Lindsay Lohan as the Nun in Machete

Not perfect, mind you, but bloody funny all the same.

The bullets flew, the blood splattered, and Machete took care of business with a grim face and witty lines. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that there was some skin, and Rodriguez knew how to pick his feature ladies.

Out of all the cast, Michelle Rodriguez as Luz was hands-down the most memorable, but I really did enjoy Jessica Alba as the slick agent Sartana.

But I bet the fan boys are going to be talking the most about Lindsay Lohan , who plays the slutty web vixen, April.

Lindsay has no real part to speak of, she’s only in the film a few minutes, and she barely acts at all, but did I mention she appears nude in the film?

Twice.

Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise. One minute you’re expecting her to be coy and the next she’s naked in the pool. And if that wasn’t good enough she’s back near the end for a closeup before she dons the nun outfit from the promos.

Slow down though, fan boys. Before you start lining up, I think it’s more than a little possible that Robert Rodriguez played a little trick on fans.

In some recent interviews Jessica Alba admitted that her one shower scene, where it looks like she’s naked (but not facing the camera directly), was actually a digital effect. She shot the scene in underwear and Rodriguez’s digital effects wizards removed the clothes in post production.

So, once you see the scene with Lohan in the pool, I think it’s safe to say some wizardry was at work there as well. The woman in the pool who is supposed to be Lohan doesn’t really look much like the real Miss Lohan.

It’s kind of a weird moment, actually, because it comes out of nowhere. Before I could even think, “there’s no way Lindsay is getting naked,” the porno music was playing and Machete, played by Danny Trejo, was getting in the pool with Lindsay and Rachel Marek, who played April’s mother.

Jump ahead to one of Lindsay’s final scenes though and Lohan gets up from a couch, naked, and walks toward the camera. The difference is that Lohan is somewhat hiding behind her hair — at least briefly — but it also looked real this time.

So, I’m confused. First of all, why did Lindsay even do this movie — just for a nude scene? But, I also don’t get what was going on — Lindsay looks completely different in the two scenes, so either it was a weird film effect, or she just refused to do full-frontal, but agreed to do something coy?

All the same, if you’re going to Machete to see the nudity, you’re totally missing out. Machete is a damn cool movie, with a decent message about American immigration too, and while the nudity sells the film as a modern exploitation/action mash-up, Rodriguez sells the film with genuine movie mojo all the way through.

His supporting cast also rocks; Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, and Tom Savini? Sylvester Stallone and his Expendables should be taking notes. This is how it’s done.

With the Labour Day long weekend ahead, I also can’t think of a better way to herald the end of blockbuster season.

“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” pretty much sums up how I feel about the Toronto International Film Festival too, and every September I look forward to the movies, the stars, the red carpets, the press conferences, and of course, the parties.

From the Canadian Film Centre’s annual BBQ, to the opening night party, and of course, all of the random parties for the films and stars, TIFF is a socialite’s dream each September. For ten days the city is packed with interesting people from across Canada and around the world. (And if you’re a star, it’s also a chance to schmooze through dozens of gift lounges, but so far I haven’t had the fortune of getting in on that gravy train.)

Otherwise though, I’m lining up my invites and the list of events and trying to fit those around the interviews, red carpets, and the press conferences. I really can’t complain; Toronto has become a world class party city during TIFF, and while I care a lot more for the movie screenings and interviews, I won’t be turning any party invites down if I can help it.

Mary Poppins

From Dirty Dancing, Saturday Night Fever, Flashdance, Save the Last Dance, and Billy Elliot, to Moulin Rouge, Clerks II, and even American Pie, the video rolls through more than four decades of classic scenes. Check it out below and see if you can name all the films…

Bell's Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant

Of course, the big failure here then is the guy who sold me the phone. He said this plan would still cover me for unlimited usage, and in the last week no one I talked to at Bell even bothered to check that.

I’m now on a plan that offers what I consider a measly 6 Gb of data. That should do me fine, but I still feel ripped off, and it shouldn’t have been this difficult to get such a simple problem fixed.

