For those of you that have asked, here’s a preliminary list of what I plan on seeing at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. Nothing confirmed, of course.

• Everlasting Moments
• The Paranoids
• Il Divo
• Edison & Leo
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Mothers & Daughters
• $9.99
• Firaaq
• Medicine for Melancholy
• Ashes of Time Redux
• Deadgirl
• Hooked
• Passchendaele
• Year Ago in Winter
• Nuit de Chien
• 33 Scenes From Life
• Still Walking
• Acne
• The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond
• 24 City
• Fifty Dead Men Walking
• The Ghost
• Tears for Sale
• Zift
• Me and Orson Welles
• Gigantic
• Barrage Contre le Pacifique

It’s a short list this year because I’m working during the festival. I’ve also tried to avoid any films that will be opening in Canada anytime soon and have tried to focus on foreign films that will probably never be screened again on this side of the world.

Oh, and of course, that list doesn’t include any short films. I do plan on catching at least 30 short films as well.

What’s on your TIFF list?

Let me know what you plan on seeing, and if you have any thoughts on the films I plan on seeing. I’m off to Algonquin Park to go camping for the weekend. Ciao!

The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival is but a week away, and I’m getting excited.

Most of you that know me well are aware that TIFF-time in Toronto is my favorite time of year.

Armed with my press pass, I watch between 30-40 films, interview dozens of actors and filmmakers, and hang out at a few parties as well — all in a span of ten days.

Despite my obsession with film and the festival, I tend to stay away from reviewing the actual movies and instead cover industry news and filmmakers. There’s a part of me that shies away from trying to judge the passions and efforts of a fellow creator. There’s a fantastic quote in Ratatouille (one of the best films to be released this decade) that explains this sentiment well:

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.

I do, however, love exploring the work of new filmmakers, particularly those that make short film. Much of the excitement in that comes from the ability to discover new talent at its ground level, and to help foster that talent by telling the world about it. Yet again, a quote from Ratatouille comes to mind:

There are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needs friends.

If you’re coming to TIFF this year, do me a favor and watch some Canadian short films and support our next generation of filmmakers. And if you haven’t watched Ratatouille just yet, do that now. Right now.

Are you coming to TIFF08? What are you excited to see at the festival?

The new Metronauts blog has really picked up steam recently. This week, I added a post about the TTC’s decision to cut parking perks to Metropass holders and if that was going to adversely affect the amount of people using transit instead of driving into the core:

The TTC’s plan to remove the parking perks is estimated to bring in about $3 million in net revenue — revenue that could, ideally, be put into building better feeder routes, investing in better bus service around commuter hub stations, and increasing subway service in heavy commuter areas.

Tomorrow’s vote, however, does not address those issues directly.

You can read the rest of the post here. If you’re interested in transportation issues in the Greater Toronto Area and not already subscribed to the Metronauts blog, I’d go over there and check it out — and even better, become a contributor!

I’ve wanted to buy a Flip video camera ever since the first one came out. If they shipped to Canada, I probably would own three, the latest being the ultra-sexy Flip Mino.

The problem is that not only do they not ship to Canada, they won’t take Canadian credit cards and their Amazon shop won’t let Canadians purchase the camera either. Super-FAIL.

Truth is, I’m in the market for a video camera.

Since I’m not willing to jump through hoops to buy a Flip Mino, I’m looking for your recommendations for a camera I can buy at a local electronics store. I don’t know much about video, but here’s what I think I want from my device:

• Portable: I don’t need my camera to be as compact as the Mino, but I do need it to be small enough to toss into my Crumpler without a second thought. Small enough to hold in my hand and unobtrusive, but it doesn’t necessary have to be small enough to be fit in my shirt pocket.
• Easy to Use: I’m no techno-geek — if it’s not in a browser, I’m usually not very adept at it — so any camera I use should easily plug the video output into iMovie. I can make it work from there, of course, so any camera with a USB output that easily ports to iMovie should work.
• Rechargeable: One of the big problems I had with the original Flip cameras was the lack of USB-recharge ability. The Mino has solved that, but since I can’t get a Mino, any camera I buy is going to need to be able to be recharged by USB.
• Digital: Duh. I’m not going to worry about tapes or stuff like that.
• Affordable: My budget is a bit larger than what I’d expect to pay for a Mino, but I’m still not looking at shelling out big cash. This is a fun purchase, not a necessary buy, so I’d like to keep it under $300 if at all possible.

