UPDATED: My Favourite Films of 2024!

Demi Moore in The Substance

UPDATED: I wanted to see a handful more movies before I published my annual list below, but today I'm ready.  (As I see more flicks from 2024 after the initial post, I will assess them accordingly, and if they break into my top list, I'll include them below.) 

As dear followers of my annual list already know, I like to pick great films that impacted on me the most this past year, films that left a deep intellectual, emotional or psychological impression on me, that spoke to my values or desires or fears in truly unique ways this year, movies I will never forget.

2024 was a truly great year for feature films with so many good projects bursting into my top ten, with many left out.  

This is not some objective, film critic list of the best of the best.  These are merely my favourites of 2024:

1) The Substance - Never have I seen a wilder, more hilarious, more brutally honest satire than this body horror comedy.  The post-Trump victory was the perfect time for this jaw-dropping exploration of female self-hatred to surge into the zeitgeist and devour its horrible male characters.  Just when you think it's gotten as crazy as it can, it amps up the crazy even more, beautifully telling a unique parable about the psychological and physical damage caused by a fading Hollywood starlet, played to perfection by Demi Moore, who experiments with a black market drug that promises to transform her into the body of her youth.  It doesn't go so well.  It's supremely bloody and totally bonkers by the end, but I loved it.  I wouldn't normally pick a movie filled with this much female nudity as my top pic, but all of it is completely appropriate and serves the narrative perfectly, and in fact enhances the experience.  And yes, there is at least one uber hot man's ass in close-up in this too, so it's fair on that scale as well.  Directed by the brilliant French director Coralie Fargeat, this masterpiece puts a very big mirror in front of modern society and it looks pretty darn horrible and disgusting.  

2) Anora - Girl meets boy and gets swept off her feet.  But this time, the girl is a street smart sex worker living in New Jersey, and the boy a wayward son of Russian oligarchs.  As the hot young couple's brief paradise unravels in tragically hilarious fashion, one can't help but forgive the leads for daring to try to break away from the empty nonsense that is their lives.  Of course, the slightly funny tone of the piece is a decent cover for the harsh realities that undermine the road to a happy ending.    

3) Dune: Part Two - Mesmerizing, engrossing re-telling of the classic book, with an emotional resonance and excellent acting that was missing somewhat from Denis Villeneuve's first part of this trilogy.  

4) Wicked: Part One - It's all here: the characters, the music, the storytelling, the colourful sets and costumes, the deep emotions, the superb acting and singing, this film hits all of the right notes and then some.  I can't wait for Part Two.  

5) I'm Still Here - Fernanda Torres carries this quietly devastating Brazilian drama about a wife and mother coping with her husband's unjust arrest by military police during that country's dictatorship.  The immense inhumanity of the violent authoritarian regime's actions against its citizens, ripping an innocent family apart, is laid bare in fine detail here.  I truly hope this one wins Best International Feature at the Oscars in March. 

6) Monkey Man - I finally caught this amazing gem recently after missing its initial release back in the spring.  I was blown away by the frenetic energy, pace, and the extreme but beautifully choreographed violence in this shockingly good directorial debut by Dev Patel, who's never looked hotter in the lead role.  This isn't some sweet retelling of Slumdog Millionaire, that's for sure.  This brutal satire / thriller shatters the racist hypocrisies of Modi's India.

7) Challengers - Sexy and fascinating exploration of a troubled throuple consisting of two mostly straight and very hot young men and the female object of their desire.  All three share a passion for tennis, and their pursuit of that passion from their teen years to early adulthood acts as an appropriate metaphor for the setbacks and triumphs they inevitably face.  

8) Alien: Romulus - Finally, a terrific, tragic and scary Alien movie, a wonderful tribute in some ways to the best originals (1979's Alien, and 1986's Aliens), and a much deserved addition to the franchise.  This one is probably the third best of the franchise, if you ask me.  

9) Nosferatu - This brilliantly crafted, beautifully shot new vampire horror classic took my breath away.  From the first moments of the young heroine's plight to the stunning conclusion, I was riveted throughout. It also helped to have beautiful actors Nicholas Hoult and Aaron Taylor-Johnson to stare at.

10) A Real Pain - A quiet, engrossing journey shared by two Jewish-American cousins played by Jesse Eisenberg (who also wrote and directed) and Kieran Culkin (in a hilarious turn well-deserving of the acting accolades) who've grown apart in their adulthood as they take a historical tour of Poland on their way to see the house where their late grandmother used to live.  It often had the same vibes as Before Sunrise, one of my favourite movies, as the characters explore the surprising sentiments and memories the experience evokes.  

11) Nickel Boys - A beautiful exploration of the friendship between two young black men incarcerated in a brutal reform school for alleged delinquent boys, based on the historic Dozier School, a reform school in Florida that operated for 111 years and was revealed as highly abusive.  The film's style of oscillating between beautiful POV shots from the perspectives of the two main characters is compelling and really helps the viewer become engrossed in their experiences.  Ultimately, I found this story about racial injustice and wrongful imprisonment to be slightly more accomplished than the similarly-themed Sing Sing.

12) September 5 - A superbly made and true-to-life depiction of the ABC Network sports journalism crew covering the 1972 Munich Olympics that was forced to switch gears to broadcast live news coverage after terrorists took the Israeli Olympic team hostage.  That live TV coverage became the first "breaking news" event ever, seen by more people than the 1969 moon landing.  As someone who has worked recently in media including in the technical backrooms covering the Olympics, it was a real hoot for me to watch the authentic workflows and retro-technology at play here amid the tense drama.  

