iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 13m

With the announcement that the Phoenix Concert Theatre will be moving to Queen Street West, here’s a look at the history of the Parkdale Theatre, which operated from 1920-1970. thedowntowntheatre.substack.com/p/the-parkda...

thedowntowntheatre.substack.com

The Parkdale Theatre

The former Allen Theatre will live on as a new incarnation of the Phoenix Concert Theatre.

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Reposted by Eric Veillette

Patrick Tarr @patrickt.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

It's not just that streamers are doing TV but more expensive. They also decimated necessary practices like practical budgets and dependable production schedules. Then, with shortened episode orders & smaller staffs / crews, made it so no one under 40 can break in anymore unless they're connected.

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Toronto Archives @torontoarchives.cityof.toronto.ca · 21/09/2026

In September 1948, Alderman Allan Lamport commissioned a series of photographs along Yonge Street documenting existing conditions as the city considered widening the street, providing a fascinating snapshot of the streetscape pre-subway. Read more about it here: ow.ly/sQuq50ZOLy5

Photograph taken from the south east looking north from Edward Street on the west side of Yonge Street. Fonds 1303, Series 978, File 1, Item 5.

Photograph taken from the south west looking north from Gerrard Street on the east side of Yonge Street. Fonds 1303, Series 978, File 1, Item 9.

Photograph taken from the south west looking north from Gould Street on the east side of Yonge Street. Fonds 1303, Series 978, File 1, Item 6.

Photograph taken from the south-west looking north from Terauley Street (just south of Dundas Street) on the east side of Yonge Street. Photograph shows The Downtown theatre which is scheduled to open soon according to the sign on the building. Other businesses shown include: Yolles Furniture Co., Continental Clothes, Biltmore Theatre, Silver Grill, and the Edison Hotel.
Fonds 1303, Series 978, File 1, Item 2.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

If you enjoyed my oral history of the Ramones’ first Toronto shows for @thestar.com, here’s the story behind the theatre where they played. Before the Garys, the New Yorker Theatre was Bennet Fode’s uncompromising first-run art house. thedowntowntheatre.substack.com/p/bennet-fod...

thedowntowntheatre.substack.com

Bennet Fode’s New Yorker Theatre

Before the Ramones hit its stage and the Garys made history, the New Yorker was Toronto’s great first-run art house.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Fifty years ago this month, The Ramones came to Toronto for the first time, playing three shows at the New Yorker Theatre on Yonge Street on September 24 and 25, 1976. I wrote an oral history about that weekend for @thestar.com www.thestar.com/entertainmen...

thestar.com

An oral history of the Ramones' legendary Toronto debut 50 years ago

The New Yorker Theatre on Yonge Street hosted the New York City punk rockers, whose fiery performances inspired a new generation of musicians in the city.

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Film Library & Media Archives @mediaarchives-uoft.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

We're so excited for the fabulous upcoming exhibit and screening curated by Whitney Mambou that celebrates the 30th anniversary of John Greyson's Lilies! Scan the QR to get your free tix for the screening on Sept. 18th! Come to the Media Archives at Robarts Library to see the exhibit!

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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Trying to think of what to post for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary but I post about Star Trek a lot already so just enjoy Worf wearing jeans

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

The trick is to catch the Sunday segments where he’s clearly waving a sign to his dealer.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

It’s pretty wild when you think about it: Lon Chaney Jr. turned into The Wolf Man while on the phone with Lou Costello.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Frank Perry’s incredibly MOMMIE DEAREST opened in Toronto on September 25, 1981.

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Jamie Bradburn @jbcurio.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Side research find as I distract myself from the storm: in 1925, the Toronto Star tried a new way to share federal election results with the Toronto area - coloured rockets! Toronto Star, October 29, 1925. #cdnpoli #elections

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Norm Wilner @normwilner.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Toronto: It wet #dlws

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

There's been some excellent reporting over A24's Tony being pulled from Imagine Cinemas in August. Monopolistic practices are nothing new in Canadian film exhibition—they’re woven into its foundations. In 1930, Ottawa investigated the same old question: does one theatre chain have too much power?

thedowntowntheatre.substack.com

Famous Players, Cineplex & the monopoly of Canadian film exhibition

In 1930, the Canadian government asked whether one movie chain had too much power. The question never went away.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I revisited Paul Morrissey’s MIXED BLOOD & wrote about the incredible measures Ontario’s censors took to keep it off-screen. It’s a story of institutional farce taking place in the final months of Mary Brown’s six-year reign. thedowntowntheatre.substack.com/p/paul-morri...

thedowntowntheatre.substack.com

Paul Morrissey’s Mixed Blood & the whims of Ontario’s censors

The Lower East Side satire survived an Ontario censor board that could not remember having already approved it.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

“Fifty years on, these songs capture the feelings and failures not of Los Angeles but of America, too.”

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I’ve gone my entire life unsure if Christopher Cross is the name of the band or the guy singing in the band. Saw them open for Toto tonight and am still unsure (no I will not check wikipedia).

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I am here for Steve Lukather’s sweet tones.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The Cross-Heads are out at the Christopher Cross show.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The first time I became aware of Tim Curry was in OSCAR (the *other* Sylvester Stallone comedy) where he plays a speech therapist & absolutely owns the movie.

