About halfway through "Black Swan" I started hoping that Leon from "The Professional" would bust in to blow away the creepy ballet maestro perving his lead dancer. That's how much I like Natalie Portman. It's been a huge pleasure watching her grow and grow up as an actress, where great performances in "Beautiful Girls", "Closer" and "V for Vendetta" have more than made up for the "Star Wars" prequels and "Mr. Magorium's Wonder...

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"Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah! Here I am at -- Podcamp Taranah!" The bane of my sixth or seventh summer was Camp Shagabek, an ancient Saskatchewan Indian term for "The place where the scrotum tightens". My parents told me it was a Church Camp where I'd be able to run and play, do woodcarving and learn to swim. I spent most of my time running from nine year old heathens and playing dead in the Poison Ivy. I managed to half...

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The enduring image I'll take away from "CMPA 2011", last week's Canadian Media Producers Association conference of all those concerned with the Canadian film, TV and new Media Industries, was provided by Etan Vlessing in The Hollywood Reporter; an item which began… "Canadian film and TV industry players are coming together Friday in Ottawa to discuss how to deal with Netflix. Local broadcasters, cable and satellite TV services,...

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Last Sunday's 53rd Annual Grammy Awards spawned several "copycat" controversies. Some claimed that Cee Lo Green had copied the costume Elton John wore while playing "Crocodile Rock" on "The Muppet Show" in 1978. Others whined that Lady Gaga's new hit "Born This Way" reminded them a whole lot of Madonna's "Express Yourself". La Gaga poo-poohed such comparisons by pointing out that her song had arrived in an "immaculate...

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The Canadian Media Production Association (Canada's industry rep for Producers formerly known as CFTPA) opened its annual conference in Ottawa today. This is where our television networks, independent producers, government funders, regulators and enablers as well as related Creative Guilds and individual artists all gather to figure out what's going on in the business and where we need to be heading to build a more successful...

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Last week, "Saturday Night Live" opened reprising a sketch format and characters that hadn't been seen on television since 1994. Yet in 17 years, the iconic images of "Wayne's World" hadn't lost resonance with the SNL audience. Although made world famous by comedians Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, "Wayne's World" actually first reached a mass audience as "Wayne's Power Minute" on the CBC series "It's Only Rock And Roll" many...

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"He's so unhip that… When you say Dylan, he thinks you're talking about Dylan Thomas, Whoever he was. The man ain't got no culture, But it's all right, ma… Everybody must get stoned." -- Paul Simon (A Simple Desultory Philippic) I used to think I was the only one having trouble keeping up. There were days I looked in the mirror and swore I saw Andy Rooney staring back at me....

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So, I'm hosting a Super Bowl party yesterday afternoon. Still operating on Eastern Time, I'm in a hurry to get the last of the fixin's just right -- because on the West coast the game seems to start mid-afternoon. The "boys" are all arrayed in the den. Friends of my dad in their 80's who'll nurse one beer through the first half and opt for a nice cuppa tea if they're awake after zoning out during the Black Eyed Peas. I thumb...

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On a day when the primary theme of television will be the King Kong vs. Godzilla clash between macho football titans named after muscular professions (Steel Making and Meat Packing) their respective home towns don't do so much of anymore -- why should mercenary bunny rabbits seem out of place? About a year ago, this weird little snippet of animation entitled "Cat Shit One" appeared around the web, featuring said mercenary bunnies...

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When dictatorships want to control those who do not agree with them they control access to the Internet. When Canadian corporations want to control those who compete with them they control access to the Internet. Most of world's economies are based on scarcity, the law of supply and demand, a system which creates most of our wealth and much of what passes for power. Precious metals and rare earth minerals are worth a great...

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