This Week

Toronto Film Venues
Aga Khan Museum 77 Wynford Drive, in North York	New Islamic culture museum with occasional film programming.
Al Green Theatre In the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, on the southwest corner of Bloor and Spadina.	Home to the Toronto Jewish Film Society's monthly Sunday screenings and one of the venues comprising the yearly spring Toronto Jewish Film Festival. Over the summer of of 2005, Capri Films programmed first run releases and some specialty series but backed off on continuing.
Art Gallery Of Ontario At Dundas and McCaul	Toronto's premier art gallery occasionally screens related films in its Jackman Hall (former home to Cinematheque Ontario).
Cinecycle 129 Spadina, down the alley	Low-key experimental film venue, nestled behind tall buildings in the downtown core.
Cineplex Odeon Canada Square, 2190 Yonge Street Grande, 4861 Yonge, at Sheppard Scotiabank, 259 Richmond W, at John Silver City Yonge & Eglinton, 2300 Yonge Steeet Varsity, 55 Bloor W, in the Manulife Centre Yonge & Dundas, 10 Dundas E, in the heart of downtown Toronto	Now that it has swallowed Famous Players and a few AMC venues, Cineplex Odeon is Canada's major cinema chain, specializing in first-run fare in theatres that largely consist of noisy modern multiplexes with stadium seating. The stature of the uptown Canada Square has faded a good deal, but it continues to chug along nonetheless with crowdpleasing arthouse releases and late-in-the-run Hollywood product. Higher profile arthouse fare often shows up at the Varsity and occasionally the downtown Scotiabank first. In an example of marketing run amuck, the Scotiabank has been so branded despite the fact that it is neither a bank nor located in Nova Scotia.   Upcoming : Jul 26-31, Aug 1    Some Like It Hot (1959, USA, D: Billy Wilder) Jul 27    The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019, USA, D: Thurop Van Orman)   Family Favourites Jul 28,30    Man and Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps (2024, UK, D: Michael Hines)
Cinesphere On the waterfront, in the big white dome at Ontario Place	Toronto's original Imax venue is back, screening large-format versions of Hollywood blockbusters.
Drake Hotel 1150 Queen St. West	West downtown boutique hotel hosting nightly arts programming, including the occasional indie film event.
Eyesore Cinema 1176 Bloor W	Cult-movie video rental emporium + screening room.   Upcoming : Jul 25    Open Vault Film Festival Jul 27    Seconds (1966, USA, D: John Frankenheimer)
The Fox in the Beaches at 2236 Queen E.	Onetime Festival Cinemas house survived the June 2006 collapse of the repertory chain to begin a new life as an independent second run cinema. As of October 2007, the reins were transferred to the fellows at Napoleonic Theatres. Programming is basically second run screenings of Hollywood hits and high profile indies from the last couple of months' releases, augmented with an irregularly occurring documentary night and the odd classic.   Upcoming : Jul 25    Firebrand (2023, UK/USA, D: Karim Ainouz) Jul 25    Lair Of The White Worm (1988, UK, D: Ken Russell) Jul 26-31, Aug 1-2    The Fabulous Four (2024, USA, D: Jocelyn Moorhouse) Jul 26    The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, UK, D: Jim Sharman) Jul 27, Aug 1    Silver Bullet (1985, USA, D: Daniel Attias) Jul 31    Xanadu (1980, USA, D: Robert Greenwald)   Second Run : Jul 25    Kinds of Kindness Jul 26-31, Aug 1    Longlegs
Goethe Institut 163 King W, near University	The Toronto chapter of the German cultural institution programmes German films of past and present at various city venues.
Harbourfront Centre On the waterfront, at Queen's Quay	Waterfront collection of indoor and outdoor venues hosts a variety of arts programmes, only occasionally film related. Weekend summer festivals often include a film sidebar. In the past, the warm weather has been met with free weekly outdoor screenings, but they don't seem to be happening this year.   Upcoming : Jul 30    The Mighty Quinn (1989, USA, D: Carl Schenkel)   Free Flicks    Free!
Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema In the Annex at 506 Bloor W, just east of Bathurst	Formerly the Bloor Cinema. Toronto's venerable repertory house was renovated and rebranded by the Hot Docs festival and then renamed thanks to an influx of cash from Rogers. Unsurprisingly, the slate is documentary-heavy, sporting both first runs of new docs and reprertory programming of reality-based classics. The cinema will also look back to its previous incarnation with an occasional series of cult flicks.
Imagine Cinemas Carlton, 20 Carlton, near Yonge Market Square, 80 Front, near Jarvis Promenade, Promenade Mall, Thornhill Woodbine, 500 Rexdale, in the Woodbine Shopping Center Elgin Mills, 10909 Yonge St, in Richmond Hill	Five locations in the Greater Toronto Area, reviving venues discarded by the major chains with first run films and discount pricing. Previously part of the Rainbow Cinemas chain.
Innis Town Hall On the downtown University Of Toronto campus, on the ground floor of the Innis College building, 2 Sussex Ave (at St. George).	Medium-sized lecture hall venue, recently renovated, used for many of Toronto's smaller festivals in addition to U Of T events and weekly free screenings put on by the Cinema Studies Student Union.   Upcoming : Aug 22-25    Toronto Shorts International Film Festival
Isabel Bader Theatre On the downtown U of T campus at 93 Charles St. W (at University), next to Museum subway station	Soft-seat University Of Toronto lecture hall used by a number of the city's major festivals. No real film programming of its own.
Japan Foundation 131 Bloor W, Second Floor	The gateway through which Japanese culture often passes into Toronto.   Upcoming : Jul 30    Izaiho (1967, Japan, D: Gakuya Nomura)
Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre 6 Garamond Court, near Don Mills & Eglinton	Promoting Japanese culture in midtown. Regularly shows movies in its Kobayahi Hall.   Upcoming : Jul 25    Perfect Days (2023, Japan/Germany, D: Wim Wenders) Aug 1    Mr. Jimmy (2019, USA/Japan, D: Peter Michael Dowd)
The Kingsway 3030 Bloor W, near Royal York subway station	Onetime Festival Cinemas house reopened in January 2009, two and a half years after the collapse of its former parent company. Programming currently consists of week-long runs of recent Hollywood fare, arthouse hits and high profile indies.   Upcoming : Jul 26    A History Of Violence (2005, USA/Canada/UK, D: David Cronenberg)   Always On Film
New Circle Of Cinema 462 Dupont Street, backyard	A backyard microcinema for a streamless summer.
The Paradise 1006 Bloor W	One-time Festival Cinemas location revived as a multi-purpose cinema & performance space with adjoining bar and restaurant.   Upcoming : Jul 28    Ginger Snaps (2000, Canada, D: John Fawcett)   Evil Women Jul 29    Heartworn Highways (1976, USA, D: James Szalapski)   The Summer Sessions
Revue Cinema at 400 Roncesvalles, south from Dundas West station	One-time Festival Cinemas house was saved from certain death by a community campaign and (as of Oct 4, 2007) is operating as an independent repertory cinema. Programming is focused on repertory screenings centered around several monthly themed series, filled out with second run screenings of recent arthouse or genre fare. The old neighbourhood theatre is on the narrow side with a high screen, making sitting in the first five or ten rows ill-advised.   Upcoming : Jul 25    Death Of A Cheerleader (1994, USA, D: William A. Graham)   Hold Up! Jul 25    Breathless (1983, USA, D: Jim McBride) Jul 26-27,29    Doubles (2023, Canada, D: Ian Harnarine) Jul 26    Collateral (2004, USA, D: Michael Mann) Jul 27    Streets Of Fire (1984, USA, D: Walter Hill)   Dumpster Raccoon Jul 28    Bonnie And Clyde (1967, USA, D: Arthur Penn)   Destination Love Jul 28    Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story (2024, USA, D: Andrew Reich)   Stompbox Jul 29    True Romance (1993, USA, D: Tony Scott)   Destination Love Jul 30    Focus (2015, USA, D: Glenn Ficarra & John Requa)   Destination Love Jul 30    Firestarter (1984, USA, D: Mark L. Lester) Jul 31    The Legend Of Billie Jean (1985, USA, D: Matthew Robbins)   Heat Wave Jul 31    A Fish Called Wanda (1988, USA/UK, D: Charles Crichton)   Destination Love Aug 1    Gladiator (2000, USA, D: Ridley Scott)   Paid In Sweat   Second Run : Jul 27-28, Aug 1    Evil Does Not Exist
Royal Cinema in Little Italy, at 608 College	One-time Festival Cinemas venue, saved from clubland/condo takeover by Theatre D. Screenings run the gamut from first run releases of scrappy indie titles to one-off screenings of genre classics.
