Madagascar 3 and What DreamWorks Animation has Become

Well, this has been a rather good year for animation with most of the major feature animation houses having chart topping big hits, while even the acclaimed anime import, The Secret World of Arrietty, had the best North American box office performance in the history of Studio Ghibli (producers of the Oscar winning Spirited Away).

 For all that success, I saw Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted again and I am reminded of why DreamWorks Animation is the studio to watch in this golden age. This series began in 2005 as a rather craven attempt to undercut Disney's film, The Wild, about urbanized wild animals thrown into the wilderness for real, much like how Antz was produced to head off Pixar's A Bug's Life.

However, this film series grew with each film to become something more as the Zoo animals struggle to survive and get home, regardless of the fact that they are stumbling about, never knowing what they are doing. In doing so, this third film comes to a glorious payoff as the Zoo animals desperately join Circus Zarcosa in Europe. In a lesser film, you would expect the film would keep to the formula with Alex the Lion and his friends bringing disaster to the circus as complete amateurs the moment they stepped on the circus train. For a while, the film strings you along even as they become the circus' owners with veiled threats from the residents if Alex and company ruin their business.

Instead, you will see that the circus animals are all a bunch of bumbling incompetents themselves who have lost all confidence in themselves while Alex's gang proves to be the answer.  As the Zoo animals find a way to help the circus rebuild, there is a joyous feeling of growing love, whether it being simple friendship with Marty the Zebra and Stefano the Sea Lion or full romance with Alex and Gia the Jaguar, as all involved find their ways to become more than anyone thought they were.

This all comes to a head at the critical performance in London, when they have their one chance to impress an American promoter.  Disaster threatens when Vitaly the Tiger is found packing to leave, only to be inspired by Alex, the one for whom he had been most hostile, to give his impossible ring jumping act one last chance.  When that succeeds perfectly, that proves to be just the opening act for an astounding grand performance that you would expect would end in a humiliating catastrophe.  Yet, it doesn't.

Instead, it becomes a mindblower of a circus show that would make the owners of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus watch in awe.  Set to Katy Perry's song, "Firework," your heart will soar as the animals pull off the impossible as you realize that for the first time Alex and the gang are succeeding at their own initiative as free creatures who have made their own place in the world.  It goes even deeper as you see Alex and Gia fly and dive about with such loving trust in each other as they each subconsciously realize what they have been missing.  Furthermore, as much as I applaud my favourite theatre's plans to drop their 3D projectors, I am reminded of why DreamWorks has made the best use of it, making it a legitimate enhancement to their films, and not merely a gimmick as the circus show becomes such an immerse joy to experience.

That cinematic beauty and the powerful drama that follows show what DreamWorks has become: a film company that has many a cinematic mistake in its past, but has learned from them to become a producer of such cinematic excellence that Pixar used to have all to itself. As that rival enters a regrettable lesser period, give me a company like DA that never had that rarefied aura and allowed their mistakes to become building blocks for something better.

Pictures at a Revolution: a personal book review

Of all the books about film I have read, or more precisely listened to in audiobook, there is one that I keep returning to, Pictures at a Revolution: Five Films and the Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris

This book is an endlessly fascinating history about one of the most tumultuous periods of Hollywood in the mid 1960s.  In that time, the American film industry underwent a dramatic transition as the old guard of Hollywood found its hegemony challenged by a new generation of filmmakers with a new sensibility to the art even as the veterans tried and true ways proved to be neither anymore. In that time, the 1967 Picture Oscar Nominees proved to be a microcosm of this conflict like the roguish French influenced Bonnie and Clyde, the youth oriented iconoclastic satire of The Graduate faced off against the stogy Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and the mainstream artistic and box office fiasco Doctor Dolittle while the searing detective drama, In the Heat of the Night found itself as much in the middle of this divide as its Black star, Sidney Poitier.

Along the way, you will enjoy bracing sidestories like the fall of Hollywood's production code as its censors found themselves out of touch and out of time in a world and how television finally changed from a simple threat to the film medium into a valuable tool that helped make new cinematic visions possible. On a larger scale, there is the competing influences of film as the French New Wave influenced the young turks like Warren Beatty, Arthur Penn and Mike Nichols to take a more personal and less inhibited approach to film.  Meanwhile, the mainstream studio establishment misread the brief fad for big budget musicals like My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins to set themselves up for a disastrous box office reckoning that would break the back of their power even while United Artists showed the way forward with a new looser business model that made the new media mainstays like the James Bond series possible.

Finally, there are the lives of the actors of this time they had to ride this storm with their own ways in enthralling stories.  There is Rex Harrison, a veteran actor who tried to take advantage of his mainstream break-out and squandered it as a drunken hateful prima donna on Doctor Dolittle, a film whose botched creation is more comically entertaining than the movie itself.. Against that, you have the struggles of Dustin Hoffman, a Jewish actor of the highest artistic ideals who found himself hitting the big time in the way he least expected, and opened up what was possible for actors of various ethnicities.  However, you will also see the slightly sad story of Sidney Poitier, a breakthrough Black film star who paid the price of too many of his employer's prejudices and the strictures of his own ideals and frustrations as the burden of being both a pioneer and a token began to sink his career.

