Category Archives: Cinema, video & DVDs

The Producers at Lower Ossington Theatre

Posted on September 15, 2018 by

I just saw The Producers at the Lower Ossington Theatre. I have so many different sorts of responses, I want to keep them straight. 1. The theatre 2. The play (I know every line of the film, the play is … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Popular music & culture, Reviews, Theatre & musicals | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

To re-purpose

Posted on August 12, 2018 by

The word is in my head after The Death of Stalin. Iannucci’s film takes music and uses it in new ways. Whether we’re talking about John Hughes, Stanley Kubrick or your organist at church, the re-use of an existing piece … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Popular music & culture, Theatre & musicals | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The pain I felt reading Kathleen Turner’s interview

Posted on August 12, 2018 by

There’s a great deal in Kathleen Turner’s fascinating recent interview with David Marchese.  So naturally if you’re a beautiful actress people will react, comment, and draw their own conclusions about what’s really important. I find it desperately sad when I see what … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Food & Nutrition, Personal ruminations, Popular music & culture, Psychology and perception | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Death of Stalin

Posted on August 11, 2018 by

It was promoted as a comedy. That reminds me of a joke I heard years ago. Stalin is addressing the Supreme Soviet, speaking and suddenly: a sneeze is heard. Stalin stops speaking, and asks sternly “who snyeeezed?” (my friend who … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Politics, Popular music & culture, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Plummer, Shakespeare & Oundjian

Posted on June 27, 2018 by

Tonight’s concert, the latest in the month-long Toronto Symphony celebration of Peter Oundjian, was like a cross between a pops concert and a play reading, titled “Christopher Plummer’s Symphonic Shakespeare”. It was like “Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits”, a series of textual … Continue reading →

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Cry for me

Posted on May 2, 2018 by

Some actions are startlingly ambiguous.  Right now for example I’m not shaving my upper lip. Am I growing a moustache –which would be an action—or am I simply not shaving my upper lip? I had that thought, thinking about a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Essays, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations, Psychology and perception | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

I love dogs & The Post

Posted on April 21, 2018 by

Living through the daily assault upon one’s sensibility leads one to take protective measures.  Whatever does get you through the night? I vacillate between truth and escapism. Truth consists of various sorts of political content, whether on a news network … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Cinema, video & DVDs, Politics, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment