Torontoist » videos

A Cinematic Tribute to the Cumberland Four

A local filmmaker pays homage to the fallen multiplex.

When the Cumberland Four Cinemas closed down for good on Sunday with very little fanfare and almost no warning (apparently to make way for an upscale coffee retailer) it seemed an ignominious end for a multiplex that has served Yorkville for more than three decades. Some have tried to eulogize the place, but none so [...]

A Musical Shopping List, For Doug Ford

During an appearance on CBC’s Metro Morning on Tuesday, Councillor Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) discussed his ideas for Toronto’s Port Lands, which revolve around building a giant Ferris wheel, a monorail, and, crucially, a “mega mall,” with “a Nordstrom’s, a Bloomingdale’s, and a Macy’s.” Metro Morning host Matt Galloway asked Ford why Toronto [...]

Sound Tracks: “Breaking Past the Day” by Mantler

Mantler, also known as Chris A. Cummings, has been a low-key fixture on the Toronto scene for more than 10 years. What started out as a solo bedroom-recording project blossomed into a full-out, laid-back synth-pop recording party on his 2010 release, Monody, featuring guests such as Sandro Perri, Ohbijou's Anissa Hart, and Owen Pallett, as well as the Junior Boys' Jeremy Greenspan, who not only played on but produced the album at his Pistachio Studio in Hamilton.

Getting to Know St. James Town

UforChange is an arts training program, a pilot project aimed at supporting youth in St. James Town. The vertical neighbourhood—it consists of 19 apartment towers—is the most densely populated in the country, and is many new immigrants’ first home in Canada. (It’s been estimated that more than 85 per cent of St. James Town’s elementary [...]

Improv in Toronto, Dancing on the Subway Once More

There are many interesting tests of a person's character. Do you take the last cookie without offering to split it? Put the milk back in the fridge with just half a sip left? Help old ladies across the street?

Video Surfaces of Kissing Vancouver Couple, Evokes Storming G20 Police

Top: a video which surfaced today, showing the scene and police activity immediately prior to the now-famous kiss a couple shared in the midst of Vancouver’s post–Stanley Cup rioting. Bottom: footage of the equally infamous kettling of G20 protesters that took place at Queen and Spadina almost one year ago today. The two feel eerily [...]

The Topsy-Turvy World of Toronto Subways

A trip on a Toronto subway is more often than not a sedate experience. With the exception of eccentric fellow passengers, and the occasional break provided by station buskers livening up the morning commute, it's typically a lackadaisical, mundane affair.

Feel Better About all the Grey: Amazing Timelapse of the Fog

Shot from a 27th floor balcony near Queensway and Windermere (and first discovered on Reddit), this is perhaps the best timelapse of fog rolling across—and out—of Toronto that we’ve seen. We miss the sunshine as much as anyone, but at least this kind of pretty helps take the edge off. Stay dry, Toronto.

Sound Tracks: “Really Want It” by the Meligrove Band

Believe it or not, music videos still exist. Sound Tracks trolls the internet to find the best and the worst of local artists’ new singles and the good, bad, or otherwise noteworthy visuals that accompany them. The new Meligrove Band video is the latest piece of work from funny guy directors the Cobourg Boys, who [...]

Toronto Photographer Donald Weber in Japan

Toronto-based photograph Donald Weber is perhaps best known for his work documenting life in Eastern Europe, particularly in Chernobyl as it still struggles to recover from the disastrous 1986 nuclear accident. More recently, he travelled to Japan to see how that country is contending with its own nuclear disaster, at the Fukushima power plant. To [...]

Graffiti Artists on Tags, Murals, and Rob Ford

“There’s pieces on the street that have been there for 20+ years. [Rob Ford's] not really aware of how much that might’ve meant… That stuff has its history. It’s a part of Toronto, a part of Toronto’s history.” “Nobody really understands what his definition of graffiti really is. So there is a lot of concern [...]

Sound Tracks: “The Great Elsewhere” by Owen Pallett

Believe it or not, music videos still exist. Sound Tracks trolls the internet to find the best and the worst of local artists’ new singles and the good, bad, or otherwise noteworthy visuals that accompany them. It’s been over a year since Owen Pallett’s own-name-reclaiming album, the sprawling Heartland was released, but a new video [...]