Not too long ago I had the good sense to upgrade my phone and buy a Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant from Bell Mobility. It’s a great phone that I use a lot, and I was glad I upgraded from the get-go.

On August 20 I was contacted by Bell Mobility’s loyalty department though about a problem: I was suddenly downloading data that the system was telling them was from tethering the phone to a computer and using the phone as a modem.

I was a little unsure what was going on – I have an unlimited plan from Bell from a few years ago, so all data usage should be covered, and I have never tethered my phone. I had connected it by USB to syncronize data, but that was it.

They said this charge would be erased because it was clearly a mistake, but they’d have to approve it and I should make sure the phone was not set to tether any more.

I checked the Vibrant’s settings and sure enough, it had tethering on by default so I turned it off. I didn’t hear from Bell again, so I assumed the problem was dealt with.

Today, I had the sense to check my unbilled usage and while I can’t quite understand it, it looks like I’m still being billed for data, and I can tell you, I still have never tethered my phone.

Tethering is off, but I see data items as “pay-per-use.” If you do a quick search, I found the issue explained, and even found Bell’s site referring to the problem.

Phones need an access point (APN) to connect to the internet and Bell apparently bills based on which access point you use. They use “inet.bell.ca” for tethering and “pda.bell.ca” for normal phone use. Checking my own settings, the APN on my Galaxy is set to the “inet.bell.ca”.

Now, I don’t know if some staff member at the Eaton Centre store, a corporate location for the record, was using this phone to tether before I bought it from them, or if all the Galaxy’s are being given out with this APN. Or maybe I just had a confused staff member? I’m still waiting to find out if the APN is really a problem at all, but looking at my unbilled usage, I’m betting it is.

If you’re having issues with Bell claiming you have tethered your phone when you haven’t, check your APN settings, but make sure you talk to customer service first before you change anything. I’ll post an update when I have more information, but I just wanted to post this warning while it was all still fresh.

For now I’ll try to keep my outrage to a minimum because I have faith Bell is going to make this right for me, and hopefully anyone else who has had the same issue…

The cast of Takers

Takers
Starring: Matt Dillon, Idris Elba, Tip Harris, Chris Brown, Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen, Michael Ealy, Jay Hernandez, Steve Harris, Johnathon Schaech
Director: John Luessenhop

In this high octane heist movie, Matt Dillon plays a drunk and disorderly cop who is trying to stop a group of highly professional bank thieves from walking away with millions of dollars.

Following their latest heist, which goes off without a hitch, the group of thieves, played by Idris Elba, Tip Harris, Chris Brown, Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen, the group finds themselves with one more job they can try that could net them a cool $20 million.

Like a lot of heist movies though, the “last big job” could be the one that lands them all in prison.

Featuring a cast that is pretty hard to take seriously, no pun intended, Takers has largely been panned by most major critics, although it does look pretty slick to say the least.

“Even with all of the action, and with a few plot twists that are kinda cool, there’s really not enough to Takers to make it worth your time,” wrote Betsy Sharkey for the Los Angeles Times.

While Stephen Farber of the Hollywood Reporter wrote, “The stunt work is amazing, and the pace is breathless enough to keep one watching right up to the somewhat ambiguous conclusion.”

As a summer popcorn flick rounding out the end of the summer releases, Takers seems set to satisfy action junkies, but it’s hardly a notable film.

The Last Exorcism
Starring: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr, Louis Herthum, Caleb Jones, Tony Bentley, John Wright
Director: Daniel Stamm

Director Daniel Stamm’s The Last Exorcism follows Reverend Cotton Marcus, played by Patrick Fabian, as he plans the final exorcism of his career, bringing along a documentary crew to film the event.

While the reverend thinks the exorcism will be yet another useless visitation to a crazed religious fanatic, he plans to confess how he’s ripped off the faithful over the years. Little does he know though that he’s about to face true evil in the face of the young Nell, played by Ashley Bell.

Earning relatively mediocre reviews at MetaCritic.com, The Last Exorcism looks like it might have more than a little in common with the recent reality-inspired film Paranormal Activity, but the majority of critics say it’s just not as scary.

