This past weekend was a très Toronto weekend. First there was a Jays game on Friday (a loss, boo) with Joe, bookended by drinks at the Boxcar Social on Harbourfront and the Boxcar Social on Temperance.
Lindsay got home from a work trip in the wee hours of Saturday, so we slooooowly got up and about and had brunch at Lil’ Baci, followed by our first TIFF screening of the year. It was Louis CK’s stealth movie (he made it outside of the studio system, so no one but the cast and crew knew what it was about) I Love You, Daddy (tiff). It was written like a modern film but shot like a classic (35mm black & white), which made it pretty fun. I don’t want to give away much, but like all LCK work it was funny and insightful and difficult. Outstanding cast, though, and fun Q&A. [UPDATE 10 Nov 2017: this movie takes on a pretty gross veneer in light of recent allegations against Louis C.K.] Afterward we had a slightly disappointing dinner at my old local Mercatto.
Sunday we doubled up, getting in a very long (two movie) line at the Elgin to see The Square (tiff) which had won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. It was funny, sharp, contained not one but two bizarre primate-related scenes, and — best of all — completely took the piss out of marketing pitches. A little too long, but well worth watching. Afterward we rushed (our film started very late) over to the Lightbox and had a deliriously marked-up glass of mediocre wine at O&B Canteen.
Our final film of TIFF — seven short films, really, part of the Wavelengths program — was Figures In A Landscape (tiff). I’d never ventured into Wavelengths before, but hey…when dating an art curator, right? It was a mixed bag, some really interesting (Mr. Yellow Sweatshirt, (100ft), Rose Gold), some meh (Yeti, Heart Of A Mountain), one beautiful (Flores) and one just fucking weird one involving giant cartoon fruit gamboling through the Vietnam war (Division Movement to Vungtau), but I guess that’s always going to be the case with the festival’s showcase for the avant-garde.
After we tried going to King Taps but it was rammed, as was Carisma. We ended up trying Ardo for the first time (in this incarnation; I visited Toba several times) and sheeeeiiiiit was it a good call. We shared a damn fine burrata and had a salsiccia pasta (me) and funghi pasta (her) and cannoli and a lovely bottle of 2013 Nebbiolo Passeggiando from Langhe. Top meal all around, and actually cheaper than the subpar dinner at Marcatto the night before. I can’t wait to go back.
.:.
Cover image from the TIFF website