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Urban Planner: November 6, 2009
Urban Planner is Torontoist’s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to [email protected].
Still from Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil, the opener for Jean-Pierre Gorin’s month-long series on the essay film. Courtesy of the Film Reference Library.
FILM: Filmmaker and scholar Jean-Pierre Gorin, companion of Nouvelle–Vague visionary Jean-Luc Godard throughout his Dziga Vertov period, is in Toronto for his self-curated series “The Way of the Termite: The Essay Film.” Gorin will introduce Chris Marker‘s Sans Soleil tonight to launch the series, which runs until December 3 and will also feature a couple of Gorin’s collaborations with Godard (Ici et ailleurs and Letter to Jane), as well as the Canadian premiere of La Rabbia di Pasolini. The films screened over the next month explore the balance between history and anecdote, fact and fiction. Each work speaks as clearly about the filmmaker as their world views, resulting in the perfect meeting of art and politics. The series invites audiences to reflect on how we think about history and how we process current events through images, which is particularly poignant in an age of media saturation. TIFF Cinematheque (2 Carlton Street), 7 p.m., check online for ticket prices.
GAME: It’s not often we get to run around with reckless abandon, reenacting the games of our youth—and even less frequently, in the middle of a huge, busy urban centre like Toronto. Organized by the creatively minded folks at Newmindspace, tonight’s adrenaline-fuelled game of Capture the Flag should prove as popular as the event was last year and the year before. Taking over our city’s financial district—the only truly non-residential ‘hood—in the dead of night, participants are divided into teams and must use whatever public means necessary (skateboards, TTC, bikes, feet) to seek out and capture the opposing team’s flag. It’s important to read the participant’s guide before you head out tonight to keep the game safe and fun for everyone. It’s also recommended that you bring a flashlight. Meet at King Street West and Bay Street, 9 p.m., rain or shine, FREE.
COMEDY: This week marks the one-year anniversary of Toronto’s latest (and arguably hottest) comedy club, Comedy Bar, located under a hard-to-miss (though classy!) neon sign in a basement on Bloor, west of Ossington. As part of tonight’s festivities, legendary comic and longtime Saturday Night Live cast member Tim Meadows takes the stage for two performances with Catch 23, then ManTown! Comedy Bar (945 Bloor Street West), 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., $8–$25.
THEATRE: Tonight, Necessary Angel gives you the opportunity to sit in on the first of three work-in-progress productions of When My Name Was Anna, the highly anticipated adaptation of Divisadero, the latest novel by Canadian author Michael Ondaatje. Artistic director Daniel Brooks joins several of Canada’s finest actors and Toronto’s well-loved and Juno-nominated musician Justin Rutledge to bring to life this violent and passionate narrative, which deals with memory, identity, love, and the power of past and present. The sneak peek will be followed up by a full production, planned for 2010/11. Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace (16 Ryerson Avenue), 8 p.m., $13 (tickets available online or by calling 416-504-7529).
ART: Aiming to blur the boundaries between porn and art, this evening’s “ArtCore” exhibition also raises funds for the fifth annual Feminist Porn Awards, the largest and longest running celebration of feminist porn in the world and produced by Toronto’s own Good for Her. Featuring a vast array of work, from performance and installation to film, the show promises “you’ll never look at fruit, hot dogs, Barbie dolls or fully clothed men in quite the same way again.” Sounds like a challenge to me! Bread and Circus (299 Augusta Avenue), doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m., $10.
MUSIC: Local electro darlings Junior Boys have seen their fair share of hits and misses since Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark first teamed up almost ten years ago. Crafting hypnotic, minimal, and stylized “bedroom beats,” the duo’s music translates beautifully into a live context, drawing audiences out onto the dance floor regardless of mood or level of inebriation. The boys team up with Toronto’s crazed and energetic Woodhands at tonight’s show, so the atmosphere should take on all the elements of a true party. Lee’s Palace (529 Bloor Street West), 9 p.m., $20.