13) Sing Sing - A modern day, non-homophobic, deeply moving new version of Shawshank Redemption, in some ways.  Colman Domingo and the whole cast of mostly actual male prisoners explore the joys of being fully realized human beings while incarcerated.  This is a radical reminder that all people, not just those who have managed to stay out of the American injustice system, are deserving of basic human dignity.   If you can see beyond your right-wing prejudices, you might enjoy it.

14) Conclave - A well-done, well-acted, earnest story about a secret meeting of Catholic cardinals struggling to decide on the future of their entire faith.  The spectre of its mostly male cast playing politics and manipulating each other to earn the papal crown irritated on some sexist levels amid the political climate we're now suffering through, but this film's surprise ending proved most cathartic and satisfying. 

OTHER FILMS I SAW IN ORDER OF APPRECIATION:

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Fierce, violent, colourful, engrossing, perhaps not quite as accessible as its Mad Max predecessor.  Anya Taylor-Joy does almost as good a job as Charlize Theron did in the same role.)

Gladiator II (Liked it better than the original, and Paul Mescal is a hero for the 2020s (ie. he's not an asshole like Russell Crowe has turned out to be.))

On Swift Horses (A surprisingly resonant and sexy queer film that nicely explores the struggles of both queer men and queer women in its bygone era.) 

The Last Showgirl (Pamela Anderson blows it out of the water with this heartfelt performance as an aging Las Vegas showgirl who's taken immense pride in her work even as the world around her abandons her.  There are some very touching and occasionally sad moments in this little gem, especially the relationships with her female showgirls and her adult daughter who resents her career choices.) 

A Complete Unknown (Timothee Chalamet beautifully (what role could he not play beautifully) captures the spirit of Bob Dylan and may be on his way to winning his first Academy Award in March.) 

La Chimera (Little known gem spoken mostly in Italian explores a sexy English archaeologist played by Josh O'Connor who joins a collective of grave robbers trying to find fortune and maybe some long lost love by looting Etruscan tombs in central Italy.) 

Piece by Piece (A wonderful documentary about Pharrell Williams that just happens to be told beautifully with stop motion Lego.). 

The Brutalist (Super accomplished and ambitious, this masterpiece explores the tragic search for success and acceptance in America experienced by a genius architect and later his suffering wife escaping post-war Europe.  I liked it but found it slightly empty emotionally.) 

Unstoppable (Inspiring, feel good biopic about a one-legged champion American wrestler played to perfection by Jharrel Jerome.). 

Nightbitch (Amy Adams goes a bit nuts while isolated with her newborn baby in this nicely entertaining comedy-drama.) 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (An excellent and fitting sequel to the strange, quirky original.).  

Babygirl (Nicole Kidman does her usual intense thing, but ultimately I found this story of a dissatisfied woman's rebellion from her boring marriage and sex life rather timid.  The setup didn't quite deliver the radical payoff needed to make this more than a simple story about a woman who walks a bit on the wild side before coming back.)

Queer (Daniel Craig chews up the scenery here and is fascinating to watch from start to finish.  While the film is beautiful from an art direction perspective, the narrative is empty, and we simply don't care much about this drug-addicted man, and we care even less about his superficial and mostly silent boy toy who accompanies him for reasons never explained.  The nudity in it was certainly exceptional, I can definitely attest to that.) 

Juror #2 (Nicholas Hoult finds out he may have played a major role in a tragedy in this decent moral tale by director Clint Eastwood.). 

Fly Me To The Moon (Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson entertain in this frothy, simple tale of faking the 1969 moon landing for the masses.)

Maria (Angelina Jolie is great in this role, but the movie is a bore and not nearly as interesting as I think the filmmakers and star assumed it would be. )

The Idea of You (I liked the idea of older and still beautiful Anne Hathaway having an affair with a much younger boy band star played by the super sexy Nicholas Galitzine, who's also excited me in recent years playing gay roles including in Red White & Royal Blue and Mary & George.)  

Killer Body Count (A better than most horror centring around a teenage girl's struggles to explore her perfectly healthy and horny sexuality while surrounded by a bevy of super hot young men at some kind of a Catholic anti-sex intervention camp.  Of course, this being a silly horror, any one who reaches orgasm soon finds themselves massacred by a mysterious killer.  The unique and radical angle here: it's the young men who all without exception strip naked and let the camera ogle their smooth physiques before they perish, while ladies are mostly spared.  If you've been waiting your whole life to see some anonymous naked young hunk show off his ass in a horror movie while being sliced literally in half, this is the flick for you.  An entire industry of genre movies did the same thing to women for decades, so to finally see this one give the boys a taste of their own medicine was a thrill.)

The Program (A compelling documentary that explores the alleged U.S. government program designed to study the multiple sightings of alleged Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) or UFOs in parts of America, including groundbreaking congressional hearings into the subject in recent years.  This doc is fair and raises several compelling questions without crossing over into wacko territory.)

Saturday Night (Not many funny or joyful moments here, and a whole lot of filler - who would've thought the last 90 minutes before the first Saturday Night Live broadcast would be so boring?  I do love Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, but I'd love Gabriel LaBelle in anything.).  

Damsel (Mildly entertaining, but not enough to recommend.) 

The Exorcist (Oh my God, please avoid this horrible, totally unscary and ill-conceived film that shows Russell Crowe has no idea how to identify a good script before signing on.)

