Jul 30 2009
Away From Her is a quiet movie about a couple dealing with Alzheimer’s disease — and it’s not depressing or melodramatic. The understated but perfectly nuanced performances from Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie, together with Sarah Polley’s subtle direction, deliver an emotional punch without being overtly manipulative or insulting to the audience’s intelligence. It [...]
Jul 28 2009
12 and Holding is a powerful, engaging film that presents a more honest look at childhood than anything I’ve seen for years. It’s about a small group of young kids, each of them dealing with some difficult issues that arise from things happening at home (or not happening at home). There’s a fat kid [...]
Jul 23 2009
Bubble is Steven Soderbergh’s experimental whodunit film that he describes more accurately as a whydunit. It’s experimental in that he uses real people, non-actors, playing themselves; the characters’ lives are so mundane that even when something out of the ordinary happens, it’s still completely mundane — and one of the most interesting films I’ve [...]
Jul 22 2009
Part 1 was How to Build a Raised Garden Bed and Potato Tower. Part 2 is just a 2-minute video update on how the garden is looking these days.
Jul 20 2009
It’s been 40 years since we landed on the moon. I’m glad to see the Apollo 11 astronauts promoting the exploration of Mars instead of going back to the moon.
In honour of this historic occasion, I’ve posted the front page of The Onion from July 21, 1969:
Click image to biggify.
Jul 18 2009
I don’t spend much money on wines. I recently bought a bottle of Francis Coppola’s Red Label Zinfandel for about $35 and it was no better than any $10-bottle of red wine from Jackson-Triggs. (When I don’t know what to pick, I go to Jackson-Triggs; they make quality affordable wines.) I might get a bottle [...]
Jul 16 2009
The Science of Sleep is the most fun I had watching a movie in 2007. Written and directed by Michel Gondry, it’s a trip to just sit back and watch the stuff that pours out of this guy’s head. The same goes for the main character of the movie. About half the movie consists [...]
