Moonrise Kingdom is another one of those quirky Wes Anderson films with a characteristically wonderful production design and brilliant cinematography. I especially like the tableau-like shots with such rich, detailed mise-en-scene, including the outdoor scenes. The self-reflexive opening moving tableau sequence is notable, and of course one could linger on
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Things Are Good: Crowdsourcing the Meaning of Life
Some filmmakers are channelling the world to find out what the meaning of life is. Their project has started an Indiegogo campaign to fund their project and they can use your help. The world we live in is extremely confusing and precarious. With economic meltdowns, global terrorism, ecological disasters, civil
Continue readingArt Threat: Friday Film Pick: Togetherness Supreme
Barack Obama was still just a U.S. Senator in 2006, but he was already spooling up for his presidential run. Seizing on his rising visibility and popularity, Obama made a mostly-business trip to Africa. The unprecedented buzz surrounding a senatorial trip culminated in his arrival in Kenya, the birthplace of
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: No Place In Canada For Russell Williams TV Movie
Any Canadian citizen or resident who cares about gender-based violence, equality and women’s rights should condemn “An Officer and a Murderer”. The new TV movie dramatizing the real-life horror of the crimes of the former commander of CFB Trenton airs on the U.S. network Lifetime on July 21. I never
Continue readingArt Threat: Russian LGBT Film Fest pushes ahead despite attacks – A conversation with the founder of the Side By Side Festival
It is an extreme act of bravery and commitment to put on a queer film festival in many parts of the world, where the cultural politics of film festivals play out in ugly and often violent manifestations of hatred and ignorance. Homophobia is rampant the world over, but in countries
Continue readingArt Threat: In Afghanistan you risk your life to sing – The ROM displays photos by Larry Towell, Donovan Wylie and "Afghan Star"
Those interested in the reality of Afghanistan and located in Toronto can take in the photographic works of Larry Towell and Donovan Wylie at the ROM along with a showing of the film “Afghan Star” this Wednesday, June 20 at 7:00pm. The photographic works tell the story of the troubling
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: The Meaning of Prometheus
The message of Prometheus, the film and the myth, is that the new succeeds at the cost of the old. (This contains spoilers) This message is alluded to in the first scene where on a barren Earth an Engineer after taking an unknown substance dies and decays into the water
Continue readingArt Threat: Quebec’s red square hits Cannes’ red carpet
The team behind 'Laurence Anyways' attends the film's premiere in Cannes, France. (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images.) Although Québécois filmmaker and actor Xavier Dolan may be across the Atlantic at the Cannes Film Festival, the government crackdown on civil liberties taking place in his home province doesn’t seem to be out of
Continue readingArt Threat: Ghosts with Shit Jobs – Is this $4,000 “lo-fi sci-fi” the future of Canadian Filmmaking?
It is the year 2040. China is the world’s dominant economic power, while North America’s decline has forced most of its citizens into degrading and menial jobs. In Toronto, two “silk-gatherers” collect and sell “spiz,” the remnants of secretions from giant arachnoids. Other jobs of the future include “digital janitor,”
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: No Iron Lady, But the Lady is a True Orchid of Steel
Aung San Suu Kyi appears in public after her release on November 14, 2010 Coming out in the heels of Aung San Suu Kyi recent electoral breakthrough of her National League for Democracy, The Lady, an epic feature film directed by Luc Besson, about the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San
Continue readingArt Threat: That’s a wrap? – Killing Saskatchewan’s film tax credit is economic nonsense
The cast from InSecurity. The TV show will no longer be produced in Saskatchewan. With the announcement of the axing of the Saskatchewan Film Employment Tax Credit, we are effectively telling the rest of the film-producing world that Saskatchewan is closed for business. It’s a commonly known fact that film
Continue readingArt Threat: Montreal First Peoples Festival call for submissions – Submission deadline extended to April 13
The 22nd Montreal First Peoples Festival has extended its entry deadline to Friday the 13th of April 2012. The Festival is looking for audiovisual works for this years’ showcase, taking place July 31st to August 8th. As always, the showcase features works by native directors and films by non-native directors
Continue readingArt Threat: Emotionally devastating documentary explores Israeli bombing of Gaza – Friday Film Pick: Tears of Gaza
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed or wounded in Israel’s latest bombing campaign of Gaza, while the Israeli military stubbornly insists the child-killing attacks are necessary to stop “terrorism”. Such bloody assaults on Gaza are unfortunately common, and those that took place over 2008-2009 may have been the most devastating.
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: My two favourite David Lean edits
I know, regular readers of The Skwib will be thinking: “what hell? This no funny!” (With the proper grammar, of course.) But with this new look, I’m also branching out with the blog. I’d like it to take in things … Continue reading →
Continue readinggay persons of character: Video: It Kinda Scares Me
Here is a recently released scene from It Kinda Scares Me, a 2001 documentary about a gay drama coach and the troubled boys he teaches. From my favorite documentary filmmaker, Tomer Heymann (known more recently for his works I Shot My Love and The Que…
Continue readinggay persons of character: Video: It Kinda Scares Me
Here is a recently released scene from It Kinda Scares Me, a 2001 documentary about a gay drama coach and the troubled boys he teaches. From my favorite documentary filmmaker, Tomer Heymann (known more recently for his works I Shot My Love and The Queen Has No Crown), It Kinda
Continue readinggay persons of character: Video: It Kinda Scares Me
Here is a recently released scene from It Kinda Scares Me, a 2001 documentary about a gay drama coach and the troubled boys he teaches. From my favorite documentary filmmaker, Tomer Heymann (known more recently for his works I Shot My Love and The Queen Has No Crown), It Kinda
Continue readingFrom Orangutan: Dear Laura Coppens and Angelika Levi,
Anak-Anak Srikandi/ Children of Srikandi Official Trailer from Srikandi Films on Vimeo. It is admirable that your film, Children of Srikandi, is the first to address the lives of queer women in Indonesia. You are creative and pioneering.
Continue readingArt Threat: WikiLeaks dump reveals Dow Chemical spies read Art Threat
Today WikiLeaks began releasing a collection of emails obtained from the servers of Stratfor, an American private espionage firm with a client list that boasts such warm and fuzzy companies as Dow Chemical, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and the US Department of Homeland Security. According to WikiLeaks, “the emails
Continue readingArt Threat: Groucho Marx: What this country needs
This is an excerpt from Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales: Selected Writings of Groucho Marx, edited by Robert S. Bader. During the 1940s Groucho would often write about topics related to World War II while remaining, for the most part, non-political. At home, however, most discussions
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