As we sit comfortably in our respective dork dens, let us take a look back at a rather interesting year in comics. The comic world was filled with ups and downs in 2010, here we'll share with you some of the highlights and our personal favourites of the year. We shall save the disappointments for another time... or a podcast.
Despite what your grandma might say to try and trick you into watching reruns of Perry Mason , the true 'Golden Age' of television is right now and 2010 was an especially good year. Returning favourites like Mad Men and Dexter continued their hot streaks while AMC's new drama The Walking Dead kept us on the edge of our seat and prepared us all for the impending zombie apocalypse. In comedy, FX's Louie made us laugh AND think while Sarah Palin's Alaska on TLC kept us all in stitches. That was a comedy, right?
Part Three of Sasha’s Tim Burton Takes Toronto follows the last leg of her Burton Blitz -- the ”animation detour” that is James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare before Christmas .
Part two of Sasha's Tim Burton Takes Toronto examines the director's late 80s and early 90s work: Batman , Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns .
From 7 p.m. on Friday, November 26 to some ungodly hour on the morning of Sunday, November 28th, Torontonians were invited to TIFF Bell Lightbox to screen the entirety of Tim Burton’s filmography. This was in celebration of the Burton exhibit coming to town, which was first curated by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. For some, myself included, the prospect of sitting through sixteen feature films by Burton was intriguing ”” a Burton Blitz of sorts. Others might call it ”Hell on Earth”.
From 7 p.m. on Friday, November 26 to some ungodly hour in the morning on Sunday, November 28th, Torontonians were invited to TIFF Bell Lightbox to screen the entirety of Tim Burton’s filmography (excluding the two shorts Frankenweenie and Vincent). This was in celebration of the Burton exhibit coming to town, which was first curated by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. For some, myself included, the prospect of sitting through sixteen feature films by Burton was intriguing. Others might call it ”Hell on Earth”.
Birdy is a film about a boy who thinks he is a bird. You might think to yourself, ”Why, that’s perfect! Who could play a bird better than Nicolas Cage?” But Nic Cage doesn’t play the boy who thinks he’s a bird. Matthew Modine, who you might remember from Full Metal Jacket or Transporter 2, plays the boy who thinks he is a bird.
I have a lot of sympathy for Spider-Man. After a remarkably successful eight-year run, hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars grossed, three major villains vanquished (along with a few minor ones to boot), and tolerating Kirsten Dunst for three whole movies, he’s finally been exposed. Peter Parker never finished high school. We know what […]
The past few years have had comic book fans go through blockbuster after blockbuster event that change things in their respective universes forever. Of course, if I were to detail the big comic book events of the past decade this piece would be about thirty pages long. I’ll forego that and allow you to peruse […]
What makes a film (or any work of art for that matter) memorable for years after it first appears? What are the films that we go back to again and again? The ones with the amazing special effects? The big stars? Or the ones with the great stories that still resonate? James Cameron makes blockbuster […]
It seems that I slept through all those timely Halloween horror film recommendations last month. However, this double feature is just is applicable now as it was then, which is why I’m making these my Yanksgiving (what us Canadians call American Thanksgiving, or at least should start) family viewing picks. Because nothing says ‘Thank You’ […]
This past Thursday night I was treated to a very special surprise: last minute tickets to an evening with Stephen King . I estimate that no one has written a larger portion of my lifetime’s reading than this man. And as an added bonus, he was interviewed by my favourite Canadian filmmaker, David Cronenberg . […]
Every day, new people are born into this world. There’s a good chance most of these people have parents, and there’s an even better chance that their parents watched at least one Star Wars trilogy while growing up. These new parents are faced with all kinds of important decisions during their children’s formative years, none […]
Welcome to the first installment of what is sure to become the biggest thing on the ‘net since it stopped making those NIN-inspired up dial up noises. This will be an ongoing series of articles in which I recommend a film from the decade that gave me the love of the medium. The nineties were […]
Chewbacca is dead. Love live Chewbacca.
Seeing as I’ve been in their presence for several years now, it’s still a surprise to me when I meet people who are not familiar with the phenomenon that is the hipster. Existing mainly within major metropolitan areas, they’re usually artsy, skinny jean wearing, indie-rock listening, vintage hunting, irony loving youths who, like so many […]
