Roy Thomson Hall

I must admit that I have never gone into Roy Thomson Hall. There has just never been a concert or event that I wanted to go to that was held at the Hall. The location is prime and it is just a stone's throw from the new Bell Lightbox, home of TIFF, and they had a gigantic red carpet set up for the Toronto Film Festival.

Passing by one afternoon I got to see part of the lineup ready for patrons to wait in, and circle, as they attend a movie premier - they would have to wind down long aisles protected by plush, red velvet ropes, until they finally reached the entrance to the Hall and the hallowed popcorn counter.

The building itself looks like a large space ship that took a fancy to our city and landed smack dab in the middle of a bunch of skyscrapers. No alien was at home giving those nasty probes, but security was tight for protection of  movie stars. By the way the 35th annual TIFF party ends today. You can see what the photographers had to go through for the event at the Lines of Sight blog. The Toronto Star has a lot of photos of the many celebrities that came for the Festival. Sarah Silverman and Clint Eastwood are two stars that I wish I had seen wandering around Toronto.

While waiting to take this very picture I was joined by authors of the website Toronto.ca who were hitting up people as they looked to market and discuss their website. I foolishly confused it with Toronto.com and thought that I hadn't visited it - yet I now realize that this official City of Toronto website is where I often go to see the festival and events scheduled in Toronto. I said that I tended to visit BlogTO (which seems to be a website about poutine), Torontoist.com (I love the G20 stuff, even when their readers complain) and Toronto Mike (he sees a lot of dead people).

TIFF - World's Biggest Movie Screen

The popularity and clout of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) continues to expand every year. Helicopters fly high over the city looking for crowds that have gathered to see the stars of the world descend on Hollywood North. Special sniffer dogs check out theatres for any crawly insects but none were to be found and festivals in other parts of the world were crushed with the all clear verdict. Green eco friendly taxis shuttle movie stars from the airport to the various TIFF venues. Lineups at red carpet events start to fill up early with people hoping to catch a glimpse and take photos of celebrities.

Often criticized for being too eletist and too successful (TIFF responded by saying "Part of Bailey's mandate has been to expand the festival so it appeals to a greater demographic. He rejects the criticism that TIFF has become an “elitist” institution."), the crowds make it difficult to get tickets and into the movies that make up the festival, so organizers have created the World's biggest outdoor movie screen on one of Toronto's iconic landmarks - the Royal York Hotel on Front Street. Their plan was to bring some of the premiers out of the Bell Lightbox (pictured at top) and show the movies to the masses. However recent labour problems and strike walkouts, which include operators of the massive movie projector, have put the brakes to the plan. Martin Sheen even joined the protest for a short period to show his solidarity with the workers at the luxury hotel.

I have created a mock up of the screen showing the premier of Rainn Wilson's new movie "The Crimson Bolt" to show what the movie premier could have been.

2010 Wish List - Toronto Events

2009 has been a very good year for the Toronto Grand Prix Tourist Blog and I am looking forward to some returning and some new events for 2010. High on my list is to see the return of the Aids Committee of Toronto's (ACT) annual Fashion Cares event - which was sadly postponed in 2009. The fashion and glamour fundraiser is always spectactular (click on my photos on the right for coverage of the event. My videos on YouTube for Fashion Cares and the 2008 spooktacular have been viewed over 25,000 times - and includes this popular summary of the night while a Google search has my blog just below the official website) and I encourage people to support ACT and this event.



For more heavy hitters I hope to see the 2010 Honda Indy Toronto which plans a number of improvements over last year - including the addition of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and tons more entertainment and hopefully more girls, girls, girls. As well the Luminato and Nuit Blanche Festivals will soon take over all of Toronto as they become more and more popular. And who could forget the Buskerfest as it fills the St. Lawrence Market area. I can also never get enough of the blood soaked, brain eating Zombies as their number continues to grow. I hope to cover more of the Toronto International Film Festival events and look forward to their continued success. Toronto has taken these amazing visual performances to heart and their success has made it difficult to see many of the events due to the size of the crowds, so look for my photographic coverage when you can't make it, or just want to remember the fun - just click my photo links to the right for pictures of previous celebrations.

