Read the rest of this entry »
At first, the Canadian offerings at TIFF 2011 seemed meagre, what with Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz and David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method serving as the big Canadian draws among the special presentations and galas. But yesterday, TIFF announced some additions to the list of Canadian content, including work by Bruce Macdonald, Mike Clattenburg and Guy Maddin, not to mention a teen vampire suspense thriller (The Moth Diaries) and a movie about a man who finds out he’s the father of more than 500 children (Sisters and Brothers). We also mustn’t forget the big stars, like Cory Monteith of Glee, Scott Speedman, Isabella Rossellini, Lily Cole, Don McKellar, Stephen Hawking, Margaret Atwood and David Suzuki, each of whom appears in one or more of the Canadian films at TIFF this year. Find out about all of the newly announced Canadian films after the jump.
The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com
All stories relating to Isabella Rossellini
Oh, Canada: TIFF reveals the Canadian contingent at this year’s festival
Ten must-see events at the Bell Lightbox this fall
The Passion of Joan of Arc is TIFF's favourite film of all time
Toronto’s film industry is on quite a roll these days. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World opened last weekend to rave reviews (if not outstanding box office results). And judging from the lineup of events for the new Bell Lightbox, Toronto is getting a wicked new film house. The Lightbox is set to open its doors September 12; its programming is centred around the Essential Cinema, TIFF’s selections of the 100 best films of all time, starting September 23. There will be so much going on that a preliminary rundown is essential. Here, a roundup of 10 events to check out this fall.
Read the rest of this entry »
The fun dozen stop: our top 12 TIFF tales
Read the rest of this entry »
This Saturday night, TIFF volunteers will roll up the red carpet for the last time in 2009. With the festival’s imminent end, we’ve compiled a list of the our most-read stories since the beginning of festivities on September 10. Here, the top dozen:
Isabella Rossellini emulates fish fornication at the ROM
Something's fishy: Isabella Rosellini strolls past some paper fish at the ROM (Photo by Jen Mcneely)
The Institute for Contemporary Culture has installed giant paper animal penises in the ROM’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. The enormous phalluses are there to enhance Green Porno: Scandalous Sea, a series of short films written by and starring Isabella Rossellini presently screening at the ROM to coincide with the Toronto International Film Festival. Yesterday, there was a photography frenzy trying to capture Rossellini among the dangling anchovies (in between flashes, we overheard a maintenance man exclaim “Bella Isabella!”). It takes a lot to be distracted from such celeb royalty, but the enormous and anatomically correct male genitalia protruding from the Crystal’s cloister are just that distracting.
Read the rest of this entry »
Celeb spotting warm-up 5: The full list of celeb guests is out, and Oprah and Clooney are on it
He's a-coming (Photo by Attit Patel)
The much-anticipated official list of celebrities scheduled to attend TIFF arrived in our in-boxes this morning. We’re happy to report that two of the biggest names rumoured to be heading our way, George Clooney and Oprah, are definitely coming.
A lot of our other favourites have also confirmed: Big Love’s Amanda Seyfried, a reformed David Duchovny, Demi Moore, Drew Barrymore (perhaps we’ll spot her making eyes at locals at Sweaty Betty’s again), two of our three favourite Jennifers (Garner and Connelly; Aniston is a no-show), many Michaels (Caine, Cera, Douglas, Moore), the always lovely Natalie Portman, Nicolas Cage, Penélope Cruz, Ricky Gervais, Sarah Polley, Tilda Swinton, Tom Ford, Viggo Mortensen and so many more.
See the full list of guests after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »
Thank you, recession: this year’s free TIFF events are surprisingly wonderful
Rock star Neil Young gives a free performance (Photo by F.A. Hernández)
Synonymous with velvet ropes, lavish parties and celebrities whose annual income rivals the GDP of Palau, the Toronto International Film Festival has never been a particularly thrifty affair—until now. TIFF is getting recession friendly in ’09 by offering expanded free programming at Yonge-Dundas Square (the kind that so irked Rex Reed last year), not to mention some A-list celebrity appearances. “It’s been a tough year for everyone, so everyone deserves a bit of a break,” says festival managing director Michele Maheux. And judging by the press release, it’s good to see they’re not phoning it in with the freebies: planned events include appearances by Neil Young, George A. Romero, Joan Baez, Sapphire and many more. The full list, after the jump.
Follow Toronto Life on Twitter, Facebook and via RSS