Jesse Singal of the Boston Globe wrote, “It’s like director Daniel Stamm and his crew realized they were treading awfully close to making a film with real depth and edge that horror audiences might hate, and they just couldn’t pull the trigger”

Backing that idea up, John Anderson of Variety pointed out, “The Last Exorcism makes first-rate use of religious doubt and religious extremism to concoct a novel horror-thriller clever enough to seduce unbelievers while satisfying the bloodlust of its congregation/fanbase.”

Avatar: Special Edition
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi
Director: James Cameron

Lastly, the biggest film in recent memory gets another shot at glory this weekend with a second run in IMAX and digital 3D that should help pad out director James Cameron’s bank account a bit more while giving fans one more shot of seeing it with an additional nine minutes of footage thrown in for good measure.

For the five people who haven’t seen it yet, there’s no better chance to see the film the way it was truly meant to be seen.

The story is set in the year 2154 on the planet Pandora in the Alpha Centauri system, a lush and green world inhabited by gigantic blue humanoids known as Na’vi.

Pandora is a world filled with life and dangerous creatures which has been besieged by the machinations of a heavily armed contingent of humans who have been sent to the planet to plunder its resources.

Attempting to make nice with the Na’vi, the company behind the space mission has come up with a way of breeding what they call Avatars – part-human and part-Na’vi clones which can be remotely inhabited by specially trained people. The Na’vi know the Avatars for what they truly are though and will not accept them into their fold.

That is, until Jake Sully, played by Sam Worthington, lands on the planet.

Jake is a paraplegic ex-Marine who has fallen into the Avatar mission in the hopes that it will pay for treatment to heal his legs, and while the program is one of science, the military minds on Pandora hope he can help them move the Na’vi from their home, which happens to sit on top of a vast quantity of minerals they want to mine.

The problem for Jake is that, through his avatar, he starts to bond with the Na’vi and falls in love with the chief’s daughter, Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana. Through a chance incident, Jake is allowed to become a member of the clan, as long as he can complete the clan’s rite of adulthood.

Slowly, Jake becomes a part of the clan, but at the same time he is also working with Colonel Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang, to help them when the time comes to evict the Na’vi from their tree-house.

Whether you’re a sci-fi fan or not, Avatar is a moving, adventurous drama that is worth seeing in 3D, especially IMAX 3D. Personally, I’ll be headed back to see it one more time before it slips out of theatres again.

The Book of Pure Evil from Todd and the Book of Pure Evil

The show is a fun, gory half-hour comedy about high school students who find a demonic book that can make all your dreams come true… with some consequences.

The main cast and the show’s creator were on hand with props from the show after press got a chance to watch the first two episodes.

It was definitely the kind of show I can see myself watching, and I appreciate that it’s Canadian, clever, well-made, and very unique.

I’ll have video online soon, so stay tuned. For now, here are a few dark photos of props from the show.

Todd & The Book of Pure Evil stars Alex House as Todd, Maggie Castle as Jenny, Billy Turnbull as Curtis, Melanie Leishman as Hannah, Chris Leavins as Atticus Murphy Jr., and Jason Mewes as Jimmy the Janitor. The series debuts on Space on September 29, and you can also catch the cast during a special panel at this weekend’s Fan Expo event in Toronto.

Todd's homunculus

Ben Hollingsworth

“Getting to work with Demi Moore and David Duchovny was its own reward,” Hollingsworth said in a phone interview from his current home of Venice, California. But he quickly added, “Really, truly, the best part about [The Joneses] was the story and it’s not very often these days that you come across a unique story that hasn’t been told before.”

In The Joneses, Hollingsworth plays Mick Jones, a young man who is essentially an actor in a fake family. The group has been hired by a company that takes a different approach to marketing. Instead of telling people what they should buy, the Joneses are leading their suburban neighbours by example, showing off the latest gadgets, clothes, and goodies to influential locals who can help sell those products to even more people.

Co-starring Duchovny as the family’s new father, Steve, Moore as the pushy mother, Kate, and Amber Heard as Mick’s adventurous sister, Jenn, The Joneses is a dramedy that takes a very clever look at modern marketing, and Hollingsworth had a lot to say about the concept, its appeal, and working with the iconic David Duchovny.

