Tag: tiff

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Canadian horror cinema turns 50

Eric Veillette

If a modern-day horror film were shot in the Royal Ontario Museum, a director might be inclined to set some action in the museum’s bat cave. But the revered exhibit didn’t exist 50 years ago when Julian Roffman directed The Mask, a psychological 3-D horror film which made use of the museum’s iconic totem pole. Premiering at Toronto’s Downtown Theatre on November 10, 1961, it ushered Canadian cinema into the horror genre established by Hollywood in the 1920s. Screened at TIFF Bell Lightbox this week, the film, a drug-use allegory in which an archaeologist blames an ancient mask for terrible … Continue reading Canadian horror cinema turns 50

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TIFF: Mary Pickford and the Invention of the Movie Star

Eric Veillette

In today’s Toronto Star, I preview TIFF’s latest exhibit, Mary Pickford and the Invention of the Movie Star, based on the collection of Rob Brooks. Over the course of three decades, Brooks, a Toronto native, amassed thousands of items including lobby cards, posters, correspondence and several personal items once owned by Toronto’s own Mary Pickford. In the article, I mention Pickford’s long-held ties to Toronto. In an early 1920s visit, Pickford was so enamoured by the patients and staff at the Christie St. Military Hospital that they received private screenings of all her forthcoming films. When Sparrows was released in … Continue reading TIFF: Mary Pickford and the Invention of the Movie Star

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Midnight Madness Looms!

Eric Veillette

If this were sometime in the early ’70s, I’d be spending the witching hour on the Danforth, catching a bunch of Midnite Movies at the Music Hall, then known as the Titania. But hey, those days are long gone, so whataya gonna do for your midnight kicks? Thankfully, Midnight Madness at the Toronto International Film Festival is right around the corner. Learn a little more about this year’s selections at the official Midnight Madness Blog! Continue reading Midnight Madness Looms!