 

OTHER FILMS I WANT TO SEE ASAP, IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE:

The Room Next Door

The Life Of Chuck

The Apprentice

We Live In Time

Hard Truths

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Emilia Perez

Heretic

The Order

Rumours

The End

Scoop

Kraven: The Hunter

The Piano Lesson

Inside Out 2

The Return

Memoir of a Snail

The Wild Robot

All We Imagine As Light

A Different Man

Blitz

Megalopolis

Lee

Twisters

Poolman

Small Things Like These

Despicable Me 4

Red One

Argylle

The First Omen

Oh, Canada

Y2K

Today's tonic: Breaking the CBC and our link to public broadcasting?

Breaking: the CBC and our link to public broadcasting? by Susan Riley

 

If this is public broadcasting’s last chance to save itself, it needs to move fast—and the majority of Canadians who, polls say, still support the limping institution will need to make their voices heard.

OPEN LETTER to Mayor Olivia Chow re: Toronto's terrible Ferry Service to Toronto Islands

August 25, 2024

Dear Toronto Mayor Chow, 

The state of Toronto City ferry service to the Toronto Islands is awful.   It seems like the management of the ferry service don't take seriously their responsibilities to provide predictable, reliable service at the advertised times and the result is an angry public, myself included.   

On two recent occasions, I've been trapped on the island with my partner as we waited hours for a ferry (for which we had already paid) to return us back to the mainland.  Advertised departure times on the city's website are COMPLETELY IGNORED by ferry staff as ferries seem to come and go when they please.  No apologies to waiting residents are ever given by any ferry staff I've seen after these long waits.   In early July, we arrived at Hanlan's Point on the island hoping to catch the 9:45 pm return ferry to the mainland.   The 9:45 pm schedule never came, nor did the 10:30 pm.  Only the 11 pm showed up with over 300 people waiting impatiently to board.  

On August long weekend Sunday, a similar occasion happened at Centre Island.  We arrived on time for the 9:45 pm schedule thinking perhaps the Toronto Ferry service would respect its advertised time for Centre Island as they don't for Hanlan's Point.  When we arrived at 9:30 pm at the Centre Island ferry port, there were over 400-500 people already waiting in front of us.  No ferry showed up until 10:10 pm, 25 minutes late, however only about half of those waiting made it onto that ferry, which angered and frustrated hundreds of people.   We had to wait for the next ferry which didn't show up until 10:40 pm.  

 

The waiting stall by the Centre Island port resembles a place you'd force animals to wait for slaughter.   It is dark, crowded and if there were some kind of emergency, or panic, hundreds of Toronto residents could be greatly injured or killed.  The conditions are that bad.  Furthermore, there was ZERO information from City of Toronto officials to help or guide the crowd.  No sense when the next ferry would arrive.  Calls to the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal were met with defiance and lack of empathy.  Our justifiable outrage at their pathetic service was ignored - in fact, city staff hung up on me rather than explain why ferry services were so different than advertised.   The staff person didn't seem to care about the dangerous conditions that the city was forcing people into waiting for a return ferry home.   I took the picture below of the giant stall where people were forced to wait for a ferry that may never come. 

Photo I took in waiting stall at Centre Island port on Aug 4, 2024

The number of frustrated Toronto residents is now in the thousands following this summer of incompetence.   I know we are not alone in our frustrations with the city's ferry service.

I know managers of the ferry service and Toronto city council have let down Toronto residents in recent years by not planning better to repair and replace aging ferries.  The temporary loss of 2 ferries this year really inconvenienced thousands of residents trying to get to Toronto Islands.  The level of incompetence in this mismanagement makes me suspect perhaps city officials are simply trying to help out private water taxi services make more money from residents' frustration with the public ferry service.  Because whoever is running Toronto Ferries does not care about public service.  

This also happens at a time when most city services seem to be in major decline, perhaps caused by lack of funding, but also mismanagement by city leaders, and laziness or lack of support for city staff. 

Toronto must do better than this sorry state of affairs. 

We need to build a pedestrian and cyclist bridge to the Toronto Islands immediately so the public can access this great park without having to experience the agony of waiting hours for an incompetent public ferry service to bother to provide the service they are being paid to provide.  

Enough is enough!   The option of going to the Islands these days is very risky as it's clear now that getting back from the island will be a torturous wait for a ferry to show up an hour or two after its advertised departure time. 

What are you going to do in the immediate short term to fix this sorry ferry service in Toronto?

Sincerely,

Matt Guerin

Very frustrated Toronto resident

Today's tonic: "If Pierre Poilievre gets his way, the next Olympics might not be so fun to watch - To eliminate the CBC would turn the Olympics into yet another product that must be paid for to be witnessed. "

Canadian beach volleyball Silver medalists

I haven't blogged in weeks and a lot has been happening, especially politically south of the border.  Please expect some thoughts soon on the ascension of Kamala Harris to the Democratic presidential nomination.

But for today, another topic: It's been a busy summer with work where I supervise a team of media librarians at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto. Our team conducts media management of digital workspaces for two Toronto servers at CBC, one for News and one for all other production including CBC Sports.  We also manage several more servers at CBC locations across the country. 

Our team has been since late July setting up records and maintaining and archiving records of all Olympic events, plus any interviews, footage, stills captured, etc. our CBC crews have been shooting with athletes over in Paris.  We ensure the CBC Sports digital server has enough capacity to take in all of this content so that editors and producers can do their jobs getting Olympic shows to air.  

It is an immense responsibility, one we do every Olympic games (as long as the CBC hosts them for Canada).  We look forward to doing the same work for the Winter 2026 Games in Milano, Italy.  That is, if we still have an English CBC to work for.  

