July 6, 2010
A new generation of Quebec filmmakers captures a culture adrift
Young Québécois filmmakers are rejecting the commercially successful nostalgia movies of recent years in favour of suburban ennui, substance abuse, and suicide. Get ready to get gloomy! Still from 'Continental, un film sans fusil' (2008) directed by Stéphane Lafleur. The title of Quebec director Stéphane Lafleur’s Continental, un film sans fusil (Continental, A Film Without Guns) is not... [More >>]
May 21, 2010
In Canadian film’s small world, creators and critics are too close for comfort
The epic wars of the past between filmmakers and critics—Vincent Canby’s mano a mano with James Toback, James Cameron going cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs on any critic who looks at him funny, or the minor dustup that happened at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, in which a producer’s rep was punched in the face by critic John Anderson—are now few and far between. As German director Wim Wenders... [More >>]
April 28, 2010
Mainstream success threatens cult cinema’s sleazy charm
Tell someone you like science fiction, fantasy or horror films and you might get “the look.” A look that says, “Are you silly, immature or, worse, pervy?” Fans of genre cinema—the term applies to many different categories of film but is most commonly applied to sci-fi, fantasy and horror—have long had a bad rep as freaky weirdoes, social misfits, gore hounds and so on. I know because I... [More >>]
February 23, 2010
Six new documentaries explore the darkest corners of modern capitalism
Noam Chomsky in "Encirclement: Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy" If ever there was a conspiracy theory that had every likelihood of being true, it’s that a shadowy cabal of billionaires are meeting at some remote location in the Swiss Alps (perhaps the Hotel Mont Pelerin, or the latest Bilderberg stronghold) to plot how to most effectively screw the rest of the world. Michael Moore’s... [More >>]
February 2, 2010
Yes, “awards season” is stupid, but it beats the alternative
It's easy to be cynical about awards season, but a chance to promote quality is still valuable. Illustration by David Donald. If you ever want to get your hands on an Oscar, you’ll probably have to earn it the hard way. Security is tight on those things, and the resale market starts at $50,000 and heads into the seven-figure bracket if the winner was anyone you’ve heard of. (Michael Jackson... [More >>]
November 26, 2009
The new face of porn
A new generation of feminists are reclaiming porn, both as consumers and producers. A (very) intimate journey Erika Lust on the set of "Barcelona Sex Project," her "erotic experimental film" that exemplifies the style of the new crop of feminist-identified pornographers. Photo courtesy Lust Films. The first time I remember thinking critically about pornography, I was 15. It was... [More >>]
September 21, 2009
Terrance Houle reclaims the Hollywood Indian
Terrance Houle. Photo by Jarusha Brown. In a small bright room in downtown Toronto, a young Aboriginal woman is auditioning for a role she never expected to play. “I’d like to read the part of Billy Jack,” she says. With script in hand, the woman narrows her eyes and begins to read: “It’s my medicine bag. Got some owls feathers, sacred corn, snake teeth …”... [More >>]
September 10, 2009
How film festivals like TIFF can end up hurting indie movies
Frame from "Picture Start," a video installation screening as part of the Toronto International Film Festival. It’s a familiar ritual in movie palaces and multiplexes all over the country. You find yourself in a lineup for a film that you know nothing about, aside from its reputation as a remarkable new work by a hot young director from the Carpathians, or maybe Polynesia. For sustenance,... [More >>]
September 4, 2009
High and low culture collide in a glorious mess on Tumblr.com
Tumblr reflects contemporary pop culture: not so much like blogging, more like collage. Illustration by Dave Donald. [Editor's note: If you're curious, This Magazine has its own Tumblr blog. Visit quote.this.org] I have never left a cinema with as big a grin on my face as when I watched the spectacularly awful Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Every complaint I had heard was spot-on—that the acting... [More >>]
June 24, 2009
The American Nightmare of Kelly Reichardt’s ‘Wendy and Lucy’
How global recession, Hurricane Katrina, and social breakdown can strand one lonely woman—and her little dog, too Michelle Williams as Wendy in Kelly Reichardt's 'Wendy and Lucy.' Courtesy Oscilloscope Laboratories. In cinematic terms, the Great Depression is arguably best represented by Mervyn LeRoy’s 1932 classic I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. Wrongfully convicted of robbery,... [More >>]