Finally, this book is a enticing callback to an entirely different time of being a film fan decades before home video when filmgoing could be a enriching social occasion of ideas for the discriminating fan while seeing vintage stuff was a rare treat that required connections and the determination to make that possible.

In short, this film will give you a new appreciation of mainstream film in a time when Hollywood began to realize its old ways were self-destructing, but saw a future where newcomers could make it so much more.

A Woman's project and it's Dramatic Online Justification

I was just listening to a fascinating interview on CBC Radio One's The Current with a media critic blogger, Anita Sarkeesian and the harassment she encountered online by misogynistic gamers when she announced she was preparing and fundraising for a new video about the depiction of women in video games. The interview will be available on show's website either later today, or tomorrow if you are  interested.


I have not personally directly seen the specific examples of the harassment as of yet, but what I have heard makes me embarrassed to be a man who likes video games. I will be the first to admit that the imagery can get really consistent, although I think the sexism was worse in some regards in the earlier decades; for instance, the standard damsel in distress cliche was in full force as the sole preserve in many video games like Donkey Kong in the 1980s.  After the Street Fighter series with its various playable female characters and the Tomb Raider one going, at least there were active female figures who don't need any man's help, even if they are all idealized as super models.

Furthermore, a major reason why sexuality was relatively downplayed  back then was because the graphics were not refined enough for a home system to make anything sexy in the games with any believability.  If you want, just take a look at this video of the notorious game, Custer's Revenge, to see how pathetic porn on the Atari 2600 could be.

For myself, I like playing games when operating a pretty girl in it is an option and I think sexuality has a legitimate place in video game when handled with creativity and grace, but the overbalance of sexual content pertaining to women is not wrong either.  Alas, addition is always more difficult than subtraction and so balancing the scales with more gender equitable material is going to be a challenge for some time.  However, proper decorum is not much to ask either and the idiotic bigots have no excuse themselves.


At least there is some satisfaction that the attention from this ill treatment probably helped Sarkeesian exceed her Kickstarter goal of $6000 by 2,648% to raise $158,922 and raised her profile.  I intend to read her blog as regularly as any other and I look forward to reading her observations.

The Early Summer Bittersweetness of Being

It's the beginning of the summer and my spirits are a bit higher than usual.

Anthony Pyor has finally responded to me after 10 years and seems to have gotten over what grievance he has with me. While it would be too much wishful thinking to hope that I can could chat with him like before, at least he's restarted his Wulf stories and I can enjoy some more of the fantasy erotic adventure you'll ever going to find online. It's at  and while it's definitely not to every taste, it is still a fun series of sexy stories with good humour and wild adventure that deserves a look for anyone who wants to learn how good original online erotic fiction can get.

Furthermore, this is the first week on CBC Radio One's summer schedule and that means a whole new batch of facsinating summer shows like Babel about language usage in Canada, The Invisible Hand about economics for the ordinary person, Metamorphosis: a biography version of the Late Show without the dying part, Fear Itself about the aspects and of course the international radio documentary showcase, Global Perspectives with this year's theme being "Old School, New School." For all, I know, this could be the last summer for such great shows, so I hope you might find them as interesting as I do.

Of mixed elements is that Obama's healthcare law survived the US Supreme Court and while he could have sold the whole thing much better and gone to Canadian style single payer coverage, this is still a feather in his cap to fight with for his re-election campaign. The bad news is that VIA is cutting back on passenger service, even in the busy Quebec-Ontario corridor, but at least I can still use it comfortably enough to still get to  Brantford for my parents or Toronto for whatever.  That frustrating part is that other nations are building up their passenger rail service like China and Europe and we are giving up on ours even when it makes so much economic and environmental sense to use the trains more with them being largely faster and energy efficient.


On the movie front, the upcoming movie, Ted, has a fresh status and a favourable critical consensus statement on Rotten Tomatoes and I couldn't be happier in that regard.  Unlike a dumb mashup premise like Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Killer, Ted feels more natural as a creative film fantasy concept that actually asks a really good story question: what would childhood magic be like if it continued straight into adulthood?  The fact the teddy bear being alive is no secret gives the whole story a fun new element that gives its coming of age theme that much more punch.  Just check out this trailer for an inspired if rather proudly rude film

While Magic Mike is looking promising, Ted will be the first film I want to see while Amazing Spider-Man looks like it has justified the character's movie reboot with style and intelligence this Monday at Rainbow at 8:00.

All in all, these are just small developments, but the positive one are interesting enough for this time of year.

A Brave girl film with an prejudiced burden DreamWork's heroines don't have.

