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Stuart HendersonAbout Stuart Henderson Stuart Henderson, PhD, is a Toronto-based historian, professor, musician, pacifist, and journalist. He is the singer-songwriter for the independent folk-rock band Ghostwalk Creek. His forthcoming book is Making the Scene: Yorkville and Hip Toronto in the Sixties (University of Toronto Press) and he is presently at work on a history of Rochdale College and the rise of hip separatism in the 1970s. All of this is fun, but he’d rather be camping. Features
Commit: An Interview with Steve EarleEarle digs through a mutual past for a new album of Townes Van Zandt covers, and he explains what it was like knowing, and being heckled by, the songwriter himself. [11 May 2009] The Energy Moving Through the Air: An Interview with Calexico’s Joey BurnsIn a business that is dominated by both the hyper-commodification of artistry and the lazy emphasis on marketing and artifice rather than imagination and creativity, Calexico’s “just play” approach is like the whisper of another era. [16 September 2008] Grateful Dead: Winterland 1973: The Complete RecordingsUltimately, what I am trying to say is this: The Dead can be appreciated -- indeed, probably must be appreciated -- as a kind of continuing, evolving, shifty performance of “The Grateful Dead”. [20 June 2008] Trains and Boats and Covers and Toddlers: An Interview With Laura CantrellCantrell returns with an album of covers influenced by motherhood, the war, and, mostly, the need to just play. [21 May 2008] Reviews
The National Parks: America’s Best IdeaLike an exquisitely rendered paint-by-numbers, Ken Burns' National Parks has been designed for passive appreciation: it is gorgeous, but empty. [23 October 2009] 
Foyle’s War: Sets 1-5 - From Dunkirk to V-E DayOne feels compelled to keep up, to try to untangle the right strands, to disregard the red herrings, to remark on the occasional Chekovian gun. It’s utterly thrilling to be treated like an adult. [15 October 2009] 
Canuck Rock: A History of Canadian Popular Music by Ryan EdwardsonEdwardson’s book should find a wide audience with people hungry for anything on the subject of Canadian popular music, and they could do a lot worse than to read this encyclopedic work. [11 October 2009] 
Guy Clark: Somedays the Song Writes YouGuy Clark’s best songs are so wise, so sneakily didactic that they can seem to blow on the wind of fable. [23 September 2009] 
The Last Days of DiscoAs far as I can tell, there’s not much about their little corner of the room that screams “disco”. Mostly it just screams: “white upper-east-side establishment money”. [11 September 2009] 
Christina Courtin: Christina CourtinHold on, folks, because if she isn’t the second coming, then a raft of the best and brightest musicians in the business are backing the wrong horse. 
KatynLegendary Polish director Andrzej Wajda tackles a very personal subject in the harrowing Katyn, the long-denied Soviet massacre of the Polish officer corps in WWII. [28 August 2009] 
UlyssesResembling a 100-minute episode of Star Trek, one imagines that the new crowd for this old journey will be the late night stoners, shooting for their best Mystery Science Theater impressions. [26 August 2009] 
The Terry Jones CollectionJones is simply reminding us that hubris is the worst of all historical errors. To presume that whatever we need to do to sustain our position is justified, is to head full bore toward the precipice. [19 August 2009] 
John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band: Live in Toronto ‘69This was the moment that the Beatles broke up. It's tough to watch footage from that night as anything other than the beginning of the long denouement to an epic story. [5 July 2009] 
Patterson Hood: Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)Explores variations on Hood’s favorite subject -- the lonely, forgotten everyman wandering through a twisted, complex, over-mythologized American South. [22 June 2009] 
Todd Snider: The Excitement PlanWith The Excitement Plan Snider has, without any fanfare, without any flash, solidified his place among the masters of the form. [17 June 2009] 
Legally BlondesYou will hate these characters before you even get to know them. And your prejudice will be bang on. Is that a good lesson? [12 May 2009] 
Tarkovsky Rediscovered: The Steamroller and the Violin / Voyage in TimeTo enter into Tarkovsky’s world is to shed any sense of life as “reality”; it is to embrace the image of life, to see your reflection in an as-yet-undisturbed pool of water. [28 April 2009] 
Brian Blade: Mama RosaThe best drummer in the world sort of makes a Joni Mitchell album. [21 April 2009] 
Coming to AmericaFrom big hair to shoulder pads, power suits to Jeri-Curl, and an omnipresent and delightfully horrific synthed-out soundtrack, this flick has a hungover Sunday on the couch written all over it. [6 April 2009] 
Little Richard Live at the Toronto Peace Festival, 1969This brief documentary by legendary rock ’n’ roll verité artist D.A. Pennebaker provides a glimpse of a '50s firebrand’s re-emergence as a novelty act amid the final days of a decade he helped to create, but in which he had played almost no role. [26 March 2009] 
ChokePalahniuk loves our disillusionment, or hates it enough to understand just exactly how it operates, and in what darkened corners of our cities and towns it is made manifest. [23 March 2009] Gary Louris and Mark OlsonThe reunion of these two voices, these two songwriting pens, is cause for celebration. 
