Somewhere in this movie there are the makings of a great “message” documentary about climate change. With some more money and a different “director” – if it was indeed directed by one person – maybe this could be the movie they wanted it to be, the movie some critics apparently thought they saw. But this …
Category: 2009
L’affaire Farewell (2009, Christian Carion)
This is an interesting attempt at making a “real” spy movie, one where the spies behave like real spies, without car chases, without shoot-outs, without super-intense interrogation scenes.
Pandorum (2009, Chrstian Alvart)
Pandorum has a neat concept to start, but unfortunately it is undercut by overly explanatory title cards – better the movie open with Bower coming out of his chamber, I think. But, that being said, otherwise the movie seems quite strong at first. The reveal is way too early, but otherwise it’s good. There are …
White Lies for Dark Times (2009) by Ben Harper and Relentless7
I have long struggled with Harper. When I arrived at University at the beginning of this century, I don’t know what I was expecting, but what I found was that there was a remarkable amount of commonality in the “underground” music that was cool. In fact, looking back it seems really odd to me that …
Bored to Death (2009)
I can’t really tell you how much I love this show, a playful send up / take down of tired noir / hard boiled detective cliches mixed with a celebration / attack on the writer’s role in contemporary society, specifically, and the role of Brooklyn as cultural epicentre, more broadly. I get that it’s a …
Dvorak; Poulenc; Grieg (2009) by Marie-Josee Simard, Marie Fabi
This is an interesting recording that takes three well known sonatas (two violin sonatas, one of which at least is among the greatest of the twentieth century, and one flute) adapted for vibraphone. I am really open to this kind of stuff and I must say that I think this really works and I am …
Dvorak: Violin Concerto, Sonata and Sonatina (2009) by Jack Liebeck
This is a good summary of Dvorak’s violin music. Dvorak isn’t my favourite, but I enjoy him enough. As usual, I cannot really comment on the performance and how it relates to other performances as this is the first time I have heard these pieces. But the sound is good and Jack Liebeck sounds like …
Symphonies Nos 1-7; Kullervo (2009) by Silbelius, performed by London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis
Sibelius’ symphonies range from really over-the-top late 19th century folk-inspired stuff to the kind of subtle innovation this unsophisticated listener might associate with Mahler. I am still a complete neophyte (tyro?) when it comes to discerning great symphonic writing from okay symphonic writing, so it’s the 1892 Kullervo that I notice the most, and it …
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009, Michael Moore)
Full disclosure: I don’t like Michael Moore. I agree with him on many, many things, but I absolutely can’t stand the way he manipulates his audience. I am a political philosophy major and so a lack of clarity of concepts makes me insane. So…
Conquest of the Useless (2009) by Werner Herzog
This was given to me by accident but sometimes that is the best way of discovering interesting things.
The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke: 2009 Free Agency
Ignoring the players he let go…
The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke: Deadline Day 2009
Two years ago was Burke’s first deadline day with the Leafs. He made a number of minor deals: traded Antropov for 2nd rounder (Kenny Ryan) and a 2010 conditional fourth rounder (the conditions were either not met or not exercised) traded Moore for a 2nd rounder (Jesse Blacker) claimed Eric Reitz off waivers the weird …
The Best Movies of the Aughts (2000s)
Now that we’re through the Aughts, here are my picks for best movies of the decade. The ones that make the initial list are movies that I rated a 10/10. The runners up are 9/10s, and the honourable mentions are 8/10s. Many of these movies I have seen only once, and remember that in 2000 …
Palin is coming to Hamilton
I don’t know why she’s coming to Hamilton. I can guess. Supposedly she’s coming to speak at a hospital fundraiser. I figure she’s really coming because she’s already spoken everywhere in the US that would take her. Though she is probably the dumbest politician I have ever seen (dumber than Quale, and that’s saying something), …
Heatley deal
I know I should have said this last weekend but I was busy. Ottawa Senators get: Cheechoo Michalek 2nd round pick Cheechoo is probably the Tony Batista of hockey. He was great for a time, but the moment he declined he declined terribly, because his mechanics are so bad nobody knows what to fix. Michalek …
The Hamilton City Councilors are at it again
I guess it’s because municipal politics attracts the dregs, the people who can’t make it at any other level of politics, that we regularly get the most insane and ignorant suggestions from Hamilton city councilors. The previous highlight was an idea to ban swearing in the downtown core. Councilors were apparently wholly unaware of the …
Playoff reform, seriously
Once again I renew my call (which no one answers) for playoff reform in the NHL and in the NBA. In the NHL: No points for losses already. This is so stupid. No other professional league does this, that I know of. It is retarded. There is no rationalization for it. It skews the standings. …
Leafs 2008-09 Early Season Thoughts
So I haven’t talked about the Leafs in ages. Maybe you wonder why. Maybe you don’t care. Well, I knew they were going to suck. I figured they’d suck but not enough to get what they need, a very high draft pick. I still think this is the way things will go, despite some of …