Results tagged “deirdreswain”

ARR! Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End hits this week and as the third second sequel to hit this summer it’s got some stiff competition. Nice to see though that they’ve made sure it beats Spider-Man 3 in at least one respect, in that at 2 hours and 47 minutes long, it’s a good half hour longer. It’s nearly as long as Inland Empire (which is finished at the Royal now, so we promise we won’t mention it again) and apparently, almost as confusing. Reviewers have mostly come to the conclusion that they didn’t have a clue what was going on, but we think NOW’s Deirdre Swain put it most eloquently: “It would take the sharpest sword in the armoury to cut through this sailor's knot of a plot; I couldn't explain it if I wanted to.”

“What’s going on this week in cinema, Torontoist?” you might be asking, as you normally would when faced with another Film Friday column. “Well,” we'll respond, “If you want to know what is hot, you only have to look at a couple of earlier posts this week.”

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.

So it’s Christmas next week, which means, as per usual, not very much going on in terms of independent cinema in Toronto but shed loads of films shoved out in the multiplexes to get that much sought after cash of people who want to sit in a darkened room. Ironically, of course, all of the festive films came out in about September so they could bleed as much cash out of them as possible, so there’s really very little Christmassy (or Chanukahey, or Kwanzaey) on, unless we count the Bloor showing It's A Wonderful Life at 7 pm tonight (it’s a free screening for members, too).

Can you believe that Unaccompanied Minors features three out of five Kids in the Hall? Neither can we! Or that the film is directed by Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig and features lots of other excellent folks such as The Office’s BJ Novak. We can still believe it sucks, though. Which, apparently, it does. Called “a generally lousy movie” by Now’s Deirdre Swain, she notes, oddly, that Tyler James Williams is a “particular standout, as uncomfortable as it is to see the black kid turned into a clown.”

Though hot hot Toronto didn't net that sidebar Spin Magazine contemplated devoting to our burgeoning 'scene,' we still exist. Testament to our existence, and the swirling events of the city that cater to said existence, are lots of new websites devoted to talking about Toronto, all things Toronto. One such new kid on the block is BlogTO, which looks like it's shaping up to have a nice mix of this, that, and, of course, the other. NOW writers Catharine Farquharson and Deirdre Swain are listed contributors, and the site will have arts, fashion and multiculturalism posts, as well as podcasts. TOist likes the tagline 'Cuz We Don't Live in Tokyo or L.A.,' though we sometimes wish we did. Meantime, we'll settle for reading about cool things happening on our humble turf.