Chrystia Freeland is needed in the Liberal leadership race....

I'm glad to hear that Liberal MP and former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is running to replace Justin Trudeau as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.  She put out this notice on the right on X today showing amazing clarity.  She may have more strategic communications smarts than we thought after all.

Of course, it's one thing to put together an exceptional letter or one sentence press release.  Let's see if Freeland, unencumbered by the constraints of cabinet or working for Trudeau, has other necessary communications skills to win this and become a decent challenge to Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives.  I've had major doubts up to now, but I'm leaving my mind open.   

No doubt, Freeland's experience and knowledge would serve her well.  If elected, she'd be the first female leader of the party, which is something to be excited about. 

Donald Trump hates her because she's a superior negotiator than he is and she's powerful as well.  Electing Chrystia as PM at this time would be a big "fuck you" to that creep and send a message that Canada is going to punch back against his insanity.  

I have to say I also appreciate Mark Carney and what he brings to the race.  His Daily Show appearance earlier this week showed some personality and likeability that would do him well in this race.  His official campaign launch yesterday in Edmonton was more flat by comparison, where Carney's inexperience on the political stage was showing.  Apparently, his French is also not the greatest.  These things aren't immediately disqualifying, but they raise concerns that are forcing a rethink.   

I have no idea if Freeland's French is much better.   We'll see on Sunday when she launches her campaign.  If it's much better than Carney's and she shows some communications chops and better abilities to relate and connect with people, then she may have a much better shot than many Liberals were assuming just a few days ago.   

Mark Carney - Canada Not Interested in Trump’s Offer & Liberal Leadership Prospects

 

Prospective Liberal leadership front runner Mark Carney blows it out of the water with this funny, relatable and superb performance last night on The Daily Show with John Stewart.   

In a week when potential rival candidate Christy Clark put her foot in it, oddly claiming she never joined the Conservative Party and voted for Jean Charest when in fact she did, it's refreshing to see the much-needed outsider Liberal candidate knock it out of the park like this.  

I have to say I'm back in the Carney camp and can't wait to see more of this.   

Poilievre adviser Jenni Byrne throws all queer people under the bus in classless attack on former leader Erin O’Toole

Behold the Conservative Party of Canada where decency and class have gone to die.  If you show a modicum of either, you are publicly ridiculed by Pierre LePire's big wig adviser Jenni Byrne who attacks public servants for being inclusive of queer people.  

Yes, the Conservatives hate queer people!  If you don't, maybe you should reconsider supporting these Trump MAGA-wannabes.

Eddie Goldenberg is pushing his anti-democratic BS again.

Former Chretien advisor Eddie Goldenberg is pushing his anti-democratic BS again. 

Last month, he wanted all candidates pushed aside so that Chrystia Freeland could be anointed as the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Prime Minister.  

Today, he's pushing for a rushed process in which the final decision on the future of our country is made by about 150 insider Liberal MPs.   

I couldn't disagree more.  Due process that is open and democratic is always the best option for democracies.  

Appointments like the one Michael Ignatieff enjoyed in 2009 haven't worked out so well for the Liberal Party in the past.  Why would it today?  

Don't forget that Eddie is the guy who advised Jean Chretien to get the federal government out of the social housing business in the 1990s as he pushed a hard centre-right austerity agenda, which led to the current housing crisis Canada is in today.  

My point: listening to this guy is a big mistake.  We should ignore him now.  

Eddie's big mistake: he assumes an elitist, insider, undemocratic leadership process will impress Canadians, when in reality it will confirm to Canadians that the rot is party-wide not just consigned to Trudeau, and will lead to the party's demise in the election this year.  That would be good work, Eddie!  #cdnpoli

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) 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.

6) 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.  

7) 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.  

8) 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.  

9) 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.

10) 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.

11) 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.  

12) 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 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.  

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.) 

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

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.)

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.) 

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:

Nosferatu

Emilia Perez

Hard Truths

The Room Next Door

The Life Of Chuck

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Heretic

The Last Showgirl

The Order

Rumours

The End

Scoop

The Piano Lesson

I'm Still Here

Inside Out 2

The Return

Memoir of a Snail

The Wild Robot

All We Imagine As Light

A Different Man

The Apprentice

Megalopolis

Blitz

Lee

Kraven: The Hunter

Twisters

We Live In Time

Poolman

Small Things Like These

Despicable Me 4

Red One

Argylle

The First Omen

Oh, Canada

Y2K

Christy Clark could be the dark horse leadership candidate the Federal Liberals need!

My post yesterday got some decent response, including some push back against my kind words for Mark Carney. 

One acquaintance wrote: "Christy Clark..is an excellent retail politician one on one with the public. Middle of the road to bring in moderate voters. Carney unfortunately will be seen as another elitist. Christy is a tough negotiator with big corporations to get what she wanted. I didn't always support her but she is the only viable alternative to Poilievre."

