Paradise rolls out Oscar hopefuls, classics
Oscar contenders “The Irishman” and “Marriage Story,” movies with a Second City connection and films from the magic Hollywood year of 1937 are on the calendar as the newly reopened Paradise cinema announced its initial lineup on Wednesday.
The cinema/live performance venue opens its doors officially on Thursday, with the first of Jason Collett’s Basement Revue weekly holiday variety shows. The next night brings in “The Irishman,” already playing at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and on Netflix, but likely to bring in locals curious about the Paradise itself, touted as “the ultimate in comfort and stateof-the-art technology” featuring 4K digital projection.
Dec. 7 brings “Marriage Story,” likewise at the Lightbox, but also a live performance by Second City’s touring company and an afternoon screening of “The Awful Truth,” the 1937 screwball classic starring Cary Grant. Upcoming offerings in the “7 from ’37 program” include “Topper,” the first version of “A Star is Born” starring Janet Gaynor, Laurel and Hardy’s “Way Out West” and two little-seen, well-regarded offerings: “Make Way for Tomorrow” and “When You’re in Love,” again starring Grant.
Movies with a Second City connection start with “Strange Brew” on Dec. 15 with “Mean Girls,” “Innerspace,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and more to follow. The cinema also promises a full day of screenings on Christmas Day — starting with “A Christmas Story” at 10 a.m.
The cinema’s first official event came on Monday with an evening of “The Reporters,” a live version of the long-running sports-journalism show that left TSN’s TV schedule in 2017. That, along with the Basement Revue, was announced a month ago.
More details and tickets at paradiseonbloor.com. Garnet Fraser