Roger Ebert had a fascination with Toronto. He attended TIFF every year (except for those handful that he was unable to travel), and his role in championing it is well known. He even, for a time, had his own star on Dundas, just west of Bay.
But his interest extended beyond the festival, and he kept remarkably abreast of what was going on in this city. He even nurtured a couple local film writers, one of whom became one of his Far-Flung Correspondents (and who just published her own tribute to the man).
Here is a collection of Roger Ebert’s musings about Toronto:
On the G20
Toronto cops think they’re in Chicago in 1968.
– Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) June 28, 2010
On our moniker
“Hogtown” is a nickname for Toronto. WTF? I always heard it was “Toronto the Good.”
– Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) October 9, 2010
On the election of Rob Ford
Meanwhile, Toronto elects a mayor who doesn’t believe in public transit, arts funding, environment or homosexuality. Toronto?
– Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) November 4, 2010
On Rob Ford’s take on cycling
Toronto’s new mayor shares his views about bike riders. http://j.mp/9Iz9nM
– Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) November 4, 2010
On Rob Ford being a “fat fuck”
Why would anyone call Toronto’s new mayor such a thing? http://j.mp/9O77fr
– Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) November 5, 2010
On Nick Kouvalis’s dirty tricks
Rob Ford campaign a fake Twitter account? @karenphilby? Who does the photo show? O, Toronto the Good! http://j.mp/aMs15h
– Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) November 6, 2010
On Hazel McCallion
She’s been mayor for 31 years. This video just keeps getting better. http://j.mp/dyPeom
– Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) February 25, 2010
On the rise of the federal NDP
Polls show a progressive tsunami for Social Democrats in Canada, fed up with Conservatives and Liberals. http://bit.ly/fabW6p
– Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) April 26, 2011
On our hot dog carts
Anyone will tell you that one of the joys of TIFF is the street food … Want green olives on that dog? I do. (from his wrap-up of TIFF 2007)
On the real estate market
She plays Margot, a marginally employed free-lance writer who lives in a Toronto neighborhood that looks like a production designer’s wet dream. The quaint houses with multicolor paint jobs are close to charming little cafes and restaurants and repertory theaters although there are neighborhoods a little like that in the city, you can’t afford to live there if your husband’s only employment is spending the last five years writing a chicken cookbook. (from his review of Take This Waltz)
On the richness of our print media and how it writes about TIFF
The four local dailies (!) cover it like the Washington Post covering a Presidential election. (from a report on TIFF 2011)
On ultimately retiring here
A guy like me, I can see retiring to a condo in the TIFF Bell Lightbox and just going to movies.
– Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) September 17, 2010