Some of the smaller promotional activities also provide great opportunities for images - such as the mob of Blu-Ray Santas in Yonge-Dundas Square, so hopefully companies will step up their creative efforts this year.

It is always nice to be invited to unique and once in a lifetime events, such as my recent tour in the Olympic Flame Relay convoy and I am glad I was asked to find out about the movie Fandom which will use an exciting method of interactive filmaking right here in Toronto. So please keep thinking of me if you have something that you may want additional coverage on, just email me at jmhcet@gmail.com.

I will start a list of the events (not in any order) that I want to photograph and write about and will add to it when I find more. Let me know if you can suggest any additional ones that I have left out.

1. Fashion Cares.
2. Honda Indy Toronto. July 16 to 18, 2010.
3. Luminato. June 11 to 20, 2010.
4. Nuit Blanche. Saturday October 2, 2010.
5. Buskerfest. Sometime in August 2010?
6. Zombie Walk. Sometime in October 2010?
7. Toronto International Film Festival. Sometime in September 2010?
8. The Pride Week and parades. June 25 to July 4, 2010.
9. The movie: Fandom. 2010.
10. Joe Fresh has also identified the Toronto Roller Derby League as something that would be good to see.
11. Cirque Du Soleil: Alegria. June 30 to July 4, 2010.
12. Seeing Larysa Harapyn on television again and taking more pictures of the media host - a website with her name is currently under construction.
13. Caribana (a new one for me, thanks Not a Shopaholic). Monday July 14th to Sunday August 2nd, 2010. I heard the King and Queen show is a must see.

Join me in supporting local events and activities that make it such a positive experience to visit and live in the City of Toronto.

TIFF - Waiting for the stars

A crowd gathers around the enclosed TIFF red carpet at Roy Thomson Hall, waiting for stars to walk the red carpet, pose for pictures and sign autographs. The premier of the Private Lives of Pippa Lee is scheduled for 6:30pm while the crowds begin waiting hours before the premier starts.



The stars of this movie include Robin Wright Penn (soon to be ex Penn), Alan Arkin, Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. The wait would be worth it to get a chance to meet these stars. Meanwhile CP24's George Lagogianes prepares to interview some of the fans.

Zombie Walk - Special Director's Cut Edition

You can check out my pictures of the October 24th, 2009 Toronto Zombie Walk here.

As part of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Thea Munster (below) brought together a special zombie walk in honour of Director George A. Romero and his Midnight Madness Premier of SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD at 11:59pm.

PS Thea Munster (pictured below) became engaged to Adam Pearson when he asked her to marry him during the beginning of the 2009 Toronto Zombie Walk!







The undead gathered at Alexandra Park and lurched towards Yonge-Dundas Square, dripping blood all the way. At the TIFF screen in the square George came on stage and talked to the zombies saying he doesn't know why people keep getting dressed up as zombies.




Here is a YouTube video slideshow of the event.



Don't forget the upcoming annual Toronto Zombie Walk scheduled for October 24 - which usually starts at Trinity Bellwoods Park (the actual location is yet to be announced).

Festival central

Toronto plays host to some exciting events that focus the attention of the world onto our fair city.

The arts festival Luminato begins this week and takes place from June 5th to the 12th. Preparations are now underway at Yonge-Dundas Square.




Toronto's Pride Week is June 19th to the 28th.




Much Music Video Awards hits town on June 21.



The TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival for the more musically inclined from June 26th to July 5th.



Just for laughs runs from July 15 to the 19th, 2009. I have been to a few Just for laughs shows and they are great fun. I also love when they close down Yonge Street and have a weird street festival. Here is a short clip of a praying mantis destroying Toronto from the 2008 festival.



Toronto's most famous festival being the http://tiffg.ca/default.aspx, or TIFF, that runs in September. A TIFF tent has been setup in the park area beside City Hall and this tent is the Festival Box Office (their phone number is 416-968-FILM or toll free 1-877-968-FILM). Inside the tent preferred ticket packages can be purchased by donors (if they use visa) and then on July 13 everyone can purchase tickets to the festival. If you want to donate to the festival you can visit tiff.ca to support the film-lovers festival.