By BERNIE FLETCHER “Look, here’s the deal.” When Jim Carrey does his impression of Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live, that’s only the latest in a long line of Canucks playing American politicians. Canada is “sleeping with an elephant” and we’re worried about election results though it isn’t even our country. Raymond Massey (1896-1983) became […]
By BERNIE FLETCHER This year has gone to the dogs. Our four-legged friends might be the only “happy campers” these days. Walk? Sure! Make “fetch” happen. Sure! Pets can help us reduce stress in trying times. Beachers love their own canine pals, but which showbiz dog is your favourite from childhood memories? Lassie, the rough […]
By BERNIE FLETCHER It’s 2020 and yet people around the world still need to fight for basic human rights. Three made-in-Toronto TV shows highlight the struggle for equal rights for women over three different eras. The Emmy Awards (on Sunday, Sept. 20) will be acknowledging the strong performances by talented women in each of these […]
By BERNIE FLETCHER “We have to deal with prejudice and injustice or we will never understand what is good and evil, right and wrong; we need to feel how ‘the other’ feels.” (Norman Jewison in This Terrible Business has been Good to Me.) Times of crisis bring out the best in people …and the worst. […]
By BERNIE FLETCHER The television industry was booming in Toronto before the pandemic shut everything down. Will filming resume soon? I am trying to imagine a love scene or a fight with physical distancing. Here are some youth-oriented shows that were finished before COVID-19 changed our world. Catch some diverse young actors before they become […]
By BERNIE FLETCHER In the midst of a pandemic we need to be kind to each other. Nobody’s perfect and we all make mistakes. To err is human, to forgive divine. Some say laughter is the best medicine…better than hydroxychloroquine anyway! We all could use a laugh these days. Even the greatest directors have their […]
By BERNIE FLETCHER “Endurance was our only resource.” (Diary entry of Robert Buckham, Feb. 2 1945.) There isn’t much to celebrate in these troubled times, but May 8 marks the 75th anniversary of VE Day, Victory in Europe Day. For one Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) pilot it was the end of a desperate and […]
By BERNIE FLETCHER “Harris had dreamed the marble walls, the copper-banded roofs. He pulled down Victoria Park Forest and the essential temple swept up in its place, built on the slope towards the lake. The architect Pomphrey modelled its entrance on a Byzantine city gate, and the inside of the building would be an image […]
By BERNIE FLETCHER On St. Patrick’s Day which was celebrated this week, everyone is Irish. One hundred years ago Toronto the Good was a very different place, more “Orange” than “Green”. Our hockey team may have been called the St. Pat’s, but the city of 1920 was controlled by Protestants and L.O.L. stood for “Loyal […]
By BERNIE FLETCHER Big changes are coming to the Danforth. By 2030 highrise towers may transform the area east of Main Street, but let’s take a trip back in time to a different era when the Danforth was known for its car lots, building supply stores and, yes, movie theatres. Old movies and period films […]
