July 2008 Archives (13 posts)
25 Best Documentary Films by IDA
Last year the International Documentary Association announced their list of the best 25 documentary films ever made. If you’re at all interested in docs then this list is a great place to start.
- Hoop Dreams (1994), directed by Steve James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx
- The Thin Blue Line (1988),directed by Errol Morris
- Bowling for Columbine (2002), directed by Michael Moore
- Spellbound (2002), directed by Jeffery Blitz
- Harlan County U.S.A. (1976), directed by Barbara Kopple
- An Inconvenient Truth (2006), directed by Davis Guggenheim
- Crumb (1994), directed by Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb
- Gimme Shelter (1970),directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin
- The Fog of War (2003), directed by Errol Morris
- Roger and Me (1989), directed by Michael Moore
- Super Size Me (2004), directed by Morgan Spurlock
- Don’t Look Back (1967), directed by DA Pennebaker
- Salesman (1968), directed by Albert and David Maysles
- Koyaanisqatsi (1982), directed by Godfrey Reggio
- Sherman’s March (1986), directed by Ross McElwee
- Grey Gardens (1975), directed by Albert and David Maysles, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer
- Capturing the Friedmans (2003), directed by Andrew Jarecki
- Born into Brothels (2004), directed by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski
- Titticut Follies (1967), directed by Frederick Wiseman
- Buena Vista Social Club (1999), directed by Wim Wenders
- Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), directed by Michael Moore
- Winged Migration (2001), directed by Jacques Perrin
- Grizzly Man (2005), directed by Werner Herzog
- Night and Fog (1955), directed by Alain Resnais
- Woodstock (1970), directed by Michael Wadleigh
I’ve seen 21 of the films from this list. My favourite is Capturing the Friedmans and my least favourite would be Koyaanisqatsi (I kept falling asleep whenever I tried to watch it).
A few of my favourite films that weren’t on the list that I recommend are:
- Gates of Heaven (1978)
- Man on Wire (2008)
- The Bridge (2006)
- New York Doll (2005)
- Why We Fight (2005)
How many of these films have you seen and what are some of your favourites?
Posted in Movies at 8:33 PM | Comments (1)
Wired talks to Chris Carter about the X-Files
Wired just posted Q&A: X-Files’ Chris Carter Talks Paranoia, Secrecy and the Element of Surprise. Go ahead. Click it. There aren’t any spoilers ahead. I can’t wait to see this movie on the weekend.
Posted in Movies at 12:42 AM | Comments (2)
A discussion about the iPhone 3G on Charlie Rose
Charlie Rose has A discussion about the iPhone 3G that features Walter Mossberg, Steven Levy, Michael Arrington. The general consensus is that the 16 GB version is a hit but heavy cellphone users may be put off by poor battery performance.
What makes the iPhone stand out from other so called smart phones? The new app store has made iPhone a platform for mobile software and the Safari web browser for the phone is hands down, better than any other smart phone web browser out there.
Posted in Apple at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)
Working From Home
A List Apart has a great article by Natalie Jost for those of you that work from home — Walking the Line When You Work from Home.
I love working from home and prefer it to renting an office. Occasionally I have to deal with what Jost calls sound effects which always come at the most inopportune times:
Someday, you’ll be on the phone with a huge client, discussing their quickly depleting budget (which would make anyone tense), and suddenly there’ll be a bloodcurdling scream from the family room. What do you do?
In my case that bloodcurdling scream is a retarded dog that freaks out when anyone comes to the front door.
Posted in JAK MEDIA at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
Cell phone risks?
Today the head of a cancer research institute issued a warning to its staff to “limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer.” There isn’t any scientific proof (yet) to back up this claim but a lot of people are taking notice.
In the 1960s, people didn’t believe that cigarette smoking could cause cancer. 30 years later we know that smoking kills and billionaires are spending millions of dollars to get the word out.
The World Health Organization estimates that tobacco will kill up to a billion people in the 21st century, 10 times as many as it killed in the 20th.
It’s weird to watch a television show like Mad Men and realize how natural it was to smoke in the workplace and the home. Everyone smoked, it wasn’t illegal and there wasn’t any scientific evidence to support a direct connection to cancer. Today people shake their heads and wonder how daft people could be.
I wonder if we’ll be shaking our heads in 2038, wondering how people could have been so naive when it came to cell phones and cancer?
Posted in News at 10:05 PM | Comments (2)
Steve Jobs’ Health
Arik Hesseldahl, writing for BusinessWeek wrote today:
After the earnings call last night I talked with a source who is close to Apple and who who has in the past proven very well informed on the concerns of Apple senior management. This source told me with near-certainty that Jobs’ cancer has not returned.
Rumours about Steve Jobs health sells newspapers and advertising. Naturally, there have been a lot of rumours because of Jobs’ thin appearance of late. I’m hoping that Hesseldahl is correct (with complete certainty) and that Jobs has at least another 10 years at the helm of Apple.
Posted in Apple at 9:55 PM | Comments (0)
No respect
Last night I was playing hockey and I hit the boards pretty hard. Normally I would shake it off but I tweaked something in my lower back. By the next shift I felt like I was 39 going on 80 and could barely skate. I was done.
