In celebration of the 2nd Annual CCYAA Celebrity Classic presented by Virgin Plus in partnership with Actor Simu Liu, various events will be taking place around town, celebrating excellence in the North American Asian Community. The Basketball match will feature a star-studded line-up including professional Basketball Player Jeremy Lin, Actor Ronny Chieng and Comedian Hasan Minhaj. The Game takes place Saturday, July 9, 2022 6 PM at the Goldring Centre, University of Toronto. We’re hearing Bling Empire star Kim Lee might even make an appearance!

Just down the road from Goldring Centre in the Annex, FRESHFEST will be taking place at bustling hotspot SUPERFRESH. The four-day event showcases Arts, Music, Food, Drink, Lifestyle, and Retail. Just some of the vendors appearing for a limited time only between Wednesday, July 6, 2022 to Saturday, July 9, 2022:

● A Bopomofo Cafe (based in California) pop up which was co-founded by WongFu Productions creator Phil Wang
● An art-toy exhibit from Mindzai
● A free sneaker cleaning station courtesy of Crep Protect
● A merch-market which includes collaboration pieces with Mitchell & Ness including a limited
edition variant of the infamous BobaRaptor line

Schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, July 6 (4:00 pm – 9:00 pm)
Day Market, as curated by Auntie’s Supply Founder and Owner Christina Tolosa Pack, will feature a diverse line-up of 10 of the freshest Asian vendors Saigon Drip, Apothegeri, Kopi Thyme, Kumain Kitchen, Baker Rae Desserts, Mad Love Creative Co. and many more

Thursday, July 7 (9:30 pm – Close)
Freshfest DJ Night showcasing a line-up of local Asian DJs spinning fresh beats, curated libations and select street eats

Friday, July 8 (4:00 pm – 10:00 pm)
Freshfest Pop-up featuring Mindzai, Crep Protect and CCYAA Merch Market

Saturday, July 9 (12:00 pm – 7:30 pm)
Freshfest Pop-up featuring Bopomofo Café, Mindzai, Crep Protect and CCYAA Merch Market

Also taking place this weekend is a Comedy Night at Yuk Yuk’s with Headliner Julie Kim, who happened to write Simu Liu‘s JUNO Awards Script. And you just never know who will show-up!

Limited Tickets still are available here to the CCYAA CELEBRITY CLASSIC with Simu Liu and Jeremy Lin.

Learn more about Superfresh here.

We had the chance to visit recently. More here:

Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win Advance Screening Passes to see Jordan Peele‘s NOPE in Toronto and Montreal.

Screenings take place as follows July 20, 2022:

• Toronto: Scotiabank Theatre (screening in IMAX) at 7 PM
• Montreal: Scotiabank Theatre (screening in AVX) at 7 pm 

Synopsis:

Oscar^® winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us. Now, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope. 

The film reunites Peele with Oscar^® winner Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), who is joined by Keke Palmer (Hustlers, Alice) and Oscar^® nominee Steven Yeun (Minari, Okja) as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery. 

Nope, which co-stars Michael Wincott (Hitchcock, Westworld) and Brandon Perea (The OA, American Insurrection), is written and directed by Jordan Peele and is produced by Ian Cooper (Us, Candyman) and Jordan Peele for Monkeypaw Productions. The film will be released by Universal Pictures worldwide.

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK and indicate your City there. RT the below for an extra chance!

Rules and regulations here.

Universal Pictures Canada release NOPE in theaters July 22 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

It’s little wonder why the Honda Civic continues to be Canada’s bestselling car and has been for 24 straight years! Its value, style and impeccable safety standards put it heads and shoulders above the rest. Honda‘s laser-focus philosophy of offering modern, sleek and human-centered vehicles have kept them at the top of their game.

We had the joy of driving a real fan favourite in the 2022 Honda Civic 4D Touring, in a stunning Sonic Grey Pearl. Seeing it for the first time literally elicited a squeal from me as I got ready to embark on some Canada Day adventures. I’ve been waiting for what seems like forever to be paired with a car this colour. I’m obsessed. And others are too! While ordering Chicken Biryani, a gentleman walked by professing his love of the grey! It takes a special car to elicit a reaction like that from a stranger.

