**************************************************************
* *
* CYBERSPACE *
* A biweekly column on net culture appearing *
* in the Toronto Sunday Sun *
* *
* Copyright 1999 Karl Mamer *
* Free for online distribution *
* All Rights Reserved *
* Direct comments and questions to: *
* *
* *
**************************************************************
There was a time, shortly after the invention of the movie
camera, when people went to see movies simply for the sake of
spectacle. Watching a man sneeze was considered great fun.
Spectacle, according to Aristotle's Poetics, is the lowest form
of drama. So the fun couldn't last. Sure every other summer the
producers of Independence Day try to revive spectacle as an art
form but then Fall comes and studios release their Oscar
contenders. For a few brief months we can try to forget a humid
summer filled with TTC buses painted black and green
proclaiming "size matters." Shudder.
For some, the best mental ablution available in Fall is
Canada's film festival season. Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver
all host international film festivals in September and October.
The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10
to September 19. Its web site at www.bell.ca/filmfest is a
little devoid of important details, like what and its
accompanying when and where. The chrome and animated GIFs are
in place, though. Oh well. One day archaeologist may find
Aristotle's fabled HTML style guide. The web site promises by
September 2 to have film dates, times, locations, and a search
engine.
Search engines can be a wonderful thing for planning your
entertainment calendar. I make frequent use of Now magazine's
movie site search engine (www.now.com). For pre- or post-flick
food, DineNet's Toronto restaurant data base (www.dine.net/cgi-
bin/search?location=443) is quite extensive, letting you search
by location and cuisine. The location feature should come in
handy mid-September. A table at Bistro 990 or any restaurant a
5 limo radius away from Yorkville might be a little hard to get
during the film fest.
If you're squeamish about trying a new restaurant, Toronto Life
magazine maintains an archive of capsule restaurant reviews at
its web site (www.tor-
lifeline.com/new/tl/restaurant/cframe.html). Not everyone
trusts critics, including this critic. For the opinions of the
common folk, I like to do a search of the newsgroup tor.eats
using the DejaNews search engine (www.dejanews.com).
Probably one of the best heads-up for film and film fest
information in Toronto, from the everyman perspective, is Don
Marks' Swimming Through Celluloid page at
www.interlog.com/~lamedog/film. Marks is a Java programmer by
day and hardcore film go'er by night. During the Toronto
International Film Festival he books off work, becomes a fest
rat, and updates his web page with regular dispatches from the
film fest front.
For someone with a day job on the cutting edge of internet
technology, Marks' personal site is pretty minimalist. In my
five years on the net, I've noticed a definite inverse
relationship between the amount of chrome a web master hangs
out and the quality of the actual information provided. The
more time you waste mucking around with animated GIFs and
stupid Java tricks, the less time you have to crank out good
text.
While Now and Eye fall over themselves to give the Toronto
International Film Festival maximum coverage, Mark gives lesser
known film fests that grace our city extensive coverage. Mark
was all over August's Fant-Asia Film Festival like a critic on
a free buffet.
Another excellent source for some lesser known film happenings
in Toronto is the Women in Film and Television web site
(www.wift.com). The WIFT promotes film-related events and
workshops from a female perspective. WIFT members are kicking
off the Toronto film festival in style with a "Martini Madness"
cocktail party hosted by my page mate (look up, look way up)
Sara Waxman. Sounds fun. Wish I was a woman.
               (
geocities.com/lapetitelesson/cs)                   (
geocities.com/lapetitelesson)