#BBCAN3 ep 11 & 12: In and Out and Back In

bbcan3The biggest mistake anyone can make in the Big Brother house is thinking they’re safe. It’s the equivalent of running upstairs or saying “What’s the worst that could happen?” in a movie. And as any film fan knows, just when you think the bad guy is gone for good, they’ll pop back up and make your life hell.

Which brings us to the “Thanks to KFC!” Twist that carried over two episodes… one of the people evicted so far is coming back. And they want blood. Continue reading “#BBCAN3 ep 11 & 12: In and Out and Back In”

#BBCAN3 ep 10 – No More “I Love You’s”: A Johnny Veto Mixtape.

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We need to have a little talk about Love. Or rather “I Love You”. Those three little words that are supposed to carry some kind of meaning. Some long lasting deep connection. At least when one person is saying it to another person. Unless you’re in the Big Brother House. Then “love” is thrown around and misused the way “literally” has literally lost it’s meaning. (I see you Newsroom fans, and I understand your pain.) Continue reading “#BBCAN3 ep 10 – No More “I Love You’s”: A Johnny Veto Mixtape.”

#BBCAN3 ep 8 – Namaste, Bro.

bbcan3There was a major record-scratch moment in tonight’s eviction show. Normally I tune out the last ditch pleas of the people on the block to stay in the house. They really don’t make any difference and have devolved into a series of obnoxious shout-outs to people back home. On some very rare occasions you’ll get someone making a last-stand “screw you” speech. Something memorable.

Tonight was memorable. In it’s idiocy and lack of self-awareness. Graig’s final speech targeted Johnny Veto accusing him of being a bully and saying “I hope going forward you can come to grips with your own insecurities. Namaste.”

NAMASTE. Continue reading “#BBCAN3 ep 8 – Namaste, Bro.”

#BBCAN3 ep 7 – Big Egos, Bullies, and Boss Bitches

bbcan3No less a person that Sigmund Freud said “The ego is not master in its own house.” 

And as tonight’s episode proved neither is it a master of the Big Brother Canada one. Perhaps someone who studies psychology or philosophy for years would be able to write a much deeper thesis on the events that befell Graig this evening. Alas, I am of the Good Will Hunting “library card” school of knowledge so instead I say, “How do you like them apples?” Continue reading “#BBCAN3 ep 7 – Big Egos, Bullies, and Boss Bitches”

#BBCAN3 ep.5 – Don’t Hate The Game, Hate The Players

bbcan3If you had told me ten days ago when I gave him the sarcastic nickname “Classy Kevin” that he would become one of my favourite males in the house I wouldn’t have believed you. Or me. Because his first impression was not that great. But tonight? What are the kids saying these days, “I can’t even.”  I. CAN’T. EVEN. with the dudes in the house. Where is our Emmett & Jon? Ugh! Continue reading “#BBCAN3 ep.5 – Don’t Hate The Game, Hate The Players”

#BBCAN 3.04 – Blabbermouths, Beavers & Spin the Bottle

bbcan3It’s week 2 of Big Brother and that can only mean one thing… the gender lines have been drawn in the astroturf and a battle of the sexes is about to begin. For as long as I can remember watching versions of this show the same thing happens, BBCAN Season 3 doesn’t look like it’s going to buck the trend. But this time the “girl alliance” seems about to fail and it’s all because they forgot the first rule of girl gossip… always check to make sure the bathroom stalls are empty. Rookie move, ladies. Continue reading “#BBCAN 3.04 – Blabbermouths, Beavers & Spin the Bottle”

#BBCAN 3.03 – To Have and to Have Not (An Alliance)

bbcan3In the interest of full disclosure I am riding the spring allergy Benadryl pink elephant wave this evening so my Big Brother observations are a little less than sharp. Thankfully there weren’t too many nuances in tonight’s episode as they had to pack in both a Have Not competition and Nominations. Mostly is was 60 minutes of setting the stage for the 9 remaining weeks. Continue reading “#BBCAN 3.03 – To Have and to Have Not (An Alliance)”

Southpaw’s Gonna Be a Contender

A boxing movie. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal & Rachel McAdams. Written by Kurt Sutter (Sons of Anarchy). Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day). With music by Eminem.

This is already my favourite movie of the year.

 

 

#BBCAN 3.02 – Topless Hot Tubs & Burst Balloons

bbcan3When we last left the houseguests they had just found out all their belongings, the furniture for the house and all the food were locked up tight in a vault. Oh the humanity! The horror! The hyperbole! Sleep on a hard floor? Not change their clothes? Have only slop to eat? One HG (and I want to say it was Sindy With an S but I’m not sure) described it as how they treat people when they torture them in war. Another exclaimed “We don’t even have a garbage!”

The Canadian Homeless Research Network in 2013 said that 200,000 Canadians experience homelessness in any given year. Actual homelessness. Not “I voluntarily signed up for a game and now I’m sleeping on a floor in a climate controlled studio with running water woe-is-me”, so you’ll excuse me if I’m less than sympathetic to their imagined plight. Continue reading “#BBCAN 3.02 – Topless Hot Tubs & Burst Balloons”

Big Brother Canada Season 3 – The $100,000 First Impression

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It’s that time of year again, Canada! Time to put 16 people from across the country in a life sized dollhouse, cut them off from the outside world, force them to battle each other and their own paranoia while dangling dollar signs over their heads. It’s Big Brother Canada! Similar to if the Stanford Prison experiment and Keeping Up With the Kardashians were mashed together and drizzled with maple syrup. Continue reading “Big Brother Canada Season 3 – The $100,000 First Impression”

14 Movies to Watch on Valentine’s Day No Matter Your Relationship Status That Don’t Involve Nicholas Sparks

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Love is in the air everywhere you look around. You’ve got the best of my love. I just can’t get enough of your love, babe. I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, what you did, as long as you love me. I don’t care what they say I’m in love with you. All you need is love. Might as well face it you’re addicted to love. Come and get your love. Can you feel the love tonight?

