horribly horribly wrong––is (surprise!) filming in Toronto. Though there are a bunch of other half-decent actors in the film, Repo! is most notable for its star: Paris Hilton. Sooooo…yeah. That’s something. Anyway, the production is looking for about 200 unpaid extras (men [...]

Photo by smlgphotos. Beware, Toronto. The Celebrities walk among us. There are only three days left before the horde returns to their L.A. mansions and the pages of US Magazine, so enjoy them while they’re in town. We’re featuring the best celeb photos from our Flickr Pool in our ongoing coverage of TIFF 2007. Photo [...]

Did you know that 26% of Ontarians believe in creationism? 42% of Canadians think dinosaurs and humans coexisted on earth. Check out these fun stats from a recent Angus Reid poll. Dalton McGuinty is launching a $650 million fund which will offer grants to Ontario automotive companies that build clean energy power generators. The goal? [...]

Yahoo! just released a new entertainment blog/website-thing called omg!. The enthusiastic exclamation-pointed acronymic name—and pink-on-black elements of its colour scheme—should be familiar for anyone who’s ever read Toronto-based celebrity/entertainment/queer blog !! omg blog !!. Now, Frank from omg blog is accusing Yahoo of ripping him off. The argument is not without merit: as Frank says [...]

You can’t make this shit up. This morning at a press conference, Diamond Estates Wines and Spirits Ltd. announced their plans to build a $12-million, 45,000 square-foot Dan Aykroyd Winery, just off the QEW in Beamsville, Ontario. Done by Moriyama + Teshima Architects, the winery “will pay tribute to the region’s terroir and to Dan [...]

Conservative finance monkey Jim Flaherty on the budget: “We chose to support hard-working families.” The budget has won favour with the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois, saving Stephen Harper from a dangerous early election. Flaherty recommended that Toronto “be prudent in their budgeting“, dismissing David Miller‘s One Cent Now and transit plans. Ontario schools will [...]

The CBC points out that three people were murdered in a matter of hours this Sunday. First, a man was run over and then hacked to death by machete. Second, a 22-year old man was found by his parents in their backyard. Third, a man was found shot in the head in a Parkdale rooming [...]