That is, if only Pierre Poilievre is stopped implementing his promise to destroy English language CBC.  The iconic cultural institution with other 80 years of branding and accomplishment, the best source of journalism for English Canadians in this scary world overrun with disinformation.  

Public broadcasting's aim should be to bring Canadians together, as we did these last two weeks with the coverage of the Paris Games.  Public broadcasting also ensures a clear source of reliable information, not tainted by association with private corporate interests.  CBC journalists go after stories to tell Canadians, regardless if those stories favour the Liberals, the Conservatives, the NDP, or any other points of view.  The CBC is as unbiased a media organization as you can get in English Canada and is structured to provide excellent national, provincial and local news coverage that impacts you in your communities. 

From far right wing eyes, the centre (or CBC) can look left wing.  From far left eyes, the CBC also looks fairly conservative and too safe.  I've always admired the CBC for its clear, concise, non-sensationalist approach to covering the news of the day.  

Today, I'm happy to share this article by Mark Hill in the Toronto Star, which details how the CBC's coverage of the Paris Games this year has brought Canadians together to share moments of joy, excitement, heartbreak and spectacle.  Over 13 million Canadians watched a part of the Opening Ceremony.  

Destroying the CBC would turn our backs on decades of Canadian-first media.  Poilievre's plan would ensure that "Schitt's Creek" for example would never have existed.  That popular English-language comedy became an international hit and its creator has said that CBC gave the kind of artistic freedom to create that show that made it so special and allowed it to find international audiences including several Emmy Awards a few years ago.  

The examples go on and on.  This will be a huge fight to save Canadians' right to journalism, to public broadcasting, to more English language news and entertainment and sports programming.   

Here's an excerpt from Hill's article: 

To eliminate the CBC would turn the Olympics into yet another product that must be paid for to be witnessed. For all their flaws, what’s wonderful about events like the Olympics and the World Cup is that their novelty and nationality attract reams of fans who otherwise couldn’t care less about sports. If Olympic coverage was subsumed by paid networks like Sportsnet and TSN, one more thread that unites us as a country would be severed, and yet another public service would be lost. 

A few weeks of sport won’t solve the country’s issues. But it is a reminder that we are all Canadian, and that the tedious jeremiads claiming the CBC is to the left of Mao are unmoored from reality.

Also, Olympic table tennis is wild. Don’t take that away from us.

Happy Pride Month, but beware the growing hatred in Canada and elsewhere

June is the beginning of Pride Month in Toronto and most places in North America.  It’s a time to celebrate the LGBTQ community, our history and the gains we’ve made overcoming bigotry and oppression, as well as remind ourselves of the battles still ahead for equality and dignity.

Most of the world is still hellish for LGBTQ folks for a variety of unfortunate reasons, mostly rooted in ignorance and religious bigotry.  Those fights continue and I'll be happy this week to attend Rainbow Railroad's Freedom Party to help raise money for this crucially important cause.  

But lately even the gains we’ve made in most of the democratic world are under increasing threat thanks to a resurgence of right-wing bigotry and irresponsibility.  

Republicans south of the Canadian border, taking advantage of public ignorance about trans people, have been on a rampage, overstepping government power to try to control and destroy trans peoples' rights and safety.  Sadly, they've inspired some Canadian conservatives to similarly target queer youth in Canada. 

The horrible Danielle Smith, premier of Alberta, is trying to roll back the rights of LGBTQ youth in Alberta schools, forcing educators to out trans youth, banning them from the healthcare they need, and making anti-bullying education "optional" for Alberta schools. 

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe even invoked the notwithstanding clause in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to legislate similar attacks on vulnerable trans youth in his province. 

After his own attacks on trans youth, creepy New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs continues to peddle more attacks on other vulnerable youth, his latest including obsessing over and banning sex education provided to teenage girls designed to teach them about consent and healthy sexuality, before he even bothered to research the education he was banning.   

All of these attacks on vulnerable youth including queer youth are just ploys by conservatives to distract voters from their real agenda, which has always been to give more power to the already powerful elites and gatekeepers of society, all at the expense of the rest of us.  

"Don't worry about those massive tax cuts we are giving the rich while we enslave you and your family to their unfettered corporate greed, and cut your health care and public services!  Look over there!  Those scary trans extremists are trying to rape or hurt your children and only we will stop them," those disgusting conservatives are implying through their legislative actions and messaging. 

Sadly, these efforts to roll back progress seem to have convinced some ordinary conservatives it's okay to embrace their little hatreds.  A new poll out this weekend confirms that general support for LGBTQ rights and visibility is down in Canada by about 10 per cent since 2021.   

None of the gains we've made are chiselled in stone.  In fact, Canadian conservatives have shown they are just as willing as Republicans south of the border to attack our rights and invoke any legal means necessary to play their hateful games.  

Pierre Poilievre has also said he's happy to use the notwithstanding clause to roll back rights.  Considering most of his caucus is still dominated by dinosaurs who still obsess over controlling the bodies of all women on the abortion issue, we ought to be very alarmed about the future. 

I want to urge all people who support equality and dignity for all to reject the politics of hatred being espoused by conservatives or others.  We need to stand up against and challenge this hatred, and to let our more moderate conservative friends, family and neighbours know it's not okay.   

Stay strong, keep up the fight, and carry on! 

