In honour of Halloween, but really inspired by a Facebook discussion earlier today, I figured I would write a brief little list of the greatest horror films ever made. (With the obvious qualifier that, while I have seen a lot of movies – 3,500 is probably a conservative estimate – I have by no means …
Month: October 2013
On Artistic Greatness
Greatness means many different things to many different people and certainly conceptions of greatness vary from field to field. Most of our associations with greatness are no doubt based upon feelings rather than rational reflection. If we don’t have a mutually acceptable concept of greatness, then you can hardly agree or disagree with me about …
RIP Lou Reed
Lou Reed died today. I am at a bit of a loss for words, simply because, as with the death of any songwriter who has an impact on my life, I always just assume he would be around forever, which is a ridiculous thing. He was only 71, but not that long ago, 71 was …
The Faming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012)
I want to make some kind of Supernatural joke but I can’t come up with one because I don’t watch the show.
Elgar – Violin Concerto; Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending (1997) by Nigel Kennedy et al.
This is the kind of selection that feels tailor made for someone like Kennedy. Lots of pyrotechnics. And he shows off. And that’s great. But I feel much the way about this set that I feel about so much of Elgar and Vaughan Williams; I just feel like there is better contemporary music from the …
The Beatles Are the Greatest Rock Band of All Time and I Can Prove
I used to take the greatness of the Beatles for granted. Though I would often drunkenly argue in their favour, I assumed my interlocutors were merely arguing with me because they were drunk, and not because they really, truly believed any band could be more significant to the history of “rock” music than the Beatles. …
The Divinity of Doubt (2011) by Vincent Bugliosi
It’s hard to know what to say about this book: I agree – most of the time – with Bugliosi’s position on this subject. But, as with his Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, this comes off as an unorganized rant that is made all the worse because he constantly claims other people – …
Rashomon (1950, Akira Kurosawa)
It took me a really long time to see what is probably the most famous – or most important – Japanese film ever made. And unfortunately, I had pretty high expectations, which at first were hard for the film to match.
Melancholia (2011, Lars Von Trier)
Mental illness is very difficult to portray on screen, but when it’s done well – in this film or Take Shelter, a very similar film in many ways, or Rachel Getting Married – it can be quite affecting. However, Von Trier seems to be suggesting that mental illness gives us some kind of superior insight …
The Campaign to Fire Dave Nonis: 2013-14 Maple Leafs Season Preview
I feel somewhat embarrassed to say that I completely missed the Franson extension that I had been hammering my drum about. All I can say is that it’s been busy at work lately, and I have had less energy to read NHL transaction logs at night. As previously, I am relying on Capgeek’s depth chart …
Freelancers (2012, Jessy Terreo)
This may be the worst cop movie ever made.
The Campaign to Fire Dave Nonis: Franson and Kessel Extensions
I have been a little busy lately and for that I apologize. The primary reason for the business – as pertains to this blog – will be revealed shortly. (Ooh, the mystery!) And I regret to say that my 2013-14 Leafs Preview will be late this year. I haven’t had the time but hopefully it …