Toronto is the new Hollywood, they say, and it's easy to see the side affects.
Samuel L Jackson, Hayden Christensen and Jamie Bell are filming a sci-fi movie in my little town, and it's got the whole city in a tizzy. Well, it's actually got some citizens moaning about loss of parking spaces in the downtown core, the rerouting of traffic to alternate sidestreets and a slight flurry of people flocking for a look-see. But really, they may as well be back in Hollywood because, for the most part, its a closed set, and even if you did bump into one of the main actors, so what?
I really liked Jamie Bell in Billy Elliot but liked him better in Undertow with Josh Lucas. Nail in the foot. What a scene. I loved Samuel L Jackson in those Star Wars films, and of course, in Pulp Fiction, but those are just the first two movies that come to mind. I mean, he's been in more than a hundred movies. Where to start?
And Hayden impressed me, not with his acting career but in his declaration: "I don't find Hollywood interesting, so I'm thinking of studying architecture instead." Really. And it's too bad that he and his team didn't win the Eco-Challenge. That's tough business.
I think what I'm curious about the most with their filming here is this: Why? It's a nice little town, but I'm certain that there's a billion other places that could suitably fit their purposes. If you checked out where it is they are filming, I'm sure that many would think that it could just as easily be their town.
Or on some lot in Hollywood.