I saw Brave last week and while it is not not one of Pixar's better efforts compared to their daring and beautiful films like Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up!, it's a decent effort with a special twist for an adventure film.

However, the opening act is basically a standard "You Go Girl" plot where an athletic girl defies her society gender role constrictions to beat the pants off anyone who dares to push her around. If there is one thing that Pixar used to be known for doing, its to take the less travel road for stories and create fresher plots that challenge what stories American animation and film could tell.

However, the film quickly redeems itself when the lead character makes a terrible mistake to get her way with her mother, forcing them to go on an quest together to undo it and learn to understand each other along the way. That is writing more worthy of Pixar; the dynamics of a mother-daughter relationship in a classic fantasy adventure story is, for better or for worse for Western culture, fresh story material. From then on, the story has considerably more charm and thrills for a meaning story.

However, my new top tier movie blogger, Scott Mendelson, is on the money that this film is rife with weaknesses.  For instance, the older Disney animated feature, Mulan, handled the matter of gender roles with much more nuance to the point where it doesn't need to be so blatant as Brave's two competing monologues of mother and daughter. Instead, the title character takes action for a purpose that seems to be a familial purpose, but has also shows a subconscious need to be more.  Maybe Mulan has to deal with the usual Disney elements of its time like obtrusive comic relief like Eddie Murphy's Mushu and musical numbers, but that girl's actions carry the film in a way that feels thematically whole and credible.

Furthermore, that fact that Pixar has to resort to making Merida in Brave a princess is a lamentable surrender to one of the oldest role stereotypes for animated fantasy films.  Again, Mulan didn't need to be one in her story, even if she is now lumped into the rest of the Disney Princesses marketing campaign. We know Pixar has the talent to create something more, but they didn't and so, the company's artistic spirit is compromised yet again.  As noted, the blow is not fatal with the film's second half redeeming a lot, but this company is supposed to be better than that.

Finally, Mendelson noted that there is a repellent sexist cowardice with too many film pundits about the market potential of a girl centered adventure story with the boy audience. As he notes, there was no such fuss with Mulan's box office potential 16 years ago in 1998 and you'd think the spectacular success of this year's The Hunger Games with Katniss' adventures in the story would prove the point.  Heck, I remember when I was 8 years and I lived to watch the Wonder Woman TV series in the late 1970s and that was when the idea of active female action heroes was still a relative novelty to a degree. Why is it that people are reverting to the most mealy minded prejudiced idiocy in each medium?  The basic truth is that you have a female character in a well written and produced action film/TV show and boys will jump at it, especially older ones who could enjoy watching a pretty girl kick butt on top of the action.

This is another reason why my favour is to DreamWorks Animation now.  For one thing, the original director for Brave, Brenda Chapman, was fired midway through production and replaced by a male director. As such, there at least some suspicion that this film proceeded in part because Pixar didn't want to make themselves a big PR target for killing a female centered project and the film suffered for it..  By contrast, DA treated Jennifer Yuh Nelson with more respect making Kung Fu Panda 2 and the company was rewarded with the #1 animated film worldwide and the biggest money making film directed by a woman.

Furthermore, DA has steered clear of the princess cliche, except in the Shrek series where it is sent up for all its comedic worth.  Otherwise, their finest full fantasy films haven't resorted to that stereotype: the Kung Fu Panda franchise has Tigress and Viper, fierce and self-confident martial arts warriors who are definitely not royalty and neither bow to any male or need to give a speech about their need to live their own dreams. Likewise, How To Train Your Dragon has Astrid Hofferson and Tuffnut, equally mighty young warrior proteges who are ordinary viking girls who live a feminist empowerment dream in a story world that believably gives them a place.  Heck, Monsters Vs. Aliens has been described as the most successful superhero movie with a female lead with Susan, an ordinary modern woman turned heroic giant who learns to love her strange new life with fire and inner strength.

Take all that together, and you will know what DA understands and Pixar doesn't.  Now, let's see if Warner Brothers will too as they consider finally giving Wonder Woman a chance to shine on the big screen with as her brothers (Superman and Batman) in the DC Universe.

The Fall of Pixar and the Unsung Rise of DreamWorks

Like most animation fans, I had a great respect and admiration for Pixar Animation Studios at least as far back as their first feature film, Toy Story, in 1995. For 15 years, they had an almost unblemished record of artistic excellence other film studios would sell their soul for.

This especially with the period of 2007 to 2010 when they took marvelous artistic gambles with such seemingly unlikely story material like a culinary talented rat in Ratatouille, a largely silent post-apocalyptic robot love story in Wall-E, a high flying adventure with a geriatric hero in Up! and a grand conclusion to Woody and friends' adventures in Toy Story 3. Each time, they dared and hit the bullseye perfectly each time.

