I had actually never listened to I’m Your Fan before. And I’m not a huge fun So why did I read this? I enjoyed Ray’s first book a lot, and was interested in the next one. And, full disclosure: I write for his website, Cover Me. In order to read the book, I did manage to listen to the …
Category: 2020
Jazz Sabbath (2020)
Once, many years ago, when I was describing Paranoid to a friend who was skeptical of Black Sabbath, I used the term “jazzy” (or, perhaps, “relatively jazzy”). He scoffed. (He was probably thinking of the title track and thought I was crazy). I was referring, specifically, to Butler and Ward, who I felt played their early metal …
Homestar Runner Original Soundtrack (2020)
The three-volume soundtrack to Homestar Runner is even more “fans only” than Strong Bad Sings. So I’m probably being too kind to it as stand-alone music, but I can’t help but enjoy it.
Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles (2020, Laura Gabbert)
This is a weird one. The film mentions Yotam Ottolenghi in its title, and the film focuses on him as its main character, and yet he is not one of the chefs baking cakes for the gala at the centre of the film. Seriously.
The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World (2020) by Virginia Postrel
I have read way too many history books in my life. (Or not enough, if this book is any indication.) Few of them mentioned clothing (or any form of textiles) for any reason other than to paint a scene. The ones that did dwell on textiles at all, did so as part of bigger economic …
Blithe Spirit (2020, Edward Hall)
This is a remake of a David Lean movie I’ve never seen that feels like it was remade because of the potential to make it vaguely “feminist.” It’s sporadically funny but suffers from a possibly bad casting decision and the usual incoherence that comes with ghosts.
The Courier (2020, Dominic Cooke)
This is a well-made spy thriller based on real events. It’s apparently a well-known story in the UK (where it was a TV miniseries back in the ’90s) but is not a story I was aware of. In North America, all we here about is the Kennedys and their decision making during the Cuban Missile …
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020, Aaron, Sorkin)
Until the ridiculous final season, I was torn between this and Chicago 10. For the most part, this is a better film than Chicago 10, it’s live action, it’s well-acted, and it’s nowhere near as ADD. (Though it’s clearly inspired by that film.) The ridiculous final scene of this film shook my confidence in that …
Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020, Cathy Yan)
I remember hearing about the good reviews. And I briefly thought that maybe here was a recent DC movie I wanted to watch. And then I promptly forgot about it until I got on a plane. Now, it’s possible that this film didn’t work for in part because it was the second film I watched …
Your 2020-21 Toronto Raptors
To tell you the truth, I’m still basking in the glow of NBA Champion Toronto Raptors. I don’t care if it’s been nearly two years. I didn’t think they would ever win the championship. The day before the Kawhi trade, I would have bet you money they never would have in my lifetime. Its’ still …
The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values (2020) by Brian Christian
The Alignment Problem is just an excellent book about the state of AI philosophy and ethics at the beginning of the 2020s. Because it’s more about ethical and philosophical problems, than technological ones, it’s much more in my wheelhouse. But I think that these questions are extremely important. And Christian just does an excellent job …
McMillions (2020)
This is a very entertaining documentary about the infamous McDonald’s Monopoly scam which suffers a bit from Netflix-style true crime documentary series bloat and a rather a major oversight. But it’s a crazy story, it’s full of characters, and it’s funny. SPOILERS
Long Way Up (2020)
For the first 10 episodes, this is another excellent travel documentary in the Long Way series. Jenn and I wondered, after Long Way Down, how they would make this one challenging, as it seemed like it would be the easiest from a logistics standpoint. And they found a way: electric bikes and electric cars in …
Palm Springs (2020, Max Barbakow)
This is a very funny romantic comedy inspired by the classic romantic comedy [redacted], and which has many similarities to the recent TV show [redacted], but which still manages a fresh spin on what is becoming a pretty tired concept. What is that concept? Well, I don’t really want to tell you. Rather, I suggest …
American Madness (2020) by Tea Krulos
(Way) Before Pizzagate there was the Phantom Patriot’s raid on Bohemian Grove. I had never heard of this before I read this book and completely missed any news coverage of the story, if there was any. So I’m glad I read this alternately hilarious and saddening story of one man’s obsession with conspiracies and his …
Journal of the Pandemic Year: Vaccine!!!!!!
