Toronto film picks for MONDAY NOVEMBER 29 through SUNDAY DECEMBER 5, 2010.

MONDAY NOVEMBER 29 / WASTE LAND / BELL LIGHTBOX / 6:30 & 9:00PM
I start this week's column with a bit of a confession: I composed a lengthy rant about another film that I had originally intended to recommend for Monday, only to realize that I had misread the schedule and that the film is no longer screening. Balls! So instead, I turn your attention to the screening I will be attending on Monday evening - Lucy Walker's acclaimed documentary about Brooklyn-based visual artist Vik Muniz and his project at the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho. From TIFF's press release: "Collaborating with the local catadores (garbage pickers), Muniz crafts stirringly beautiful portraits that he hopes will benefit his impoverished subjects. Filming the project's evolution over three years, director Lucy Walker movingly captures the ways in which the project changes the community involved in its creation." Sounds good, right? Tickets are $12, $9.50 for seniors/students. Info available at TIFF's website.

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 30 / GENIUS WITHIN: THE INNER LIFE OF GLENN GOULD / YOUR COUCH / 9:00PM
Shortlisted for the 2011 Academy Awards, Michèle Hozer and Peter Raymont's Gemini Award-winning doc about world-renowned Toronto pianist Glenn Gould has had a successful North American run, and will be re-broadcast on Bravo! for all those who missed it when it aired last February. So whether you're avoiding the holiday crowds and nasty weather or a brilliant recluse working on your next masterpiece, there is no excuse to miss this one - Tuesday's film pick is no further than your living room couch. Free, not factoring in the price of cable.

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1 / DISH: WOMEN, WAITRESSING, AND THE ART OF SERVICE / THE ROYAL / 7:00PM
Gemini Award-winning documentarian Maya Gallus (Girl Inside) returns with a piece exploring the female-dominated food service industry, and the waitress as a pop culture icon and site of masculine fantasies - from the flirtatious Middle American diner server in search of bigger tips to Japanese servers coddling clients in French maid uniforms. I didn't get a chance to catch Dish when it screened at Hot Docs this past year, but if Gallus' previous work is any indication, I'm sure that the film will stimulate conversation. For ticket information, call (416) 466-4400 or visit the Royal's website.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 2 / THE SWEET HEREAFTER & LAST NIGHT / TORONTO UNDERGROUND / 7:00 & 9:30PM

Toronto Underground Cinema presents the inaugural "Good Canadian Cinema?" series, a weekend dedicated to English Canadian film and selected by regulars. First up on the docket is Atom Egoyan's Oscar-nominated masterpiece The Sweet Hereafter, about a small community devastated by a horrible tragedy, followed by Don McKellar's apocalyptic drama Last Night. Both films are fantastic for different reasons, but I'm particularly partial to McKellar's film, if just for the understated performances by Sandra Oh, Battlestar Galactica's Callum Keith Rennie, and the late Tracy Wright. Toronto, on the verge of apocalypse - insert your best Rob Ford joke here. Tickets $8, double bills are $14.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 3 / REPULSION / BELL LIGHTBOX / 8:30PM

If you are a recluse and stayed in to watch the Glenn Gould documentary on Tuesday, but are still at home on Friday, perhaps it's time you left your apartment. And what better film to watch during your excursion than the psychological horror that is Roman Polanski's Repulsion, about an androphobe (Catherine Deneuve) who withdraws from society and becomes increasingly unhinged in her sister's apartment? Of his earlier work, Rosemary's Baby tends to get the most attention, but it's this film that will truly get under your skin - rotting rabbit carcasses, graphic hallucinations and all. See? Aren't you glad you left your apartment? Ticket info available at the TIFF website.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 4 & SUNDAY DECEMBER 5 / STEVEN SONDHEIM FESTIVAL / BLOOR CINEMA / VARIOUS SHOWTIMES
Get out those jazz hands! In anticipation of Stephen Sondheim's visit to our fair city, Bloor Cinema (in partnership with Mirvish Productions) will be screening adaptations of the famed composer/lyricist's work, including A Little Night Music, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, West Side Story and Sweeney Todd. Films will be introduced by the likes of Joel Greenberg and the Toronto Star's Richard Ouzounian, and prizes include copies of Sondheim's new book and tickets to his December 6th talk at the Princess of Wales Theatre. Advance tickets to the Sondheim Film Festival are $5 for each screening, available by phone at 416-872-1212, online at www.mirvish.com, or at the Bloor box office. A pass to all four films is also available for only $15.

Find more films to watch on the big screen in our Movie Listings section. There you'll find complete showtimes by movie and theatre as well as trailers and other info.