So that’s my list of needs. I don’t think they’re that extensive, so if you have any recommendations — and I really hope you do, because I know nothing about video cameras — please share them with me. Really appreciate all your help.

For years, my interest in the Olympics has been tangential: I’ve been excited to hear about world records and great achievements, but haven’t actually been interested in watching the Games themselves.

This year, I’m completely entranced by the Olympics in Beijing.

I’m not quite sure what caused this shift, but rarely have I been so enthralled by a major sporting event that wasn’t the Super Bowl or the World Cup. Over the past few days, I’ve been looking at some of the things that really caught my eye at the Olympics in 2008.

Last up (fittingly): Last-Place Finishes.

Canada kept it close, but once again, the host nation China has outclassed every single country — in last-place finishes. There’s a fantastic blog called DFL that keeps track of last-place finishes at the Olympics, and Canada came up big this year with eight dead-lasts. China finished with fourteen.

You can laugh all you want, but finishing in last place is no laughing matter. The fact is, not only are these athletes representing their country on the biggest stage — and you’re sitting in your underwear watching them on TV — but they also finish what they started. The DFL listings do not include athletes who do not complete their events. From the FAQ:

“Better DFL than DNF,” someone once told me — the implication being that it’s better to finish last, so long as you finish. Those that came last were at least able to put a mark on the board — a mark that we can compare ourselves (and the gold-medal winner’s results) against. We’re celebrating the last-place finish, not searching for the athlete most deserving of our derision.

Again, it may seem ridiculous, but celebrating last-place finishes is important because we’re celebrating the worst of the best, which is always better than celebrating the best of the worst. Like the blog says, “they’re there, and you’re not.”

For years, my interest in the Olympics has been tangential: I’ve been excited to hear about world records and great achievements, but haven’t actually been interested in watching the Games themselves.

This year, I’m completely entranced by the Olympics in Beijing.

I’m not quite sure what caused this shift, but rarely have I been so enthralled by a major sporting event that wasn’t the Super Bowl or the World Cup. Over the past few days, I’ve been looking at some of the things that really caught my eye at the Olympics in 2008.

Next up: Gymnastics.

If there’s one thing that is guaranteed to catch my attention, it’s controversy. This year, the gymnastics at the Olympics have been rife full of controversy, and it has been captivating.

By now, it’s pretty evident that some of the Chinese gymnasts are much younger than the minimum age of 16 years old. The Chinese attempt to hide it by deleting documents and forging passports is doing nothing but making it worse. Time to fess up, China.

I won’t even talk about the ridiculousness of the judging or the absurd tie-break procedures — or the fact that Nastia Liukin was robbed — but this year’s gymnastics has been rife with controversy, and because of that, the competition has been extremely compelling.

Oh, and the highlight of my Olympic viewing experience? Shawn Johnson’s huge smile as she won the gold medal on the beam. I’ve never seen someone that happy and truly appreciative of their experience. Awesome.

Does controversy make you more interested in an event, or is it bad for sports in general?

For years, my interest in the Olympics has been tangential: I’ve been excited to hear about world records and great achievements, but haven’t actually been interested in watching the Games themselves.

This year, I’m completely entranced by the Olympics in Beijing.

I’m not quite sure what caused this shift, but rarely have I been so enthralled by a major sporting event that wasn’t the Super Bowl or the World Cup. Since yesterday, I’ve been looking at some of the things that really caught my eye at the Olympics in 2008.

Next up: Michael Phelps.

Oh, we all know he’s more fish than human, but even that can’t explain the remarkable feat of Michael Phelps.

Phelps’ real achievement isn’t winning eight gold medals in one Olympic games — though that is amazing — but instead making millions of people across the world care about swimming again.