Tess of the D’UrbervillesI adore Thomas Hardy for the searing heat of his anguish, his irrepressible misery, his undaunted passion for the darkest, most terrifying facets of this life. [19 March 2009] 
Cheech and Chong: Still Smokin’: I Love the 80’s edtionIn short, this is among the least funny films you will ever see. This is in and of itself quite a serious problem for a comedy, but it gets worse. [1 March 2009] 
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: self-titled"Something else you can't believe" from former Drive-By Truckers whiz kid. [19 February 2009] 
Underworld and Underworld: EvolutionWhereas The Matrix relied on hyper-cool outfits and the beauty of stylized action sequences to help tell its weird little story, Underworld relies on them to try to make us forget that we are watching a story this insipid. [8 February 2009] 
Sunset Boulevard, Roman Holiday & SabrinaThree of the greatest films you’ll ever see have been sumptuously repackaged, here. This is cause for joy. Celebration, even. [30 January 2009] 
Lady Chatterley (Extended European Edition)In a film that is in every way about the stirring of the dormant libido, Hands performance eventually dazzles. [26 November 2008] 
Standard operating ProcedureAs with all his work, Morris approaches his subjects like a hawk, circling his prey, darting in here and there, tearing off a piece. [20 November 2008] 
The Michael Palin CollectionMichael Palin does all the stuff you’d probably be afraid to do yourself and, while doing it, he makes witty little jokes and smiles like a bastard. [12 November 2008] 
CSNY / Déjà VuNeil Young's politically-charged documentary is moving without being cloying, dark without being despairing, and clever when it could have been just plain obvious. [4 November 2008] 
Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of PleasureI promise I will not say “bodice-ripper”, but I will say that Fanny Hill is like the morality play Nietzsche might have written. [27 October 2008] 
Sundown: The Vampire In RetreatThis film is bad. As in: late night, half-in-the-bag, lights out, bowl of microwave popcorn, and it’s still bad. [20 October 2008] 
Chicago 10Where is our Chicago Ten? Where are our “conspirators”? Is Obama really supposed to fix everything? Can we really pretend that things are still getting better all the time? [15 October 2008] 
Under the Pavement Lies the StrandHelma Sanders-Brahms’ complex feminist masterpiece asks a series of impossible questions, and never pretends to have any of the answers. [12 September 2008] 
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism (FOX Attacks Special Edition)This is America these days: you’re either with something, or you’re against it, and never the twain shall meet. Just try democracy under those conditions. [11 September 2008] 
All My Good CountrymenThe film is obsessed with loss, with the edging out of a vibrant past to make way for a banal future. [4 September 2008] 
Democracy and Disappointment: On the Politics of ResistanceUltimately, this is an interesting and informative philosophy lecture that, through this DVD, we can all sort of attend. Yay? [3 September 2008] 
PrivilegeThis early masterpiece by celebrated auteur Peter Watkins invites us to consider the possible implications of a fully co-opted popular culture. [20 August 2008] 
The Forbidden ZoneRichard Elfman and his traveling musical theatre troupe The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo re-create their eclectic – I want to say psychotropic – stage show on film. Yay? 