For all that success, Pixar paid the price for that track record and arrogantly betrayed its artistic principles in 2011 making that sorry dreck called Cars 2. As such, they underperformed in the box office for the first time in over a decade and AMPAS gave it the Oscar snub it deserved. John Lasseter can deny it all he wants, but the sole reason for sequelizing their weakest film can only be for the $5 Billion in toy car merchandise from the first film. I don't care if that film is really popular with children, Pixar is a company that was supposed to be better than that, but they threw away a film standard of excellence matched only Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) in Japan for mere money.

Now, their reputation is indelibly tarnished and their newest film, Brave, which could have been welcomed as an experiment in a new direction, now can only look like an attempt to return to their previous standard.  Given the fact that film is rating only 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is shockingly low for Pixar, it appears their self-inflicted wounds are not healing for some time.

That's why I am as annoyed as Scott Mendelson when he reads how people complain Brave is as bad as DreamWorks Animation. As Mendelson notes, DA may not have gotten all the kudos Pixar has, but it has grown to become a real artistic competitor with a largely steady determination to become far more than what they began as since 2008.  Although their work has been more inconsistent over the years, it still has become a company that has been working hard to become better with brilliant films like the Kung Fu Panda series and How to Train Your Dragon.

Heck, their Madagascar series is a shining example of the studio's maturity.  Yes, the first film was a rushed attempt to head off Disney's The Wild, and its Tomatoscore of 55% is deserved, but the series has steadily improved with the second film's 64% and the current one with 75% as it found its own voice and heart.

Unlike Pixar, DreamWorks Animation has never had the opportunity to rest on their laurels even after it won the first Animated Feature Oscar in 2002. As an independent company, each feature has to be a hit or they are sunk.  However, for this struggle, DA has learned from its mistakes and has grown into a fine company that is still trying for be more than merely Jeffery Katzenberg's grudge work against Disney.  While they did sink into a nadir with 2007 with some bad film and alienating Aardman Animations (Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit), they ultimately dug themselves out with superb films any studio would be proud of.

The end result is that while I look forward to seeing Brave and the rest of Pixar's future projects, DreamWorks Animation is the company I root for as I eagerly await for Po and Hiccup's new adventures from a company that has earned more respect than too few people seem to recognize.

The Late Spring Political Follies.

Whether we wanted it or not, this is turning out to be a busy time in Canadian politics, both on the provincial and federal levels.

We have Harper's Omnibus budget bill passing and the country will be experiencing its fiscal vandalism in short order, especially with the elements that were less obvious like killing the Fair Wages Law and the gutting of environmental research budgets, which are likely breaking the law for keeping them so quiet..  This going far beyond cost cutting to a level of injustice guided by blind ideology we're going to have to endure for years.

On the provincial level, we have this relatively petty political stare down with the Liberals and the NDP that could result in a unwanted snap summer general election that is not likely to change anything significantly, or worse put Hudak and his Harrisites in the driver's seat.  Considering they are still clinging to moronic policies like privatizing our public electric system, they are still as much a danger to this province as under Harris. At least I know the upcoming by-election will be a real scrap now with a Liberal majority government being the prize.

At least my party leader, Thomas Mulcair, is proving himself to some real bite on the political scene.  He's able to get real support about his warnings about Canada's dutch disease and he's got the NDP in a polling tie with the Tories.  However, with Justin Trudeau mulling over running for the federal Liberal leadership, there will be a divided opposition that may regretfully require a political merger after all.  As much as that would be the death of Tommy Douglas' dream, the soul of the nation is in the balance and difficult choices may need to be made short of getting proportional representation by some miracle.

Oh well, less than a week to go and likely on to the silly season.

A Mother's Visit

Finally a belated family duty done yesterday as my mother came to call to take care of her Birthday/Mother's Day gift.

On the whole, it was a very good day with a stop at Gift of Art (One of the best independent downtown stores in London) for gifts for a friend and Father's Day and having a nice lunch at the Central Library's Little Red Roaster.  If my power cord didn't malfunction for my netbook and any of the public wi-fi links were strong or stable enough, it could have a completely good time at that particular moment in all respects.

However, the best part was taking her to see The Avengers movie on its last day at Rainbow Cinema. My mother usually has to be all but pushed to see fantasy and action films.  Really, she came of age of big films like the James Bond series, The Dirty Dozen and Sam Peckinpah's stuff like The Wild Bunch and movie action still throws her? Interestingly enough, full fantasy world films like The Lord of the Rings seem beyond her, but superhero films, with its fantasy elements placed in a contemporary world setting, feel reachable to her.

Regardless, it was fun explaining the various elements of the Marvel Universe in the film to her.  I loved having to comment to her like when Loki makes an appearance in Germany with great lines like "Remember, he's the God of Mischief and he's out to make some right now" or explaining why the Hulk could not lift Thor's hammer in the helicarrier fight or the happy fellow during the end credits. She did say it made the film much more understandable to her, which means that a trivia track on the home video releases in September is called for her if her reaction is typical.

All in all, it was a better day than I had hoped.

A friend's online literary return, but so far, also his silence.

