MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Well, Sixteeners, how was your weekend? I attended two movies at the Toronto Film Festival on Saturday and I enjoyed them immensely. The first one was West is West. It is the story of Sajid, a young teen in the 1970s who resides in England. Sajid is taunted and bullied because his father is an immigrant from rural Pakistan. It turns out that Sajid’s father has abandoned a wife and daughters in his Pakistani village and has taken a second wife in England. Sajid’s father, known as George Khan in his adopted country, decides to take his troubled son for a visit to his village in the Punjab. That visit changes the lives of both father and son with results that are both comic and poignant.

I met Leslee Udwin, the producer of West is West. She answered questions and was very personable. She seemed quite proud of her film and told us she had devoted four years of her life to it. I haven’t yet seen the prequel, East is East, but I intend to. A third film in the series may be in the works. Leslee Udwin stated in a Reuters interview that "In my head and heart, there have always been three films. Whether and when we actually make a third one I cannot tell you, though the writer and I have started discussing the prospect. It will, like West is West have to grow organically and in its own time out of a passion to tell a further story.” At Saturday’s screening of West is West, some people even offered prospective names for a third film to Leslee.

I also saw the Bruce Springsteen documentary, The Promise: The Making of Darkness On The Edge of Town. I gained some insight into how the Boss operates. His perfectionism and his intensity are astounding. The film is a must for Springsteen fans.

TIFF just seems to be getting better and better. I have yet to see a film at the Bell Lightbox Theatre. Esteemed movie critic Roger Ebert was in town for the festival and he is very fond of the Bell Lightbox. He described it as “one swell place to see a move.” He said that he can see someone like himself “retiring to a condo in the TIFF Bell Lighthouse and just going to the movies.”

Ebert, however, did not shy away from criticism of our fair city. He expressed his distaste for the large number of chain stores in Toronto. He said that they "descend into living neighbourhoods and suck the blood from their busy streets." Amen to that. I couldn’t agree more.

Yesterday was just a beautiful September day here in Toronto. I watched a tennis match in the sunshine at York University. Canada’s Frank Danecvic competed against a Dominican opponent as part of a preliminary to the Davis Cup. It was a one-sided affair and Dancevic won easily.


RIDDLE ME THIS

Why couldn’t the sailor play cards?

ANSWER : Because someone was sitting on the deck


SPORTS

The Toronto Argonauts earned a much-needed win yesterday. They defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers by a score of 17-13.

The Blue Jays were trounced by a score of 6-0 in the final game of their series with the Boston Red Sox The Jays, however, won the series 2 games to 1. Jose Bautista hasn’t hit his 50th homer of the season yet. It will happen soon, I hope.

- Joanne