Results tagged “games”

Is anyone else disappointed that the dystopian future promised in 1980s films isn’t here? If there’s one thing we’ve learned here at Torontoist, is that en masse, humans are terrible at predicting our future. It’s always so much more mundane than we expect it to be. The perfect example being The Running Man.

We managed to see Cloverfield a few weeks ago, and with the release of Diary of the Dead (above) this week, we have to say it's rather timely to discuss our opinion of it. As tired as this quote is, there's really no better way to describe Cloverfield than to take from Macbeth's famous soliloquy: "Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Today launched Dear Toronto, a new independent videoblog site by Adam Schwabe, Ryan Couldrey, and Rebecca Black. The trio had previously collaborated at BlogTO, but recently decided to branch out on their own to focus on strictly video-based content.

Attention basement dwellers: on Wednesday, February 6, OCAD is hosting a free presentation by SWEAT, a collaboration of game designers, programmers, and artists dedicated to bringing socially aware video games to the general public. SWEAT has already produced games like Crosser, a Frogger-esque game about illegal crossing at the US/Mexico border, and is currently developing Juan & the Beanstalk, a game about the societal effects of illegal drug production in Colombia.

Unless you're just coming off a three-day bender, you already know that Australian actor Heath Ledger died in New York yesterday, an event covered by the media with the familiar dead celebrity combination of prurience and gravitas. Still, he was good at what he did and he had a little girl and it's sad.

After decades of being situated as an icon of Queen Street West, it has been revealed that Citytv will be moving to a new high-profile location: Dundas Square.

Fan Expo is awesome. As awesome as anticipated by Torontoist late last week. Sure, the food is expensive, a bunch of the guests cancelled last minute, and Hobby Star is a huge corporate bully, but that doesn’t change the fact that Torontoist came within spitting distance of Adam West this weekend. In this three-day celebration of all things geeky, the biggest winner in the comics vs. sci-fi vs. horror vs. anime vs. video games battle appeared to be… video games! Playing host to the Toronto stop of the World Series of Video Games, Fan Expo delivered non-stop excitement during which those who still live in their parents’ basements were pitted against each other in intense competitions akin to sporting events. Watching Guitar Hero II champions from across North America rip through a video game edit of "Freebird" while a few hundred people cheered in encouragement ranks as one of the strangest things Torontoist may have ever seen. Also, Battle Royale shirts. They’re amazing, but why does everyone suddenly have one?

Let's be real, folks. It might be a while until we host the actual Olympics. So clear your calendars August 24–26 and join an estimated 50,000 guests that will be attending the next best thing: the World Cyber Games Canada Championships being held right here in our very own Toronto. Two hundred professional gamers will compete for cash prizes and the chance to represent Team Canada in the WCG Grand Final in Seattle next October. The Grand Final is apparently known as "the video gaming equivalent of the Olympics," which would make the Canada Championships kind of a big deal.

The second annual Canadian Redneck Games will be held this Saturday in Minto, Ontario. The Games came about after the residents of Minto decided to combat their image problem and rev up tourism by reclaiming the pejorative term "redneck" and giving it new meaning. According to the Canadian Redneck Games website, a Canadian redneck is someone who "lives in a rural area," "works hard for their money," and "likes to have a good time." And the Games play on every redneck stereotype you've heard. For $5, you can get down and dirty with a mud pit belly flop contest (good luck beating D/'Wayne over here), an armpit serenade, and bobbing for pigs feet.

The first time Torontoist encountered Dave Meslin was at the August 2004 Trampoline Hall at the AGO's Walker Court. Ostensibly speaking about "Drinking Games," Mez instead develivered a speech about his first experiences with alcohol, the hegemony of mixed drinks, and the backwardness of the cup half-empty, half-full metaphor. It was one of the most spectacular things we have ever heard.

It seems like, all across the network, folks were up to no good. Maybe it was all the green beer from last weekend...

The International Readings at Harbourfront Centre unveiled the line-up for their 2007 winter season yesterday. A horde of authors, journalists and poets – some established and some intriguing young talent – will be coming to Toronto over the next few weeks. Book nerds, grab your pens and mark these dates down on your calendars.

Once a month Torontoist would like to encourage you to drag yourself off the couch and across the room to that nice, comfy swivel chair in front of your computer, to experience something from the wonderful world of streaming. Anyone who's visited YouTube or eBaum's World knows how gratifying watching two Asian kids lipsynch to Jessica Simpson can be! So in the interest of expanding your horizons (or at least giving you some way to kill time at the office without actually having to do any work), we'll find some interesting, funny, or just plain stupid and entertaining way to amuse yourself with your computer (without the need for pornography).

