This documentary film chronicles the rise and fall of No Wave (the movies, not so much the music), New Cinema and the Cinema of Transgression in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to interviews with the filmmakers and stars, it features a number of famous people (some directors and musicians, an …
Tag: 2010
Borgen (2010)
Borgen is a remarkable, unique Danish television show that may have established it’s own genre. Every other TV show to focus on politics that I have ever seen has added elements of fantasy; normally these shows and movies are “political thrillers” where someone always dies; occasionally they’re comedies. Either way, there is a balance between …
Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010, James Nguyen)
I have seen a lot of bad movies in my life (though fewer recently) so I have pretty high (low?) standards for my “Worst Movies of All Time” list. For me, a film has to be have zero redeeming qualities about it for me to consider it one of the worst films ever made. Most …
Bhutto (2010, Duane Baughman, Johnny O’Hara)
One of the defining characteristics of human beings that is that we are flawed, imperfect creatures. All the “Great Men” of history were actually just human beings; sometimes they did things we might view as great, but they had their problems. There isn’t a single major political leader in history who hasn’t done something awful.
Outrage (2010, Takeshi Kitano)
Is this a comedy?
Mad Men (2007)
I watched Mad Men over an even longer period than most of you, so my memory of the individual episodes is not perfect. I know there were some weaker ones in there, and there even parts of seasons – perhaps even whole seasons – that I didn’t enjoy on the level of the best parts …
On Writing (2000) by Stephen King
I have never read a single Steven King novel or short story – I know, I know – and I don’t write fiction, but this book was recommended highly, and I figured I would give it a try given the struggles I am experiencing with my current project.
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010, Andrei Ujica)
This film attempts to paint a portrait of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu simply by assembling and editing together excerpts from something like 1,000 hours of official footage. Because of the way it is assembled – just this footage, no talking heads, no narration, no obvious message – what you make of this movie appears …
Hindemith: The Complete Viola Music 2 (2010) by Lawrence Power
Part 2 of Power’s performances of Hindemith’s viola music focuses on the sonatas for solo viola, of which Hindemith also wrote three. Though these all lack the incredible, complex and difficult piano parts of their cousins, that doesn’t make them any less impressive and, not surprisingly, the viola parts are more complex.
Heaven is Whenever (2010) by The Hold Steady
From the opening notes of “The Sweet Part of the City” it’s pretty clear that this band has finally overcome their Springsteen odour. Sure, Finn is still an extremely Sprinsteenian songwriter, but the rest of the band no longer sounds like a louder E-Street band minus the sax. (I’d blame that on the departed keyboard …
Hangover Square; Citizen Kane (2010) by Bernard Herrmann, performed by BBC Philharmonic conducted by Rumon Gamba, featuring Martin Roscoe and Orla Boylan
This disc collects a suite of pieces from the 1945 film noir Hangover Square, arranged for orchestra, with a piano concerto Herrmann wrote for the film, with what seems to be the complete (or nearly complete) score to Citizen Kane. The music for Hangover Square is pretty classic Hollywood noir, even if the first three …
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010, Michael Apted)
Apted’s surer hand makes this possibly the best entry in the series – it’s obvious from the opening shot that a better director is involved.
Boardwalk Empire (2010)
SPOILERS!!!
Haydn: Cello Concertos; Pereira: Concertino for Cello (2010) by Antonio Meneses, Northern Sinfonia
This is an odd collection that pairs Haydn’s two most famous (and likely sole surviving) cello concerti with a totally unrelated piece of music by the 20th century composer Clovis Pereira. Grumble. Haydn’s first cello concerto is a fine piece of music but it strikes me as typical of the era (though I don’t really …
Haydn: London Symphonies (2010) by Les Musiciens du Louvre conducted by Marc Minkowski
This is an excellent collection of Haydn’s final symphonies, the “London symphonies.”
…Featuring Norah Jones (2010)
This is a compilation of some – though apparently far from all – of Norah Jones’ guest appearances after she became a star. (Though some feel more like duets.) I guess it’s a way for people to see what else she’s doing? I don’t know. Because the thing about this is that there’s a lot …
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 …
Treme (2010)
This review of Treme contains some spoilers.
Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont (2010) by Joseph Boyden
At first, I found the style fairly jarring. This was not what I was expecting. And I am not sure it’s entirely appropriate, certainly if you are looking for a rigourous historical study. But, as I read it, I found it worked well enough. Well enough that it triggered my own creative ambitions, much like …
Breaking Bad (2008)
This review obviously contains spoilers.
Scratch My Back (2010) by Peter Gabriel
When I was young, I had a problem with interpretive music; for my idealistic self it suggested a lack of creativity, a lack of artistic will, or something like that. (I definitely had a bit of an obsession with the idea of The Artist as a True Individual or some shit.) Over the years my …
30 Rock (2006)
When Seinfeld ended, I was done with the sit-com. I honestly didn’t see what it could possibly offer me any more. Television was getting smarter – and would get significantly smarter over the next decade – and I just couldn’t handle being told when to laugh or having to suspend my disbelief to laugh at …
The Kingdom (2010) by Edward Elgar, performed by Halle
Listening to the two completed parts of the proposed oratorio trilogy I find myself liking this one less than the first. It is simpler and less provocative. Apparently the choral writing is quite good but I don’t really see why I should listen to this over other oratorios (even Elgar’s own). It’s fine, but that’s …
The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke: Lockout to Lockout
Only one team in the entire 30 team NHL went from the last lockout (2004-05) to this one without a single playoff appearance: the Toronto Maple Leafs. Only four teams missed the playoffs at least 5 times: the Oilers (6 times), the Islanders and the Thrashers. One of these teams has a pretty good excuse: …
Extraordinary Canadians: Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin (2010, Penguin) by John Raulston Saul
I first learned about Robert Baldwin in grade 7, and I can’t say that particular bit of junior high history moved me much. I was far more interested in the war of 1812 at the time, because I was a boy and because I liked military history, not history. So I can’t say I thought …
The Mendacity of Hope (2010) by Roger D. Hodge
I was extremely skeptical of this book when I was lent it by my father. I don’t particularly like polemics and I figured, despite the claims on the back cover, that I would react the usual way to such things: which is that I would dismiss outright after 25-50 pages.
The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke: July 2010 Free Agency
On July 1st of last year, Burke let the following players leave the organization: Deveaux, Exelby, Frogren, Matt Jones, Lundmark, Ondrus, Oreskovicc, Primeau, Rogers, Van Ryn, Wallin and Walser. I have no problem with any of that. Additionally, for some unknown reason, both Mitchell and Brent were left to go unrestricted but then resigned later.
Raptors 2010-2011 Review
So the dismal season is finally over. It was an interesting one. Before it began, I was worried they would win 20 games.
2010-11 NHL Awards
Part 1: Automatic Awards Rocket Richard: Corey Perry Adam Oates (my award for most assists): Henrik Sundin Art Ross: Daniel Sedin Plus-Minus: Zdeno Chara Paul Coffey (my award for most goals by a defenseman): Byfuglien Bobby Orr (my award for most points by a defenseman): Visnovsky Jennings: Tim Thomas Crozier: Tim Thomas
The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke: 2010-2011 Leafs Season
There has been a recent upswell of support – from fans, from the media, and from hockey fans not normally partial to the Maple Leafs – for Burke’s “plan” in recent weeks, following the team’s remarkable post-all-star-break performance this season. Despite missing the playoffs, the majority opinion seems to be that the Leafs are very …