more TO movie scene Nov 81 - the drive-in & Bobby Ming!

November 1981 – Toronto

On the eve when the most exciting film being released this weekend is Fast Five, look at the amazing choices that were offered in this ad! And this is only one ad with a small selection of cinemas! Stay tuned for more ads!

before it was a temple of rock...

For all the Toronto cinema and concert goers out there, check out Eric Veillette's post on Allen's Bloor Theatre which opened in 1919. It existed as a movie theatre until 1957, but know the space is now known as Lee's Palace and was one of the locations in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

BEFORE

AFTER

Fall 1981 - Midnight Madness at the Eaton Centre?

November 1981 – Toronto

How times have changed! I would pay money for EACH of those movies.

a bit of light reading

VHS scare

Yet another one from The Scandy Tangerine Man's Tumblr. A buffet of amazing .gif art! From The Deadly Spawn.

gif-tasm

From The Scandy Tangerine Man's Tumblr. He's been doing some filthy things with .gifs and we love it.

tight pants and loose morals

I feel that for today's Easter Sunday sermon, we address the problem of today's youth with "tight pants and loose morals"

Pimping (#1)

This is Matt and I met Matt through something I'm unable to discuss in public that has nothing to do with the law or prison. Anyway, I am presenting this video review of Scre4m because, aside from being an entertaining watch, it's actually from a series entitled, 'Watch This Instead', and the this that Matt is suggesting here in none other than one of my all time favourites, Peeping Tom. I can't believe he only just saw it a couple months back but everything he says is true and there's even more still plus a unique look at the cinema patron as voyeur and the stunning Moira Shearer. If you haven't seen it, watch this clip and then watch it. It may be out of print on Criterion, as Matt mentions, but there is a smashing Blu-Ray available from the UK and that is the way to go, if you can. Plus, I get to post these again.

oh Jane!

This one goes out to Jesse.

Moll Flanders en croute

A naive but promiscuous British woman (Jane Birkin) comes to Paris to work as a cook, and basically has to resort to prostitution just to have a bed to sleep in. But she eventually manages to turn the tables on all the French lotharios she meets when she "incorporates" her, um, services.

This would be an irredeemably stupid sex comedy without the presence of Jane Birkin. She is so sexy and so frequently naked or clad in impossibly short mini-skirts that, I have to confess, my critical judgment was completely scrambled (not that I have that much to begin with). She also proves a pretty decent comedienne, playing a character who makes Emanuelle Arsan or Erica Jong seem like Queen Victoria. Of course, one poor guy (who later becomes her "accountant") she will only sleep with in the most literal sense. Another guy, however, (Jean-Pierre Aumont) comes home to find her occupying his bed and they have a LONG sex scene while they hilariously discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various sexual positions. In another incredible scene she is frugging away at a disco in her glittering micro-mini ensemble when she locks eyes with a guy across the room. Minutes later, and seemingly without a word of dialogue, she has shimmied out of her dress and is bare-ass naked in his bed. (No wonder he mistakes her for a pro and , much to her surprise, presents her with 500 francs afterwards!)

going up on the walls

Was in Asheville, NC last week for ActionFest and was able to visit my favourite poster vendor at a ramshackle antique market. The booth is tucked away, forgotten in a corner. All the posters are 30% off and apparently the owner of the booth is blind! Can't wait to get these up on the walls in the homestead and glad my lady agrees with my decisions.

Back from the beach

Back from cavorting with starlets on faraway beaches, to resume the duties at the cinema that I have neglected. Big thanks to Jesse and Michael for carrying on and sweeping up the popcorn and discarded bottles of rye from the aisles.

Party like it's 1977

This week I was perusing the Twitterings of the awesome Hal Kelly (exact awesomeness unavailable as all gauges need to be calibrated and re-set to his leading format) of Trash Compactor magazine/Deviant Culture Exchange legend and he kindly alerted me to the release of this book which I then ordered in about three minutes time.



If you'd been to Rotate This in past months, you may have noticed, as I had, a collection of early Toronto punk rock photographs by Shadowy Men (among many other bands) drummer and possibly the best writer (the old backpage BLAB coming close) reviewer Exlcaim! ever had, Don Pyle. Along with the recent release of Treat Me Like Dirt (which I mentioned previously in these pages) I was hoping we might get to see a book of Pyle's great shots and now here it is by the chair really near where I type this now. I'm about three-sevenths through it and it's worth double every penny. Early and special copies come with a 7" record with some Toronto punk memories but I haven't had time to play it yet. The collection of shots, xerox posters and concert stubs (along with great writing) is enough for sure.

I didn't see any show that Don saw back then (I was a bit younger) but I did see Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet downstairs at Sneaky Dee's when it was at Bloor and Bathurst. Greg Keelor was sitting at the bar, backwards, and watching. The only seat my girlfriend at the time and I could grab was by the ventilation grate and all the cigarette smoke came past us. Even with dying eyes, it was a superb show. I got drunk and left a care package I had brought from home here (I was a recent transplant to T.O.) under the table and always wondered what the person who found it thought of tin-foil wrapped turkey, some canned soup and an alarm clock.




There is a fucking amazing picture of Gord Lewis (I was a big Teenage Head fan) on page 159. It's total rock and roll! Go and get it right now or just keeping being a jock asshole or something.

Welcome spring

...and then summer and fine weather and spirits.