Royal Ontario Museum At Avenue and Bloor.	Toronto's largest museum. Home to the Institute For Contemporary Culture and site for cultural events, some of them film related. Downstairs theatre is a medium-sized venue used by a variety of local festivals and occasionally by the Museum itself. New seats mean that legroom is much improved, but a gentle rake ensures that even tall people have trouble reading subtitles during packed screenings. Occasionally, the rumbling of the subway running underneath the theatre can be heard.
Spadina Theatre 24 Spadina Road, in the Alliance Francaise	Intimate 140-seat venue located within the Alliance Francaise.
Theatre D in the Regent, at 555 Mt. Pleasant (between Davisville and Eglinton)	Digital post production facility by day, second run cinema by night, occasionally rented for the odd special presentation. The organization is also the new owner of Little Italy's Royal Cinema.
TIFF Bell Lightbox 350 King West, at John	TIFF's new home base. Featuring five screens of varying size plus an exhibition area, restaurants and bars.   Upcoming : Jun 7-Jul 31    Women In Action Jul 4-30    Edward Yang's Taipei Stories Jul 25    Indian 2 (2024, India, D: S. Shankar) Jul 25-28,30-31, Aug 1    Oddity (2024, Ireland, D: Damian McCarthy) Jul 25    National Anthem (2023, USA, D: Luke Gilford) Jul 26-28,30-31, Aug 1    Crossing (2024, Sweden/Denmark/France, D: Levan Akin) Jul 26    It Happened One Night (1934, USA, D: Frank Capra) Jul 26,28,31    Made In England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (2024, UK, D: David Hinton) Jul 30    Good One (2024, USA, D: India Donaldson) Jul 31    Sing Sing (2023, USA, D: Greg Kwedar) Aug 1    TIFF Next Wave 48 Hour Film Challenge Aug 1    Only The River Flows (2023, China, D: Wei Shujun)   MDFF Presents Aug 1-4,6-8    Sing Sing (2023, USA, D: Greg Kwedar)
Yonge-Dundas Square Downtown, at the corner of Yonge and Dundas	City square development features outdoor screenings once the warm weather hits.
York Cinemas 115 York Blvd, in Richmond Hill	Indian cinema, just north of the city.
Defunct Toronto Film Venues
Alliance Atlantis Cinemas Beach, 1651 Queen E, just past Coxwell, in the Beaches	Once a promising cross-Canada chain of arthouse theatres, now reduced to a single mini-multiplexes in Toronto's east end. The Beach cinema sports stadium seating and runs almost exclusively commercial fare, with an emphasis on family films that appeal to the denizens of its residential neighbourhood.
AMC Theatres Interchange, 30 Interchange Way, at Highways 400 and 7	The American cinema chain is currently in the process of selling off the few suburban and urban multiplexes it has scattered across the greater Toronto area. The Yonge & Dundas and Winston Churchill locations were sold to Cineplex in July 2012. The Kennedy Commons location appears to have closed some time in August 2012. Was once the only stop for specialized fare in the outer reaches of the city.
Big Picture Cinema 1035 Gerrard E, the former Gerrard Theatre	Leslieville's indie cinema promising art, schlock, indie and foreign fare. Formerly known as The Projection Booth.
Brunswick Theatre 296 Brunswick Ave, in the Annex	Small 100-seat venue in the former Poor Alex Theatre space, screening socially conscious docs on video. Currently on hiatus.
Camera In the west end of downtown, at 1028 Queen W.	Tiny venue once nestled in the back of a downtown watering hole screened a mix of specialized experimental/indie programming and new arthouse releases from the Mongrel catalogue but is now connected to the Stephen Bulger Gallery and run as a private rental space with the occasional public presentation. No 35mm capability; films are often shown on projected video.