I did encounter a serious family matter over the weekend and am so grateful for this amazing ride being there for me and my family. More below. We couldn’t have done it without the Civic 4D Touring!

Let’s talk technical stuff first. The 2022 Honda Civic 4D Touring is powered by a 1.5-litre, 16-valve, Direct Injection, DOHC, turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, at 180 @ 6000 horsepower. We get in times where fuel prices are just astronomical, Honda has its focus set on consciousness – ecological and economical. This Civic runs on Regular fuel, with Eco-Assist and Honda‘s game-changing ECON MODE, with Idle Stop included. Its Fuel Economy tallies-in at 7.6/6.1/6.9 litres/100 km. While Honda can’t do much about gas prices, they do ensure you get the best bang for your buck.

Now let’s talk elegance and sophistication. This Civic is elevated with a luxurious variety of colour options:

• Rallye Red
• Aegean Blue Metallic
• Crystal Black Pearl
• Lunar Silver Metallic
• Meteorite Gray Metallic
• Morning Mist Metallic
• Platinum White Pearl
• Sonic Gray Pearl

While most other editions of the Civic come with a 6-way Driver’s Seat Power Adjustment, the 4D Touring comes with 8-way power adjustment. Front and back passengers also get heated seating, because we love and care about the people we drive around.

We’re super-picky about the Audio experience when driving and we get the best here. The 4D Touring comes with a BOSE® Premium Sound System with 12 speakers including Subwoofer. We were able to enjoy sound at its best in AM/FM/Sirius XM and our Spotify playlists on our phone. Connecting the Bluetooth was a breeze, as was keeping our phone charged with Wireless Charging!

One enhancement we’ve seen in recent models from Honda, this one included, is a 9″ colour touchscreen (versus 7″ on other models) and also a 10.2″ colour TFT full digital driver meter display (versus 7″ on others). We love the clean new Honda font and size of display. This is even better when reversing and parking where we depend on the colour display and now we can see traffic oncoming even clearer.

Other intuitive things we can’t get enough of are the Civic 4D Touring‘s Dual Climate Zone. This is actually a huge dealm which my friend was so fascinated by as she’d never seen that in a car before. In the Summer I prefer being chilly, whereas sometimes my passengers have a different tolerance to A/C. Honda once again proves that it understands not only its customer base, but their customer’s “customers”. Also a huge fan of the visually-pleasing Honeycomb Air Vents in the car.

From a Safety lens, the Civic 4D Touring boasts a stocked cupboard. Traffic Sign Recognition is so super-handy when you’re driving a long stretch (especially on rural roads) and have forgotten the Speed Limit. And when driving at night not all areas are well-lit, which is why we appreciate Auto High-Beam. We love having Proximity Entry when our hands are full, but even better is that it has Walk-away Door Lock for those who get anxiety about whether or not they’ve locked their doors. Its Blind Spot Information (BSI) System, Rear Cross Traffic Monitor System, Traffic Jam Assist, 4-wheel Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Forward Collision Warning (FCW) System, Collision Mitigation Braking System™ (CMBS^®) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW) System serve the sole purpose of saving lives and they continue to do so.

The Civic 4D Touring also has Next-Generation Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body structure. This is a design that uses a network of front frame structures to absorb and deflect the energy from a frontal collision. Let’s not forget all the Airbags as well. It comes wth a Front Airbag System, Side Curtain Airbags with Rollover Sensor System, Side Airbags, Rear Side Airbags and even Knee Airbags. Basically all the Airbags. Honda‘s got you.

Not much to critique here other than super-minor things. The Driver’s Seat has small perforations which you have to be super careful about, especially if you’re a coffee drinker like me, as this can be tricky to clean if the liquid seaps through the holes. Another thing, while super-sleek, the Car does sit quite low, so be super-careful when exiting to avoid slips.

