91原创

I鈥檇 argue that cities can be considered Easter eggs, too. As 91原创 more often than not stands in for other cities, especially New York and Chicago, 91原创nians can usually spot the聽landmarks pretending to be something else.

And we T.O. locals love to see our city on film! Whenever I鈥檓 at a screening where a 91原创聽reference is seen or spoken about, the audience always laughs and sometimes even applauds.

Here are some of my favourite 91原创 cinematic Easter eggs, a quirky personal selection that is by no means definitive.

Silver Streak (1976)

This hit comedy thriller, about an L.A.-to-Chicago train ride and a book editor wrongly accused of murder, starred Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Jill Clayburgh 鈥� and 91原创鈥檚 Union Station. The latter stood in for Chicago鈥檚 Union Station, where Edmonton-born director Arthur Hiller originally planned to film a big train-crash finale. U.S. passenger rail company Amtrak balked at that, but not Canadian Pacific Railway, which was probably flattered by the Hollywood attention. The runaway train smashing into Union Station鈥檚 main concourse was done using miniatures and other pre-digital movie tricks, and it still impresses. It鈥檚 also obviously 91原创鈥檚 Union Station;聽blink and you鈥檒l miss the glimpse of the nearby Fairmont Royal York hotel.

Wayne鈥檚 World (1992)

Mike Myers delights in putting what he calls 鈥渕essages to home鈥� in his movies. He really went to town with his hugely popular first 鈥淲ayne鈥檚 World鈥� film, which is set in Aurora, Illinois, but loaded with winks to T.O. The film鈥檚 fictional Stan Mikita鈥檚 Donut Shop honours not only one of Myers鈥� hockey heroes, but also a Tim Hortons he and his pals used to frequent while聽growing up in Scarborough. But the film鈥檚 funniest 91原创 shout-out is the 鈥淣o Stairway to Heaven鈥� sign a music store clerk points to when Myers鈥� Wayne Campbell tries to play the Led Zeppelin classic (and rock clich茅) on a guitar. Myers got the idea from an actual sign in Steve鈥檚 Music Store on Queen Street West (where聽it still hangs). 鈥淣o 鈥楽tairway鈥� 鈥� denied!鈥� Campbell exclaims, minting one of Myers鈥� many famous catchphrases.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

The sleek futuristic lines and modernist architecture of 91原创 City Hall, designed by Viljo Revell, have inspired the makers of films and TV shows since it first opened in 1965. It even appeared in an episode of 鈥淪tar Trek: The Next Generation.鈥� But nothing could top city hall鈥檚 explosive moment in 鈥淩esident Evil: Apocalypse,鈥� the second chapter of the zombie franchise, which is set in a fictional U.S. locale called Raccoon City (a sly nod to 91原创鈥檚 multitudinous trash pandas). Flame-haired protagonist Alice (Milla Jovovich) and her comrades are aboard a helicopter that drops a powerful bomb onto city hall, blowing it up聽as well as much of downtown 91原创. The special effects aren鈥檛 exactly Oscar worthy, but they get the job done for a memorable and unsettling scene.

Enemy (2013)

鈥淒une鈥� director Denis Villeneuve made this doppelganger nightmare just as his Hollywood career was starting to take off with the hostage drama 鈥淧risoners.鈥� The Quebec filmmaker made 鈥�91原创 the Good鈥� look truly sinister, a聽rare accomplishment. This psychodrama,聽about a history professor (Jake Gyllenhaal) who discovers and tracks an exact look-alike,聽includes glimpses of such offbeat landmarks as Mississauga鈥檚 curvy 鈥淢arilyn Monroe鈥� condo towers, officially known as the Absolute World complex. An incredible poster for the film, showing the 91原创 skyline (with CN Tower) rising out of Gyllenhaal鈥檚 head, was only used in Europe. Villeneuve told me the Canadian distributor vetoed it for North America, saying, 鈥溾�極h, the audience doesn鈥檛 want to see 91原创 as a landscape for movies,鈥� and I thought that was strange. I don鈥檛 agree with them. I think 91原创 is a very cinematic and appealing city for fiction.鈥�

Suicide Squad (2016)

The first 鈥淪uicide Squad鈥� film聽starred Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto as聽members of a team of nothing-to-lose troublemakers conscripted to save the world. 91原创 once again stands in for the U.S., but there are recognizable local spots all through the movie, including scenes at the Eaton Centre and in the TTC鈥檚 film-friendly Lower Bay station. The film climaxes聽inside Union Station, where an evil Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) seems intent on conjuring up the kind of nuclear bomb scene we鈥檇 later see in 鈥淥ppenheimer.鈥� The film was a bust at the box office, but its cinematic mayhem comes across as an anti-hero鈥檚 tour of 91原创.

The Shape of Water (2017)

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro loves 91原创 and loves making films here; he鈥檚 currently in town聽shooting 鈥淔rankenstein鈥� for Netflix.聽But his biggest hat tip to the city is聽鈥淭he Shape of Water,鈥� his Best Picture Oscar winner, a sci-fi romance between a woman and an amphibious creature that鈥檚 set in Baltimore but was filmed mainly in 91原创 and Hamilton. It鈥檚 a gold mine for Easter egg hunters. Sally Hawkins鈥� protagonist, Elisa, lives above a聽cinema whose interiors were shot at the Elgin and Winter Garden theatres and exteriors were shot at聽Massey Hall. My favourite scene is a poignant moment聽in which Elisa stands by the 91原创 waterfront鈥檚 Keating Channel, with the elevated Gardiner Expressway in the background.聽That highway has never looked so romantic.

Turning Red (2022)

91原创 writer-director Domee Shi, an Oscar winner for her 2018 short 鈥淏ao,鈥� made her feature debut for Pixar with this animated ode to the city of her youth. It鈥檚 the comical and fantastical story of a 13-year-old girl who finds herself transforming into a giant red panda at the onset of puberty. 鈥淭urning Red鈥� is like an entire basket of 91原创 film Easter eggs. Set in the 91原创 of 20 years ago, it has scenes of old TTC streetcars and聽the SkyDome before it was renamed Rogers Centre. There are also Daisy Mart and Tim Hortons shops, Ontario licence plates and colourful Canadian dollars. It鈥檚 not just a shout-out to 91原创nians, it鈥檚 also a nostalgia trip to a city of memory that increasingly seems to have vanished down a rabbit hole.