I am a big fan of our neighbourhood movie theatre, the Cineplex Eglinton Town Centre.  For one, we randomly run into friends there (always nice), and secondly—as I found out earlier this week when two of us went to see Fantastic Mr. Fox for a grand total of $10.52—’cheap Tuesdays’ still exist in Toronto (or Scarborough, anyway!).  Even on a regular night tickets cost a reasonable $10.50 each.  This is at a very modern theatre with big screens.

Scarborough legend has it that several years back management at the theatre tried to introduce the higher pricing that is the norm pretty well everywhere else in Toronto, and it simply did not fly.  They lost a lot of business, and ended up keeping with (what was then) status quo.  Maybe they increased the price of popcorn to make up for it??  Who knows how long it’ll last but in the meantime…bonus!

The theatres I know of in Toronto stopped offering half-price Tuesdays years ago, but I looked into it and turns out there is actually something cheaper than Eglinton Town Centre!  Here’s a quick guide of where to go for cheaper movies in Toronto, if you’re willing to make a trek…

Note: Shortly after completing this entry, I remembered Rainbow Cinemas down at Market Square on Front Street.  This is a smaller theatre with ’90s-era tiny screens but it does show many first-run films.  Prices here appear to take the cake as the cheapest in the city—tickets are $4 for Tuesdays, $6 for matinees, and $8.50 on regular evenings—but there is a compromise in terms of the quality of the space.

There is something exciting about catching sight onscreen, of a familiar Toronto intersection, or of a local fixture like the streetcar. This seems particularly so when you’re on vacation somewhere else and are going about your business watching a movie or MTV, and all of a sudden, Toronto shows up – unmistakeably Toronto.

I just returned from a week-long vacation in Panama where this happened, hence the inspiration for this post. Consider this Part Two of “A T.O. Mixtape”….

1. The TO subway, a streetcar, a GO Train, several bridges in the City (including the one on Bathurst street south of Front St.), Chinatown, the financial district, and even one of Mel Lastman’s mooses, are featured in this Juanes (Colombian artist) video:

2. The old Uptown Theatre shows up in this ’80s Lisa Lougheed video

3. Lie with Me (2005) – Yonge & Dundas Square is visible:

4. Keeping the Faith (2000) – Toronto cityscapes and the same bridge as above: