The versatile and prolific screen and stage actor Peter Donaldson died this weekend at the age of 57 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. Though the acclaimed actor performed in films, on television and on stages across the country, he will be best remembered for his 25 years with the Stratford Festival. Donaldson debuted there in a 1977 production of Romeo and Juliet, and was still at the festival as recently as 2008, as Rufio to Christopher Plummer’s Caesar in Caesar and Cleopatra. In Toronto, Donaldson appeared in Soulpepper’s production of Glengarry, Glen Ross last year.
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Stratford veteran Peter Donaldson dies at 57
Barney’s Version: The drinking game
Given that this is a drinking game, and given that the movie’s eponymous Barney likes his Macallan the way Homer Simpson likes his Duff, we thought we could get the ball rolling by doling out a sip for every time Barney has a drink. Big mistake. Any attempt to keep up with Paul Giamatti’s near-constant alcohol consumption during this touching, hilarious and ultimately devastating adaptation of Mordecai Richler’s Barney’s Version would be a one-way ticket to the drunk tank.
The movie focuses on how important it is to appreciate what you have when you have it, and also on how you really shouldn’t get so drunk that you pass out and don’t remember if you shot your best friend. With those life lessons in mind, break out your poison of choice and enjoy the gospel according to Barney.
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The Weekender: International Festival of Authors, Toronto Zombie Walk and six other events on our to-do list
Dare to Wear Love, the Zombie Walk and John Waters
1. POMEGRANATE FILM FESTIVAL
This celebration of Armenian cinema is now in its fifth year, featuring an array of genres, from documentaries to experimental shorts. The buzziest event is Friday’s screening of Atom Egoyan’s racy Chloe, after which the director will participate in a Q&A session. Oct. 22 to 24. $10. Regent Theatre, 551 Mount Pleasant Rd., 416-500-1694, pomegranatefilmfestival.com.
2. DARE TO WEAR LOVE GALA Read the rest of this entry »
The closing-night show at LG fashion week, Dare to Wear is both on-trend and cause-conscious. On the style front, such celeb models as Tara Spencer Nairn and Keshia Chanté will rock Canadian designs by the likes of Brian Bailey, Evan Biddell, Lucian Matis, David Dixon and Comrags. As if that’s not enough reason to drop $300 (the cost of a VIP package that includes A-list seating and a swag bag), proceeds from ticket sales benefit the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Oct. 22. $60–$300. Heritage Court, Exhibition Place, 100 Princes’ Blvd., lgfashionweek.ca.
TIFF PHOTO GALLERY: Peek inside TIFF’s new home, the Bell Lightbox
“Why are we here?” a young child asks his mother inside the freshly opened Bell Lightbox. What a poignant question. We had been here at the TIFF Bell Lightbox opening party since 11 a.m., wondering the same thing. Certainly, it wasn’t to see film celebrities—the Reitmans, after whom this part of town is now named, attended the ribbon cutting—and it wasn’t to see TIFF volunteers blowing bubbles with impunity outside, or the striking Hyatt employees playing drums on overturned buckets. What about the Taste of the Danforth–esque food tents on King Street? The too Canadian music lineup that included The Sadies and K’naan? The bouncy castle that we were, unfortunately, too tall to enjoy? No, no, no.
“It’s a new building,” the mother answered, “and we’re here to see what it’s like.” Ah, yes. The Bell Lightbox. Here is what it’s like.
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- Local baker Madeleines created this Lightbox replica out of cake (Photo by Jag Gundu/Getty Images)
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- Atom Egoyan’s 8 1/2 screens at the TIFF Bell Lightbox opening (Image: Jon Sufrin)
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- Looking up in the main hall of the TIFF Bell Lightbox (Image: Jon Sufrin)
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- The exterior of he TIFF Bell Lightbox on King Street West (Image: Jon Sufrin)
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- Looking up in the main hall of the TIFF Bell Lightbox (Image: Jon Sufrin)
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- K’naan performs outdoors at the Bell Lightbox block party (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- K’naan performs outdoors at the Bell Lightbox block party (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- K’naan performs outdoors at the Bell Lightbox block party (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- K’naan performs outdoors at the Bell Lightbox block party (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- An unidentified Stormtrooper near the Bell Lightbox threatens Boba Fett, who calls for ransom money (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- Rocking face paint at the Bell Lightbox block party (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
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- The Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz showed up for the Bell Lightbox block party (Image: Stefania Yarhi)
TIFF PHOTO GALLERY: Paul Giamatti, Minnie Driver and Robert Lantos sit down to talk about Barney’s Version
The makers of Barney's Version at a press conference. From left to right: co-producer Ari Lantos, actor Scott Speedman, actor Minnie Driver, director Richard J. Lewis, actor Paul Giamatti, actor Rosamund Pike, producer Robert Lantos, actor Rachelle Lefevre, actor Bruce Greenwood (Image: Karon Liu)
After the dismal showing of Score: A Hockey Musical, Canadians should be happy that there’s more than one high-profile CanCon flick at this year’s TIFF. The movie adaptation of Mordecai Richler’s novel Barney’s Version premiered last night (see the red carpet photos here), but just beforehand, the stars, director and producer sat down with the press to discuss the production—including why it took nearly 12 years to get the story on the big screen.
Our pictures are below, and the interviews are after the jump.
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- Scott Speedman at the press conference for Barney’s Version at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Rosamund Pike at the press conference for Barney’s Version at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Rosamund Pike at the press conference for Barney’s Version at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Paul Giammati and Rosamund Pike at the press conference for Barney’s Version at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Paul Giammati takes off his glasses at the press conference for Barney’s Version at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Paul Giammati at the press conference for Barney’s Version at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Paul Giammati at the press conference for Barney’s Version at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Minnie Driver at the press conference for Barney’s Version at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- Minnie Driver at the press conference for Barney’s Version at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
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- The makers of Barney’s Version at a press conference. From left to right: co-producer Ari Lantos, actor Scott Speedman, actor Minnie Driver, director Richard J. Lewis, actor Paul Giamatti, actor Rosamund Pike, producer Robert Lantos, actor Rachelle Lefevre, actor Bruce Greenwood (Image: Karon Liu)
TIFF PHOTO GALLERY: Colin Firth’s 50th Birthday at Soho House Club
The Toronto International Film Festival happened to coincide with the birthday of one of its most frequent guests: Colin Firth. He celebrated the milestone in the stylish digs provided by Soho House Club with Michael Ondaatje, Geoffrey Rush and a few other A-listers.
Here, a peek inside the dashing Mr. Darcy’s Firth’s birthday bash.
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- Writer Michael Ondaatje attends Colin Firth’s 50th birthday party at Grey Goose Soho House Club during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Grey Goose Vodka)
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- Director Atom Egoyan and actor Arsinee Khanjian at Colin Firth’s 50th birthday party at Grey Goose Soho House Club during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Grey Goose Vodka)
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- Founder of Soho House Nick Jones (left) and producer Harvey Weinstein attend Colin Firth’s 50th birthday party at Grey Goose Soho House Club during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Grey Goose Vodka)
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- Actor Geoffrey Rush attends Colin Firth’s 50th birthday party at Grey Goose Soho House Club during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Grey Goose Vodka)
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- Actor Lisa Lambert attends Colin Firth’s 50th birthday party at Grey Goose Soho House Club during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Grey Goose Vodka)
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- Actors Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush at the former’s 50th birthday party. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Grey Goose Vodka)
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- Actor Colin Firth and Livia Giuggioli attend Colin Firth’s 50th birthday party at Grey Goose Soho House Club during the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Grey Goose Vodka)
= Find this story on our Celebrity Sightings Map, where we plot the locations of stars spotted throughout Toronto
Today in Toronto: TIFF, Kate Hilliard, Seamus Blake, David Hoffos
Toronto International Film Festival: The megawatt fall fest celebrates its new home at the Bell Lightbox with an extended ribbon cutting: 100 influential films will screen as part of the Essential Cinema program, alongside an art exhibition featuring installations by the likes of Guy Maddin (Hauntings I and II) and Atom Egoyan. Find out more >>
Seamus Blake: Born in Britain, raised in Vancouver and based in NYC, this exhilarating young tenor saxophonist can improvise a riff until you’d swear he was channelling Olivier Messiaen. Find out more >>
David Hoffos: This Albertan artist uses dioramas and video projections to create an eerily familiar domestic world that might just turn around and bite you. Find out more >>
Kate Hilliard: The Brutes, Hilliard’s latest project, was born out of a tête-à-tête with NYC experimental theatre figure Corinne Donly; it makes its Toronto premiere as part of DanceWorks CoWorks. Find out more >>
Bell Lightbox to host free street party, concerts by Polaris Prize nominees
(Image: Bell Lightbox)
Most star-struck Torontonians will be turned away from film festival parties by burly bouncers, but TIFF’s Bell Lightbox, affirming our resounding approval of the new film house, is hosting a free block party to give locals a taste of the festival action. The event is happening on King between John and Peter Streets September 12 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will feature free admission to the building to check out the Essential Cinema exhibit and Atom Egoyan’s 8½ Screens installation.
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Official TIFF guest list released: Jon Hamm, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard, Will Ferrell and more
The young, the old and the fugly
Woot! Woot! The exhaustive official guest list for TIFF has been released (James Franco! Jon Hamm! Uma Thurman!), meaning we can finally provide a definitive stargazing guide to the fest. Here’s a quick primer. See the full list after the jump.