I just learned from a good friend (On my end anyway), Anthony Pryor, that has brought back his excellent Wulf Archives stories back officially. 

These are the best erotic online sword and sorcery fantasy stories you are ever going to read.  He started them in the early 1990s to prove to the readers of the infamous alt.sex.stories newsgroup that it is possible to have sexual explicit stories that written well with engaging plots and characters.

If you read these, you'll know he made his point beautifully with enthralling tales that went beyond simply the sex to embrace something much larger.  If you need proof, read "Heart of the Lion" and you'll first enjoy a thrilling war story that begins with what would have happened in the Anglo-Zulu War if the sides had roughly equal military resources and firepower on a fantasy context.  More importantly, you'll grow to like the lead character and what happens next becomes that much more bracing an experience.

That being said, I used to treasure talking to him, but I'm afraid during a visit at his home in Portland in 2002, I'm afraid I must have annoyed him seriously, because afterward, he stopped communicating with me. I never even heard a reason for his problem with me, leaving any idea to my specific misdeed as a glorified guess. 

That really stung and I can't seem to make things right.  Even this notice he sent seems more like an accident with a mass mailing on an email list he couldn't be bothered to specifically edit out his invitation to communicate concerning me.  I just sent an apologetic reply written as well as possible last night. I have received no reply yet, which suggests that the ice age between us is continuing.

I must say this is a painful thing and all I can hope is that he's simply responder right now and other matters of wishful thinking.

It's funny how people can come to the wrong conclusions when they learn about bizarre and large scale crimes.  It's apparently in human nature to focus on the unusual kinds of misfortunes that draw your attention and reflexively.

To be sure, Luke Magotta deserves to be called "The Canadian Psycho" for his brazen and grotesque crimes and the idea that a crook like Christopher Husbands could be allowed to escape house arrest to shoot up the Eaton Center food court is a damning failure of our justice system. However, people killed in auto accidents and kitchen mishaps each year than criminal attacks and there is no panic about them.

It seems like there are too many people and institutions who have a warped sense of moral priorities.  Leaving aside certain governments for now as too obvious examples, there is the Vatican whining about the "harm" a book about a nun's personal thoughts about sex. The fact that church persistently covered up child molestation by their priests for generations means that that organization has no right to dictate sexual morality to anyone.

All a matter of perspective I guess.

London Knights: near-miss champions and real winners for London

For the most part, I agree with Noam Chomsky about how sports is largely a bunch of irrelevant trivia designed to distract people from more important things. 

However, like how Chomsky does occasionally take in a baseball game, I do make an exception with the London Knights, but not for the usual reasons.  Ever since they moved their games from the London Ice House Arena to the John Labatt Centre, that team became part of the heart of London, Ontario and a economic boost to the area it sorely needs. So, that's a good enough reason for me to pay some attention; their success is part of what the London Downtown Core needs to survive and prosper.

That's what really annoys me about any negative tone to the stories of the Knights returning to London after losing the Memorial Cup Tournament final in Shawinigan like Metro's headline " Knights begin healing process following devastating defeat."

The team lost by the most honourable of situations, 2 to 1 in overtime. That means that the Knights made the Shawinigan Cataractes fight for every opportunity to score and they won by the barest margins in sudden death overtime. While it is still a loss, it is still a fine showing for a team that surpassed all expectations this season to at least become OHL Champions for only the second time in its history.

So the team definitely deserve the warm welcome and the parade yesterday, they have much to be proud of with a goal to do even better next year.  After all, the fans are happy and Downtown London will benefit with the next season.

As for me, the next really big thing at the JLC will be the How to Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular and I'll be weighing how much I really want to see a visually impressive, but really expensive live giant puppet show.

A Change of Blogging Focus

I've been having trouble thinking up things to write about this blog and it seems my rigidity about it is proving part of the problem. 

Namely, my pattern of writing about politics on Tuesdays and generally what I like on Thursdays is getting in the way.  It's inhibiting my writing by pigeonholing my habits into a pattern that I don't feel comfortable and making it more a chore and that's certain to kill this blog again.

There's also the matter that I get really depressed with Harper's antics and I'd rather not dwell on them. As it is I'm already a member of both the  Federal and Provincial NDP and support the Council of Canadians, The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, Fair Vote Canada and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.  Besides, with the number of people who read visit this thing, simply posting particular news stories I like on Facebook is a much more efficient way of sharing them. 

So, I'm changing my style and following the example of Mark Evanier's blog and just confine myself to more concise statements concerning politics before presenting links to writers more experienced and adept to say something really insightful whether it be Gwynne Dyer or the staff of The Toronto Star. Instead, I'll be focusing more on writing things that are actually enjoyable to write about like film, animation and comics.

I guess it's just a matter of dropping some pretensions and relaxing a bit and maybe this blog will actually be fun for a change.

Thoughts of putting my pen where my mouth is.

