Torontoist Environment Editor Chris Tindal is currently engaged in a federal by-election campaign. This weekly column is an attempt to offer a behind the scenes glimpse into what it's like to be that mysterious Other: a politician. This is my last Campaign Confidential before E-day, yet I'm hesitant to pen any "final thoughts" knowing how much can happen in the final week of a campaign. It's been a bit of a strange campaign. On the......

Photo by sevennine from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. In the 1996 Canadian movie Kissed, a young female mortician discovers the joys of necrophilia. That same year, David Cronenberg made Crash, wherein a group of omnisexual urbanites eroticize car accidents. In Léolo, a 12-year-old boy masturbates with a chunk of liver, later served to his family for dinner. This spring's Young People Fucking is, well, called Young People Fucking. Canadians have traditionally been somewhat blasé......

Detail of photo by the Frankfurt School from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.. This week is Freedom to Read Week, a national event that encourages Canadians to value their right to choose what they read, and to recognize the individuals who fight to protect that right. Celebrations against censorship are happening across the country—locally PEN Canada is presenting an evening of readings and performances to promote a new anthology, Writers Under Siege: Voices of Freedom......

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. Pawn shops, weird strip clubs, eavesdropping traumatized accountants—Queen East has it all. Just because Toronto is capable of playing nearly any......

The good news: tonight, there are three great literary events happening in our fair city. The bad news: you’re going to have to choose. Mark Truscott’s Test Reading Series presents Reg Johanson and Jordan Scott at Mercer Union, A Centre for Contemporary Art (37 Lisgar Street) tonight at 7:30 p.m. Reg Johanson has traveled from East Vancouver for tonight’s performance. His first book, Courage, My Love was published by Line Books last year. Reg’s critical......

The University of Toronto really seems to be getting as much as it can out of its relationship with Atom Egoyan. The Canadian film auteur, currently in the first year of his three-year term as the Dean's Distinguished Visitor in Theatre, Film, Music and Visual Arts, will be giving a free lecture at Innis Town Hall tonight (Wednesday, April 11) where he will screen a selection of his short films and discuss "the appeals and......

Let’s start with something everyone likes: free films! Yes, the U of T’s Cinema Studies Student Union has revealed the new Free Friday Films line-up, starting tonight with Atom Egoyan’s Exotica. Next week is Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and Feb. 23 features a Cult Night triple-bill, with Monster Squad, The Brood, and The Human Tornado all showing. Screenings are at Innis College Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave. Also screening at the Innis......

The Sweet Hereafter. Exotica. Ararat. Where The Truth Lies. What is the link that ties all these films together? Atom Egoyan, of course. If you consider yourself a cinephile, an Atom Egoyan fan, a lover of Canadian cinema, or all of the above, then we'd suggest that tomorrow night - January 18 - you make your way over to Camera (1028 Queen W) for the launch of a new book: Image and Territory: Essays on......

Sheila Heti (pictured here hiding behind this chair) is one of the many artists invited by the Music Gallery for its fundraiser "Compose Yourself." Heti, along with filmmaker Atom Egoyan, philosopher Mark Kingwell, minor media mogul Moses Znaimer, and haircut facilitator Darren O'Donnell will come with compositions or ideas for compositions that will be played by an improvisational supergroup. The concert starts at 8pm and is $25.......

We know, we know; you’re bloody sick of reading about films. But the frank fact is that films continue to be released, and, well, you might still want to go and see them in the next week. Quite a lot of stuff has come out, after all! Top of the list has to be Michel Gondry’s latest, The Science of Sleep. We (and most others) really liked Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, his previous......

Chief Bill Blair points out that gun crime in the city is down this year. He feels that increased policing, cooperation from the community and a specialized anti-gun task force have put the pinch on gun crime. With a month left in the summer we hope he doesn't jinx us. Maybe the reason why gun crime is down is because people prefer to get behind the wheel of their SUVs, minivans and sedans and run......

We know it's hot out there. It's so hot that last night was on record as the hottest night in Toronto ever. According to electricity companies we were just shy of the power record yesterday so keep up the good work everyone, don't do stupid things like blast your air conditioner and open your windows. Heck, try to avoid the A/C all together. A Coffee Time in Scarborough was trashed and robbed by rowdy......

With all your usual movie news outlets having gone crazy for Sundance, here at Torontoist we’ve gone crazy for C.R.A.Z.Y, Jean-Marc Vallee’s coming-of-age-when-you’re-gay- and-you-think-your-dad-is awesome-but- won’t-be-down-with-that flick, being shown tonight as part of Cinematheque Ontario’s Canada’s Top Ten programme (8:45pm, Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas West). The showing is preceded at 6:30pm by a fascinating panel – Pop Culture as History/History as Pop Culture, featuring Atom Egoyan (of Canada’s Top Ten......

This week in film we come to you first of all with news from the last week in film (uh…) Most of which we slightly embarrassingly forgot to mention, as it’s all good stuff. First up, if you happen to know any filmmakers (or budding ones) who are also children somewhere between grade 3 and 12, submissions for this coming April’s Jump Cuts Young Filmmakers’ Showcase, part of the Sprockets Children's Film Festival, are......

Descanter Mark sends us this post about the literary mag's swish fundraiser tonight: Descant Magazine has been bringing out the literary noise for the past 36 years with a commitment to publishing new and emerging writers, and visual artists, alongside such established names as Barbara Gowdy, Alberto Manguel and Edward Burtynsky. And now Descant is throwing a party to celebrate its writers and readers. The Descant Book Ball 2 takes place TONIGHT at Sorauren Studios......

Individual tickets for shows at the festival go on sale today, and Torontoist will admit that we’re a little behind on our TIFF programme previews (who puts a festival straight after Labour Day, eh?) So we’re going to speed it up a bit, with coverage of the ‘big’ films – the Galas and Masters today and we’ll clear up the rest over the next couple of days. If you seriously fancy any of the......

We crawled Queen West alongside Atom Egoyan and the Missus this weekend. In a gallery, they seemed not too interested in Mr. Nobody, and quite a bit interested in a stunning red painting. Only moments later our friend pointed out Sheila Heti and the Mr. And only a bit earlier in the weekend we'd seen our favourite Aunties & Uncles waiter eating at Kalendar. Is that allowed?......

Most philanthropic organizations have jumped on the rubber band-wagon started by a certain cancer-beating, Tour de France winning, Sherryl Crow dating cyclist Cash strapped arts organizations have decided to opt out of the rubber band craze and gone another route. The e-bay auction. With over 5000 charities registered to sell everything from power lunches with Warren Buffett to stamps from Sierra Leone the E-bay auction isn't a bad idea. Brick Magazine, one of the best......