Cakebug Tranch

I'm inexplicably furious. You're unfriended.

I heard it somewhere. Was it in the episode? I swear I didn't make it up.

When I first saw him cycling around in this jacket, I thought that there was no way that that could be licensed Blue Jays apparel, but some costume person had stuck the logo and the road jersey font on the back, but thanks to @IRONicmerMAN for the screengrab, which makes it clear that this is a real thing, evidenced by the Starter logo on the left wrist. Canadians love to lean into the stereotypes, including lumberjack plaid and the Canadian tuxedo denim, so I wouldn't be surprised if this terrible jacket is something that you can still buy at the SkyDome Jays Shop. Even with the awesome new Blue Jay logo, this thing looks awful.

I wasn't here, so in my mind, it didn't happen...

You've got red on you

Sweet! I'm off the hook! Sort your fuckin selves out!

That's Danny Aiello's IMDb picture, as noted above in the thread! So, his grandfather! https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000732/

Hi folks! Sorry about the delay, I was driving down to Oswego this morning and just got in. Re: CaleBug: the pair of pants I just failed to fit into might agree that switching from Cale to Cake might be the way to go. Okay! This week's pick! I had a lot of thoughts, and very nearly made you all watch the Sharpay movie, just so we could go back to HSM, or 'Descendants', because why should I be the only one to have suffered, but I know there's also a really good chance that everyone would just take a pass on contributing this week. My last three picks were Across the Universe (arguably the best pick yet, still), Guys and Dolls (meh) and La La Land (the film that killed Fister). This time, I thought I'd go a bit off the beaten path with a film I haven't yet seen myself but which comes highly recommended by a playwright I greatly respect, who without question calls this his favorite musical of all time. So, no pressure. I have a DVD copy that that playwright sent to me, so I might be able to do some rabb.it screenings, or it's available for rent on Amazon and Apple. So what is it? Not sure yet! Folks, let's watch our first musical Spike Lee joint! Let's watch... Are there still spoiler tags?

Bars around that region are a pretty reliable place to go watch games for the World Cup: every four years the area is packed with idiots in jerseys (usually Azzuri shirts) and a lot of the promotions include world flags to cover a lot of the teams in the tournament. In that sense, foreign flags in bars are not unfamiliar. In a broader sense, though, Canadians are generally incredibly patriotic about the maple leaf, so the national flag is everywhere, on everything. There is a general antipathy against the US, being our bigger, louder neighbour (yes, that has a U in it) so the anti-US sentiment is common, although that's seemingly lessened over the years with a general sense of quiet smug superiority, but in general, yes, it would be a little weird to see American flags so prominently displayed here. Not impossible, but a little unusual.

Great stuff Cinco! Sounds like it was a great addition to the process, and so happy that you got a different perspective on this show. The film really doesn't do it much justice. I really like the dramaturgical choices for the lobby and the continuity of the dress from Schmuel to the audition. That's nice.