“We live in a world of sequels now,” Hollingsworth said, “so when there’s new material out there and a new concept, that’s really exciting for an actor.”

» Do you think there is much in the way of good marketing these days?

“I definitely think there is good marketing out there. We all will eventually want and have *things* in our lives, but its the stress that we put on those things that is the dangerous part of the marketing out there. When it seems like we link our happiness to our material goods, that’s where it becomes dangerous and I think that the most difficult type of marketing… and when they use that idea of projecting happiness and linking it to a product, people start to feel inadequate if they don’t have what they’re selling. That’s the evil side of the marketing business.”

“It’s everyone out there thinking they’re not as good a human being for having the latest flat screen TV or cool car, you know?”

» In one way, the idea behind The Joneses is pretty evil, but at the same time it’s perfect marketing. [Laugh]

“That’s the thing. It is perfect marketing because it’s not self-aware. I think you even see one interesting thing that’s been popping up lately is the Old Spice guy and that whole phenomenon… Old Spice definitely got their money’s worth with that campaign — they’re making huge, huge, huge impact and linking themselves successfully.”

» And every actor wishes they were that guy; they wish they were Isaiah Mustafa. So how did you get involved with the project?

“It actually was a bit of a search that Derek the director had done. He’d seen over 200 guys and I was living in Canada at the time and had just signed with my management company, Magnolia Entertainment, who also handles Rachel McAdams, so they’re kind of familiar with the Canadian imports and how to handle them. They really do have a keen eye for finding great scripts and this one came across and by far it was one of the most clever and unique scripts that I had read that year.”

“I had to be a part of it”

“I just did everything in my power and I put myself on tape and threw it out there and luckily it came across Derek’s desk and I think it was a spur of the moment frustration thing and they had a session in L.A. and he said show me some more tapes, and I guess mine was one of the first ones they popped in.”

“They were about two weeks away from shooting and I had to get my working visa and get down to Marietta, Georgia to shoot this thing. It was almost within two weeks — I was lucky to have a couple of good lawyers to push the immigration through, otherwise I wouldn’t be a part of this film.”

» So how much of the character was written down and how much of it was you building on the script?

“I think it was really great because Derek really encouraged the improv side of things. We had a great script to work from, but the way David Duchovny operates is a lot of improv and he’ll throw things out there in the middle of the scene and it will change the whole feel of the scene.”

» Would you say you learned from David Duchovny, Demi Moore, or anyone else on set?

“Oh, yeah. Both David and Demi, they’re terrific actors and it was such a great opportunity because I’m just at the start of my career and they’ve been successful for decades really.”

“David especially took me under his wing and he’d come over and say little things like, ‘Watch this kid.’ We’d have lots of chats, and he’s a very smart, intellectual guy.”

“I went to a theatre school in Canada called the National Theatre School where I studied for three years in conservatory, so I had a lot of thoughts on acting as well, so we were able to bounce stuff back and forth.”

“I’m also a big fan of Californication so I had that playing in my trailer and I’d be watching an episode and then walk in to set doing a scene with Duchovny and then going back and watching Californication. I was definitely studying his acting style a lot, and what I use today is definitely a combination of the Duchovny technique.”

—-

Ben Hollingsworth also co-stars in the upcoming horror film, A Flesh Offering, which filmed in 2008 and deals with an urban legend about a creature that stalks people with bad karma. Hollingsworth plays the romantic lead in the film, Ben Ratner, alongside actors Corey Sevier and Meredith Henderson.

Hollingsworth also intends to spend some time at the Toronto International Film Festival to support his friend Noah Reid, who stars in the opening night film, Score: A Hockey Musical.

Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin in The Back-Up Plan

The Back-Up Plan
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Alex O’Loughlin
Director: Alan Poul

Jennifer Lopez returns to the movies this week in a romantic comedy about one lonely woman looking for love.