The acclaimed Read the rest of this entry »
Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Robert De Niro, Helen Mirren, Nicole Kidman, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Woody Allen, Catherine Deneuve, Harvey Keitel, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, Martin Sheen, William H. Macy, Catherine Keener
The Big Chill, Water, Fly Away Home and more: we rate TIFF’s best and worst opening night films
Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany at the premiere of Creation in 2009 (Image: James Helmer)
This year, the Toronto International Film Festival will open with the homegrown Score: A Hockey Musical, which stars Olivia Newton-John and boasts a bunch of cameos from our countrymen (Nelly Furtado, George Stroumboulopoulos). We’re waiting to see if the film will be corny-awesome or corny-awful. In the meantime, we’ve gathered the most spectacular opening night failures and successes in TIFF history to see how they fared after the festival. Begin the slide show now >>
Ask the expert: architect Drew Mandel on brilliant homes and renos
Architect Drew Mandel made his name with his own brave little home: a 13-foot-wide light box of glass, concrete and mahogany squeezed between two Victorians in Summerhill. This year, his Ravine House—with towering blocks of windows—had a silver screen debut in Atom Egoyan’s Chloe.
(Image: Vanessa Heins)
What skills should every architect have?
Good architects listen to the client. They understand the problems they’re dealing with, they prioritize, and they know the site. A great architect figures out a way to distill the project’s essence, and what’s important to the client, through all the noise and distraction of construction.
Is Toronto architecture too reserved? Read the rest of this entry »
I think Toronto residences could benefit from more self-expression. If people didn’t value resale so much, we might have more interesting architecture. But I caution against wild self-indulgence. Pick just one element in a project and reinvent it. You could put a large piece
of veined marble vertically on a wall as cladding, which turns it into a high-impact piece of art.
Free screenings today and tomorrow at the newly reno’d Carlton Cinemas
Indie cinephiles can line up at the Carlton Cinema again, enjoying a $1.5 million renovation and free screenings to boot. The charming film house shut its doors last December to the bitter disappointment of those who frequented the theatre for off-beat and critically acclaimed movies and a retro experience. Atom Egoyan, who tried to save the Carlton last year, will be at the theatre tonight to answer questions after the free 6:20 p.m. screening of his Toronto-filmed Chloe, a fitting start to the 29-year-old landmark’s next chapter. Today and tomorrow, Carlton Cinema will be showing free screenings of various films, including The Blind Side, Departures, Julie and Julia, The Class, The Cove, Crazy Heart, Up in the Air, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Away From Her and How to Train Your Dragon. Full schedule available at rainbowcinemas.ca.
• Carlton cinema returns-with even fewer seats [Toronto Star]
• Inside the new (and improved) Carlton Cinema [Blog TO]
Eight must-sees: a procrastinator’s guide to Luminato’s last days
If you’ve noticed a buzzing noise hovering over the city this past week, don’t be alarmed—it’s just the sound of concentrated creative activity (and those vuvuzela horns). Luminato is in full swing, with a diverse roster that includes an opera by Rufus Wainwright and an installation involving a displaced, bizarrely outfitted ship. Missed the boat so far? Here, eight must-see events of the final weekend.
PRIMA DONNA
Rufus Wainwright’s debut opera may be kind of meta (it’s about opera), but don’t expect a modern artist’s self-conscious winks and nudges. This is the genre in all its unabashed, melodramatic glory—red roses, shabby grandeur and underdeveloped plot elements. The portrait of a suffering diva is also an undeniable homage to Wainwright’s mother, folk musician Kate McGarrigle, who died earlier this year. Though the story meanders, it comes together somewhat at one climactic moment when the whole cast sings in harmony. June 18 and 19. $50–$200. Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge St.
Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's Ship o' Fools (Image: Luminato)
SHIP O’ FOOLS (FREE!) Read the rest of this entry »
If the sight of a 30-foot Chinese junk perched in Trinity Bellwoods is disorienting, wait until you climb inside. Canadian experimentalists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller have imagined the allegorical vessel as a misty maze, with slapdash contraptions clanking and whirring on all sides; it’s like a nutty professor’s room of rejects. Flickering bulbs and looped sounds create the illusion that the boat is pitching aimlessly to and fro, but you’ll be too charmed to toss up lunch. June 18 to 20. Trinity Bellwoods Park, Queen St. W. and Strachan Ave.
Atom Egoyan’s Luminato installation a tribute to the late David Pecaut
David Pecaut (Image: Luminato)
David Pecaut was quite literally a man who followed his dreams. Shortly before his death from cancer this past December, the co-founder of Luminato sent several letters to friend Atom Egoyan describing the experience of waking up each morning, reports the Star. “As I gradually gain consciousness,” reads one e-mail, “I begin to become aware of my situation and the illness and how much things have changed.” This daily shift from peaceful, ignorant reverie to grim actuality struck Pecaut as a kind of “cinematic experience,” and one he wished to be a presence at the fourth annual festival, which he would not be able to attend.
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