Sex, violence, intrigue... and comedy. The Silver Stage premiered its adaptation of David Lynch's dark and surreal mystery Blue Velvet on Canada Day, one of the group's five movie entries in the Toronto Fringe Festival 2009 lineup.

Having seen it, I can report that this is a laugh-a-minute production - both a spoof and tribute to David Lynch's 1986 film. While the original movie is projected in the background, actors are on the Bloor Cinema stage recreating, and often reinterpreting, the on-screen action. This is called "shadow casting".

Starting this weekend, Cinematheque Ontario will run a summer-long screening series, Nouvelle Vague: The French New Wave, Then and Now in celebration of the movement's 50th anniversary.

The 36 film programme, on from July 3 to August 22, includes essential New Wave classics like Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless and François Truffaut's The 400 Blows, mixed in with works by lesser know filmmakers, and a few recent titles from the seminal directors.

With a lackluster selection of mainstream movies opening in Toronto this weekend, the only reason I would go to a multiplex theatre is to cool off in the excessive air conditioning. The Parkdale Film and Video Showcase is easily one of the best alternatives - the longtime artists' hub celebrates its talented residents with a $pwyc festival of short films, videos & projections.

There will be two nights of screenings: short films and videos at 9pm tonight followed by Roberto Ariganello's home movie collection at the Revue Cinema, plus an outdoor screening of more shorts in the Fuller Avenue parkette (north of Queen, west of Lansdowne) at 9pm on Saturday, June 27th, closing with Christina Zeidler's Show Me Yours: Nassau, at 10pm.

With Toronto Pride Week in full swing over the next few days/weeks, the Bloor Cinema is set celebrate by screening a very mixed bag of gay- and lesbian-themed films. Queer View, wherein a select group of queer artists pick movies and then show up to introduce them (and maybe do a Q&A), runs from Sunday, June 21st to Thursday, June 25th.

The series will showcase some pretty solid and entertaining films like the coming-of-age in the 60s and 70s Québec drama C.R.A.Z.Y. presented by Degrassi star Adamo Ruggiero, and the lesbian crime flick Bound, handpicked by Notorious Bettie Page screenwriter Guinevere Turner.

Bruce LaBruce - whose latest gay art porn zombie movie Otto; or, Up with Dead People screened at Sundance and at the MoMA in New York last year - digs deep into Hollywood's closet for his Queer View selections, Windows and The Sergeant. I checked in with LaBruce to find out more about his programming choices, his Pride plans, and the possibility of an upcoming Toronto-based film.

Victoria Day opens today in Toronto with screenings at the Yonge Dundas AMC and Sheppard Grande (check showtimes). The film, written and directed by Torontonian David Bezmozgis, has been getting serious buzz ever since a series of successful screenings earlier this year at Sundance.

Lately Bezmozgis, who shot the film in Toronto, has been at the helm of the National Post's Ampersand blog and no doubt been watching all the positive reviews come in from the Globe, NOW Magazine and the Star.

Over the past couple of couple of weeks, I've watched my share of gore, romance, music videos, and experimental animation - close to 100 films in total. While I will admit I can't remember half of them, the Worldwide Short Film Festival has some notable gems in its 15th annual lineup.

It all starts tonight with a $20 opening gala soiree - a series of award winning shorts from around the globe screening at the Bloor, followed by an after-party for ticket holders at C-Lounge.

Throughout the week, the WSFF continues with 295 films sorted into 90-minute themed sets, each of which will show a couple of standouts and some duds, plus a few odds and ends. Here's my programme by programme rundown of what to watch (and what to miss) at this year's Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto.