Results tagged “davinci”

In this piece in yesterday's Globe, Ivor Tossell waxes intellectual on the cultural wasteland that is Wikipedia. He explains "wikigroaning," the phenomenon experienced by self-righteous smartypantses like himself upon finding that one topic, "useless to everyone but a small coterie of fans," has a longer Wikipedia entry than another topic of "genuine historical relevance." His first example: that Lost character John Locke has a longer entry than the philosopher John Locke. And it’s all the fault of those pesky "crowdsourcing enthusiasts who tell us that in the 21st century, everything is better written by amateurs or crowds."

It is often said that the best way to predict the future is to invent it. This is precisely what Jacque Fresco has been urging humankind to do. Industrial designer, engineer, inventor and artist, Fresco is often described as a modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci. Encouraging society and government to envision a world where we use our collective energies to create buildings and cityscapes that benefit the greatest number of people on a global scale, Fresco's ideas may literally save the planet.

It was only inevitable; indeed, they would say we asked for it. The Secret, the latest in a long line of mega-selling self-help phenomena, is on its way to Toronto. Several "teachers" featured in the original film and the subsequent book will be holding forth on April 14th and 15th at the Westin Harbour Castle. The promotional literature is distinguished by its modest proposal: "The Secret to everything—the secret to life filled with joy, good health, financial freedom, loving relationships, abundant energy, youth: everything you ever wanted." Profundity and provocation are sure to be the order of the day.

Torontoist is looking for some answers about last night's lunar eclipse.

So last night was the Oscars: Ellen DeGeneres was surprisingly enjoyable; there were not many upsets except perhaps The Departed for Best Picture (really?); Canada only won one award, Best Animated Short for The Danish Poet; Gwyneth Paltrow resembled a giant prawn. And not in a good way.

The publicity around Death Of A President is much better than the film itself, and this is what's generating the latest buzz: it's an ad for the faux-documentary that both our national newspapers declined to run. According to an article in today's Star, a modified version of the ad will run in that paper which will clearly indicate that it's a theatrical release. CanWest says that their ten other major dailies also rejected the ad. The Globe has yet to make an official comment, but the ad is allegedly against their editorial policy.

Normally we don't like billboards but this one has a bit of charm and moxie so we'll tolerate it for now. It's an ad for an Audiobook store in downtown Toronto that uses George W. Bush in their ads. While some of us may quibble that listening to the Da Vinci Code on CD is hardly reading still it's better than nothing.

Now this Torontoist isn't big on movies. For me, they have to have a point and be pretty good... and doesn't qualify as either. Short films, on the other hand, get to the point. It's all in the editing... a craft Hollywood has lost long ago.

Wanna welcome summer with a tickle of the funny bone? Check out Second City's Da Tory Code, their political CanCon version of The Da Vinci Code, this Sunday May 28th at 4pm, 51 Mercer St.

Well, though he’s been away, this Torontoist certainly missed Toronto. And his feet are a size 11 Ron but nice try. But honestly folks, what has happened to our town since we’ve been gone? The Royal, the Revue, and the Kingsway closing down? Are you kidding us? This is a serious problem. Not only is it probably going to kill off (or at least make it difficult for) many of the small festivals that make this a continually interesting city to live in as a movie goer, it’s also going to basically make Kung Fu Friday, which was moved from the Royal to the Revue a while back and recently has been very well attended, completely unviable.

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We here at Torontoist thought we’d try out a new weekly feature listing the best (and worst) films to be hitting Toronto’s screens in the following week, as a city which features both multiplexes, second run theatres and blessed with several vintage single screen movie houses, there’s a lot that can be missed.

Last night, before catching the opening night of Darren O'Donnell's A Suicide-Site Guide to the City at Buddies in Bad Times, Torontoist stopped in Kathmandu (417 Yonge St., 416 924 5787) for a little Indian/Nepalese pre-theatre dining.