Mojo Man & Arkansas RockpileThe real shame about Hawkins is that as good as he was, he’ll never be afforded the credit, interest, or admiration he might’ve garnered had his protégés not morphed into such a force of nature. [13 August 2008] 
The Year My Parents Went on VacationThis film navigates between two great emotional poles: the elation of national triumph on the soccer pitch, and the creeping terror of the thought police. [22 July 2008] 
Eliza Gilkyson : Beautiful WorldAlthough burning with rage at the devastating course her native United States has taken these past years, Gilkyson refuses to let it push her to dejection. [14 July 2008] 
Gene Clark : Silverado ‘75: Live and UnreleasedBoasting pristine sound quality, and demonstrating the oft-inebriated Clark at his lucid, clear-headed best, this is plainly an essential document. [8 July 2008] 
Weeds: Season ThreeThis isn’t clever satire anymore, but something like an unintentionally Bergmanesque study of moral self-destruction. [27 June 2008] 
StonewallBecause director Nigel Finch seems content with the notion that you can hang any situation, theme, or idea on Stonewall, the film takes virtually every predictable route to the final showdown. [20 June 2008] 
An Eye For An EyeSlow, intellectually empty, and as predictable as the chime on the hour, everything about this film is tired. [18 June 2008] 
Che Guevara: Hasta la Victoria SiempreThe fact that this documentary manages to make Guevara’s story boring is a laudable feat. If there were a Razzie for docs, this would be a ringer. [9 June 2008] 
Aimee Mann : @#%&! SmilersMaybe after feeling the sting from fans and critics (misplaced though it surely was) after 2005's The Forgotten Arm, Mann has retreated a bit. But, rather than a “return to form”, we have a return to format. [4 June 2008] 
David Wilcox: AirstreamDavid Wilcox lives in a really cool trailer. Also, he is not the same guy who sang "Do the Bearcat". [28 May 2008] 
Ween : The Friends EPAlways an experimental outfit, Ween has built their considerable reputation by embracing every whack notion that crosses their drug-addled minds. [27 May 2008] 
Hamburger Hill: 20th Anniversary EditionFor its unflinching approach, its eye for human strength and compassion, its clear message about the catastrophic stupidity of the enterprise itself, this remains among the very best films ever made about men at war. [23 May 2008] New Pornographers + Okkervil RiverBoasting no fewer than three indie heroes (in Neko Case, Carl Newman, and Dan Bejar), this is not a band that should have to work to get a capacity crowd into a lather. But work they did. [12 May 2008] 
Various Artists: The Rough Guide to: Ultimate Musical AdventuresThe most successful world-music-for-dummies label that isn't Putumayo! [9 May 2008] 
Constantines: Kensington HeightsBeautifully recorded, and alive with the unpredictable energy that drives their killer live shows, Kensington Heights demonstrates the band’s maturity, and their well-earned confidence. [8 May 2008] Blitzen Trapper + Fleet FoxesBlitzen Trapper seem to know just how good they are, and revel in their tightness, their intensity, and their passion. This is a live act it’s hard not to enjoy. [7 May 2008] 
Marc Ribot: Marc Ribot [DVD]In this too-brief biographical film, French documentarian Anaïs Prosaïc aims to unravel the mystery surrounding this complicated artist 
Fine Dead GirlsAs a meditation on the tragedy of a broken community and on the viciousness of Croatia’s recent fascistic past, this is thoughtful and incisive, if unremittingly bleak. [6 May 2008] 
Black, White + GrayThis intriguing documentary seeks to restore Wagstaff – an enigmatic, enthralling figure by any reckoning – to his rightful place at the centre of New York's art world in the '70s and '80s. [2 May 2008] 
Farmer’s Market: Surfin’ USSRDidn’t Paul McCartney already make this joke about surf music and the Soviet empire? [1 May 2008] 
John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain: Remember Shakti: The Way of Beauty [DVD]A dreamy, explosive collaborative effort steeped in a mystical past but forward-looking in its execution -- human music fueled by a touch of the sacred. [30 April 2008] 
Terry Jones: Medieval LivesIn this excellent collection of eight 30-minute episodes shot for the BBC, Terry Jones offers a kind of Holy Grail redux -- informed, intelligent, and often hilarious. [29 April 2008] 
Various Artists: Our Side of TownA terrific sampler from one of the best labels in contemporary folk. 
Caribbean Jazz Project: Afro Bop AllianceWhat happens when you mix a Jazz Project with a Bop Alliance? [23 April 2008] Drive-By Truckers: 19 March 2008 - TorontoThese days, the Drive-By Truckers are nearly revolutionary in their refusal to treat their music as ironic, as some kind of joyless, angsty joke. No, the Truckers live for this stuff. [17 April 2008] 
A Global Warning?Didactic, straightforward, and trying too hard to speak to me “in a language I’ll understand”, this film made me want to cut class and go smoke cigarettes in the parking lot. [15 April 2008] 
En La CamaA well-acted Chilean art film that tries, but fails, to overcome an empty script. [3 April 2008] 
Daniel Lanois: Here Is What IsMysterious pedal steel, extraordinary songwriting, and the best goddamn drummer in the world. What it is. [1 April 2008] 
The Inner Life of Martin FrostA dark, slippery love story, a meditation on the risks of embracing one’s muse, a study of the author and his/her “creation”, a quiet reflection on the nature of “human understanding”, this film is many things at once. [27 March 2008] 
Mark Fry: Shooting the MoonThirty-five years after his obscure first record, the reclusive folkie returns with a pleasant sophomore effort. [20 March 2008] 
Steve Dawson: Waiting for the Lights to Come UpGreat sounding acoustic effort from Vancouver-based journeyman. [4 March 2008] Charlie Hunter TrioThe jamband audience insists upon a progression of kinetic grooves; jazz listeners require remarkable, focused musicianship. The Charlie Hunter Trio didn’t have quite enough of either. [26 February 2008] 
Miss JulieMuch of the power of Strindberg’s staging comes from the juxtaposition between a celebration of life, sexuality, and freedom without, and the claustrophobic horrorshow within. [22 February 2008] 
Jason Collett: Here’s to Being HereThoroughly mature, endlessly melodic, and superbly crafted, Here’s to Being Here a joyful noise. [20 February 2008] 
Free Form Funky Frëqs: Urban Mythology Volume OneLeaning too much on '80s heavy metal guitar sounds and jamband laziness, Vernon Reid's new project is less than riveting. [14 February 2008] 
The Gods of Times SquareOffering little insight, no narration, no explanations whatever about the context to these pseudo-interviews, we are left to watch as random fanatics ramble about their beliefs. 