The thing that bugged me most about this film was its lack of trust in its source material. I feel as though it started out as a love letter to Toronto's Little Italy, with a feud between families over duelling pizza restaurants and love between their kids. Somewhere in development it seems to have become something else: the bloated mess that we wound up with, mostly messed up with the heavy emphasis on Italian culture to bash us over the head with the fact that there is an Italian theme here. Egregious references: - The many Rocky references, which for some weird reason associates Lei-O and Nikki with Rocky and Adrian, who had almost no impediment to their relationship aside from Paulie, and sets up Lei-O as some kind of underdog fighting for his honor. But it's doesn't take into account that Rocky was a two-bit thug working for a moneylender who lost his locker at Mickey's gym and then lucked into being a punching bag for Apollo Creed, only to show his guts and fight by going the distance. What does this have to do with Lei-O and Nikki aside from the fact that Lei-O wears that terrible 'Save a Stallion, Ride an Italian' t-shirt? There is no scene in Rocky where Rocky has to run to make a declaration of love to Adrian at the end of the movie, yet that's the reference that Luigi makes when Lei-O runs to the airport. - The Godfather references are also incredibly on the nose: as another poster has noted, having "Mr Puzo" appear in several scenes as a close friend of one of the duelling fathers, but also wearing a nametag that says he's called 'Mario' seems like a particularly groanworthy addition. Worse, however, comes later when Alyssa Milano brings a plate of cannoli in to her husband during the backyard barbecue scene. She enters, saying "I almost forgot the nice cannolis" and kisses him. He grimaces at her terrible breath and hands her a pack of gum, saying "here! Take the gum. Leave the cannoli." Of course, this is another Godfather reference: What makes this so lame is that the original line in The Godfather was improvised, while in this one it's so heavily telegraphed that you can see it coming from a mile away. Worse still, she doesn't respond to his line with a reaction that he's made a joke, it flies right over her head, meaning that this touchstone Italian-American movie is somehow not familiar to them? He's not making a pun intentionally, it's designed to be a funny easter egg for the audience. That, accompanied with the not-commented-on presence of Mario Puzo: does this suggest that in this universe, The Godfather doesn't exist? Why would they do that? And if they're really going for it, why not use lines like "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" or "just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in"? That would have been great for Nikki to toss off at the airport... But no. It's so haphazard. It's very clear that the producers of this film saw the success of another Toronto-based ethnic comedy, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and sold it to investors saying that Little Italy would be Greek Wedding but for Little Italy. That means ramping up the puns, ethnic gags, leaning on the accents, making sure that everything is as Italian as it's possible to be. My Big Fat Greek Wedding leaned on all the same ethnic puns (a thousand uses of Opa! and lines like "It's all Greek to me!"), which at the time were kind of charming, but only because they were based around a major event (a Greek wedding). In this movie, they have two major events they head towards: the wedding of the grandparents (which seems almost completely devoid of cultural Italian elements) and the Taste of Little Italy event where the pizza contest happens. This film's lack of identity lies in its inability to anchor us in cultural things that we are unfamiliar with or are interested in, and trades of tired stereotypes and old-timey Italian tropes. I will say, however, that the house that the old man lives at, where the kids blow up vegetables that he's grown on his front lawn? That's about as authentic as this movie gets, because there are houses like that all over Little Italy, featuring ancient first-generation immigrants and their vegetable garden front lawns. As maybe the only piece of the movie ACTUALLY filmed in Little Italy, aside from Luigi's bar. In fact, the location set up is as head-spinning to any Torontonian as Cellular is to Angelenos - as you can see on the map below, the only thing that occurs inside Little Italy (which is the square) is Luigi's bar. Everything else is well outside, including an EIGHTEEN MINUTE WALK from Luigi's bar to the park where the soccer game happens. Good luck moving the entire bar that far in that rain! Finally, Pearson Toronto International Airport is at least an hour's drive from the Distillery District, where the final cookoff happened. Why couldn't Lei-O just phone Nikki's cell to tell her that he loves her? Why chase her an hour in hellish traffic?

Yes! I was all for the dads pranking each other, but the timing of the release of this movie seems particularly unfortunate. This movie was released on August 24, 2018, but marijuana was legalized in Canada on October 17, 2018, which means that there's a seven week window after this film's release where the presence of marijuana would have required a police presence. This movie immediately dates itself by making marijuana illegal in this world, where it's now legal in Toronto. Granted, distributing that amount in public would likely draw some attention, but the use of a substance that would NOT cause the desired effect and would NOT be illegal not long after the film was released seems short-sighted. At least the prank gave us a glimpse at Geri Hall, the handsy cop, who is a well known member of the Canadian comedy scene, including things like The Royal Canadian Air Farce and other such comedy troupes.

I agree. I felt at the beginning that the sight gag of this Luigi, who we assumed would be Italian, despite one of the grandfathers dismissing him as 'not Neapolitano', being Chinese-Canadian, would be the extent of it. It felt a bit cheap, but then the number of cultures who coexist in Toronto might explain that away. Then, the revelation that he came out to his Chinese father who kicked him out for being gay added a layer that might have been interesting. However, Luigi looks about the same age as Lei-o and whatshername. If he's saying he came out to his father, say, as a teenager, and then was disowned and kicked to the streets, then first of all, that's a matter for Child Protective Services. He says he walked the streets for days until he met the original Luigi who took him in. That can't have been any more than a decade ago. In that ten years, Luigi has dropped his entire culture and identity, and then somehow inherited the bar (was old Luigi on the brink of death?), took over, and has ingratiated himself seamlessly into this culture without so much as a glance from anyone. This man is successfully running a popular business while assuming a new identity in what Gigi reminded us is a notoriously homophobic new culture. For a side character, he might have the most needless backstory ever. And then, the tired trope of a character coming out and then immediately turning into a gay stereotype, including grabbing Anakin's ass only a minute after coming out to him, essentially cheapening a nice bro moment. Luigi is a puzzle.

So how was the show Cinco?

Not so far as I know - the big food festival is the Taste of Little Italy (modelled on the original, the Taste of the Danforth, which is all Greek food), and it's a pretty lively district, especially around World Cup times. I wouldn't be surprised if there were figgy pizzas, although I'm sure the traditional places don't mess with that stuff. A 'Canadian pizza' is mozzarella, bacon, pepperoni, tomato sauce, and mushrooms. ALSO: Hawaiian Pizza was invented in Chatham, Ontario, so you can thank Canada for that too... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_pizza