You can’t?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. And there’s nothing wrong with that even if all the giant displays of red hearts and fluffy things and greeting cards and hand holding couples all over the mall are trying to tell you otherwise. There’s a lot of love in the world that doesn’t fit into cardboard boxes or perfectly co-ordinate with an arbitrary date in February.

Contrary to the current array of movies playing on television (AMC is playing Titanic back-to-back for 18 hours straight. The boat sank in 3.) there are also a lot of love stories in film. If you’re looking for something to watch tonight but don’t feel like crying alone while watching the Notebook (the tired stereotype of single women on this day), let me recommend some alternatives.

Continue reading “14 Movies to Watch on Valentine’s Day No Matter Your Relationship Status That Don’t Involve Nicholas Sparks”

72nd Golden Globes: I Can & I Did. A Celebration of Diversity.

2105_1208_GG_2015_AlternateImage_ACThe Golden Globes are my favourite award show.  The combination of humour and sincerity that can only be achieved when A-List celebrities, precious auteurs and television “we’re just happy to be here” actors are shoved sardine-like into a hotel ballroom and given as much booze as they can (or can’t) handle.  An extra hat-tip this year to the Beverly Hilton who forgot to turn on the AC making melting orange spray tan the look of the evening.

This year, however, wasn’t quite the shitshow that the Globes can sometimes be.  Amy Poehler & Tina Fey did a solid ten and then, as happens every year, twitter questioned where they went for the next 2 hours.  The audience seemed to laugh hardest at how they introduced Amal Clooney to America:

“Amal is a human rights lawyer who worked on the Enron case, was an advisor to Kofi Annan regarding Syria and was selected for a three person U.N. commission investigating rules of war violations in the Gaza Strip.
So tonight her husband is getting a lifetime achievement award.”

Quickly followed by massive gasps at their series of Bill Cosby rape jokes & pill/pudding pop impressions.  Fun fact re: Amal, she actually sewed her own gloves the morning of the Awards.  And when Ryan Seacrest interviewed the couple on the red carpet she pointed out the “Je Suis Charlie” button on her bag “in solidarity with the people of France”.

It wouldn’t be the last time the recent Charlie Hebdo tragedy was mentioned.  In fact the Hollywood Foreign Press Association President talked about how important free speech is whether it be North Korea or Paris to a standing ovation.  Helen Mirren, nominated for her role as a French chef in the 100 Foot Journey, wore a fountain pen pinned to her lapel.

The evening overall seemed to be sending a message of diversity.  Breakout star Gina Rodriguez won Best Actress in a TV Musical or Comedy for her leading role on Jane the Virgin, a show which fluidly slips between Spanish & English.  In her acceptance speech she said how she was grateful to represent “a culture that wants to see themselves as heroes”. (The title for this piece “I Can & I Did” came from how she paid tribute to her father.)  Maggie Gyllenhaal won Best Actress in a Miniseries for the Honourable Woman, a show in which she played an arms dealer trying to reconcile things between Israel & Palestine, and gave quite the feminist speech.

The Amazon show Transparent won for Best TV Series, and the star Jeffrey Tambor won for Best Actor in a TV Musical or Comedy.  A show about a Transgender person aired on a non-cable service won twice.  And everyone cheered.  The movie Pride was nominated (and I suspect, introduced for the first time to North American audiences) about UK gay activists who raised money to help during the Miners’ Strike.  Matt Bomer got to thank his husband after winning best Supporting Actor in a Made for TV Film (the Normal Heart), which was about the AIDS epidemic.

Common & John Legend won for Best Original Song ‘Glory’ from the film about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement, Selma.  Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt won a best Supporting Actress award for her work during a storyline about rape.  Eddie Redmayne won best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama about the life of Stephen Hawking (the Theory of Everything) and becoming paralyzed from ALS.  Julianne Moore won Best Actress (Still Alice), beating all the younger nominees, in a role about a women with early onset Alzheimer’s.  And Richard Linklater won Best Director for Boyhood (which also won Best Picture) for filming an indie movie over 12 years.

The message from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association this year was clear: Be different. Be brave. Be you.

 

The Year in Books: Crime, Time Travel & Whatever The Southern Reach Trilogy Was About

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Trying to wrap up “the year in books” is an almost impossible task.  Sure, new books come out every week, but let’s be honest unless you’re someone who works in publishing and/or gets advance copies you are probably unlikely to be read up on all the books that come out in a particular year.  Reading takes time, and readers aren’t confined to a schedule.  A great book can be read the day it comes out or decades later.  So the prospect of wrapping up any particular year is a bit dodgy.  The best I can do is tell you how my year in books went. Continue reading “The Year in Books: Crime, Time Travel & Whatever The Southern Reach Trilogy Was About”