FILM | Raindance Canada's Live! Ammunition! Pitching Competition
The film industry is notorious for crushing people's dreams, so don't get your hopes up too much if you plan to head to Raindance Canada's pitching competition tonight. With those words of caution in mind however, this is the best chance for Toronto's aspiring filmmakers to have the undivided attention of a panel of film executives anytime soon, so you might as well grab that script that's been buried under your bed for the past year and a half. Tonight's panel has been convened by the organizers of the Raindance Film Festival and is comprised of Dan Lyon of Telefilm Canada, producer and owner of distribution company Boutique Films Nicholas Tabarrok, Strident Films founder Marc Rigaux, Bowling For Columbine production executive Floyd Kane, and prolific director Warren Sonoda. The best pitch of the night wins a script consultancy package valued at over $1000. The British version of the event is supposedly where mega-hit Ben Stiller comedy Meet the Parents was first pitched, and with a little luck tonight might be the start of something big for one of the city's as-yet-undheard-of screenwriters. But mostly it will be an entertaining evening filled with original ideas, and half the fun of Live Ammo comes from watching some very passionate, possibly delusional people lay their dreams on the line.
Czehoski's, 678 Queen Street West, $10, 6:30 pm

BOOKS AND LIT | Toronto Literary Salon
The word "salon" conjures up images of ladies in beehives getting perms while bitching about their neighbours, but a salon is also something that French people used to do back before think tanks and chatrooms. In the 18th century, intellectuals would gather in large forums called salons and discuss pressing issues of the day; how to stop powdered wig itch, which kind of ruffled blouse is the fanciest, that kind of thing. The exclusive Toronto culture organization the Spoke Club is reviving the old practice with the Toronto Literary Salon, a new event series which will give the city's booklovers a chance to exchange ideas with talented Canadian writers. Tonight's inaugural edition features Joey Comeau, author of the hilarious collage comic strip A Softer World, social misanthrope and writer of the Globe and Mail's Damage Control advice column David Eddie, and Russell Smith, the stylish Haligonian author of the new novel Girl Crazy and a Governor General Award finalist. The night will be hosted by critic and Quill and Quire's books for young people editor Nathan Whitlock.
The Spoke Club, 600 King Street West, 4th Floor, Free, 6:30 pm

SPORTS | Art Battle 5
Toronto's favourite exhibition of competitive arting returns to the Great Hall tonight. Art Battle pits fearless painters against one another in duel to the artistic death. Armed only with brushes and a pallette of acrylic paint, three pairs of painters will go head to head and will have only a few minutes to create a masterpiece. Once time is up, before the paint is even dry, audience votes determine the winner. The victor gets their painting auctioned off to the crowd, the loser is forced to watch their creation be destroyed before their very eyes like a Christian thrown to the lions. The first two pairs of battlers will be drawn from the crowd, but the main event will pit two professional artists against each other in Bryan Belanger and Anna Pantchev.
The Great Hall, 1087 Queen Street West, $10 patrons, $5 painters, 7:30 pm

FILM | Canadian Cinema in Revue: Project Grizzly
Curated by film critic and blogger Alan Bacchus, the Canadian Cinema in Revue program brings Torontonians the most innovative films our country has to offer and has been voted the Best Revival Programming by NOW Magazine readers. Tonight Bacchus presents a screening of Toronto director Peter Lynch's documentary Project Grizzly, the story of one man who became obsessed with grizzly bears after a chance encounter with one of the animals. In order to get closer to the dangerous beasts, Troy Hurtubise took on the project of building a suit of armour that would make him invulnerable to bear attacks. Turns out it was not such a good idea. An unwitting companion piece to Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man, Project Grizzly reveals the mentality of a disturbed man on a quixotic mission to be close to the creatures he loves.
The Revue Cinema, 400 Roncesvalles Ave., $10, $8 members, 7 pm

SPORTS | Pillow Fight League 43: Payback!
In a concocted controversy that would make Vince MacMahon proud, the last match between the Pillow Fight League's then-champion Olivia Neutron Bomb and contender Charley Davidson was hotly disputed. Davidson stripped Neutron Bomb of her title but the champ's supporters claim she was never legally pinned, and tonight she'll finally have a chance to settle the score in the 43rd exhibition of Toronto's most beloved made-up sport. PFL 43 will also see the league's first ever men's match-up, when league commissioner Stacey P. Case takes on Ross Jeremy, the offending referee of the disputed title match. If only the NHL would solve controversies the same way. Gary Bettman vs. Todd Bertuzzi, anyone?
The Mod Club, 722 College Street, $15, 8:30 pm

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Photo: "Art of the Danforth" by sniderscion, member of the blogTO Flickr Pool.