Shin Godzilla: the reboot
I’m almost embarrassed to admit that, of all the Godzilla films I’ve watched, I can recall the exact details of few. I cannot remember, just by looking at the title,…
Culture
War for the Planet of the Apes considered
Pierre Boulle never imagined War for the Planet of the Apes, the latest film in the remade franchise. In fact, it would be fair to say the author of the…
Gojira, the original kaiju
At the end of most Godzilla films, the audience is led to believe the giant reptile has finally been killed off. Blown up, defeated by another monster, killed by technology,…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Rick Salutin writes that Ontario’s provincial election shows that nobody is prepared to defend neoliberal ideas on their merits – which should provide…
Guillermo, monsters and me
Tucked away at the bottom of a tall display case in the ‘At Home With Monsters’ exhibit at the AGO is a small collection of seven old, well-thumbed books, all…
The Vietnam War, Episodes 9 and 10
As we cross the finish line of The Vietnam War marathon, I want to offer some thoughts about the documentary as a whole. First, despite all the Vietnamese voices it…
Kong and his films
Kong: Skull Island is the 19th movie in my collection about apes.* Or at least ape-ish creatures (not including those about cave people or yetis). We watched the recently-released Kong: Skull…
Legends of Horror
Legends of Horror is the title of one multi-DVD collections of films I own. Fifty films in this package. They’re B-films for the most part (and a few of lesser…
Germany’s Transition Away From Coal Helped Jobs and Culture
For years Germany’s transition from coal to sustainable energy has impacted communities. Many feared that jobs would be lost during this transition so plans were put in place to help…
The Dude, the Tao and the Dharma
I suppose it all began with Benjamin Hoff. Hoff was one of the first contemporary writers to attempt to distill Taoism in a lighthearted form for Westerners when he wrote…
The Plight of the Millennials
Further explanation here. First, a bit about statistical norms and the normal distribution. In social sciences, for something to be considered a statistically significant characteristic of a group, it just…
‘Detroit’ Is The Most Irresponsible and Dangerous Movie Of The Year
Image courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer The church was packed. “Watch accurate justice administered by citizens of the community,” a flier announced. “Review and watch the evidence for yourself.” Nearly two thousand…
Mayweather vs McGregor: a Roman Spectacle of Greed and Vulgarity
We knew it was going to be vulgar. What we did not anticipate was that it would be ‘this’ vulgar. The opening press conference of a scheduled four city tour…
When feminism’s wonders aren’t for all women
Image distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures The new Wonder Woman film has evoked fulsome acclamations from many American and British women writers: “Wonder Woman is a masterpiece of subversive feminism,”…
Hallelujah
This was going to be a Ms-Soapbox-is-stampeding-see-you-next-week-blog…then she remembered something. Ms Soapbox’s sister and brother-in-law popped into town just in time for the Calgary Stampede. We did the fair grounds,…
Cultural appropriation is the new gluten free
Like food fads, political fads wax and wane as the gnat-like attention span of their followers gets diverted by the Next Big Thing. Political Correctness has of late given birth…
Acting Your Age
Here’s the thing. We live in a society that values youth over experience, wisdom, ability and knowledge. I’m not sure why we do that, but children are more valuable to…
Walking Dead abandons progressive potential of horror
Image by AMC Networks Inc. The Walking Dead, the surprise hit for AMC when it premiered, has just concluded its seventh season. As a long-time horror fan, I was excited…
As Elvis leaves the building, so do we all
No one gets out of here alive. We all die. And with us go into the dustbin the dreams, the values, the ideals, the culture we grew up with, we…
Book collecting: snobbery or reading passion?
The book has always been a sign of status and refinement; a declaration of self-worth – even for those who hate to read. That’s the lead into a recent piece…