After years of not being able to find the perfect guy, Zoe, played by Lopez, decides that she can’t wait any longer to have a baby and goes for artificial insemination. Not surprisingly, Zoe immediately meets what could be the perfect man, played by Alex O’Loughlin, and now she has to decide whether to tell him that she’s actually pregnant.

Falling into love, the two have nine months to see if they can make their relationship work, and whether Stan can actually live up to the challenge of being Zoe’s perfect husband.

Although the film has a bubbly, cute veneer, The Back-Up Plan is what Andrew O’Hehir from Salon.com called “skin-crawlingly uncomfortable,” while Dana Stevens of Slate wrote, “I wouldn’t go so far as to recommend this movie, but if you were tied down and forced to watch it, you wouldn’t necessarily have to chew off your own leg to get away.”

In other words, there are worse ways to spend your time, but based on the majority of reviews, The Back-Up Plan should really be reserved for weekends when you really have nothing else left to watch.

Lost Season 6: The Final Season & Lost The Complete Collection
Starring: Matthew Fox, Terry O’Quinn, Michael Emerson, Evangeline Lilly, Nestor Carbonell, Josh Holloway, Jorge Garcia, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim

After six strange, mind-blowing seasons, Lost finally came to an end earlier this year, and the amazing thing is that fans still walked away with more than a few questions.

For those fans, Lost: The Complete Collection and the final season of Lost, both on DVD and Blu-ray, may finally provide a little more closure, even as they raise a few more questions.

Wrapping up the hit series, which ultimately polarized fans, the sixth season of Lost followed the remaining survivors across two narratives. On one side, the survivors on the Island dealt with the Man In Black and Charles Widmore after the survivors detonated the nuclear warhead named Jughead in the hopes of resetting their timeline.

Meanwhile, the other storyline revealed the survivors meeting each other in Los Angeles, but they weren’t quite themselves. Going about their different lives, almost as if the plane had never crashed on the island, these characters don’t seem to really know each other, and it takes a real jolt for them to remember what happened on the Island.

This all happens as Jacob tries to guide Jack and Hurley, played by Matthew Fox and Jorge Garcia respectively, to uncover the secrets of the Island and bring their group of friends together for one common cause to save the Island.

While the season wrapped up a lot of threads, the good news is that these two releases wrap up a few more details as well. In particular, the collection includes the feature “The New Man In Charge” which provides a 12-minute epilogue to the series, which also potentially opens the door for a spin-off.

For dedicated fans, especially anyone who did not pick up previous seasons, the complete collection is an amazing package, and includes oodles of goodies. It’s not a cheap collection, but you can expect to get your money’s worth, especially once you find the disc of extras that’s hidden in the clever packaging.

Lexx: Season Three
Starring: Brian Downey, Michael McManus, Xenia Seeberg, Nigel Bennett, Jeffrey Hirschfield, Tom Gallant
Rated: 7.5/10

Since the show first debuted on television I’ve been something of a Lexx fan-boy. The series is easily one of the most creative, funny, and odd shows ever made, especially in Canada, and in season three the show really hit its stride.

After drifting through space in crysostasis for close to 4000 years, the Lexx and its crew, including Stanley, Xev, Kai and 790, arrive at the planets of Fire and Water. Waking up finally, they find themselves between an age-old feud between the apparently cruel people of Fire, who are ruled by the mischievous Prince, played by Nigel Bennett, and the seemingly simple-minded people of Water.

Unlike the previous seasons, which took place mostly within the Light universe, the third season is completely set in the Dark universe around the planets of Fire and Water. It’s an impressive season for sci-fi fans, and the writing for the episodes is well above the quality in the first or second seasons.

The cast is also great this time out, and while I enjoyed the main cast, special praise has to go to Nigel Bennett and his glorious performance as Prince, and Anna Kathrin Bleuler who played Stanley’s dream girl, May.

Although I’m a big fan of the third season, the DVD package does lose a few points in my books because it comes with no features. When the DVDs were originally released they came with a number of extras, but those have been ditched for some reason.

Watching the show on a Blu-ray player some of the credits and graphics also don’t enlarge very nicely on a big screen, but I can’t fault the show for that. Ultimately, if I ever got my wish and the series makes it to Blu-ray, we’ll see some updated features and maybe even a few enhanced graphics, but I’m not sure if that’s realistic, or just wishful thinking.

Highlights on the list of stars and filmmakers include Clint Eastwood, Aaron Eckhart, Danny Boyle, Robert Redford, Jim Broadbent, Werner Herzog, Michael Winterbottom, Errol Morris, Woody Harrelson, Scott Speedman, David Schwimmer, Rosamund Pike, John Cameron Mitchell, Keanu Reeves, and Helen Mirren, just to name a few.

TIFF 2010 runs from September 9 to 19. For more information visit www.tiff.net, and scroll down for the full list of attendees.

Actors A to C:
Aamir Khan, Aaron Eckhart, Aaron Poole, Abigail Breslin, Adelaide Clemens, Adrienne Ciuffo, AJ Bowen, Alessandro Nivola, Alex Russell, Alexander Gammal, Alexandra Chowaniec, Allie MacDonald, Amanda Plummer, Amber Heard, Amy Grey, Amy Madigan, Amy Ryan, Anamaria Marinca, Andrea Riseborough, Anna Hopkins, Anna Mae Routledge, Andy Sparacino, April Telek, Aqib Khan, Ari Cohen, Audrey Mars, Barry Pepper, Belén Rueda, Bill Gates, Bill Murray, Bill Pullman, Bjorn Lomborg, Blake Lively, Bob Hoskins, Bruce Greenwood, Bruce Springsteen, Carey Lovelace, Carey Mulligan, Carla Sacks, Carrie Ng, Catherine Deneuve, Catherine Keener, Char Davies, Charlotte Rampling, Christopher C.J. Wallace, Christopher Plummer, Cindy Nelson, Clive Owen, Colin Firth, Connor Paolo, Craig Roberts, Cyril Dugovic

Actors D to G:
Danielle Harris, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Dave Lawrence, David Suzuki, David Timoner, Dominic Cooper, Doro Bachrach, Dwight Yoakam, Edward Norton, Ellen Page, Emily Hampshire, Emma Roberts, Emma Stone, Emmanuel Bilodeau, Erwin Strauss, Evan Sneider, Fisher Stevens, Francesca Gasteen, Freida Pinto, Garrett Dillahunt, Gemma Arterton, Geoffrey Canada, Geoffrey Rush, George Rush, Georgina Haig, Glenn Howerton, Guerilla Girls

Actors H to L:
Hallie Switzer, Harvey Keitel, Helen Mirren, Hilary Swank, Irène Jacob, Isabelle Blais, Jackson Rathbone, Jake Johnson, James Caan, James Franco, Jason Jones, Javier Bardem, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Connelly, Jeon Do-yeon, Jeremy Renner, Jill Hennessy, Jim Broadbent, Joe Swanberg, John Brolin, John Ortiz, Jon Hamm, Jon Lovitz, Jonathan Baldock, John Legend, Josh Hartnett, Josh Lucas, Juan Diego Botto, Julian Richings, Julie Bilson Ahlberg, Juno Temple, Kailey Swanson, Kat Dennings, Kat Germain, Keanu Reeves, Keir Gilchrist, Kelly Preston, Kevin Spacey, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kristin Scott Thomas, L.J. Benet, Lambert Wilson, Laura Dern, Lee Jung-jae, Lee Pace, Lesley Chilcott, Lesley Manville, Liana Liberato, Liv Tyler, Ludivine Sagnier

Actors M to R:
Macha Grenon, Malin Akerman, Maria Bello, Marion Cotillard, Martha Wilson, Martin Sheen, Martina Gusman, Mary Steenburgen, Matt Damon, Maya Hawke, Megan Fox, Melanie Laurent, Michael Angarano, Michael C. Hall, Michael Moore, Michael Pena, Michael Sheen, Mickey Rourke, Milla Jovovich, Minnie Driver, Miranda Richardson, Molly Parker, Morgan Davidoff, Nadia Litz, Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman, Noah Reid, Oliver Ackland, Olivia Newton-John, Olivier Barthelemy, Om Puri, Paolo Costanzo, Patrick Labbé, Paul Giamatti, Paul J. Spence, Penn Badgley, Philomène Bilodeau, Pierre Bergé,

