This week in film rounds up the most noteworthy independent screenings and cinema-related events happening in Toronto.

MONDAY APRIL 11TH / KABOOM / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 7:30 & 9:30PM
Playing as part of the Gregg Araki series that I highlighted last week, Kaboom is Araki's most recent feature about a group of college students on the prowl for sexual partners and self discovery in their new adult surroundings. The only thing getting in their way is a cult that may be preying on the prettier of students as sacrifice for the upcoming apocalypse. One of the sexier science fiction films of recent years, in a nutshell. Tickets are $12 and can be bought at the cinema or online, see website for more showtimes.

TUESDAY APRIL 12TH / TERMINATOR 1 & 2 / BLOOR CINEMA / 7PM & 9:10PM
The Bloor Cinema does it again, with a double bill of Arnold the Governator in Terminator as he plays futuristic cyber-being sent to kill the mother of John Connor the leader of the resistance in the future to destroy all the cybernetic...yeah and in T2 he plays the totally inappropriately designed PROTECTOR HERO of the now-teenage John Connor future leader of the resistance because he's really a redesigned good guy..yeah. We all know this story, as it is now the stuff of film legend. If only the series had ended here however... Tickets for each film are $10 for non-members and can be bought at the cinema.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 13TH / BODIES OF WORK PRESENTS - JACOB'S LADDER / ROYAL CINEMA / 7PM
The Bodies of Work series which brought you the replicated corpse of JFK and Mystique's mutant skin from X-Men, returns with the special effects from psychological thriller Jacob's Ladder. When Vietnam vet Jacob tries to pick up the pieces of his life after the war, debilitating hallucinations stop his transition as he can't seem to shake the memories of how he escaped Nam in the first place. As the hallucinations become progressively more dangerous and dark, he realizes he needs to figure out his past before he succumbs to the madness he's constantly reliving. After the film, stick around for a show and tell with special effects artist Gordon Smith as he reveals the tricks of the trade in creating the hallucinations Jacob suffers from. Tickets are $13 unless otherwise noted and can be bought at the cinema.

THURSDAY APRIL 14TH / PUBLIC.PROVOCATIVE.PORN: THE YEAR'S BEST IN FEMINIST FILM / BLOOR CINEMA / 9:30PM
Part of Good For Her's Sixth Annual Feminist Porn Awards, a festival dedicated to titillating cinema created by progressive adults for progressive adults, this event is definitely R rated and will be featuring clips, q & a's and a moderated discussion panel with film makers and performers alike. Check back with blogTO later this week for some..somewhat safe for work clips and previews of the festival and what's in store this week. Tickets are $12 and can be bought online or at the cinema.

FRIDAY APRIL 15TH / SPEED RACER (2008) / TORONTO UNDERGROUND CINEMA / 7PM
Directed by the Wachowski siblings of Matrix fame Speed Racer was that blink-and-you'll-miss-it remake of the classic series that came out in 2008, was poorly received commercially and critically and essentially forgotten in just a scant few years. But playing as part of the Defending the Indefensible series, Peter Kuplowsky, current Toronto After Dark programmer, will do his best to sway public opinion on the matter and I must say, he really loves this crazy movie. Tickets are $10 and can be bought at the cinema, also if you just want to watch Peter try to convince a crowd that the movie was great, donate $2 and stop by after the movie.

SATURDAY APRIL 16TH / MARY POPPINS / TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX / 12:30PM
I'm a bit conflicted with this choice, the film nerd in me feels like I should be featuring more Araki films this week as it's super rare to see them anywhere as it is, but when it's Mary freaking Poppins, I have to reconsider. Part of the Family Classics series, Disney is opening up it's vaults to TIFF and showcasing live-action classics such as Mary Poppins, Swiss Family Robinson, Pete's Dragon and Freaky Friday. And I don't know about you, but I'd love to do some chim-chiminying this weekend, especially if it's on 35mm. Tickets are $12 for non-members and can be bought at the cinema or online.

SUNDAY APRIL 17TH / A TASTE OF NOIR PRESENTS - THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER / REVUE CINEMA / 4:15PM
Robert Mitchum plays a menacing, murderous ex-con who has set his eyes on a widow and her children in The Night of the Hunter, actor Charles Laughton's first and only feature film which was a commercial failure in it's time and was only critically lauded decades after it's release. Voted one of the scariest films of all time by the American Film Institute, the film was also lauded for it's cinematography and tone, being much ahead of it's time and still holds it's own over 50 years later. Must see. Tickets are $13 for non-members and can be bought at the cinema.

Still from Kaboom