Today's warning: "CSIS warns that the 'anti-gender movement' poses a threat of 'extreme violence' to the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Canada"

Intelligence agency says risk will 'almost certainly continue' over the coming year

"Canada's intelligence agency is warning that extremists could "inspire and encourage" serious violence against the 2SLGBTQI+ community — a threat the Canadian Security Intelligence Service says almost certainly will continue over the coming year.

"CSIS's comments come as provincial policies on gender-affirming surgeries and pronoun preferences are being hotly debated across the country.

"CSIS assesses that the violent threat posed by the anti-gender movement is almost certain to continue over the coming year and that violent actors may be inspired by the University of Waterloo attack to carry out their own extreme violence against the 2SLGBTQI+ community or against other targets they view as representing the gender ideology 'agenda,'" said CSIS spokesperson Eric Balsam in an email to CBC News."

Why Danielle Smith’s proposed anti-trans legislation is so wrong...

Sadly, it was probably only a matter of time before Alberta Premier Danielle Smith used her majority government power as Conservative premier to try to control and even put at risk the lives of queer youth.  

Smith's history supporting queer rights isn't stellar.  Just 12 years ago, she didn't think it was a big deal for one of her then-Wildrose candidates to have called for all queer people to burn in a "lake of fire".  Her judgment has been questioned for some time.  I think she's just gotten better at looking the part of premier lately. 

Except last week when Smith announced new legislation she plans to introduce this fall in the Alberta legislature that would, among other things, ban gender-affirming health care of any kind for Alberta youth 15 years old or younger, even puberty blockers and hormones.

Smith's paternalistic rationale given to justify this ban is that youth must be prevented from making decisions they may regret later in life.  

It's the same sort of paternalistic, nonsensical thinking that surrounded the debate over sexual orientation and gay people in decades past in Canada.  Back then, many conservatives like Smith also believed being gay was somehow a "phase" or something you fell into by choice, and could easily be "converted" out of through some old-fashioned Christian deprogramming.  Of course, they were wrong then about gay people, just as they're wrong today about trans people.  I knew I was gay when I was 13, and it definitely wasn't some "phase." 

The end result of this particular provision in Smith's proposed law today will be that more trans youth - who typically experience higher rates of depression, self harm and suicide after the onset of puberty - will have to suffer in painful silence until they're 16 before they can do anything about it.  Many more of them won’t make it to 16 if this law passes. 

Smith is also promising to ban trans girls from competing in sports against cisgender girls.   It's not clear at all that this is a problem in Alberta or anywhere else.  It's not like there are armies of highly athletic and muscular trans girls demanding to get into girls' soccer leagues or swim teams.  This is a solution in search of a problem.    

In addition, Smith announced that should trans kids under 16 want to at least be called a name or a pronoun that conforms with their gender at school, they will be outed to their parents, who will then be able to veto this freedom.  If those parents then become violent toward those kids or kick them out of their homes, Smith doesn't seem to care.

Furthermore, Smith announced if 16 or 17-year-olds want to change their names or pronouns at school, they will also be outed to their parents (who at least won't have a veto over that choice).  If those same parents then become violent toward those young people or kick them out of their homes, Smith again doesn't seem to care. 

The end results of all of these policies will be more suicides, more self harm, and more violence. 

Smith's plans also call for bans on any types of gender-affirming surgeries for those under 18. 

Fact: no one under age 18 has ever undergone gender re-assignment surgery in Canada because the medical profession and other professionals, not to mention trans folks, have rightly decided those irreversible steps do need to wait until adulthood.

So why ban something that isn't even happening?  

The answer is simple: Smith's priority is playing politics and further inciting cultural wars, and she seems happy to sacrifice the well-being and safety of queer youth to do it.  Rabid right-wing zealots have latched onto the issue of transgendered peoples as a wedge issue to try to spread hate, divide societies and win more political power.  

Smith is a part of that problem, as evidenced by her recent appearance with American right-wing liar Tucker Carlson, Canadian asshole extraordinaire Jordan Peterson and convicted criminal Conrad Black. 

Even more awful was Smith's duplicitous presentation last week, speaking in soft tones (what an accomplished actor she is), pretending to "care" about the well-being of queer youth.  While in truth, she stabbed them in both the face and the back.  

Tucked away in the announcement is the pledge to now remove "sexual orientation" education, as well as "gender identity" education and even sex education from school lessons for all Alberta youth unless their parents "opt in" and consent to their kids receiving these lessons.  Yes, Alberta students won't be allowed to learn anything about LGBTQ+ people unless parents are okay with it.

In the 80s and early 90s, my high school was a hotbed of homophobia and violent harassment mostly thanks to my fellow heterosexual students.  I suffered in great silence and isolation in my Catholic public school, but I don't think my experiences were much different from those who attended public schools in Ontario.  Rampant, repulsive homophobia was completely mainstream then.  It was hard to live through. 

Today, sadly, I suspect if you walk down typical high school hallways in Ontario, Alberta, or anywhere, I'm sure there's little difference: verbal assaults using the word "faggot" I hear are still common, as is vicious bullying, as we know. 

Schools, school boards and governments are obliged to try to provide safe learning environments for all children, not just heterosexual children.  

The introduction of mandatory education into the truths around sexual orientation - including that LGBTQ+ people don't choose their orientations, and that homosexuality exists in roughly the same percentages (about 3 to 5%) across all demographics in society and has for centuries (since we've been able to record these histories) - is essential to combating homophobia in schools and promoting the safety of queer youth in our care.  

To make this essential education now optional, with the likelihood the most homophobic will now be free to continue their homophobic bullying, even encouraged to do so implicitly by Smith's draconian law, will make Alberta schools more dangerous for queer youth and queer people in general. 

Even to target LGBTQ+ peoples for this special mistreatment sends a message of anti-queer disrespect, that there is something wrong about learning these truths.  Why else would you be required to opt in to receive them? 

Merely teaching children that LGBTQ+ people exist is not indoctrinating children.  It's teaching them the truth about the real world. For the queer children in schools, learning you’re not alone saves lives.

It has long been clear that when it comes to laws governing children or youth in our care - such as in our public schools, or in other laws impacting on children - those laws must always be in the "best interests of the children."  Courts have struck down numerous laws that violated the "best interests of children." 

Of course, "best interests of the children" doesn't mean "doing whatever the kids want."  In fact, many children might disagree often with what is determined to be in their best interests.  

I do sympathize with parents who feel they have a right to know if their kid is using a different pronoun or name at school.  I also sympathize with queer youth who have a right to privacy and safety as they struggle to figure out who they are and where they fit in this scary world.  

As we struggle to find the right balance on this issue, I think one thing is clear: our laws should always be written with the best interests of children in mind.   

The proposed laws announced last week by Danielle Smith are anything but.  When or if Smith actually introduces this legislation in the Alberta legislature, we'll see if she includes the Charter of Rights' notwithstanding clause in it, which would exempt the legislation from Charter challenges for five years. 

But I’m not sure even the notwithstanding clause would protect these laws from being challenged and struck down.  They are clearly written in violation of the best interests of children or youth.  They clearly put children and youth in danger and subject them to considerable harm.  I expect the courts would agree and strike them down given the chance.  

This is not an area in which provincial governments should be legislating.  One-size-fits-all policies will lead to inevitable harm.  We ought to leave these difficult, deeply personal and medical issues up to the individuals involved: the parents, the medical professionals, the educators, and most importantly, the children and youth in our care.    Not overreaching, misguided politicians trying to win more political power for themselves. 

Today's tonic: "Andrew Scott is right – it’s time to retire the phrase ‘openly gay’"

Actor Andrew Scott

I couldn't agree more with this charming, smart actor, Andrew Scott (currently starring in the awesome feature film All of Us Strangers) that the phrase "openly gay" is old school and needs to be retired, as writer Ryan Gilbey highlights in this Guardian piece.

“I’m going to make a pitch for getting rid of the phrase ‘openly gay,’” said Scott, steering the conversation in a more illuminating direction. “It’s an expression that you only ever hear in the media. You’re never at a party and you say, ‘This is my openly gay friend…’” Why, he wondered, is “openly” always attached to that adjective? “We don’t say you’re ‘openly Irish.’ We don’t say you’re ‘openly left-handed’…There’s something in it that’s a little near ‘shamelessly.’ ‘You’re open about it?’ You know what I’m saying?” He proposed that “it’s time to just sort of park it.”

2023 was a tough year for the planet, but thank the Universe for Jimbo!

It's been a tough year for the world.  

Fascism and dictatorship are on the rise, while democracies are under constant attack.  War continued in Ukraine thanks to the most evil person on the planet: Putin.  

Fascist Islamic antisemitic hatred in the form of Hamas also lashed out and brutally murdered 1,200 Israeli citizens and kidnapped over 200 more in southern Israel on Oct 7th.  

The Israeli response pushed back hard, as any decent country would, launching a war against the Hamas cowards, who willingly again hid among their own people in Gaza, thus causing Gazan casualties to skyrocket.   

Fascism continued to rise in the U.S. with the dangerous man child Donald Trump continuing to seize attention and win the hearts of the deplorables in the morally bankrupt Republican Party.   

Other forms of bigotry skyrocketed too, inspired by Donald Trump and other fascists.  

Trans youth, perhaps the most vulnerable and misunderstood human beings on the planet, were the targets of amoral, despicable right-wing politicians and others eager to join the fascist bandwagon.  

There was decent pushback though.  Jack Smith courageously charged the fascist Trump with many crimes in the U.S. surrounding his efforts to destroy American democracy.  Trump and co-conspirators also faced other charges in the state of Georgia and Florida.   

Those who believe in the rule of law continue to demand it be followed.  We'll see if Republican-leaning judges still stand by it too in 2024.  America may be reverting to fascist / sociopathic rule one year from now if some polls are to be believed (I don't believe them.)   

I'm lucky to be with my loving husband going into 2024.  My family is relatively well and happy.  My friends are still pushing through despite some personal setbacks this year.  I'm thankful for so many good things and pledge to continue to work hard to better those things I can change.  

As I look back at this year, I remember the great art and entertainment that brought me and many others happiness.  

My favourite pop culture icon to re-emerge with a hilarious vengeance: Canadian-born drag queen superstar Jimbo, who won Rupaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 8.  

Yes, they've had eight All Stars seasons.  This Canuck made me proud and helped me laugh my ass off this year.  Put aside your worries and enjoy some of the highlights below as you end out 2023:

 

My Favourite Films of 2023 - FINAL

Barry Keoghan in Saltburn

 

FINAL UPDATE January 18, 2024:  I'm happy once again to share my annual list of my favourite films released this past year.  When I first posted this on December 30th, 2023, I hadn't yet seen all of the major 2023 releases I wanted.  But as of this week, I've finally seen everything I expected to be near the top of my list.  

Here is my list of 2023 favourites, in order! 

