The Cinéma de Paris. The Montreal Mirror and its Annual Lame Top Five Lists

Between and after classes during my university days I used to frequent the Cinéma de Paris.

The CDP was a rickety, arsty repertoire film house. It wasn't luxurious by any modern standards and mainstreamers weren't going to appreciate going to such a place - especially on a date.

The cinema was the only place in Montreal (that I am aware of. I know the Rialto - now closed - used to occasionally show films but not in any standard way like the Paris) where Montrealers could go out and catch classic films on a regular basis. It was, well, a part of the Montreal cultural landscape. A landmark to many. All sorts of colorful Montreal characters and personalities would be found within its walls.

I'm not exactly sure when but the CDP moved from sinful Ste. Catherine street in the mid 90s to Park Ave. (soon to unfortuantely be renamed Robert Bourassa). By the time it moved I was working in the West end of the city and living in the Northend. Getting to the cinema became increasingly difficult.

Alas, never take things for granted. I always thought that it would be there. While I did manage to go a few times, the visits were too few and far between.

The Cinema de Paris closed its doors forever. Now we're stuck with whatever the big, pathetic movie corporations stuff down our throats. Everything is so formulaic now.

-Every year the Montreal Mirror publishes its top 5 everything lists. Top 5 Mexican restaurants, top 5 best places to loiter, top 5 best place to piss and so on.

Apparently Montrealers think Pizza Hut serves the best pizza in town. Pizza Hut? Double Pizza and Domino's also cracked the top 5. I won't even bother with the top Italian restaurants list.

It's official. Montreal has lost its ability to judge good food and with it its culinary mind.

-What is it with Q92 FM and its obsession with the song 'Easy Lover' by Phillip Bailey and Phil Collins? Was this song ordained the ultimate classic hit of the 80s to be played every single damn day?

I don't listen to Montreal radio. It, for all intents and purposes sucks -for a lack of a better word. So how I do know they play that song? My wife listens to the station everyday and I happen to be around on break. That timing is impeccable. That's how I know. When I asked about the song being overplayed she said, "Never thought of it. But now that you mention it, it is weird." There you go.

It reminds of me of the episode on WKRP when Mrs. Carlson decided to automate the station. Thus removing the creative juices of the program director Andy Travis. The show made a prescient point about the death of radio as a creative art form. Like I said, it's all about blueprints now. Gone are the days when you could go knock on doors and give your music demos to DJ's. In Canada it's a double whammy because we don't support our own stuff - unless it is accompnaied with the communism of Canaidan content rules. We have to beg our own to play our stuff. By extension, lost are the days when you could go to your local grocer and sell a product directly to the owner and earn yourself a shot at a decent living.

All roads with pot holes lead to Toronto now.