Hello! Although you probably didn’t notice, this Torontoist writer was away for a week, and as a result we failed to do something very important. Specifically, to congratulate Norm Wilner on becoming NOW’s senior film critic. We're not doing this just because we know Wilner keeps an eye on Torontoist to see if he gets a mention, but because we like his work so much that we can’t think of anyone better to step......

“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.” We refer of course to our posts The Picture of Dorian's Gay (a great title for a post, if we don't say so ourselves) and DIY, Lo-Fi,......

Jaunted.com gave us this heads up about Toronto's mini version of the Gawker Stalker. It's a Google Maps mash-up following around Portman while she's filming Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Which has such a terrible title but has Dustin Hoffman, which kinda makes up for it. Sure it's only one celebrity but it IS Natalie Portman who Torontoist has to admit he's got a crush on. Any other sightings can be sent along to tips@jaunted.com [Ed.......

The only major release particularly worth recounting this week is the Wachowski brothers' V for Vendetta, and though it comes so shortly (you’d almost think they planned it!) after Natalie Portman’s sweary rap from Saturday Night Live went viral, the current reaction seems to be that even dudes who like bald chicks with dodgy English accents should just save up for a trip to Camden instead. The New York Times has a particularly nice......

Where do all the Star Wars fans work? They can't possibly show up to work looking like Chewie, or get weeks off at a time to wait in lines. Can they? Toronto fans waited in line, some since last week, for the first viewing of George Lucas's sixth and purportedly last official Star Wars film (we say official because there could be another Ewoks movie, which would be awesome). When the clock struck midnight this......

Natalie Portman may be twenty-three, but this still from Friday's flickpick makes her look like kid sister to tall, rakish Jude. And to add another layer of implausibility to the mix, Portman plays an exotic dancer. Be afraid. Be very afraid. We wish Natalie would just get into her Prius and drive away from all this nude scene nonsense. Maybe someone could work up a nice period piece for her. It would suit her stilted......