1. Saltburn - This one is not for everyone's tastes. I tend to prefer well done films that I also find super fun to watch over and over as my top pics every year. If some of the cultural politics around a film also appeal to my sensibilities, that helps a lot. This year, this darkly comedic, artful, satirical thriller takes the cake on so many levels. Adorable and talented Irish actor Barry Keoghan gets his sexy star turn as an Oxford scholarship student who befriends the rich son of an aristocratic family, and spends the summer at their lovely castle estate named Saltburn.  This wicked tale exposes and demolishes the stupidity of its upper class characters, who spend the movie largely bullying Keoghan's lead, slowly laying the groundwork for their fates. Additional viewings of this flick are essential, especially the final scene featuring a very naked Keoghan dancing throughout the mansion, probably the hottest, most beautiful image released on film this year.  This is an instant class revenge / queer classic from director Emerald Fennell, who proves her stunning feature debut Promising Young Woman was no fluke, but the start of a hopefully long, great filmmaking career. 

 

2. Oppenheimer - Probably Christopher Nolan’s most accomplished film, he paints a chilling picture of science and technology in cahoots with military and geo-political forces racing to beat the Nazis at the end of World War II.  Cillian Murphy is perfectly subdued as the head scientist grappling with his own ethics.  The rest of the cast, let alone the technical achievements here are stunning.  The notion these nuclear scientists literally gambled on destroying the planet by conducting the first atom bomb experiment, depicted here as only Nolan can with minimal special effects, is bone chilling.  It is three hours long, and by the end many might feel overloaded with details.  I’m not sure what could possibly have been cut, though.  I am sure Nolan’s headed to a well-deserved Best Director Oscar at the Academy Awards in March 2024.   

 

3. American Fiction - I missed this film at the Toronto International Film Festival where it won the Audience Award in 2023. Finally, I caught the film in January 2024 and it's utterly wonderful, goodhearted, smart, and hilarious! Oh, man, this is so good. Jeffrey Wright plays an African-American fiction writer unable to get his next serious and straight-laced book published, and frustrated by what he deems the plethora of badly written "black trauma porn" stories finding massive audiences on the market. So he decides to write his own version of said black trauma porn called "My Pafology," which he later renames "Fuck". Hilariously, publishers eat it up and the book gets published and becomes a huge hit, even the movie rights get sold, leading to a deeply funny, ironic, perfect ending. I'm still chuckling about moments in this film days later. Plus, the characters and family story lines here are so enjoyable and moving. Overall, a great viewing experience!

 

4. Poor Things - Yorgos Lanthimos' latest masterpiece is also more charming, engaging and energetic than his previous great works (which include The Favourite and The Lobster). I loved the sharp hilarious writing in this edgy re-working of the Frankenstein story. Emma Stone is perfect, as are all the actors involved. This is very much deserving of the praise it's receiving. The art direction, costume design, hair and make-up, and all other technical aspects of this film are beyond beautiful. The stunning attention to detail is so welcome, giving this bizarre fantasy comedy such vibrancy, especially on the big screen. It probably didn't need all the nudity, but it certainly adds to the rawness of the festivities.

  

5. The Zone of Interest - British Jewish director Jonathan Glazer presents here perhaps the most quietly disturbing and unforgettable portrait of civilized evil I’ve seen on film in years.  The Nazi commandant in charge of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, lives alongside the horrific camp in a lovely house and grounds with his German wife and children.  We never see directly inside Auschwitz, only its foreboding walls and barbed wire, plus we often hear sounds of gunshots, dogs barking, muffled screams and trains pulling into the camp.  We also occasionally see the burning smokestacks especially horrifying at night shining shades of fiery red through closed bedroom curtains.  Much focus is paid to how these characters try to normalize everything about their existences, focusing on the comforts and beauties they cling to, including garden flowers (occasionally covered by human ash) and swanky parties amongst the Nazi elites in the area.  When the commandant is threatened with a transfer to another camp, it’s despicable how his wife fights to stay in her “fantasy” home they’ve spent years striving to build.  Living next to Auschwitz is literally her dream come true.  These characters are all complicit in the evil that surrounds them.  Evil’s fascination and comfort with physically beautiful things makes those things seem complicit too.  

 

6. Barbie - I have to say this film delivers on the social commentary and satire we hoped it would.  It is truly a new feminist masterpiece!  The acting by Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as her boyfriend Ken is stupendous, particularly Gosling whose performance is the stuff of comic genius (and will likely be rewarded with a Best Supporting Actor nomination early in 2024.)  But the biggest accomplishment is the writing by Greta Gurwig and Noah Baumbach.  America Ferrera’s monologue on the impossible challenges of being a woman is a stand-out.  This film’s massive international success reminds us that you can recycle a concept or even a toy brand and turn it into something modern, smart, thought-provoking, supremely funny and entertaining, as long as the creatives in charge are uniquely talented.

 

7. Killers of the Flower Moon - Martin Scorcese’s latest masterpiece depicts a series of murders of Osage members and relations in the Osage Nation after oil was discovered on tribal land.  The tribal members had retained mineral rights on their reservation, and thus became the targets of racist, greedy white invaders trying to get their hands on that wealth.  The story focuses on how William King Hale (played by Robert De Niro) manipulates his simpleton nephew Ernest Burkhart (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) into marrying Mollie Kyle (played by Lily Gladstone), an Osage woman whose family owned oil head rights.  The film is long at 3.5 hours, but still kept me engaged throughout, but perhaps my bathroom break at the halfway point missing a few minutes helped with my viewing stamina (note to movie theatres: it’s time to bring back 10-minute intermissions to give the audience a break so they can comfortably endure ever-longer feature films.)  Nevertheless, this is a timely exploration of the immense evil that took shape around a little known and tragic period of racist American history. 

