This site is updated Thursday at noon with a new article about an artistic pursuit generally considered to be beneath consideration. James Schellenberg probes science-fiction, Carol Borden draws out the best in comics, Chris Szego dallies with romance, and Ian Driscoll stares deeply into the screen.
While the writers have considerable enthusiasm for their subjects, they don't let it numb their critical faculties. Tossing away the shield of journalistic objectivity and refusing the shovel of fannish boosterism, they write in the hopes of starting honest and intelligent discussions about these oft-enjoyed but rarely examined artforms. Click here for the writer's bios and their individual takes on the gutter.
Recent Features
A DROWNING MAN
Tomorrow (November 7, if I post this on time), Toronto’s Trash Palace is showing a print of Frank Perry’s The Swimmer. If you’re in the city, do yourself a favour: go see it. If you’re elsewhere (I understand the internets now extend beyond the GTA), do yourself a favour: go rent it.
Most writers get into the Romance genre because they read it, and they read it because they love it. Each writer is drawn to the genre for different reasons, of course. Whether the concentration on character; the focus on primary relationships; or the essence of the triumph of hope, the many appeals of the happy ending hook writers the same way they hook readers. Elizabeth Lowell, on the other hand, got into it for the money.
Strange things happen to the Armitages on Mondays. Sometimes there's a unicorn in the garden, sometimes there are 100. Harriet and Mark, sister and brother, are used to the ghosts, the dragons, the Furies, and so on. Life in their small village, and wacky relatives who come to visit? Much harder to take.
Joan Aiken wrote Armitage Family stories her whole life, and they are a treat.
Twitch has 5 minutes of Cloverfield, the kaiju in New York movie that seems more like The Host than any monster movie featuring Minilla. There's a plug in that one. And they have a trailer for the much sillier My Name Is Bruce, a movie where fans convince Bruce Campbell to fight an Ancient Evil because he's, well, Bruce Campbell.
oh, hai! Jay Dixit ponders the humanity in lolcats (and talks to The New Yorker's cartoons editor about them):
"By articulating profound feelings through cats and marine mammals
speaking garbled English, we're able to shroud genuine emotions in
pseudo-irony -- which means those animals can evoke deeper emotions
without fear of mockery or cheapness."
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The Artful Gamer ponders interactivity, engagement and narrative in videogames: "Instead of beating our collective heads against the wall as we try to
design games that let players live out their wildest desires, we should
be developing worlds that encourage players to explore them as living,
breathing, places."
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Before there were Hong Kong movies, there were Shanghai movies. 1929's Red Heroine is the only surviving silent kung fu feature from Shanghai's golden age. The Devil's Music Ensemble provides live accompaniment. Hopefully, they'll tour. Wise Kwai has more information and a trailer.
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View all Notes here. Seen something shiny? Gutter-talk worth hearing? Let us know!
Strange things happen to the Armitages on Mondays. Sometimes there's a unicorn in the garden, sometimes there are 100. Harriet and Mark, sister and brother, are used to the ghosts, the dragons, the Furies, and so on. Life in their small village, and wacky relatives who come to visit? Much harder to take.