Given my statement in my previous blog, sometimes I wonder if I should be challenged of by the idea of "Let's See YOU Do Better."


The fact is that I have a call center job that works most weekday evenings and the weekends. As such, I can't join any stage production without requesting a week's time off and given the job's vagaries, that is a luxury I simply can't afford.  The funny thing was I was invited to participate by the owner of the old Maverick's store, but I was in no mood to play an extra in yet another copy of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead.  Now, if that guy had the ambition to try his hand at something similar to Jeff Smith's Clerks, I would love to try my hand at that.


As for play writing, I have always been intimidated by the idea of writing dialogue.  I don't know how good writers can do it creating the words of people and make them sound human and real in some emotional sense. I can formulate plots and general characters to some degree, but I don't feel capable of pulling all the elements together for a real story.  


On other hand, I find George Lucas very inspirational for me as a narrative writer; if only that his dialogue, unassisted by Laurence Kasdan's rewrites, is so inept that I know I could do better. In fact, I've pondered how I could have rework Amidala and Anakin's dialogue in their final exchange in Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith so much, I might post my musings later as a exercise. To that end, Plotbot is a real help.


As it is, the closest I have gotten to fiction writing is the hundreds of plot summaries I have written for the Internet Movie Database (You can see my newer ones here if you wish), but I don't if I can match up to Jason Rip or Jayson McDonald in that kind of talent.


Still, my netbook bag has 2-3 books on writing along with the hardware and I may just get the gumption to finally try to something more consistently worthwhile with my writing.

 

A statement of critical purpose.

I've heard there have been a few comments about my theatrical reviewing style and I thought I'd like to give what you could call a statement of purpose.

First, I have always endeavoured to be frank and fair in my reviews, whether or not the companies have been soon generous to provide comp tickets, where I attempt to explain my opinions with hopefully a comprehensive amount of detail.  If it seems I'm resting my eyes at times as I focus on the dialogue or seem fidgety in the audience during performances, that is why I prefer to be seated in the back rows of live performances where I can relax without being obtrusive or disruptive by some definitions to the best of my ability.

Second, I have always tried to gear my expectations and criticisms accordingly to the type of performance offered.  For one thing, I steer clear of reviewing children's performances and shows put on by most educational based organizations like Original Kids. Taking my cue from OK's management's request I have understood that reviews of individual performances would be counterproductive since singling out performances would be harmful for higher purpose of the show.

To a lesser degree, I try to give some consideration for amateur productions like the London Community Players shows, since the expectations for professionalism should taken with the some degree of understanding.  However, the players are adults and I feel I can speak my mind to a reasonable degree.

However, I am given to understand most of the shows performed at other venues like The Arts Project and the McManus Theatre are put on by local companies that are semi-professional in nature like Passionfool and Theatre Soup. To me, that makes them fair game for me to comment about their quality as I see fit as much as the full professional productions.

For instance, I understand one actor whose performance was I wholly dissatisfied recently with is a card carrying member of Canadian Equity, or some similar professional actors organization. If that is correct, then my commentary should be expected as part of the territory.  If anything, as much I have rarely been satisfied with that particular company's more recent productions, I was truly impressed by the quality of their latest show that it is all the more disappointing that such an apparent pillar of the local theatrical scene did not live up to the high standard displayed.

I have tried to be part of this artist community in the only way I think I can at present.  I have tried to be fair and insightful, but you have a comment with my methods and opinions, more of you should contact to me directly instead of my publishers.  I have made my commentary public, and I don't think expecting the same consideration from more others is too much to ask.

Confessions of a Brony

The second season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is coming to a close and the hype of this extraordinary series is taking on a fever pitch with The Hub posting an advertisement for it in the New York Times' wedding notice section last Sunday. Furthermore, Tori Spelling was slated to host a public screening of the episode, although she took ill and Dancing with the Stars host Brooke Burke had to substitute.

Looking back, it's still hard to imagine this would be so significant to me a year ago, I tried seeing the first episode, but the cutesie opening exposition just turned me off.  However, seeing the sheer intensity of the unprecedented fandom from this show just became too strong and audacious to ignore. So, I decided to seriously see what the fuss was about

At first, the series seemed largely ordinary with an epic fantasy adventure story very much in the spirit of the franchise's first TV appearance in 1984, but with an odd wry humour puncturing the property's notorious overwrought earnestness.  However, the first hints of what the series would be truly appear in the title sequence that begins with the usual superficial lyricism and suddenly dives into a rock tune that makes it really clear that the show will be taking a different path.

 However, as you watch the series in proper order, the characters and the show's style will start inculcate the realization that there is something much more ambitious happening.  It does take awhile, but this show will manipulate your expectations and gleefully thwart them with increasing skill as you grow to understand Twilight Sparkle and her friends. It takes awhile, but the accumulated rapport through the first eight episodes will entangle you like growing vines.