For a lot of people, swimming is something you do at the beach, or those classes you take when you’re young. Competitive swimming isn’t heavily televised in North America, and it surely doesn’t dominate water-cooler conversations like the Brett Favre trade.

Michael Phelps made competitive swimming cool; Phelps’ medal hunt made it normal for swimming-related headlines to dominate news broadcasts and talk shows. Swimming now isn’t just something that is done by guys that shave their legs — it is the pinnacle of athleticism.

I doubt the interest will linger, and I’m sure swimming will be relegated to its niche relatively soon, but I’m glad Phelps was able to make a whole nation — heck, the whole world — rally around an athlete that wears Speedos more often than Levi’s.

Do you think Phelps’ remarkable Olympic results will invigorate long-term public interest in swimming?

For years, my interest in the Olympics has been tangential: I’ve been excited to hear about world records and great achievements, but haven’t actually been interested in watching the Games themselves.

This year, I’m completely entranced by the Olympics in Beijing.

I’m not quite sure what caused this shift, but rarely have I been so enthralled by a major sporting event that wasn’t the Super Bowl or the World Cup. Over the next few days, I’ll be looking at some of the things that really caught my eye at the Olympics in 2008.

First up: China.

Apart from the fact that they are completely dominating the medal standings, there has a lot been said about the host country this year. The protests at the torch relays were the first events that piqued my interest in the Games.

China rebounded from all the protest talk to host one of the most beautiful Opening Ceremonies I’ve ever seen, albeit one marred with controversy about faked fireworks and a girl not pretty enough to sing.

The sporting venues and other support structures around Beijing and other parts of the country are being praised as being architecturally stunning — and it helps that the Chinese athletes that have been competing in those venues are exceeding all expectations. All in all, China has been a wonderful host for the Olympics, able to temper controversy with beauty and elegance.

The only major concern I’ve had (and this may have been a concern at other Olympics, but I’m not aware as none of the previous ones have been as captivating as these Beijing Games) revolves around the empty seats I’ve seen at venues on the television broadcasts. The reason for the empty seats baffles me: perhaps China has done a better job of marketing the Olympics to the international television audience than it has inside its own country?

What do you think of the job China has done in hosting the Olympics?

The photo in this post is taken from this pretty crazy gallery of Olympic photos on TotallyCrap.com.

The new Metronauts blog is going strong. This week, I added a post about the London congestion charge zone and if it was possible to do something similar in Toronto:

The benefits of a congestion charge are evident: a reduction in traffic in the core, increased revenue for local public transit development, increased use of alternative forms of transportation and energy-efficient vehicles, and clearer routes of access for emergency services, to name a few.

The drawbacks are a little harder to find, but they are there. Retailers in the core are bound to complain about a reduction in customers, fraudsters are bound to develop number plate clones, and a swarm of cars are bound to congregate at commuter hubs that can’t accommodate them.

You can read the rest of the post here. If you’re interested in transportation issues in the Greater Toronto Area and not already subscribed to the Metronauts blog, I’d go over there and check it out — and even better, become a contributor!

Things I have not done on Esquire’s list of 75 things every man should do:

• Fly a Cessna.
• Make a list of seventy-five things you want to do before you die.
• Drive by yourself from coast to coast.
• Leave yourself a letter in a library book. Look for it twenty years later.
• Drink mescal in Mexico.
• Learn three to four chords on the guitar, until you can play one song.
• Carry a totem in your pocket.
• Choose a word or a phrase and actively work to never use it again.
• Break a sheet of plate glass with a ball-peen hammer.
• Cook the same thing (over and over) until you are known for it.
• Get very good at a sport that isn’t a sport.
• Sell everything you don’t need. Once.
• Play golf at Carnoustie.
• Play chess until you beat someone you shouldn’t, then quit forever.
• Live at a high altitude.
• Spend some time working for tips.
• Go to the desert. Take long-lasting drugs. Drink water. (Though I have completed two of the three conditions mentioned here.)
• Eat a two-course meal that you grew.
• Go to Paris. Tell no one where you are. Stay there for two weeks. (Though I have completed two of the three conditions mentioned here.)
• Raise a dog.

Check out the list to see the other 55 things I have done. I might surprise you.