This morning I’m crippled with lower back pain. I’m popping Ibuprofen pills like candy but they don’t seem to do anything.
My 9-year-old son is very amused by my shuffling and groaning. As I inched my way downstairs, he looked down at me with a smile and said, “One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Have a nice road trip old man!”
Posted in Personal at 9:43 AM | Comments (1)
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog
Director Joss Whedon (Serenity, Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) has created the very funny Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog. It’s an online experiment for Whedon and I think it is fabulous.
It stars Neil Patrick Harris as a supervillain that always gets beat up by the hero (Nathan Fillion). The first two acts are online and the third will be available on Saturday. Watch them soon because they will disappear at midnight on Sunday.
The production value is fabulous for a low-budget short film. Harris is brilliantand the quirky nature of this supervillain musical is refreshing. Thanks to Dave King for the link.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog
Posted in Movies and Web at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)
Gearing up for Mad Men - Season 2
If you ever wondered what a Madison Avenue advertising agency might have been like in the 1960s, then start watching Mad Men. It won the Golden Globe for best new television drama last year and now I know why.
The show transports you back to the early 1960s and has an authenticity to it that is charming and shocking. I love the music, the style and the look of the show. The writing is clever and quite often funny.
I was shocked by how much drinking and smoking takes place on the show and how normal that would have been 40 years ago. You’ll shake your head when a doctor lights up during a patient examination or cringe at the way women were treated by sexist advertising executives but that is part of the allure of the show.
I’m fascinated by the attitudes and beliefs of the characters in the show. We’ve come a long way and it makes me wonder how ridiculous 2008 will seem in 2048.
Unfortunately the show isn’t available in Canada but you can find it online or on DVD. If you’re a creative professional or if you’ve ever worked at an ad agency then you’ll be drawn to this show in a second.
Posted in Television at 4:33 PM | Comments (0)
Chimichurri Sauce
A couple of weeks ago I made some Chimichurri sauce for the first time and it was a revelation. This Latin American sauce is absolutely fantastic and a must for grilled meat on the backyard barbecue.
The next time you grill some chorizo sausage or your favourite cut of beef you have to try it with some Chimichurri sauce. Here’s how to make it:
Throw everything except the olive oil, salt and pepper into a food processor and process until the mixture is chunky. Slowly add the olive oil until the mixture has emulsified. Season it with the salt and pepper and fire up the barbecue.
Posted in Recipes at 2:58 PM | Comments (0)
Toronto Star might be looking for an editor
I’m always amazed at how many typos and grammatical errors I see in newspapers like the Toronto Star or the Globe and Mail. I make my fair share of grammatical errors on this blog but I don’t have a full-time editor looking over my shoulder.
Today’s business section (page B3) had this headline:
IS THIS BELL’S iPHONE KILLER?
Telco aims to steals Rogers’ thunder
The Star gets full marks for using a lowercase i for iPhone but “aims to steals”? This is the type of error I expect to see on a sign in front of a community centre!
Posted in Observations at 2:41 PM | Comments (0)
WALL•E Easter Eggs and Apple References
/film has a number of interesting WALL•E Easter Eggs that you’ll want to check out before you see the film again. The New York Times has a list of Apple references in a piece called Wall-E: An Homage to Mr. Jobs.
Posted in Movies at 3:15 PM | Comments (0)
WALL•E (2008)
There have been many 4 star reviews of Pixar’s latest film WALL•E (2008). Many reviewers are calling it is Pixar’s best film to date, their most original, their best visual effort and so on. I liked the film a lot but I wasn’t overwhelmed.
Visually, the film is stunning. To raise the bar, Pixar went out and hired the world’s best cinematographer (Roger Deakins) as a consultant. The result is that many scenes look like they were filmed like a real movie. This video podcast has some great information on the visual style of the film.
WALL•E may be Pixar’s best film to date but my favourites are still The Incredibles (2004) and Ratatouille (2007). WALL•E is the type of film that I could watch repeatedly and grow to appreciate.
The first 30 minutes of the film is like a silent movie — there isn’t any dialogue but the animation, sound effects and storytelling is so well done that it isn’t missed. I was worried that the group of kids I saw the film with would find this boring. They weren’t bored. They were mesmerized and they loved the film.
Apple fanboys will get a kick out of WALL·E’s startup sound which is the same as an older Macintosh. The white glossy robot EVE resembles a slick white iPod. Apple design chief, Jonathan Ive was involved in designing EVE for the film. Lastly, WALL·E enjoys watching the film Hello, Dolly! (1969) through an older video iPod with an enormous lens in front of the screen.
Director Andrew Stanton claims that he wasn’t trying to preach about the environment in WALL•E but it comes through anyway. The film is set in the future where we’ve made such a disgusting mess of the planet that we have to leave. The only thing alive on earth is a cockroach.
WALL•E spends all of his time cleaning up the garbage that litters the landscape. The humans are living on an enormous spacecraft where they lounge around and get fat drinking slushies, content to let the computers and robots take over their lives.
Next to Iron Man (which I’ve yet to review), WALL•E is one of the summer’s best movies. I’ll probably see it again before the end of the week and like the film a little bit more. 
½
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Posted in Movie Reviews at 9:43 PM | Comments (1)
