The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the Oscars this morning. Canada done good. Torontoist fave Sarah Polley landed a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay for Away From Her, based on the Alice Munro story "The Bear Came Over The Mountain." The film, which Polley also directed, was also nominated for Best Actress, Julie Christie. Canuck-fest Juno also scored a bellyful of nominations. The film landed four nominations: Best......

In 1969, during one of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's three visits to Ottawa, a 14-year-old named Jerry Levitan snuck into their hotel, tracked them down, and snagged an interview on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. (You can read a written account of the story here.) Years later, the audio has been set to animation and the result is a short film entitled "I Met The Walrus." It should be amazing, if the trailer is......

Who likes lists? Everybody! As we creep up on the new year, we thought we'd reflect on a few of our more popular (and our more controversial) posts of the past twelve months. Thanks to our revamped Favourites page, it's a little easier. If nothing else, this post will give you some reading material to glance over while you're busy getting spiffy for this fine evening. 1. Our TTC Swag Suggestions (144 comments, October......

From left to right (roughly): Vivian Li, Zoe Higgs, Matthew Corker, Melinda Montgomery, Adam Martin and Kerri (aka: Adam's girlfriend). While most people are uncomfortably hugging their relatives and McDonald's employees are still rolling their eyes when you ask for a free smile, six UBC students/Torontonians were out at Yonge and Dundas yesterday voluntarily hugging people. This epidemic is known as the Free Hugs Campaign and was started a couple years ago in Australia......

Our friends over at The Royal Sarcophagus Society are throwing one of their big events of the year on Friday. Join them for their fourth annual autumnal soiree Dia De Los Muertos, from 8pm to 2am at DeLeon White Gallery, 1139 College St. The night promises art, music, magic, tequila, dancing, piñatas and loads of other good stuff. There will be live performances by Kevin Quain, Mysterion the Mindreader, The Porcelain Doll, and others. It’s......

Yeesh; another week, another pile of movies which were at the Toronto International Film Festival. Considering there are, oh, 32,064 or so films at each TIFF we should probably get over this as soon as possible, otherwise every week our column is going to sound the same. Still! At least this week we’ve seen some of them. Burtynsky doc Manufactured Landscapes is the big dog of the week, having been covered heavily and given glowing......

This fall is shaping up to be a busy one, as everyone and their dog seems to be touring right now. If you haven't spent all of your OSAP money yet, might want to stash away a few pennies for some concert tix. However, if you've already blown your student loan on cheap beer and (even cheaper) Ikea furniture, take comfort in the fact that you can visit your local public library to catch......

Gala 12:00pm - For Your Consideration (Visa Screeing Room (Elgin)) 6:30pm – Away From Her (Roy Thompson Hall) 9:00pm – The White Planet (Cumberland 2) Discovery 12:15pm – Reprise (Paramount 4) – See our review. 3:15pm – The Art of Crying (Cumberland 3) Dialogues 2:15pm – The Beales of Grey Gardens (Al Green Theatre) Midnight Madness 2:45pm – All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (Paramount 2) 11:59pm – The Abandoned (Ryerson Theatre) Real to Reel......

Masters 12:00pm – The Wind That Shakes the Barley (Visa Screening Room (Elgin) 9:00pm – Rescue Dawn (Ryerson Theatre) Discovery 12:30pm – King and the Clown (Paramount 1) – See our review. 6:00pm – The Art of Crying (Paramount 3) 8:15pm – Reprise (Varsity 2) – See our review. Gala 12:45pm – Penelope (Ryerson Theatre) 1:30pm – The White Planet (Roy Thompson Hall) 9:30pm – Babel (Roy Thompson Hall) Real to Reel 3:00pm – Manufactured......

It's a sad week for anniversaries. 25 years ago today, as anyone who hasn't been living under a rock probably knows, John Lennon was shot by an insane 'fan' outside his apartment building, The Dakota. We inherited a love of Lennon (always our favourite Beatle, with that devious twinkle in his eye) from our mom (actually, since our 25th birthday is almost exactly 9 months from today, we've always suspected that we were conceived out......

Tall Poppy Interview: Chuck Klosterman ...

With the last Barenaked Ladies album, the city of Toronto has forever etched its name in annals music history. But besides BNL, this is a place that once saw Rick James and Neil Young bump out soul songs in Yorkville; that welcomed John Lennon's first solo concert; that was setting for more than one Mya video. Toronto is a city so steeped in music history that it would be outright irresponsible for the Torontoist to......

The Ontario government is always looking out for the little guy. Well, not always. But this week for sure. November 15 marked the beginning of Consumer Awareness Week in Ontario. The week is dedicated to helping normally helpless consumers learn more about their rights and responsibilities in the marketplace, according to the Ontario government website. This year’s slogan: "Smart consumers are good for business." Minister of Consumer and Business Services Jim Watson has been preaching......