Okay, so I have a lot to say about this movie, much of which comes down to the bizarro geography all over Toronto. To answer June and Paul's incredulity: yes, Little Italy is a real place in Toronto, and while it's not as famous as the New York version, arguably the wide streets and family neighbourhoods you can get here in Toronto would potentially make for a charming local story. Potentially, I said, since this movie is a hot mess. Toronto is a city made up of little cultural neighbourhoods, and along with our three separate Chinatowns, we have a Polish district on Roncesvalles, a thriving Greektown on the Danforth, a wonderful Indian Bazaar on Gerrard (which features in the movie, briefly), amongst many others. There is even a one-block long Maltese District: Toronto has been called for good reason the most multicultural city in the world. The problem is, NONE of this movie was actually shot in Little Italy. The feuding pizza shops are actually east of Little Italy, nearer to Kensington Market (at College and Robert), in a couple of abandoned storefronts. The 'Taste of Little Italy' festival (which is a real festival on College Street each year) is actually shot in the Distillery District in the east side of the city, which is distinctive for its cobblestoned streets. The banner that reads 'Welcome to Little Italy': Yeah, that doesn't exist. In fact, that's not Toronto at all. That's the Little Italy street sign FROM Mulberry Street, NEW YORK CITY. No wonder June was confused! WHY would you show the New York sign while setting up Toronto? WHY? This, however, IS our Little Italy. Enjoy!

Hi guys! I actually got my act together this week to see this horrible movie and listen to the episode in time to get in to the C+Os! Excited to bring all sorts of sanctimonious Toronto-based perspectives soon. Miss you all!

I remember when I first saw the play being really sad that they had resorted to having Jamie cheat on Cathy, which immediately turns the viewer on him even more than they already had. I see the point to the emotional climax in that piece, but there's nothing that says that has to be the reason they split. It just seemed cheap to me.

I totally expected there to be some kind of way in: in the version I saw I think Cathy sang 'I'm still hurting' and there was a projection of the number '2004' on the wall, and then at the end of her song it dialed back: 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, so it was clear that Jamie was in 1999. It led the audience by the hand a little, which I assume is what they were trying to avoid in the movie, but it made it clear. I don't think they used the date thing again for later scenes, but the idea is that they meet in 1999, marry in 2002, divorce in 2004. With this one tiny gesture at the top of the show, the device was set in place. I don't know if I hate Jamie in 'Shiksa Goddess' - it's more towards 'Moving Too Fast' that he starts to lose me. In the first song he's supposed to be full of love and life.

I always saw it as the only real chance we get to see him as a storyteller. The swimming reading that he does isn't from the play, it's an addition, but the Schmule story shows us about the only moment of generosity Jamie gets in the whole show. It seems like it's carefully planned, but I'm not sure if the story has a source.

On stage it's such a great moment. 'That one's Jerry Seinfeld... that's one's John Lennon, there', and they finally come together, he sings the 'Next Ten Minutes' to her, she responds, and then she asks the questions that he's answering at the beginning, and just like that, their one scene together is done, as the timelines merge and then divide. It's wonderful. In this version it's nonsense.

Hey why isn't Jamie's dad wearing a yarmulke at their wedding in Central Park? I know it's clearly a civil ceremony but if the 'Shiksa Goddess' is such a big deal, then surely his father would be wearing the yarmulke at the wedding. Right?

My personal (second hand) story about the background on this play is this. My wife worked at a theatre in downtown Toronto as an usher, and mentioned to her boss one day that she was going to see 'L5Y'. Her boss laughed and said that a few years prior, when Jason Robert Brown had just hit it big with 'Parade', he was in Toronto with the production and everyone was fawning over him as some kind of genius. As my wife's boss watched the entourage and piles of adoring hangers-on swarm around him at an opening night gala, a woman stood just off to the side, kind of making fun of the to-do. My wife's boss chatted to the woman for a while and has nothing but lovely things to say about her. It wasn't until later that she found out that she was JRB's wife, who was along for the ride after her tortured genius husband had finally struck gold with his first show. They divorced not long later, mostly because JRB apparently 'outgrew' her as a famous composer (or, more likely, he couldn't 'Resist Temptation'...), and then his next show was all about profiting off the death of their relationship. It is very interesting that Jamie is such a heel and Cathy is such a cypher in this piece, you're right - I got no real sense that she wanted him to rescue her, but she also doesn't have much else in her life. Her friend Carol-Ann who got pregnant in high school maybe? I guess she lost touch with her.

I should point out that I am a huge fan of the original musical, so I had really mixed feelings about this. The stage version never places the two actors onstage at the same time, or if they are, they're never looking at each other, because of the time conceit. This one puts them in the scene together at all times, which is understandable in many ways but also really undermines the concept. The only time the two look at each other in the stage musical is in the middle of 'Next Ten Minutes', which becomes a hugely heartbreaking moment because you know what's to come. There's no way to make this movie without the two in the scenes together, but I was so frustrated by the blurring of the lines that it just didn't work for me. Also, I think JJ is a smug pile of crap in everything he's in (sorry Sara) so I hated him on sight. Anna Kendrick is the only reason I actually watched this 2.5 times this week...

The cast on your leg is the best of the two casts you posted in this post! Heyo!