Actors R to Z:
Rachel Weisz, Rachelle Lefevre, Rainn Wilson, Ray Winstone, Rebecca Hall, Rebecca Hill, Reece Thompson, Rick Miller, Robert De Niro, Robert James, Roberta Cairney, Romain Duris, Ron Hynes, Ron Perlman, Ronnie Fridthjof, Rosamund Pike, Ross Clark, Ruth Charney, Ruth Sheen, Ryan Gosling, Ryan Kwanten, Ryan Phillippe, Ryan Reynolds, Sally Hawkins, Sam Rockwell, Sara Stockman, Sarah Kolasky, Sarah Peter, Sarah Silverman, Scott Speedman, Seán Cullen, Shannon Woodward, Stephen Eric McIntyre, Stephen Root, Temuera Morrison, Terra Hazelton, Thomas Haden Church, TJ Power, Tracy Lawrence, Uma Thurman, Valentina Berisa, Vera Farmiga, Vincent Cassel, Will Ferrell, William B. Davis, William H. Macy, Woody Harrelson, Xiao Min, Yasmin Paige, Zach Braff, Zach Galifianakis, Zak Santiago.

Filmmakers A to C:
Aamir Bashir, Aaron Phelan, Abe Sylvia, Achero Mañas, Adam Wingard, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Álex de la Iglesia, Alex Gibney, Amos Gitai, Andrew Lau, Andrucha Waddington, Andy De Emmony, Anna Boden, Anne Emond, Antoine Bourges, Anurag Kashyap, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Atom Egoyan, Avi Nesher, Barr Gilmore, Barry Blaustein, Belmin Soylemez, Ben Affleck, Ben C. Lucas, Ben Stassen, Benoit Jacquot, Boo Junfeng, Brad Anderson, Brandon Cronenberg, Brian D. Johnson, Bruce LaBruce, Bruce McDonald, Callum Cooper, Cam Woykin, Carl Bessai, Carla Susanto, Caroline Monnet, Catherine Breillat, Catherine Martin, Charles Ferguson, Charlotte Sachs Bostrup, Chris Chong Chan Fui & Yasuhiro Morinaga, Chris Kraus, Christophe Nick, Thomas Bornot, Clint Eastwood

Filmmakers D to F:
Dan Popa, Dan Rush, Daniel Cockburn, Daniel Espinosa, Daniel Hendler, Danis Goulet, Danny Boyle, Darragh McDonald, Darren Aronofsky, David M. Rosenthal, David Schwimmer, Davis Guggenheim, Deborah Chow, Delfina Castagnino, Denis Côté, Denis Villeneuve, Derek Cianfrance, Djo Tunda Wa Munga, Dominic Angerame, Douglas Gordon, Dustin Lance Black, Ed Gass-Donnelly, Emilio Estevez, Emmanuel Shirinian & Russell Bennett, Emre Sahin, Eran Riklis, Eric Lartigau, Eriko Sonoda, Errol Morris, Ezra Holland, Federico Veiroj, Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal, Tono Errando, Firas Momani, François Ozon, Frederick Wiseman

Filmmakers G to J:
Gabriel Range, Gareth Edwards, George Hickenlooper, Gilles Paquet Brenner, Greg Atkins, Guillaume Canet, Guillem Morales, Guy Maddin, Guy Moshe, Hans Olson, Helga Fanderl, Ian Sharp, Iciar Bollain, Im Sang-Soo, Ingrid Veninger, Isaac Cravit, Isabelle Stever, J. Clay Tweel, Jacob Tierney, James Andean & Francois Xavier Saint-Pierre, James Benning, James Gunn, James Wan, Janus Metz, Jeff Barnaby, Jem Cohen, Jerome Sable, Jim Mickle, Joe LoBianco, Jody Shapiro, John Bolton, John Cameron Mitchell, John Carpenter, John Curran, John Gray, John Madden, John Price, John Sayles, John Turturro, Jonathan Nossiter, Jonathan Sobol, José Luis Guerin, Juanita Wilson, Julian Schnabel, Julien Carbon, Julio Hernández Cordón, Justin Chadwick, Justin Lerner