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Toronto Archives @torontoarchives.cityof.toronto.ca · 25/08/2026

What was on offer in Toronto's storefronts in the mid-20th century? Find out in our current exhibit, Subseries 58: Department of Public Works, Roadway photographs! Many different businesses were captured in the process of documenting municipal road and sidewalk projects. ow.ly/FbaS50ZwAhU

Black and white photo of a corner store with signs advertising Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, and Canada Dry.

489 Jones Avenue, 1952.
Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 58, Item 2342

Black and white photo of a city street. A storefront in the foreground advertises treatments for various diseases, and a weighing machine sits outside the doorway.

779 Queen Street East (weighing machine), 1930.
Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 58, Item 1235

Black and white photo of a corner hardware store, Manor Hardware. Signs and awnings advertise electrical goods and paints. Signs further down the street advertise a car dealership, a gift shop, and an Esso station.

West side, Mount Pleasant Road, north from Market Road, 1951.
Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 58, Item 2201

Black and white photo of a storefront advertising Frosted Foods, Imported Foods, and Choice Salads, with tinned goods visible in the windows.

697 Mount Pleasant Road, 1952.
Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 58, Item 2312

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Toronto moviegoers were treated to a sneak peek of An American Werewolf in London a week ahead of its August 21, 1981 premiere.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Buena Vista Social Club Dir. Wim Wenders (1999)

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Way to trigger my PTSD on a nice Friday afternoon, Barry.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

In 2014, I told Norm I’d never seen Threads, to which he replied “it’s what The Day After has nightmares about…” Three hours later, I am sobbing uncontrollably on my couch, dodging calls from friends who were waiting for me at a bachelor party.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

No lack of 8mm projectors in my collection, but I’ve always wanted a Kodak Brownie. Look at this cutie.

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Willow Catelyn Maclay @willowcatelyn.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Much love to the Box Office Gross Boys for letting me talk about something that I have an unusual amount of knowledge about: NASCAR from 1994-2006. This discussion was a blast.

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Grant Tanaka @granttanaka.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

still think daily about the time I was at Arby's and the person in front of me asked what the "healthy option" was, and the cashier responded "leaving"

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives opened on August 1, 1986.

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Bex 🖤🏴 @thinlyveiledtruth.cryptoanarchy.network · 03/08/2026

"meep meep ass location" i cannot breathe omfg 💀

The quoted post reads "Liminal Stop Sign," Monument Valley, Utah. The image shows a very isolated stop sign at an intersection of what is presumably a highway. It is a desert climate, with two towering rock formations in the background, and a perfectly clear sky.

When I tell you it looks EXACTLY like a still from the Warner Brothers Wile E Coyote cartoon.

The quote says "meep meep ass location." It was here where I stopped being able to breathe.

(Meep meep is the sound the Roadrunner makes, whom Wile E Coyote kept trying to kill with elaborate schemes that would backfire in the most hilarious ways)

I'm still giggling at this one.

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Reposted by Eric Veillette

MS-DOS Games, Programs, Trivia, Pixels, Grog @scumm-bar.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

99 ways to die in Sierra games Here is a quick one: 2.3 seconds

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Caroline von Golum @carolineavenue.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

An airport with a microcinema would do serious numbers can you imagine going to see like a Monika Treut movie during a flight delay instead of staring at the phone and spending an exorbitant sum on gas station sushi

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I’ve launched an “essential guide” to the history of film censorship in Ontario. A one-stop shop, if you will. thedowntowntheatre.substack.com/p/the-histor...

thedowntowntheatre.substack.com

The history of film censorship in Ontario

The essential guide to Ontario’s film censors, their decisions, and the legacy they left behind.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Ken Russell’s The Devils will screen as part of TIFF Classics in September, nearly fifty-five years after it premiered at the Uptown Theatre on Yonge Street on August 27, 1971.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

This week, a dive into the late silent era, when gangsters, booze & Colleen Moore collided with one of the strictest censorship boards. Along the way: banned German films, Laurel & Hardy & the challenges posed by the arrival of talking pictures. thedowntowntheatre.substack.com/p/flappers-f...

thedowntowntheatre.substack.com

Flappers, flasks and talking pictures: Ontario film censorship in the 1920s

When films were banned for being “low-toned stories of youthful excess.”

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Corey Atad @coreyatad.com · 01/08/2026

👇

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Robert Downey’s Putney Swope opened at the Towne Cinema in Toronto on January 9, 1970. Plays today as a launch event for the incredible new book Truth and Soul: A Robert Downey Sr. Reader, edited by @kierlajanisse.bsky.social & Clint Enns & featuring the work of some extremely talented folk.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

There are now seventy articles about Toronto cinemas and our moviegoing history up at The Downtown Theatre. Here's a list of the articles by theatre: thedowntowntheatre.substack.com/p/theatres

thedowntowntheatre.substack.com

Theatres Index

The following is a comprehensive list of all the cinema and moviegoing spaces documented in The Downtown Theatre dispatches.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Every three or four years, the most obnoxious people on these platforms become aspect ratio experts.

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Eric Veillette @veilletteinto.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

In 1929, the police banned Yiddish at the Standard Theatre. What followed was labour organizing, political protest, burlesque history & Chinatown cinema. I trace the extraordinary lives of one of Toronto’s most important theatres. thedowntowntheatre.substack.com/p/the-many-l...

thedowntowntheatre.substack.com

The many lives of the Standard Theatre

How one forgotten theatre became a stage for civil rights, labour organizing, burlesque, censorship, rock music and Toronto's Chinatown.

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