The Ghosts in Our Machine defends the animals on our screen
Over the last decade of programming political documentary for Cinema Politica I can say with confidence that there are two subjects that have always been decidedly divisive and caused the…
reviews
Bowling for Columbine turns ten
Editor’s note: Art Threat has launched a cultural archaeological project that involves digging up previously published but now inaccessible film reviews and cultural musings from Montreal-based writer and teacher Matthew…
Midwest Book Review: The Fridgularity is “highly recommended”
Woo, great review news — the Midwest Book Review, which is one of the few well-respected review outfits used by librarians and archivists that still reviews independent and small press…
Weiwei-isms: the Coles Notes of an infamous Chinese dissident
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake shook through Wenchuan County in Sichuan province of the People’s Republic of China on May 12, 2008. Official figures listed 69,197 dead, including 5,335 children, mostly…
Blown Up: Gaming and War
Let’s face it: shooting stuff is fun – in video, that is; but it can also be ethically complicated. Gallery 101’s current exhibition Blown Up: Gaming and War, brings to…
London Triptych traces queer desire across the centuries
Owing in large part to Hollywood’s discovery of its infinite star vehicle potential, the “intersecting lives” narrative has become, in recent years, something of a cop out. When the A-story…
Art at War surveys creativity under Nazi occupation, from Picasso to Dubuffet
“History isn’t the lies of the victors … I know that now. It’s more the memories of the survivors, most of whom are neither victorious nor defeated.” – The Sense…
On efficacy and ideology: Zero Dark Thirty and the ethical justification of torture
“The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the ‘state of emergency’ in which we live is not the exception but the rule.” -Walter Benjamin Kathryn Bigelow’s film Zero Dark…
The obligatory Fridgularity review roundup post
Loved Duffbert’s take: “One of the most entertaining and funny books I’ve read this year.” Katy Sozeva has a rave review of the book at her blog, Now is Gone:…
This art is all about anger
The Anti-Capitalist Resistance Comic Book is the second graphic novel from activist Gord Hill. It is a chronicle of several anti-capitalist and anti-globalization movements over the last two decades, from…
The imagination, art, and activism of Herman’s House
Last week I attended the Toronto theatrical premiere of Herman’s House, a thought-provoking documentary written and directed by Angad Singh Bhalla. This Canadian film tells the story of an artistic…
Femininity, fantasy, and fever dreams – Book review: The Lava in My Bones by Barry Webster
In a delirious, hallucinogenic voice, author Barry Webster turns directly toward the place and experience of femininity in a queer life dominated by masculine desires.
Skyfall a great romp but a gender bust … not to mention the faint aroma of homophobia
The thing is, I like these films -- for the gorgeous cityscapes of great metropolises (London, Beijing and Macau), for the eerie and yet fascinatingly glimpses into the slick and…
Film Review: Transfer
Like all good science fiction, Transfer takes one technological change and hypothesizes what that would mean for society. And it does so very well. The new technology is a process…
She Has a Name leaves you breathless – Play on human trafficking touches without playing the guilt card
Three white cloaked figures move in and out of the set, whispering layers of thought from behind the scared eyes of Number 18 – a 15 year old prostitute being…
Invocation of the Queer Spirits – Book review: Queer Spirits by AA Bronson and Peter Hobbs
Invocation of the Queer Spirits (Governor’s Island) – AA Bronson There is always a certain magic to be found in the moment of queering. As bodies are opened to unsanctioned…
Is it worth it?
Sometimes writing seems like a lonely, pointless, and possibly self-destructive activity. I mean, I COULD be doing other things with my time. Then you get a review like this, and…
A bloody funny book, plus giveaways
First off, I’ve got to mention this glowing review of Marvellous Hairy on Goodreads: My God this was a bloody funny book, a funny book with a potentially insanely important…
7th Berlin Binennale highlights political art – Curator Artus Zmijewski creates exhibition of activist art
When you go to the website for Berlin’s 7th Binennale, you encounter a stream of changing photographs from occupy and protest movements from around the world — Venezia, Toronto, Florence,…
Data.gc.ca – Data Sets I found that are interesting, and some suggestions
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the Canadian federal government’s open data portal. Over the past year government officials have been continuously adding to the portal, but as it…