Ryan McNeil
Summer can bring upon a quandary for film lovers. At the multiplex, the screens are filled with such delights – both of the mega-studio and the alt-indie variety.
One could easily spend more than one night every weekend soaking up the cinematic bounty that arrives every summer. But that brings upon the quandary:
It’s summer. It’s that all-too-short parse of time when the weather is glorious and Mother Nature practically begs us to spend time outdoors. What to do? Well for a happy medium, one could partake in the free outdoor screenings going on around Toronto – and there are A LOT of them these days.
TIFF is back in Pecaut Square this summer. This summer the theme of their free programme is A Summer of Romance, which loses a few points given that it isn’t the most original. That said, what TIFF lacks in originality, they make up for with variety and quality. I can promise you that of all the free screening series in Toronto this summer, only one will bring you Charlie Chaplin and Ryan Gosling.
Then there’s The Harbourfront Centre, with its film series curated by Norm Wilner. Norm has been programming at Harbourfront, and if anyone in this town has figured out how to pull together a free film series, it’s him. Past ideas have focused films on ideas as varied as food, and cities of the world, which is nice since there are only so many times you can go for “Summer of 1000 Laughs” or (sorry TIFF) “Romance Under the Stars”.
This year, Norm is exploring the idea of “Invented Worlds” – an idea that will bring audiences everything from talking plants to a claymation dog and his inventor buddy.
Norm’s series will conclude with an audience choice selection, and filmgoers can decide between THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX, MOULIN ROUGE!, and SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW.
Then there’s Dundas Square. It feels like they’ve been at this the longest, and a side-effect of that is that they might be running out of ideas. For starters, for the second year in a row they are running with the theme of “Cult Classics“. Putting aside the point that few themes warrant programming over two consecutive summers, whoever’s programming at Dundas Square still doesn’t have a grasp on what is and is not a cult classic.
We can get into a large debate over semantics here, but if nothing else you must give me this – if a film wins Best Picture in its year, calling it a “cult classic” is misguided at best.
Maybe if I complain loud enough, Dundas Square will let me program one of these days.
Here’s the full slate of free films – mark you calendars now…
June 25th @ 9pm: PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE (Dundas)
July 2nd @ 9pm: ARMY OF DARKNESS(Dundas)
July 3rd @ 915pm: CASABLANCA (TIFF)
July 3rd @ 9pm: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS – THE DIRECTOR’S CUT (Harbourfront)
July 9th @ 9pm: EDWARD SCISSORHANHDS (Dundas)
July 10th @ 915pm: MOONSTRUCK (TIFF)
July 10th @ 9pm: GALAXY QUEST (Harbourfront)
July 16th @ 9pm: ANCHORMAN(Dundas)
July 17th @ 915pm: CITY LIGHTS (TIFF)
July 17th @ 9pm: WALLACE & GROMIT – THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (Harbourfront)
July 23rd @ 9pm: NAPOLEON DYNAMITE(Dundas)
July 24th @ 915pm: SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE (TIFF)
July 24th @ 9pm: TOP SECRET! (Harbourfront)
July 30th @ 830pm: THE GOONIES (Dundas)
July 31st@ 9pm: THE WAY WE WERE (TIFF)
July 31st @ 9pm: STREETS OF FIRE (Harbourfront)
August 6th @ 9pm: MILLER’S CROSSING (Dundas)
August 7th @ 9pm: CLUELESS (TIFF)
August 7th @ 9pm: THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (Harbourfront)
August 13th @ 730pm: STRAIT JACKET (Dundas)
August 14th @ 9pm: SENSE & SENSIBILITY (TIFF)
August 14th @ 9pm: THAT THING YOU DO! (Harbourfront)
August 13th @ 915pm: MOMMY DEAREST (Dundas)
August 20th @ 730pm: SPACEBALLS (Dundas)
August 21st @ 830pm: ROMAN HOLIDAY (TIFF)
August 21st @ 9pm: JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS (Harbourfront)
August 20th @ 9:15pm: SERENITY (Dundas)
August 27th @ 8pm: THE GODFATHER (Dundas)
August 28th @ 830pm: THE NOTEBOOK (TIFF)
August 28th @ 9pm: “Audience Choice” (Harbourfront)
There are some pretty impressive films in that list. And maybe it’s because I live in a smaller city, away from TO, with only one second run cinema, that the entire list made me squee with delight.
However, I do agree that some of the “Cult” classics are more classics and not as much cult. And I had to read it twice to realize that Top Secret! was not in the cult classics section but in the Invented Worlds section.
Either way, I will be taking this list and adding all of them to the “Guelph Movie Club” ballots, our once a month version of this.
What’s this Guelph Movie Club you speak of?
The Bookshelf Cinema in Guelph hosts a movie night on the last Thursday of every month. It’s a 100% audience selected film. On the movie night we fill in ballots with up to 5 films we want to see again, or sometimes for the first time, on the big screen. The top five films submitted are put up against each other in a poll a week later or so and people can vote for the one they want to watch. The top pick is chosen for the following month, and the process begins again.
So far we have watched Back To The Future, The Big Lebowski, Godfather, Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark, and up this month is Jaws. Follow along at their blog, http://bookshelfcinema.blogspot.ca/
The Godfather. Classic? Yes. Cult? No.
As you know, I’m basing my blindspot this year on cult films and I probably would’ve been able to program a much more interesting line-up.
Not to mention the fact that most genuine cult classics don’t play well to a mass audience, so why anyone would choose that idea for free programming (something that should be inclusive) is beyond me.
Ohhhhh please, enough of the mushy stuff! :-).
Lets have BLADEE RUNNER the best scify movie of all time. I would love to see it with the backdrop of buildings, a wall of buildings actually, just like Blade Runner. Come on people , be with me on this, every vote for it. You know TIFF better than I , tell them we , the people, want to see it!
So, BLADEE RUNNER will play on August 23 , 2013