Today's cover story in the Star reminded Torontonians of something that is easy to forget: many of us are subjects of the Queen and even certain modern, western democracies like Canada still have a monarchy to gossip about.

If you're like most casual observers, you may not have noticed that Rollerblading (the trick-heavy variety sometimes known as 'aggressive in-line skating' to non-participants) is action sport's (sometimes known as 'extreme sport' to non-participants) latest Cinderella story in progress. It had it's moment at the ball at the X-Games back in '96-'97, but quickly turned back into a pumpkin and took root again underground, where it's been re-honing its skills and its image for the last decade.

The fridge is empty. The sink is overflowing with dirty dishes. The counter is encrusted with a layer of food grime. Adventuring into the kitchen is a frightening experience. It’s a miracle that the rodents and roaches aren’t in sight. When you’re busy and famished and uninterested in doing household chores and too lazy to go outside, ordering pizza is a wise decision.

It’s an interesting and potentially important time for English language Canadian filmmakers, with several Canadian films managing to reach cult hit status, such as It’s All Gone Pete Tong and The Life And Hard Time of Guy Terrifico. With only five percent of movies seen by Canadians made by Canadians (according to the program guide) and the writer of It’s All Gone Pete Tong Michael Dowse expressing a wish for Canadian content quotas for cinemas as well as TV and radio, the 3rd annual Canadian Filmmaker’s Fest, held with the support of he Toronto Film Festival Group's Film Circuit, is timely.

Canada wins gold in curling!

The Oscars are next weekend! And much like the fact that most people will skim over, or simply ignore the categories that don’t interest them, Torontoist is going to have to admit defeat to mentioning every single film out each week, particularly on a week like this one, with something like 12 new releases in the city this week. We mean, honestly. Some of it just isn’t worth reporting. Does anyone need to be told that Meda’s Family Reunion is clearly a pile of old ladies’ pants? That Spymate stars a monkey and is unlikely to interest anyone with an IQ higher than that of it’s star? That Doogal is an astoundingly inappropriate localisation of a beloved British children’s television classic, The Magic Roundabout, and should be ignored by everyone in the name of good taste? (Even if Jon Stewart is in it?)

Happy New Year, film fans! Or, perhaps, not. For we’ve slammed like so much booze filled new year vomit upon the tarmac of the post-Christmas lull, in which basically nothing of interest is released in any format. Certainly this week fans of more high brow cinema will have to hang on like those last few drips of chunky bile saliva for Cinematheque Ontario’s winter programme, starting on January 13th, which we’ll probably talk about then, and which features yet more Mikio Naruse, but lots of other exciting stuff like a limited run of The Passenger, the long lost hidden by Jack Nicholson flick.

No one ever asks what Torontoist's favourite building in the city is, but if they did we would surely reply, "Why, BCE Place, of course." With it's soaring windows and light-grid flooring, the Allan Lambert Galleria (the official name of the main atrium) is usually flooded with light, and is thus an ideal venue for all manner of art exhibitions. It is to TOist's great delight that this space is beng used more and more for such things - a few weeks ago a gorgeous series of photographs of water were on display to raise awareness for one of David Suzuki's conservation projects. And until October 23rd, the World Press Photo annual exhibition of award-winning photojournalism is up for all to see. World Press Photo, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, is a non-profit organization based in Amsterdam that runs the world's largest annual photojournalism contest. The winning entries are put on display in cities all over the world, and BCE Place has been playing host to the exhibition in Toronto for the past several years. This year's powerful batch of photographs ranges from funny to beautiful to upsetting, and often some combination those adjectives. There are shots of anything and everything; sly sports photography is mounted alongside images of war so violent and personal it is a wonder the film survived. The juxtaposition of this variety of images is thought-provoking and moving, and it is well worth braving the throngs of tourists lining up at the Marche (and if you go on a weekday, all you'll have to contend with are the suits).

God, fame, escaping prejudice, qualifying for the Francophone Games/Jeux de la Francophonie: All valid reasons for running in this Sunday's Toronto Waterfront Marathon. There's that, and of course the mega-concert of "Canadian classic rock band Lighthouse and the worlds' #1 calypso/soca artist David Rudder." If we knew about this before, we would have quit eating nachos for breakfast a long time ago.