Typical Torontocentrism.

It’s always a tad irritating when a supposedly “national” newspaper puts off reviewing a film until it opens in Toronto. The latest example: Today’s National Post devotes the entire first page of the arts section to a graphic which, in turn, points the reader to an inside page featuring a 1.5-star review of Raoul Ruiz’s Klimt, which stars John Malkovich as the famous Austrian painter. Barry Hertz begins by noting that there are two different versions of the film, and then he says his review will be based on “the cut that Canadian audiences will see”. Note the future tense. The thing is, I saw this film in Vancouver when it came to the VanCity Theatre back in April — and while I didn’t care for it myself, it was apparently a big enough hit that the theatre brought it back in July. That would be in the past. And I believe Vancouver is still part of Canada. So while the arrival of this film in Toronto is being treated like major national news, we here in this corner of the country can only shrug our shoulders and say, “Been there, done that — twice.”