Filmmakers K to M:
Katrin Bowen, Kaveh Nabatian, Kazik Radwanski, Kelly Reichardt, Ken Loach, Kevan Funk, Kevin Jerome Everson, Khalo Matabane, Kim Longinotto, Kiran Rao, Kire Paputts, Koen Mortier, Ky Nam Le Duc, Larysa Kondracki, Laura Israel, Leon Ford, Linda Hoaglund, Liz Van Allen Cairns, Laurent Courtiaud, Louis Bélanger, Louise Alston, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Madison Brookshire, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Malcolm Venville, Manuel Martin Cuenca, Marie-Josee Saint-Pierre, Marion Hänsel, Mark Hartley, Mark Romanek, Martin Sokol, Matt Reeves, Max Winkler, Michael Dowse, Michael McGowan, Michael Nyman, Michael Rowe, Michael Snow, Michael Vass, Michelangelo Frammartino, Mike Goldbach, Mike Leigh, Mike Mills, Milcho Manchevski, Mitch Glazer

Filmmakers N to Y:
Nadia Litz, Nathaniel Dorsky, Nick Fox Gieg, Nicolás Pereda, Nigel Cole, Oliver Husain, Oliver Schmitz, Ondi Timoner, Özlem Sulak, Pablo Trapero, Pasquale Scimeca, Patricio Guzmán, Pelin Esmer, Perry Bard, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Pierre Thoretton, Rachid Bouchareb, Rebecca Meyers, Reha Erdem, Richard Ayoade, Richard Bowen, Richard J. Lewis, Risteard Ó Domhnaill, Robert Redford, Rodrigo Cortés, Romain Gavras, Rowan Joffe, Ryan Fleck, Ryan Redford, Sara St. Onge, Sarah Bouyain, Sarah McCarthy, Saverio Constanzo, Seren Yüce, Sergei Loznitsa, Shawn Ku, Sion Sono, Sophie Fiennes, Sophie Goyette, Stefano Incerti, Stefano Pasetto, Stephen Frears, Steve Nash, Steven Silver, Sturla Gunnarsson, Susanne Bier, Tao Gu, Tayfun Pirselimoglu, Terry Miles, Theodore Ushev, Theron Patterson, Thom Andersen, Thom Zimny, Tom Hooper, Tom Tykwer, Tomonari Nishikawa, Tony Goldwyn, Trevor Anderson, Vincent Biron, Vincent Gallo, Vincent Grenier, Wang Bing, Werner Herzog, Will Gluck, William D. MacGillivray, Woody Allen, Wuershan, Xavier Dolan, Yoel Meranda.

An ice cream sandwich at the CNE

First though, Aisha and I spent the afternoon at the Toronto Islands. That actually got kicked off with something different — an extended ferry ride to Centre Island to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the restored Trillium ferry.

After riding around on a rented two-seater bicycle, we hopped on a water taxi that took us straight to Ontario Place, right across the street from the CNE.

That meant we also entered The Ex through the main Princes’ Gates, which is relatively rare for us.

Anyway, it was a great afternoon downtown, and The Ex was pretty busy. We wandered through the main attractions, took in the wares at some of the buildings, visited with the animals at the farm building, and of course had to enjoy the annual tradition: ice-cream sandwiches.

I’m going to be writing about The Ex during the next two weeks, so stay tuned for more updates and photos. The Ex runs until September 6, when it wraps up with the annual air show weekend.

For those of you who plan to visit the CNE in the evening on weekdays, it’s also worth noting that you can get in for $5 after 5:00 PM on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

If you’re looking for a really good deal though, Aisha calls this the “cheapest thrill” at The Ex: 25 cents buys you a foot massage from the Footsie Wootsie. It’s something like 2 minutes of bone-vaporizing madness that has to be experienced to be believed, but you’ll certainly walk away feeling like you got your quarter’s worth.

The Footsie Wootsie at the CNE