 

8. The Holdovers - Touching, beautiful, this is a quiet masterpiece about a brilliant but cantankerous classics teacher (Paul Giamatti) charged with supervising a handful of high school boys at their private school over the Christmas holidays in early 1970s New England.  Particular focus is on the emotional and intellectual bond that forms between Giamatti and one brilliant young student played by newcomer Dominic Sessa.  Da’Vine Joy Randolph as a mourning mother who keeps the males at the school fed adds to the delight of this latest masterpiece by Sideways director Alexander Payne.  I do agree this is Payne’s best film and will warm your heart if you give it a chance.

 

9. Anatomy of a Fall - A refreshing take on the whodunnit / courtroom drama, this French film with a tonne of English dialogue details the criminal investigation and trial of a successful writer after the surprise death of her less-successful writer husband at the family chalet.  The only witness is her partially blind young son.  Sandra Huller plays the woman to perfection, leaving us wondering throughout if she’s guilty or not.  The gripping conclusion unfolds organically, giving great satisfaction and emotional authenticity to a tragic situation.

  

10. All of Us Strangers - This lovely film is more muted and minimalist than I anticipated, but still quite moving. The story is about a lonely gay man in London, UK played by the beloved Andrew Scott. Approaching middle age and somewhat dissatisfied with his screenwriting career, he visits his childhood home where he miraculously finds his parents, both dead since they were killed tragically when he was 12, alive and the same age as he last saw them. Of course, this film engages in a lot of magic surrealism, integrating this mental and emotional exploration of the past with the present, as the lonely man simultaneously begins a new relationship with an attractive and equally lonely neighbour played by Paul Mescal. The effect is deeply authentic, but might leave some strangely dissatisfied with its quiet ending. There are no easy resolutions in life, and this film admits it readily, while still being beautiful.

 

11. Past Lives - A remarkably endearing and honest cross-decades romance about revisiting old loves who got away.  The best straight romance of the year.

 

12. The Killer - David Fincher again delivers shocking action and tension in this artful and well-written thriller about an assassin (played by the always sexy Michael Fassbender) who screws up on the job and then spends the rest of the movie (very efficiently) cleaning it up.

 

13. Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse - This animated adventure sequel (as well as the first Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse) adds as much if not more wonderful depth, character development and intrigue than most of the live action versions. 

 

14. Asteroid City - Another quirky delight from Wes Anderson, who brought us one of my favourite films in The Grand Budapest Hotel.  This one is less funny and accomplished, but still greatly entertaining.  The alien visitation scene is worth the price of admission.  

 

15. Maestro - I enjoyed this somewhat flawed character study about uber talented conductor Leonard Bernstein.  Bradley Cooper completely inhabits the character and is 100% convincing in all aspects of the role including the musical genius, body language, and frequent queerness.  I also bought into the romance with his true love played by Carey Mulligan, the woman who accepts him unconditionally.  Cooper does suck up most of the oxygen but Mulligan does hold her own next to him.

 

16. One Life - I saw this at TIFF 2023, although it won’t be released until 2024.  This moving, absorbing story about a British humanitarian who helped save 700 Jewish refugee children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia just before the start of World War II is made greater by the ever-wonderful Anthony Hopkins in the title role.  

 

17. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 - I’ve loved this trilogy in all of its naughty, original, hilarious, once-impossible-to-produce glory. Oddly for this third part in the trilogy, I found myself tearing up on several occasions. But also laughing out loud often.  This features another great vocal performance by Bradley Cooper who again plays Rocket, arguably the lead character this time around. 

  

18. Rustin - Colman Domingo is great in this good film about activist Bayard Rustin whose friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. set the groundwork for the 1963 March on Washington.  

 

19. Nyad - Annette Bening delivers as Diana Nyad, the marathon swimmer repeatedly attempting to cross from Cuba to Key West.  But I especially loved Jodie Foster as her best friend who provides essential support to Nyad's exhausting efforts. 

20. Air - Thoroughly entertaining story about the partnership between a visionary Nike executive played by Matt Damon and basketball legend Michael Jordan that revolutionized the world of sports marketing and athlete compensation in major commercial deals. 

21. John Wick: Chapter 4 - Delivers what John Wick films have always delivered, but even more.  And with more beautiful art direction. 

Disappointing:

May December - Decent enough, although not at all convincing and ultimately disappointing film from the inconsistent Todd Haynes.  Natalie Portman is always interesting to watch in this, while Julianne Moore simply wasn’t.  Was she underwritten? It would seem so. I also didn’t buy the central story set-up of an actress spending weeks with her troubled subject before shooting a movie, nor did I believe Charles Melton’s character only now comes to realize he might've been exploited by the love of his life.  Far too easy a conclusion for a film that pretended to be more nuanced.

The Little Mermaid - Fine enough adaptation, but overly slow and often boring. Stick with the animated original. 

Not interested in seeing: 

Napoleon - Sadly, director Ridley Scott has been phoning it in for years now and, from what I can see, this film looks horribly inaccurate and heavy-handed with tropes that were tired in Scott films directed 20 years ago, let alone today.

I still need to see these films, in order:

Blackberry 

Origin 

The Color Purple

Priscilla

The Marvels

Passages

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One

Wonka 

The Boys In The Boat

Ferrari

Haunting In Venice

Dicks: The Musical

Dream Scenario

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

Eileen

The Boy and the Heron
Memory

Manodrome

The Iron Claw

Pain Hustlers 

Dumb Money

Bottoms

Anyone But You