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Urban Planner: December 29, 2008
FILM: There are two good reasons to visit the Royal Cinema tonight. The first is Mike Leigh’s uncharacteristically feel-good Happy-Go-Lucky (7 p.m.), a story about a woman who only sees the good side of any moment. The second is Monty Python’s Life of Brian (9:30 p.m.), which may bring some antithetical relief to all the recent Christmas hoopla. Royal Cinema (608 College Street), 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., $8.
MUSIC: Halifax Bluegrass indie rock band The Strangeboys play the Horseshoe tonight. Copies of their debut EP Shoot First will be available at the show. Cosmic Granola—who sound very much like their name once you add a dash of ska to the mix—open. Horseshoe Tavern (370 Queen Street West) 9 p.m., $6.
ART: The last thing stuffed survivors of this season may want to think about is food, but there is an interesting exhibit on that very subject at the Toronto Reference Library. “Local Flavour: Eating in Toronto, 1830-1955” (on until January 11) serves up treats from the library’s special collections—everything from the first English-language cookbook published in Canada to turn-of-the-century Toronto restaurant menus. If anyone is still too stuffed to get off the couch, there is a virtual version of the exhibit here. Toronto Reference Library, TD Gallery (789 Yonge Street), 9:30 a.m.–8:30 p.m., FREE.
MUSIC: Elvis Mondays’ contribution to the Drake Hotel’s What’s In the Box 4 tonight are Slim Twig, Brides, Hooded Fang, The Elwins, and Steve Singh. Upstairs in the House Party Lounge, DJ Your Boy Brian spins the tunes ($5 cover). Drake Hotel Underground (1150 Queen Street West), 9 p.m., FREE.
Photo of Mike Leigh and Sally Hawkins on the set of Happy-Go-Lucky by Simon Mein courtesy of Maple Pictures.