Until episode 9, "Bridle Gossip," when it will suddenly grab you as the series suddenly and truly hits its stride. This episode finally works with the same kind of character based humour that made Jim Henson's Muppet Show become the enthralling demographic spanning TV masterpiece in the 1970s. Specifically, this story about prejudice only works when you know the characters and how the jokes play to their most fundamental natures. Moreover, your patience will be rewarded at the 3/4 mark when you are laughing hysterically as two characters take a silly hyperactive song repeated endlessly in the story and reluctantly have to improvise in the most bizarre circumstances. I could show you the clip, but like I said, it only really works when you are willing to know the characters well enough to understand the humour.

After that, you will be watching this series voraciously as that broken ice allows you to accept the show's deft charm and heart with an opened mind.  Furthermore, the wildly creative fandom will entrance you equally well, whether it the endless fan fiction creativity displayed at Equestria Daily or the tuneful filk songs of the Beatle Bronies.

If you need a better representation of my feelings, then click the latter gang's version of George Harrison's "Something" to truly hear articulate the way it should be:

This is not say the show is flawless; the second season suffers from the Hasbro Inc.'s mandated loose continuity that makes some episodes like "Sweet and Elite" make no sense since the high society treat the Mane Cast like hick nobodies after they have become the national heroes decorated by their sovereign while some characters like Rainbow Dash and her overbearing arrogance gets a bit grating.

But on the whole, the series is a delight that is sadly apparently coming to a close with only 13 episodes scheduled for next season to apparently reach the typical animated series episode cut off of 65. Regardless, what a gloriously relatively long strange trip it has been and I hope to enjoy the rest while there is still some distance to go.

Canadian Charter Birthday and Harper's Snub

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a major advance in Canadian human rights which enabled the expansion of women's reproductive freedom, gay rights and other boons.

That makes it no surprise that Harper and his cronies want to ignore the occasion as much as they can. What else do you expect from a government that is so petty partisan to sneer at such a historical landmark in part because it was Pierre Trudeau's pride and joy.  Of course, the fact that it is a guard against the abuses of parliament with a majority government from in theory doing nearly whatever it wants is a factor as well. Now we have to hope that the courts will get a backbone to actually use the Charter to thwart the abuses Harper wants to commit in law. Given their misogyny, the fact that the Charter has the equivalent provisions of the failed US Equal Rights Amendment must really irritate Harper and the gang at least as much considering it makes it that much harder for them to push women around. The fact that they killed the Court Challenges program to impede the fight to make it work is no accident itself.

Of course, I do have complaints about the Charter.  The Notwithstanding Clause, which enables Parliament to arbitrarily override court decision for five years at a time is completely unacceptable as if the Parliament is above the law, or at least the official interpretation of it. Even if that clause has become political poison, it is no excuse to have it still available for any government to use. The fact that it has no provisions for protecting things of basic humanity like the social safety for the most vulnerable in our country is an equal sticking point.

There is also the fact that people have perverted its interpretation as a means to attack public health care in Quebec because it is having problems with wait times, just as how the US Supreme Court used their constitution's 14th amendment to create that legal person concept called the business corporation and unleashed those psychotics on the the world. Watch the film, The Corporation, to see a full explanation of that.

But still, this is a moment to commemorate the Charter to some degree, if only to understand that on the whole, it is something special that Trudeau gave to Canada, if imperfect in nature.

Last Chance to hear CBC Radio's Tradition of Drama

As the CBC copes with its 10+% cut to its budget, one of the casualties to lament is the closing down of CBC Radio's tradition of radio drama.

I was late to this element of CBC, but the weekly radio show became a dearly anticipated treat on Thursday morning/late night, especially after I cancelled my cable TV subscription. Although I could never get into the long running series, Afghanada, Canada's Tour of Duty, all that much, other shows like Monsoon House, Backbencher and Trust Inc. have been wonderful listening in a way that televison can't really match. Certainly, a war series like Afghanada on CBC TV could not have been made with all the production values it would have demanded.

Now, you have one last chance to hear what I mean as CBC Radio's final drama series, Trust Inc., repeats its season starting this morning. It's a fun serio-comedy about a PR firm as they go about their trade managing the truth and the public's perception of it for clients who are often as dubious in character as the spin-doctoring they are expecting from the firm.

What really makes this series special that is that it has an intriguing use of the online materials like a fictional blog by the series' character, a presentation of The Post Telegraph, the series' newspaper where a reporter character writes, and even video clips that illustrate key points of the action of series. Of course, it's also podcast and is available on Itunes.

So, while you still have a chance, check out this terrific series today at 11:31 am and 11:06 pm and listen to  the final product of CBC Radio's dramatic tradition that extends through its 70 year history.
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Regrettably as I have learned this morning, CBC has grown more neglectful of its publicly posted broadcast schedules and the network is rerunning the final season of Afghanada on Radio One. So, enjoy that series as Canada's public broadcaster's commitment to radio drama comes to a close.