The first people in my region will be vaccinated next week, roughly a year after the virus first started spreading. It’s one of the great achievements in medical history. By summer or fall I should be vaccinated and I am already planning a party to take advantage of our fantastic new backyard which somebody else …
70 Million Americans Voted to Re-Elect a Con Man to the Presidency [Updated]
In August of 2016, before his election to President, I wondered whether or not Donald Trump was the Greatest Con Man of All Time. (The GOAT-Con? The Con-GOAT? The GCMOAT?) A year and a half later, still mystified by his support, I wondered how people continue to trust him, as he burns one after the …
Eco-Challenge is Now The World’s Toughest Race
My favourite first wave reality show, Eco-Challenge – the only returned this summer as The World’s Toughest Race now hosted by Bear Grylls. (It’s on Amazon Prime if you’re interested.) I loved this show when it was on and, for years, sort of assumed that nobody else had watched as, when I described it to …
4 Issues You Have To Overlook In Sports Films
We all have our favourite sports movies. But it’s fair to say that there’s a lot that Hollywood ultimately gets wrong about our favourite sports. That’s why documentaries like The Last Dance feel like such a breath of fresh air. It provides an honest perspective of the game. So, let’s run down some of the …
The Victory Machine (2020) by Ethan Sherwood Strauss
This is a portrait of the Warriors that is both fascinating and maddening. I am not super familiar with Strauss beyond his podcast guest appearances on the Lowe Post and maybe the odd article I’ve stumbled across but I don’t know how much I’ll be seeking out his writing after this.
I’m Agnostic But I Tell People I’m an Atheist
I am agnostic. I make no claims to know what caused the universe. To me, it’s the height of presumption for someone to claim they know why the universe exists, perhaps even how the universe exists.
The Old Guard (2020, Gina Prince-Bythewood)
This is a decent action movie with an interesting soft science fiction/fantasy premise which falls apart whenever you think too hard about it. I didn’t know the premise before watching so I’ll assume it’s a spoiler and say SPOILERS
Invitation to submit your book to Netflix
As you may know, I am a published author. Three books to date, still working on that fourth. Every so often, somebody contacts me with the goal of getting me to pay them to do some useless service. This is an old scam which appeals to every author’s vanity. But I’ve seen it enough times …
2020 Toronto International Film Festival
For what may be the third year in a row, I only saw 5 movies at TIFF. Every year I resolve to see more the next year but it never seems to happen. Now, this year is different, obviously. This year I watched TIFF films on my couch. And this year I only watched 5 …
Nuevo orden aka New Order (2020, Michel Franco)
This is a very promising film about class conflict in Mexico that gets really confused and, for me, goes off the rails to the point where I am kind of astounded it won a Grand Jury Prize at a film festival. SPOILERS later in the review.
The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel (2020, Jennifer Abbott, Joel Bakan)
I saw the original Corporation sometime back in the aughts. I have no idea whether or not I would like it now. This film is infuriating, both because of the problems in the world it reminds us of, and because of how unfocused it is. In many ways, it feels like two movies, the sequel …
76 Days (2020, Weixi Chen, Hao Wu, Anonymous)
This is a harrowing but ultimately kind of triumphant fly-on-the-wall style documentary about COVID-19 patients and the frontline workers looking after them in China. If you are lucky enough to have not gotten sick but feel like this has been really hard, I strongly suggest you watch this movie. (And if you think this whole …
Shadow in the Cloud (2020, Roseanne Liang)
This is a bizarre film with a premise that kind of appealed to me in reading about it but, which, in execution, is a giant mess. SPOILERS
Your 2019-20 Toronto Raptors
There is a lot of disappointment in Toronto right now and I’m not sure it’s warranted. The Toronto Raptors won the title last year. They then lost two starters: one of the 3-5 best players in the entire league – and best Raptor ever in terms of pure two-way talent – and a candidate for …
10% Less Democracy: Why You Should Trust Elites a Little More and the Masses a Little Less (2020) by Garrrett Jones
This is a frustrating book. I agree with some of what he says and he inspired me to come up with some additional ideas. But I find the presentation ill-thought out, and I find his perspective limited, and rather traditional.