Others seconded those sentiments.  I have to agree I would worry about Carney's ability to effectively counter those inevitable attacks that he's an elitist who ordinary voters will struggle to relate to.   

Other Liberals are looking not only for someone who makes sense for today's political climate, but also someone who might be skilled in the political trenches to do the work rebuilding after a likely defeat in 2025.  It's not clear Mr. Carney would have those skills or stick around to rebuild a shattered party.   

I of course hope a new Liberal leader would make that party more competitive against the Conservatives.  It would all depend on the effectiveness of that person credibly parting from the mediocre Trudeau past and forging an inspiring and reassuring path forward for the country.  

I will consider Christy Clark very seriously if she also runs.  It's true, she led a centre-right government in British Columbia as head of the B.C. Liberals, an amalgam at the time of Liberals and Conservatives.   

I also agree that a gentle move back to the centre from Trudeau's virtue-signalling would be welcome.  Of course, it's not just embracing moderate policy.  It's also most importantly about adopting a more populist approach to politics, meaning ensuring that the people feel like the government is deeply responsive to their real needs, not just meeting the needs of the elite and powerful.   

The more I think about it, the less I agree Carney is that person.  So yes, I guess you could put me firmly in the undecided column, torn between Clark and Carney.  I'll await their performances on the leadership campaign trail.  

Of course, all of this assumes Justin Trudeau will very soon put us out of our misery and announce his resignation.   Come on, Justin, please don't keep us waiting too much longer!!! 

Justin Trudeau needs to go now and the federal Liberal Party needs full renewal and change...

I spent the fall season trying to build up my YouTube channel by posting political commentaries. It was enjoyable to explore online / on-camera expression as well as practice my editing skills.

I focused mostly on the U.S. election and made many predictions based on how I thought the presidential race was going.  Like many, many people, I was deeply disappointed that many of the historical harbingers I've relied on - like the 13 Keys to the White House, like Michael Moore, to name two - were completely wrong this year.   Like many, I hoped in my heart that basic human decency and sanity would overcome the evil that is Donald Trump and his racist MAGA movement.  I was wrong.  

I have been contemplating how I want to continue that vlogging.  YouTube can be a tricky but interesting beast to take on.  I'm still planning on producing more videos, once I settle on a consistent approach that I can sustain on that platform.  But in the mean time, I wanted to get these words down on this blog.  

With Trump returning to power amid a conflict-ridden world where despots are winning the day, we are now living in a more dangerous, more hateful world.  I would say American voters - 49.8% of them who apparently voted for Donald Trump over the more qualified female candidate who had run a better campaign in three months - did a great job in undermining democracy itself.

If a convicted felon, liar, rapist, seditionist, narcissistic man boy like Trump can win an election simply because those voters mistakenly believe a white male businessman who once hosted a hit TV show about firing people is better for their economic prospects, we are in serious jeopardy.  

We are seeing the impact of 30 years of misinformation caused by fake rightwing media like Fox News, reinforced by social media echo chambers where truth and shared facts have gone to die.  

The last four years have been tough on all of us.  The pandemic threw us all for a loop and many of us have yet to fully recover.   Private sector vultures took full advantage of the situation to steal even more from us, making basic human living a major challenge.   Housing costs and all costs of living have soared, eating up many gains individuals have managed to make in this tough economy of the 2020s.  

As we enter 2025, things look bleak. 

In Canada, we are facing a federal election that is likely to see the incumbent Liberals - like so many incumbent parties the world over - tossed out of office. 

Justin Trudeau has worn out his welcome.  It's time for him to finally resign and rid us of his long-tired schtick.  

I voted for Trudeau in 2015 and have appreciated many of the big picture policy changes he has implemented.  His main mantra of helping the middle class spoke correctly with the times and his government did manage to lift hundreds of thousands of people and families out of poverty with the Canada Child Tax Benefit.  His government also negotiated child care agreements with the provinces, a much needed boost for the economy.   Other policies like legalizing and regulating cannabis, or eliminating the rotten partisanship of the Canadian Senate, were much needed and appreciated.   

Trudeau didn't sweat the details, though.  His immense flaws are now well-known.  A penchant for big announcements followed by little follow-up or attention to detail.   His virtue signalling has grown tired and meaningless in the face of the forces we are now staring down.  While his response to the pandemic seemed to work for most Canadians' health and kept the economy from collapsing, he has been ineffective ever since.  

The public is simply sick to death of Trudeau now.  Myself included.  It's difficult to justify wanting to keep him in power any longer considering the ineptitude we've seen lately.   

His big successes are now far in the rear view mirror.  

Mid-December, Chrystia Freeland did the country a great service by exposing the nasty nature of their sunny Prime Minister.  It bafflled most Liberals, let alone Canadians, to hear that Trudeau told Freeland days before she was expected to deliver a fall economic update that he was demoting her and setting her up to take the fall for his government's economic misdeeds.  It was a stab directly in her face after years of misplaced loyalty.  

