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Toronto Life - The Hype

A critical guide to Toronto’s cultural events, TIFF and high society. Plus, local celebrity news. Sign up for Preview newsletter for weekly updates

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VIDEO: watch a hovercar crash-land in front of Convocation Hall in Total Recall

First we saw a small glimpse of Len Wiseman’s futuristic cityscape in a teaser trailer for the new Total Recall film, and now an extended cut has been released, complete with Jessica Biel, Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale firing an impressive amount of ammo, and Farrell and Biel crashing a hovercar outside the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall. For the most part, Toronto is still barely recognizable, and there’s still no sign of a woman with a papier mâché third breast.

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VIDEO: check out Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen in the official Take This Waltz teaser trailer

The trailer for Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz has arrived, complete with Michelle Williams taking an aquafit class with Sarah Silverman, hanging out on a ferry boat (which island is she going to? Ward’s?), fraternizing with three gentlemen (Seth Rogen, Aaron Abrams and Luke Kirby), running by Clafouti and then taking a rickshaw down Queen Street West. We can tell we’re in for a pretty wild journey.

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VIDEO: Total Recall shows Toronto like you’ve never seen it before (with hovercars!)

Did you know that Total Recall is turning 22 this year? Well, it is, and with the theatrical release of Len Wiseman’s blockbuster remake—starring Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale—mere months away, the teaser has finally arrived. The futuristic cityscape (the film was shot in Toronto, even though it looks nothing like it) is impressively lit, the prime mode of transportation is the hovercar and there appears to be a Stormtrooper-like military presence keeping everything in order. We are sad to report, however, that this teaser does not showcase a woman with a papier mâché third breast.

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Toronto solidifies its title as Hollywood North, raking in $1.13 billion last year 

The stars who descend on Toronto during TIFF may get all the attention, but it’s the movies that film here that pour mega-bucks into the local economy—$1.13 billion in 2011, in fact. That was the industry’s best performance since 2002, when a weak loonie was used to lure film productions north. Now, it’s Toronto’s “world-class talent behind and in front of the camera,” that draws production teams, according to Councillor Michael Thompson, who chairs Toronto’s economic development committee. Whether or not that’s true, several feature films shot were shot here last year, including the remake of Total Recall starring Kate Beckinsale and Colin Farrell (spoiler: it was really, really expensive). We hope any producers considering Toronto take note of its range: the city’s just as comfortable playing host to a younger (funnier) Adam Sandler as it is to 50 Cent. Read the entire story [CTV]»

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VIDEO: Cosmopolis has sex, guns, Robert Pattinson, more sex and more guns

Here are our first observations after seeing the trailer for David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis: There’s nudity, guns, night clubs, giant monsters and Sarah Gadon. (Oh, and Robert Pattinson shoots himself in the hand.) Whew!

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Watch the second trailer for The Hunger Games, where fresh-faced adolescents prepare to murder each other

The Hunger Games, starring Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Lawrence, Stanley Tucci and Woody Harrelson, is coming to theatres on March 23, but a second theatrical trailer was released this week for eager Hungarians itching for some new details. Pretty soon there’s going to be a lot of dead young adults on your movie screen.

In case you missed it, click to check out the first trailer »

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David Cronenberg TIFF retrospective will be high tech, interactive and likely terrifying

Mr. David Cronenberg (Image: FICG.mx)

Toronto-based director David Cronenberg (also known as the man who turns Viggo Mortensen into a fan boy) is about to get a high-tech retrospective of his work, courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival. TIFF has received a cool $50,000 from the provincial government to make a Cronenberg-inspired augmented-reality game that will be unveiled in phases through 2013, with the first section to launch in September, according to Cinemablend. TIFF’s grant proposal says the interactive game will use social media, geomapping and 3D photo-modelling technology to create sensory experiences for the player. We can’t quite imagine what the final product will look like (and, judging from the fact that TIFF is still looking for a project manager, neither can they), but take a director known for his surreal, sexual and violent narratives, toss in some technology that will heighten that mood, and the end product will probably scare the pants off the average exhibition goer. No word on whether post-scare showers or shoulders to cry on will be available onsite.

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TIFF extends hours as Grace Kelly exhibit draws to a close

(Image: Everett Collection/Rex Features)

Royal watchers for whom rehashing Kate Middletons outfits online just isn’t cutting it anymore still have a few days to check out the Grace Kelly exhibit at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. TIFF has extended the hours of Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess until the show closes on January 22, giving Torontonians one last opportunity to check out the replica of the wedding dress Kelly wore in her 1956 wedding to Prince Rainier III of Monaco, as well as many of her original dresses, her tiara and the original Kelly bag. The exhibition will now be open until 8 p.m. on Sundays and 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. After that, it’s back to the old DVD collection (we can already feel a classic movie marathon coming on).

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Five things we learned about Viggo Mortensen (including how much he loves David Cronenberg)

Viggo Mortensen (Image: Ben Pruchnie/FilmMagic/Getty Images Entertainment)

Forget how little clothing you’ve seen Viggo Mortensen wearing (for a second), because he’s a person too. He “rang up” Vulture recently to discuss A Dangerous Method (he plays Freud—he jumped in when Christophe Waltz had to pull out), among other things, and here are five tidbits we took away (take note of how much he love, love, loves David Cronenberg):

1. He loves David Cronenberg
Mortensen believes that Cronenberg should have a movie out every year (he has, after all, been in three of them), but because his films are typically consumed on DVD, there’s usually a considerable gap between each picture. And for those wondering to how high a standard Morty holds Cronenberg: “Woody Allen is a great director, but I wouldn’t say that his track record over the last several years is as solid as David’s, in my opinion, and yet he gets to make a movie every year somehow.”