Victims of Flaherty's Federal Budget

Now with Jim Flaherty's fiscal vandalism more coming fully to light with his Federal Budget, the casualties of what has made Canada have a better sense of humanity are being cut away by these blind ideologues.

• The Community Access Program, which enables the poor to have better access to the internet and its online resources. So, Harper wants to try to silence the disadvantaged while local organizations and libraries have to pick up the slack as best they can.
• Rights and Democracy: A decades old organization found by Brian Mulroney to promote human rights and democratic institutions around the world.  Considering how it dared to give some honest criticism about Israeli policies when Harper and the gang are slavishly deferring to that country's every whim, it was rather inevitable considering they don't respect democracy in Canada as it is.
• National Council on Welfare: What do you expect from a government that doesn't care one bit about the fate of the poor and disadvantaged with their "out of sight, out of mind" mentality, it's not like they were paying attention to anything they had to say for years away.  
•  Katimavik: A youth program devoted to helping young Canadians work on social projects around the country and learn about different cultures, the environment and leadership. Just the fact that it was created under Pierre Trudeau with his idealism already painted a big target on it. Besides, we're talking about a government that sneers at the basic point of real community in favour "every bastard for himself," so why not sabotage a well established program to promote a greater humanity?

The worst part is that this just the big stuff that we really hear about, what the more subtle cuts that threaten people in more subtle ways.  I can't name real specifics, but that is the point considering what we don't know.

Instead we have these bunch of greedy fanatics slavering to buy overpriced jet fighters other countries are dropping like a hot potato and lying about the price tag for them while they splurge on building prisons for a Law and Order agenda in a time when crime has been going down for years.

We've seen their priorities and now we have a rough ride even we must gather our forces while we harry Harper for the election years away

The Federal Budget and the CBC

Well, the threat that was the Federal Budget and the Harper rampage has begun on a relatively subtle note.

On top of killing well established institutions like the National Council on Welfare because the Tories don't care to know anything about the poor anyway beyond where to jail them and cutting Environment Canada's because they want to know even less about that, the CBC is another obvious target with a 10% slash to their budget.

Of course it should come as a surprise to no one considering the network usually cares about the underprivileged and the abuses of the corporate world that hacks like Sun TV would rather ignore with faked news events about other stuff.  At least the BBC has their license fee structure to keep them funded without the government being able to directly attack them fiscally;  it's obviously decades too late for the CBC to setup the equivalent. In fact, at least one Tory MP wanted the cut to be 30%, and I bet Harper made sure that story spread in the name of political good cop/bad cop.

Now all we can do is decide if we really want to have a public broadcaster even as it has to cut back on its regional programming, focus on sport and entertainment to make a buck, close down Radio 2 or (ugh) put ads on CBC Radio 1.

If you want to help keep this national voice then check The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting and while you're at it: check out the kind of CBC TV programming we might see far less of in the future: 

Answering Don D'Haene about my opinion and conscience

In my review of The Drowsy Chaperone, I expressed my reservations about Don D'Haene's performance and received personal comments on Saturday from him against me that I consider a bunch of deceptive condescension. I've waited this long to respond to enable myself a proper response to have some self-respect.

When I saw his performance, I was not "squirming" at simply seeing a gay character, I was concerned at seeing an actor playing a character as a caricature of a minority group in the play, which in this case happens to be gay.  This is not the same as other caricatured characters in the play like Aldolfo, a Latin lover who chooses to be that way. Last time I checked, majority scientific opinion about sexual orientation is that it is not something you choose any more than being left handed. Furthermore, there is nothing in D'Haene's role demands that anything specific about any minority group about it at all; he's just a guy who enjoys musical theatre who could be a Rwandan Tutsi Albino for all the real relevance to the plot.

In short, the sole problem I had was a person playing a stereotype of a minority group. As for his claim about the play honoring the classic era of musical theatre, this was a part of musical theatre of that time too:

Now, if The Drowsy Chaperone is celebrating the traditions of 1920s musical theatre, why wasn't there a tribute to this one in the play?  If you give the obvious answer about that kind of getup, that many African-American entertainers were forced to use themselves on stage for decades, why is it then considered fair game to caricature another minority on stage, and differ only by degree?

As for supposedly calling D'Haene out for playing "Too Gay," that is as irrelevant as calling Lincoln Perry, who played the quintessential racist comic movie caricature, Stepin Fetchit, "Too Black."  Just because the player happens to be of that minority does not make those depictions any less wrong. All that concerned me is that both played a stereotypically broad caricature of a minority, albeit to different degrees.

Whether you want to consider me uptight, politically correct or some other epitaph, I don't really care, especially from someone who calls me "My favourite critic" and yet has shut me out of paid review assignments as the online theatre editor of The Beat for more than a year for whatever reason I am past wanting to know about.

I tried to give an honest opinion with a flash of social conscience and if smug sneering is what I get, then I guess that's a due that I have to pay.