Trudeau is said to be contemplating his future.  Any decent, smart leader would've seen the writing on the wall months ago and left in order to let his party renew and the country move on.   But not the narcissistic Trudeau.  He has to be pushed to see past his rose-coloured worldview.  

It's over now.  If Trudeau stays, the party he resuscitated will be destroyed in the 2025 election.   It will be a crushing and destructive end to the Trudeau legacy, which has been up until now fairly intact.  

If Trudeau leaves now, he actually protects that legacy by falling on his sword.  Conservatives are licking their lips at the prospect of handing Justin one of the biggest electoral defeats ever suffered an incumbent.  His resignation would deny them that satisfaction.  

And pave the way for some kind of Liberal renewal.  

It's crucial at this time that, if Trudeau quits, the Liberals implement a quick and democratic process to replace him.  The process needs to be seen as fair and just.  No anti-democratic appointments that circumvent the tough but needed work of a leadership campaign.   Any move to push out contenders in order to anoint an insider like Dominic Leblanc will prove to Canadians the rot didn't just stop with Trudeau.  It will be proof the rot has affected the entire party and the whole party needs to be decimated. 

No, Liberals need to get this right now.  A fulsome and quick leadership following a prorogation of the House of Commons could be wrapped up by the end of February.   I'm fine with Justin Trudeau staying on as caretaker prime minister so he can put what skills he may yet possess to work combating the threat of Donald Trump's wacko agenda.   

Who would I support as Justin's successor?  Nobody closely associated with Trudeau's government, which has been less than stellar and largely incompetent of late.  It's time to turn the page and return to some semblance of management, reason, focus and energy.  The next leader should be someone from the outside, someone who can prove they are charting a more moderate, inclusive, intelligent, careful approach to the country's stewardship. 

At the outset, based on what I've heard from him and his writings and public statements, that person may well be Mark Carney, in my estimation.   There are many pros and cons to Carney's possible candidacy.  I think a lot of his success will depend on how well he performs in a robust and competitive leadership race.  It's his to earn.   If he fumbles or fails to prove he's got the political chops to match his considerable vision and policy skills, it will justly slip away from him.  

But at the outset, I have to say no to Chrystia Freeland (who is a terrible communicator, notwithstanding her resignation letter) and no to Dominic Leblance or anyone else who served in Trudeau's cabinet.  

I don't trust nor really want to find out what kind of government Christy Clark would manage, based on her record leading the BC Conservatives - er "Liberals" - in government.  

But I am deeply curious about what kind of government Carney would run.  His mild-mannered, thoughtful approach to public policy would be a welcome change from empty, superficial, showman Trudeau, not to mention the crude assholeness of Pierre Poilievre.  

Even if Carney were unsuccessful winning the next election, I'd still want him to stick around to lead the rebuild.  I'd still want to see him eventually back in power.   I can't say that about ANY of the other Liberal contenders. 

So there it is: Trudeau must go now.  The Liberals must run a fair and democratic leadership race.  And at the outset, I hope Mark Carney wins it.  

We'll see what the next few days and weeks and months hold for our country.  

Today's reality check: "Doug Ford wants you to focus on bike lanes and beer — and pay no attention to this, his biggest failure"

Today's reality check: "Doug Ford wants you to focus on bike lanes and beer — and pay no attention to this, his biggest failure," by Matt Elliott

There's no doubt most Ontarians are realizing the scarcity of affordable housing or shelter is what is destroying economic opportunities and basic human life in this province for so many.  

On this and so many issues, Ontario is a broken society.  

As we struggle with these economic realities, we have a premier desperately trying to distract us from who he really is and what he's not bothered to do with his immense power these last 7 years.  

Here's an excerpt from Matt Elliott's great piece: 

"It’s fitting that the Wizard of Oz is back on the big screen in the new “Wicked” movie, because Premier Doug Ford is reminding me a lot of the old Wiz these days. Ford has really ramped up the showmanship lately, calling for a bike lane witch hunt and making magical announcements about beer, highway tunnels and $200 cheques. Much of it, it seems, is being done in the service of getting us to look away from the reality of how things are going in Ford’s Ontario.

"In particular, he’d really like us to pay no attention to the housing policy failure behind the curtain.

"But by the numbers, Ford’s failure on housing should be way too big to hide...

"...But Ford’s increasing desire to talk about anything but housing suggests he doesn’t have a plan to fix it. Like Oz, the premier is ultimately just a guy using the political equivalent of smoke machines and pyrotechnics to try to distract from a disappointing truth."

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.

HEY MAGA: "TRUMP STOLE THE 2024 ELECTION!" - Let's Give MAGA VOTERS a TASTE OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE #fraud

IOWA SELZER POLL COULD BE FORESHADOWING KAMALA HARRIS LANDSLIDE! #usaelections

DON'T PANIC! KAMALA HARRIS STILL POISED to Win U.S. PRESIDENCY this week!