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As always, this column brings you best of what’s on offer this week at Toronto’s indie cinemas. Between July 23 and 29, 2012, there are some great classics showing, including films starring the Marx Brothers, Fred Astaire and Humphrey Bogart. There is also some returning fare, new releases and a great selection from TIFF Bell Lightbox’s excellent continuing programmes. Check out what we’ve selected this week, click the links in this post or check our listings to find out more about what’s playing this week at Toronto’s indie cinemas.

Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

The Bloor continues with showings from some of the most famous and prolific musicians from the 70s. Marley, the documentary on Bob Marley’s life, shows on July 24, 25 and 26, 2012 at 9:00 pm. Immediately preceding it on those dates is Neil Young Journeys, the latest documentary about Young from Jonathan Demme. Also, The Song Remains the Same featuring Led Zeppelin screens Friday, July 27, 2012 at 10:45 pm as part of The Bloor’s regular Rock Docs series.

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, opens this weekend and has multiple showings during the week. Also opening is the United States of Africa, which plays July 27 at 6:45 pm and July 28 at 8:45 pm. Grey Gardens, the 1975 documentary from which the recent Drew Barrymore film of the same name was based, is the Essential Doc for this week and screens Saturday, July 28, at 3:30 pm. The Rocky Horror Picture Show has a special screening with a shadow cast on Saturday, July 28, at 11:45 pm.

Closing off the week is the classic film-noir Casablanca. The story of Rick and his Café American plays at part of Back to the Bloor on Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 3:30 pm.

For details and more, visit Bloor Hot Doc Cinema’s website.

Fox Theatre

Prometheus, the latest film in the Alien franchise, plays in 3D at The Fox Theatre on July 23, 24 and 26, 2012 at 6:45 pm. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, about a group of British retirees who move to India, plays on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 9:15 pm. There is also a special Movies for Mommies screening of the film on Wednesday, July 25, at 1:00 pm. Cosmopolis, David Cronenberg’s newest film, plays Wednesday and Thursday.

Playing over the weekend are: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, with Steve Carrell on a road trip during the apocalypse; Hysteria, a Victorian-era period piece with Maggie Gyllenhaal; and Snow White and the Huntsman, another re-imagining of the story of Snow White.

For details and more, visit Fox Theatre’s website.

The Revue

The Revue has many opportunities to view Moonrise Kingdom this week. The film is Wes Anderson’s seventh feature film, and fans of his work will certainly enjoy this unique offering as well. There is a showing of Moonrise Kingdom every day during the week, including a 1:00 pm screening on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 as part of Baby and You at the Revue. There are also more showings of Prometheus this week. Ridley Scott’s latest sci-fi, written by “Lost’s” Damon Lindelof, is playing Monday and Tuesday at 6:45 pm and Wednesday at 9:00 pm.

Epicure’s Revue this month is Big Night Thursday, July 26 at 6:45 pm. The 1996 comedy stars Stanley Tucci, and is also written and co-directed by him. The special screening will include an introduction and discussion, along with food samples from local restaurants. There is more classic comedy available on the weekend too. The Marx Brothers masterpiece A Night at the Opera screens Saturday July 28 at 2:00 pm. If a dancing Fred Astaire is your thing, then you should head to The Revue on Sunday at 2:00 pm for a presentation of his 1935 film Top Hat.

For details and more, visit The Revue’s website.

The Royal

This week, the Royal will be showing Take this Waltz, Sarah Polley’s Toronto based love triange, and The Redemption of General Butt Naked, a documentary on a former African warlord. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Take this Waltz plays at 7:00 pm followed by General Butt Naked at 9:15 pm. The times are flipped on Thursday, with General Butt Naked playing at 7:00 pm with Take This Waltz on at 9:00 pm. The Royal has yet to release their schedule for the weekend, so be sure to check their website for further updates.

Projection Booth

The Projection Booth offers returning showings of Fat Kid Rules the World, Battle Royale and To Make a Farm all week. Fat Kid Rules the World, directed by Matthew Lillard, is the story of a young man who finds himself through punk music. Battle Royale is the classic Japanese thriller in which schoolchildren have to kill each other to survive. To Make a Farm is a documentary following a group of young Canadian farmers.

My First Wedding, and Argentine comedy about a bride and groom from different backgrounds and all the hijinks that come with a wedding, screens Monday through Sunday with multiple showings. Hip Hop Eh, a documentary about the hip hop scene in Canada, screens on Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 9:00 pm.

This weekend, the Projection Booth turns one! To celebrate, tickets during their first anniversary week will only be five dollars.

For details and more, visit the Projection Booth’s website.

Toronto Underground Cinema

Toronto Underground Cinema is closed for July due to renovations.

TIFF Bell Lightbox

Returning to TIFF Bell Lightbox this week with multiple showing are: First Position, a documentary on young dancers; a remastered version of Jaws, Steven Spielberg’s classic thriller; Boy, from New Zealand director Taika Waititi; and Beasts of the Southern Wild, a dystopic vision of Louisiana.

Summer in France starts another week at TIFF, featuring French New Wave Classics all summer. Films screening as part of the series this week are Small Change, Belle de Jour, L’Enfance Nue and La Peau Douce.

Another continuing programme is First People’s Cinema. This week, the programme presents its third installment of First People’s Shorts, showcasing six short works from First Nation filmmakers. Also playing this week as part of the programme is Utu, about Maori soliders, and The Indian Raid, from director James Young Deer (a trailblazer in First People’s cinema). Those films are screening together Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 9:00 pm. Another double bill from First People’s Cinema will be Friday, July 27, at 2:00 pm. Sacred Spaces,   a short film from Tusi Tamasese, starts things off and is followed by Black Robe, period piece about a priest guided through the Canadian woods by a group of First Nations. This screening will be introduced by Bonnie Devine, an artist and essayist on First Nations history.

Schwarzenegger/Stallone: The Rise of Beefcake Cinema screens Conan the Barbarian, one of Schwarzenegger’s first forays into North America on July 28, 2012 at 8:00 pm. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes returns Sunday, July 29 at 1:00 pm with The Bad and the Beautiful, a Hollywood movie about Hollywood starring Kirk Douglas. Canadian Open Vault, TIFF’s ongoing look at the best of Canadian cinema, features Listen to the City, Ron Mann’s journey through a fictional Toronto in the 80s, on Thursday, July 26, at 6:30 pm.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, the smash success from Hot Docs 2012, comes to TIFF Bell Lightbox starting on Friday. The film looks at the life, work and persecution of Ai Weiwei, a groundbreaking Chinese artist and dissident.

For details and more, visit tiff.net.

Original artwork of Fox Theatre by Bennett O’Brian

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Jordan Moffatt

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Jordan Moffatt is a person living in Toronto. He is an improviser, actor, writer and graduate of the University of Ottawa. His favourite Indiana Jones film is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He was the third string point guard of his high school basketball team.

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