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Dune (2021)

A VISUAL STORYTELLER Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac… Dune, the Movie I first read Frank Herbert’s Dune as a teenager and that’s the right age to meet this hallucinogenic, intergalactic trip of a novel. It’s one of those books that almost literally

Schumacher (2021)

Schumacher (2021)

A SPORTING LEGEND Directed by Hans-Bruno Kammertöns; starring Michael Schumacher, et al… After a fifty-year drought we’ve reached a golden age of motor racing film and television. There have been major features that weren’t awful — Rush (2013) and Ford v Ferrari (2019) — and a documentary that wasn’t

Election 2021: A Style Guide

Election 2021: A Style Guide

HOW CANADIAN ELECTIONS WORK Whee! It’s election time in Canada again. Last Sunday Justin Trudeau put the rumours to rest by requesting and receiving dissolution of the 43rd parliament. We head to the polls for the second time in two years on 20 September. Aside from the — you know

The War That Ended Peace

The War That Ended Peace

THE ROAD TO 1914 Margaret MacMillan, Penguin Books, 2013 The War That Ended Peace is a giant doorstop of a book: more than 700 pages (with notes) in the Penguin trade paperback. But then, it’s tackling a big, difficult question: how could Europe — so peaceful, prosperous, and powerful in

A Holiday Hamper

A Holiday Hamper

FAVOURITE MOVIES & TV OF 2020 With months of travel restrictions and social distancing still to get through, we could all use some entertainment. So, here are a few favourites from 2020. I didn’t watch nearly enough TV (cough) to claim these are the “Best of the Year”; they’

Statute of Westminster Day

A CANADIAN CROWN If you walk past a Canadian government building on any 11 December, you may be surprised to see the Royal Union Flag (popularly, the Union Jack) flying alongside the Maple Leaf. That's because 11 December 1931 is Statute of Westminster Day. “What the hell is

Saoirse Ronan & Kate Winslett

Politics is the Enemy of Art

AMMONITE (2020) | HAPPIEST SEASON (2020) | GENTLEMAN JACK S01 Ammonite: UK, 2020 Directed by Francis Lee; starring Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Fiona Shaw… Happiest Season: USA, 2020 (Apple TV+) Directed by Clea DuVall; starring Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Mary Steenburgen, Victor Garber, Dan Levy, Aubrey Plaza… Gentleman Jack: S01 Created by

Revolutions Podcast

Revolutions Podcast

A HISTORY OF FAILURE Mike Duncan: 2013-2020 I’m proud to say I didn’t spend the whole pandemic bingeing Netflix and eating doughnuts; I also listened to Mike Duncan’s Revolutions podcast. This was a perfect COVID project; the ten seasons run as long as fifty-five (!) episodes each and,

Teenage Bounty Hunters S01

Teenage Bounty Hunters S01

STREAMING IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS Season 01 (Netflix, USA, 2020) Created by Kathleen Jordan; starring Maddie Phillips, Anjelica Bette Fellini, Kadeem Hardison… Blair: Obviously we have a gift for this line of work. Sterling: We’re going to be the best bounty hunters in Atlanta!

Vasily Grossman

A Writer at War

THE RUTHLESS TRUTH OF WAR Vasily Grossman, Edited & Translated by Antony Beevor and Luba Vinogradova Vintage Books 2007 In 1941 Vasily Grossman was a Russian-Jewish intellectual and novelist living in Moscow. When Germany invaded, he promptly volunteered for service, but was too old and unfit for combat. Instead he

GTD: Habits

THE ART OF GETTING THINGS DONE In his classic study on the nature of war Carl Von Clausewitz observes that: “Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult. The difficulties accumulate and end by producing a kind of friction…”(1) If you’ve ever fallen off the

The Black Flight

The Black Flight

THE MEMOIR OF RAYMOND COLLISHAW, CB, DSO, DSC, DFC CEF Books 2008 It’s remarkable that the highest ranking WWI flying aces in British service are almost all Canadian. Billy Bishop, with 72 credited victories, is the top scorer for the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) while Raymond Collishaw, at 60,

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

MANIC-DEPRESSIVE SUPERHERO Directed by Sam Raimi; starring Toby Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina… Okay, I was taken in too. Blech. After Michael Keaton’s quirky but human performance in Batman(1989), and the character driven drama at the heart of the first Spider-Man (2002), I was ready to believe that

King Kong (2005)

King Kong (2005)

NOTHING EXCEEDS LIKE EXCESS Directed by Peter Jackson; starring Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrian Brody… Just as Wile E Coyote and the Roadrunner are natural enemies so, we’re told, movie directors must fight against evil studio bosses in their eternal struggle to make Great Art despite corporate interference. I’

Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek (2009)

DOES WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN Directed by JJ Abrams; starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg… JJ Abrams’ reboot of the Star Trek franchise begins with a brilliant idea. It travels all the way back to the original

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

WHY PLOT DOESN'T MATTER Directed by David Yates; starring Daniel Radcliff, Rupert Gint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman… Critics of books or movies tend to focus on plot; this is what “the story” is about, after all. And yet, the Harry Potter series stands

Garden State (2004)

Garden State (2004)

ARTSY BUT NOT FARTSY Directed and written by Zach Braff; starring Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Ian Holm… Artsy without being fartsy, quirky without being clueless, Garden State is one of the few good original releases I've seen this summer. It's also the perfect answer to those

The Brave One (2007)

The Brave One (2007)

ARTSY CRAP IS STILL CRAP Directed by Neil Jordan; starring Jodie Foster, Terence Howard, Mary Steenburgen… Once a director establishes themselves as an artiste it seems they can routinely get away with conventional schlock that would be dismissed in the hands of lesser mortals. Witness the excessive praise showered on