The 2022 Honda Civic 4D Touring starts at $31,000 CAN.

Learn more here.

Some Canada Day memories we created in the 2022 Honda Civic 4D Touring. It was there for us in our celebrations, star sightings and even a worrying family emergency.

Scares aside, there was time for celebrations and sightings otherwise this Canada Day weekend, thanks to the 2022 Honda Civic 4D Touring. We met a Top Gun star, a Grammy winner and a member of Bob Marley dynasty! And even had a lot of quality time with beanie.

A major highlight of our Summer is the Queen’s Plate, North America’s most historic Horse Race and party! The season is gearing-up for the big day August 21, 2022 and we got a clearer reading of Tea Leaves this past weekend as well.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

2022 continues to be a huge breakout year for Actress Monica Barbaro. For one, Box Office Smash TOP GUN: MAVERICK in which she is featured in a prominent role as Phoenix, continues to soar to great heights past the $1 billion-mark globally. And after working one screen legend in Tom Cruise in that Blockbuster, she now will star in Netflix Series UTAP as CIA Agent Emma Brunner, the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Luke Brunner, also a CIA Agent, though neither of them knows of each other’s involvement!

Barbaro, whom originally intended to be a Dancer before turning her sights to acting, has built a steady Résumé of Television work including Chicago P.D., Stumptown and The Good Cop. With one closed door, another opportunity opens and that has so been the case with her career. It’s amazing to see her thriving in a huge way. So talented! We can totally see her character Phoenix continue to be a major part of the Top Gun Franchise should it expand further. We love how she is portrayed as a great Pilot who belongs beside her male counterparts. Not a love interest, because she’s female.

Was awesome meeting Barbaro! She’s been busy for months now filming UTAP in a variety of locations away from the City, and filming has limited the time she could spend on the Promo Tour for TOP GUN: MAVERICK. She will next be at work on Rom-Com AT MIDNIGHT opposite Diego Boneta. After celebrating her birthday last weekend in Toronto, she had the opportunity this Canada Day weekend to go travel a bit! She’s every bit as sweet and down-to-earth as we’d imagined! So excited to see her career soar!

Some Snaps. Yes I went full-on Top Gun!

It is said UTAP will continue filming through end of Summer in and around Toronto!

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU shows them who’s boss this Canada Day/Fourth of July weekend, with a record-breaking $108.5 million from 4,391 theatres, Friday to Sunday for Universal Pictures. Previous record was set by TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON with $97.9 million for the three-day Holiday weekend in 2011. This latest installment in the Franchise gets a passing 71% on the Tomatometer.

In second is TOP GUN: MAVERICK, flying high still with $25.5 million from 3,843 theatres for Paramount Pictures. It has grossed $570 million now over six weekends.

Third is last week’s champ, just getting edged-out for second. ELVIS brings-in $19 million from 3,932 theatres for Warner Bros., a total $72.3 million over two weekends.

Fourth belongs to JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION with $15.6 million for Universal Pictures, a total $335 million in its fourth weekend.

At the bottom of the Top Five is THE BLACK PHONE with $12.3 million from 3,156 theatres for Universal Pictures. It reaches just shy of $50 million in its second weekend!

Brought to us by Lighthouse Immersive (Van Gogh, Klimt, Kahlo Immersive Experiences) with the support of Toronto Caribbean Carnival, the BOB MARLEY ONE LOVE EXPERIENCE is now taking place at 1 Yonge Street in Toronto starting today! The Toronto Caribeean Carnival kicks off July 28, and this is the perfect way to get us into that island spirit!

The BOB MARLEY ONE LOVE EXPERIENCE had a successful run in London prior to its Toronto debut, and it is actually created together with input from the Marley family. The multi-room exhibit that brings together original art, music, and immersive, and experiential rooms to bring us the true essence of Bob Marley and his Music.