City View Drive-In 20 Polson Street	The Polson Pier drive-in is revived by Rebel nightclub for these socially distanced times.
Double Double Land 209 Augusta	Small event space located in Kensington Market.
Empire Theatres	Cineplex eventually swallowed up most of this largely Atlantic Canada-based chain, with some of the remaining theatres, such as Mississauga's Square One, sold off to Landmark.
Festival Cinemas The Royal, in Little Italy at 608 College The Paradise, at 1006 Bloor W. The Kingsway, in the far west end at 3030 Bloor W. The Fox, in the Beaches at 2236 Queen E. The Revue, in the west end at 400 Roncesvalles	As of June 30th 2006, the chain has folded. The Fox continues to run as an independent repertory/second run cinema. The Royal has been purchased by the folks at Theatre D and re-opened in December 2006. The Revue was saved by a community campaign and re-opened in the autumn of 2007.   Before June 30th 2006, the chain was comprised of five locations specializing in discount second run fare with some repertory programming and occasional short runs of specialized titles. A $3 membership kept movie prices down to $6 (less for Tuesdays and matinees) for 6 months. The Royal offered a good-sized screen, decent sound and rocking seats. It showcased the most diverse programming in the chain, spicing up the usual second run fare with culty events such as the bi-weekly Kung Fu Fridays presentation. The Paradise was the place where you might have found that arty flick you missed during its brief run at the Carlton (albeit likely screening for only two nights) in a schedule filled with more traditional second run fare, but the theatre's divy environs were not the most inviting. The Kingsway, Revue and Fox presented more mainstream programming. The Kingsway sported the best screen and sound in the chain. The Fox was a close second. The narrow Revue's screen was on the high side, making sitting in the first five or ten rows ill-advised, and the sound was decidedly muddy.   Final programme: June 2006
The Grand Gerrard 1035 Gerrard E, in Leslieville	Leslieville's hub for indie film and live music.
Landmark Theatres Square One, in Mississauga	Largely Western Canada-based chain picked up Mississauga's Square One cinema following Cineplex's aquisition of most of the Empire chain, but closed it in October 2014 when the mall offered to buy out the lease.
Mediatheque In the National Film Board Of Canada at Richmond and John.	Once the National Film Board Of Canada's public face in Toronto, hosting weekly screenings in association with local festivals and cultural groups in the medium-sized upstairs theatre while offering instant access to a sizeable portion of the NFB back catalogue downstairs via personal viewing stations. Closed in August 2012 due to government budget cuts.
The Metro 677 Bloor St W, in Koreatown	Toronto's last remaining porn theatre has reportedly closed its doors. (An attempt to give the space an indie makeover courtesy the folks behind The Projection Booth appears to have fizzled.)
Ontario Place Drive-In On the waterfront, parked.	For these viral times, the slowly rejuvenating Ontario Place turns its east island into an outdoor movie venue for those with access to wheels.
Ontario Place Open Air Cinema On the West Island of Ontario Place, 855 Lake Shore Blvd W.	Ontario Place adds a walk-up outdoor cinema in response to our COVID times.
Rainbow Cinemas	Five locations in the Greater Toronto Area, reviving venues discarded by the major chains with first run films and discount pricing. Now part of the Imagine Cinemas chain.
Toronto Media Arts Centre 32 Lisgar	New arts facility in west downtown. Home to the CFMDC.
Toronto Underground Cinema 186 Spadina, downstairs, in the long-lost Golden Classics space. Briefly known as the Acacia Centre.	Upstart rep cinema opened by former Bloor Cinema staffers but recently closed due to issues between the owner of the property and the condominiums above.
Trash Palace Shhh, it's a secret.	Cult films once unearthed (on 16mm film, not video) in a studio space on Niagara Street, now shuttered due to urban development.
Out Of Town
Eastman House Rochester, NY	Bringing solid repertory programming and arthouse releases to upstate New York.
Compiled by Don Marks (contact) Font graphics courtesy Web Diner Inc.