DOCUMENTING THE EVOLUTION OF DANCE
The Bloor Cinema screens a fascinating film that follows the creative process of dance icon Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor: Creative Domain
A new doc that opens at the Bloor this weekend, Paul Taylor: Creative
Domain, reveals the artistic process that has made its subject an icon of the American dance world. Of course, by examining the evolution of a single piece, the film serves to highlight many of the aspects that have made Taylor such a venerated and enigmatic figure over the six decades since he first emerged as a star dancer for Martha Graham and George Balanchine.
Narrowing down the scope on Taylor’s career and influence that was provided by Matthew Diamond’s earlier big-screen profile, Dancemak
er, director Kate Geis tracks the development of a work named “Three Dubious Memories” from its first day of rehearsal in New York in 2010 through its world premiere months later. That the evolution of the piece — Taylor’s 133rd — is so subtle makes the process all the more fascinating. The choreographer’s occasional reluctance to verbalize his instructions poses further challenges to his dancers, however devoted they otherwise seem to be.
Clearly, Taylor’s more comfortable conveying his ideas and feelings through physicality and movement. And rather than explain too much, Geis wisely preserves the murky mysteries at the heart of his artistic practice. The director will attend Q&As after the screenings on Friday at 9 p.m. and Saturday at noon. Paul
Taylor: Creative Domain runs at the
Bloor to Dec. 18.
Star Wars Marathon
With only days left before the release of The Force Awakens, Star Wars fans may be feeling too anxious to perform any of the usual tasks expected of them in normal circumstances, such as sleeping, eating or bathing. Thankfully, Cineplex is offering them an excellent way to kill the last remaining hours in like-minded company before they can all make their new journey to galaxies far, far away. Beginning bright and early at 4:45 a.m. on Thursday, the Scotiabank Theatre presents Episodes I through VI in sequence. Catnaps between instalments are recommended to anyone who doesn’t want to pass out while in line for the new one — jeez, how embarrassing would that be?
Holiday Classics: X(mas)-Rated Edition
Who needs the usual seasonal cheer when you can get a “cornucopia of Christmastime carnage?” That’s what TIFF Cinematheque promises to deliver with a slate of six movies that buck the cozier conventions of holiday movies.
John McClane turns the Nakatomi Plaza into one great big Christmas candle in Die Hard, which opens the series at the Lightbox on Friday at 9:30 p.m. Then on Tuesday at 9 p.m., actor Keir Dullea introduces Bob Clark’s seminal slasher flick Black Christmas. The program continues
with Gremlins (Dec. 18), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Dec.
19), Home Alone (Dec. 20) and Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (Dec. 23) so feel free to treat yourself in between your customary eggnog binges.
Stars for the holidays at Short Cuts
A new celeb-themed edition of TIFF Bell Lightbox’s monthly shorts program boasts many familiar faces. Michael Cera and Tim Heidecker co-star in That Dog, an acerbic comedy about L.A. apartment dwellers. Zachary Quinto of Star Trek and
Heroes fame also adds some lustre to a new science-fiction short named The Future Perfect.
Flashpoint’s Hugh Dillon supplies his customary degree of intensity to Winnifred Jong’s The Offer, another highlight of the program on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Holiday faves and freakiness at the Royal and more
The Royal is one of many local movie houses that are celebrating the season with specialty programming both familiar and less so.
Local YouTube channel This Exists presents a holiday-themed package of very weird treats on Friday at 7 p.m. Then Charles Dickens’ redemption tale A Christmas Carol gets trotted out in its 1951 incarnation starring Alastair Sim and 1988’s
Scrooged with Bill Murray — the Royal presents both films on the evenings of Monday and Thursday.
Not to be outdone, Laser Blast Video Nights unearths a slice of Yuletide terror named Game Over on Dec. 16 at 8 p.m.
Want more big-screen ho-ho-ho?
Die Hard plays Cineplex Cinemas Yonge-Dundas on Friday at 11:30 p.m., the Carlton has 35-millimetre screenings of Gremlins on Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m., and the Revue hosts a free members screening of Scrooged on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
In brief
Henry Selick’s delightful adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline plays the Lightbox’s stop-motion animation series on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Julie Taymor’s reimagining of Mozart’s The Magic Flute plays a 10th anniversary presentation in the Met Live at participating Cineplex locations on Sunday at 12:55 p.m.
Michael Snow’s dazzling foray into digital filmmaking, Corpus Callosum plays a free screening at the Lightbox on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Fritz Lang’s Woman in the Moon plays the Revue Cinema’s Silent Revue on Sunday at 4:15 p.m. with live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis.
A creepy monthly showcase of horror shorts, Little Terrors returns to the Carlton on Monday at 9 p.m. with several filmmakers in attendance.