The Exhibit is comprised of six spaces within the building, exploring different themes including the One Love Forest, the Soul Shakedown Studio, and more! There are never-seen-before photographs, awards and super-colourful installations celebrating Marley. There’s even a pair of his running shoes, with dirt on them, bringing us that much closer to him.

This a fun way to pay tribute to legacy of not only Marley but also his family, and also get some Instagram and TikTok-worthy content for your Socials!

In-town to ring-in the occasion was Cedella Marley, daughter of Bob Marley and Vocalist of Grammy-winning Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, mother of Skip Marley. She is the President of the Family’s Record Label TUFF GONG COLLECTIVE which last year partnered with Universal Music Group on a series of upcoming ventures.

Guests at last night’s special Media Preview also saw a special performance by King Cruff, Toronto-based Hip-Hop Artist who is the nephew of Cedella. The two were seen hugging, with Cedella supporting her nephew from a special enclosure.

More Snaps:

Instagram-able moments:

The BOB MARLEY ONE LOVE EXPERIENCE will open to the public on July 1, 2022 running through to August 14, 2022. More here.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

After racking-up 50+ million views on TikTok, Charli XCX and Tiesto present a full version of their certified Summer Banger, HOT IN IT!

HOT IN IT is available to stream on multiple platforms here.

(Photo/video credit: Warner Music)

Apple TV+ have announced recently a new Limited Series is on the way about the life of Benjamin Franklin. Michael Douglas is set to star as Franklin. Here is a first look at Douglas in the leading role!

The Series will be based on the book “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America” by Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff. The new limited event series is a co-production between ITV Studios America and Apple Studios.

The drama will explore the thrilling story of one of the greatest gambles of Benjamin Franklin’s career. At age 70, without any diplomatic training, Franklin convinced France – an absolute monarchy – to underwrite America’s experiment in democracy. By virtue of his fame, charisma, and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers, and hostile colleagues, all while engineering the Franco-American alliance of 1778 and the final peace with England of l783. The eight-year French mission stands as Franklin’s most vital service to his country, without which America would not have won the Revolution.

The limited event series will be written and executive produced by Kirk Ellis, and directed by Tim Van Patten, who will serve as executive producer alongside Michael Douglas, Richard Plepler through EDEN productions, Tony Krantz through Flame Ventures, and Mark Mostyn. Stacy Schiff will serve as co-executive producer.

Melissa Barrera is a star on the rise. After starring in IN THE HEIGHTS and SCREAM, she next can be seen in Netflix’s KEEP BREATHING, filmed here in Vancouver. Here is the brand-new Trailer for the Series which consists of six episodes.

Synopsis:

After her private plane crashes in the remote Canadian frontier, lone survivor and New York lawyer, Liv (Melissa Barrera), must battle both an unforgiving wilderness and past personal traumas to stay alive.

New Stills:

KEEP BREATHING arrives July 28, 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

Girl, put your records on! I have and always will be a huge fan of Leeds‘ Corinne Bailey Rae. A beautiful soul with the calmest energy. I first became a fan of her back in 2006 where she dominated airwaves with her smash hit single “Put Your Records On“. Her success didn’t stop and the award nominations poured-in. BRIT Awards, GRAMMYs, Oprah. She was everywhere.

She played her first show in Toronto in over a decade last night, and while the Set was short and sweet, this Grammy-winning Artist is back after touring delays which impacted literally everyone. Her Music is timeless and her 2006 self-titled debut, one of my favourite Albums, still sounds fresh. She has taken her time releasing only a total three Albums since then and is getting back into the rhythm again playing her hits and a mix of new material for an upcoming release this year.

She tells me she got to enjoy Niagara Falls the other day and rode the Maid of the Mist with her kids and husband Steve Brown (the nicest guy and a partner in her Music too!!). What I love is that she takes breaks between shows to allow her voice to rest and this way she gets to enjoy the cities. She even reads her children bedtime stories every night on the tour bus. Now that’s balancing work and life!

Have missed Corinne Bailey Rae, so much. This brought me so much joy.

A Carousel, including snaps of my first time seeing her live in 2007.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)