2. He isn’t naked in A Dangerous Method (sorry)
Morty says he smoked and ate until he developed Freud’s paunch (something he wryly points out took some hard work). We’d just like to point out to the Oscar people that Charlize Theron received an Oscar for eating Krispy Kreme donuts for her role in Monster (just saying).

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VIDEO: Rachel McAdams has amnesia in The Vow, and Channing Tatum is just stressed out about that

A follow-up trailer has come out for The Vow, a movie coming out in February featuring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. This isn’t groundbreaking cinema: a married couple gets into a car accident, and the wife (played by McAdams) gets amnesia. Will he ever get his wife back? Probably.

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VIDEO: The Hunger Games’ full-length trailer has been revealed (and it looks amazing)

The official trailer for the much-anticipated film adaption of young-adult series The Hunger Games has been revealed today. The film cast includes the beloved Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci, in addition to a cast of young stars who try to kill each other, including Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. Check out the trailer above to see a ragtag group of boys and girls from 12 colonies preparing for the fight of their lives. We think it is a much more civilized version of Battle Royale.

Our hat tips to Fashion for revealing the trailer to us.

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Monaco’s Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène are in Toronto for the launch of the TIFF Grace Kelly Exhibit

The serene highnesses, Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène of Monaco, flanked by Hermann Bühlbecker and Karl Lagerfeld (Image: Nadja Amireh)

Their Serene Highnesses, Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène of Monaco, are in Hogtown to celebrate the prince’s famous mother. “Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess,” which we featured in our Best of Fall roundup, opens Friday at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. The exhibit contains all manner of Kelly paraphernalia, including letters from Alfred Hitchcock and her Oscar for The Country Girl (plus the gown she wore to receive it). The prince and princess will attend a grand opening reception today.

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Lars von Trier retrospective coming to TIFF Lightbox (yes, including the release of Melancholia)

Controversial director Lars von Trier is the subject of a new, short running TIFF Bell Lightbox retrospective from November 9 to 19. The Lightbox will screen a number of Von Trier’s films, including his latest, Melancholia, which stars Kirsten Dunst and has yet to be released in theatres in Toronto. Von Trier made headlines earlier this year at a Cannes press conference for the film with some Nazi comments, and since then he has apologized and retreated from the public eye. According to a press release, the select retrospective “[moves] from raw realism to strikingly fabricated fantasy, [showcasing] not only von Trier’s incredible versatility and prolificacy, but also the haunting, deeply felt obsession with apocalypse—personal, societal, cosmic.” Several highlights after the jump.

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The script for the new Ghostbusters III is in Dan Aykroyd’s truck right now

For everyone that has ever converted a backpack into a proton pack for Halloween (or on any other occasion—we’re not judging!) or had a certain theme song stuck in their head, we’ve got some news: Dan Aykroyd confirms that the script for Ghostbusters III in almost finished. In fact, he had it on hand when he spoke with the Canadian Press recently. “The script is in my truck, so that’ll tell you how close we are,” Aykroyd said during an appearance at an LCBO to promote his vodka line. The only problem: Bill Murray has yet to confirm he’ll participate in the sequel. “I don’t think any of us would do it if Bill said no,” Sigourney Weaver told Collider.com in a recent interview. “Why would we do that? I think the whole point is to get together and have fun,” she said. Aykroyd mimicked Weaver’s sentiments yesterday, telling the Canadian Press that “[Murray] is certainly welcome to walk in the door anytime. We love him. And it’s hard to contemplate doing it without him.” Aykroyd will appear in the film to train a whole new crew and introduce a female ghostbuster into the mix because, unlike a reluctant Murray, he isn’t afraid of no ghost.

Dan Aykroyd says ‘Ghostbusters’ script almost done [Canadian Press]

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Sixteen were injured on the set of Resident Evil, but paramedics couldn’t tell who was a zombie and who was writhing in pain 

Paramedics had difficulty telling the injured from the undead yesterday at Cinespace Film Studios: after an accident during the filming of Resident Evil: Retribution 3D, 16 actors portraying the undead were seen murmuring and writhing, naturally creating some confusion—were they acting, or possibly dying? The necromantic scourge could have been seriously injured when the wheeled platform they were on shifted, causing a four-foot fall—according to a report by the Associated Press, a Toronto EMS worker noted that the appearance of their putrid, reanimated flesh made it difficult to judge the severity of the damage. Twelve victims were taken to hospital, although none of the injuries were life-threatening and no one got flattened into a Jill sandwich—although there was a series of injuries, including cracked ribs, a broken leg and a spinal injury (which wasn’t paralyzing, though Milla Jovovich did visit the victim, no doubt to finish the job—she does, after all, portray a zombie hunter). Seven of those zombies, numb to the damage their ragged bodies endured—or, not wanting to miss billable work hours—have already returned to the set. Read the entire story [Associated Press] »

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