Well it’s my last blog here for a while, and I wanted to pay tribute to my favourite thing, movies, and one of my favourite cities, Toronto. Toronto has played New York, Chicago, Baltimore and itself in countless films. Here are a few famous spots that you can visit right here in the city.
What If (a.k.a. The F Word)
Or perhaps more aptly titled, “Where not?” This film actually takes place in Toronto so the film is rife with shots of Yonge street, the CN tower skyline, the beaches, Chinatown, The Royal, and Adam Driver heckling seniors playing shuffle board. I actually don’t know where that last one takes place, but I’d like to find it so that I can go drink beer and heckle senior citizens.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Here Toronto is playing Chicago and its suburbs; but, for those of you familiar with the city you can still pick out Ryerson and the financial district. The house that doubled as the Portokolos house is in East York, but with a little detective work on IMDB and Google maps it can be found. Trust me, I know. OPA!
Mean Girls
We know Mean Girls takes place in “North Shore” somewhere outside of Chicago, but the specifics aren’t really important. What is, is that you can make your way out to Etobicoke Collegiate Institute and stand right where (*spoiler) Regina George gets hit by a bus. Fair warning, the Mean Girls art department like invented that cross walk, so be careful!
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is only 5 years old and it’s already a cult classic. The quotable, fast paced romp stars Michael Cera as Bryan Lee O’Malley’s titular non-hero. Even better, the comic books and the film take place in Toronto, so there are numerous Toronto haunts throughout including Casa Loma, Lee’s Palace and Honest Ed’s neon sign.
American Psycho
Mary Harron adapts the biting Brett Easton Ellis novel about a psychopathic New York yuppie. As it has in so many other films, here, Toronto is playing New York. The urban side streets and numerous chic watering holes are the perfect backdrop for Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman. Perhaps the most architecturally striking are the Mies van der Rohe TD buildings in the film that closely resemble their New York counterparts.