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis: Music from the Motion Picture The Assassination of Jesse James by the CoMusic to get shot by Casey Affleck to. [11 February 2008] 
Various Artists: Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6Want to become an instant armchair expert on one of the most exciting, melodic, diverse, and joyous periods in the history of pop music? Nigeria Special provides your crib notes. [4 February 2008] 
Olivier Ker Ourio: OverseaI know that the harmonica is, for many jazz fans, the most detested of instruments. [30 January 2008] 
Playaz Circle: Supply and DemandPlayaz Circle are good enough to stick around for awhile but won’t be changing anyone’s mind about crunk. [25 January 2008] 
Patty Larkin: Watch the SkyAn eclectic, dynamic release from one of American folk music’s best-loved triple threats. [24 January 2008] 
Biréli Lagrène Gipsy Project: Just the Way You AreLagrène is so calmly amazing on guitar that it’s easy to forget the rest of the musicians who surround him. 
In the Heat of the NightNorman Jewison’s didactic film is a classic example of liberal guilt as entertainment. [21 January 2008] 
Fancey: SchmanceyRemember “Jackie Blue”, that big 1975 hit song by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils? So does Todd Fancey. 
The Hard Lessons: B & G Sides Vol. 1The Hard Lessons’ brief EP should do exactly what it’s supposed to: get them on the radio. [18 January 2008] 
The Temptations: Back to FrontBy now more an idea than a band, the Temptations return with a tightly constructed, mostly fun, yet deeply inessential new record. [15 January 2008] 
She’s Gotta Have ItSupported by armchair psychology, a jazz soundtrack, and a healthy concern with sex and relationship anxiety, Spike Lee's film plays like a Woody Allen movie across the bridge. [14 January 2008] 
The TenA high-speed collision between Krzysztof Kieślowski's Dekalog and Woody Allen’s Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex. The Fiery FurnacesI don’t listen to the Fiery Furnaces much, but there's a reason I see them every time they come to town. [7 January 2008] 
Christmas Time In South ParkThis little collection, a compilation of seven Christmas episodes from the years 1997-2004, is a pretty great one-disc example of both the deeply disgusting depths and the insightful heights South Park manages to reach. [3 December 2007] 
Twin Peaks: The Definitive Gold Box EditionWith crisp performances throughout (especially from Kyle MacLachlan, in a role he was born to play), unforgettable settings and cinematography, and inventive, uncompromising scripts from episode to episode, Twin Peaks makes for uncommonly rewarding repeat viewings. [29 November 2007] 
A Mighty HeartAt last, all we have is the horror we began with. Pearl will be beheaded, for nothing, and the world gets a little darker. [16 November 2007] 
20 to Life: The Life and Times of John SinclairThere is no lesson here, moral or otherwise, nor is there anything of an examination of the spirit of the man at the center of it all. [15 November 2007] 
I Was NineteenIn Germany during the final days of the Second World War, peace is hard won, and hatred and distrust linger as the film comes to its close. But, who is the enemy here? [14 November 2007] 
AllegroIn Allegro, Boe's semi-direct rip-off of Gondry's vastly superior (and let's face it, much more intelligent) film, there is simply no one worth feeling anything about. [23 October 2007] 
Species IVIt’s odd, and probably unforgivable, that a film based on the most pornographic premise ever to come out of Hollywood – a beautiful alien woman is murderously determined to have torrid sex with random men so she can produce offspring – is so thoroughly sexless. [2 October 2007] 
Babel: Lest We Be UnitedThe great, overarching question one asks during a film such as this is: where is the light? At 143 minutes, this much sadness and tragedy becomes somewhat numbing. [1 October 2007] 
Greys Anatomy - Season ThreeGrey's Anatomy addresses our deepest fears (death, illness, loneliness and, well, reality) while stroking our absurdly engorged capacity for feeling guilty about our pursuit of pleasure. [24 September 2007] 
The Camden 28In their quiet way, theirs was perhaps the most effective action against the American war machine of all the major protests in the period. [21 September 2007] 
All My LovingTony Palmer's 1968 made-for-BBC "masterpiece" looks decidedly more suspect today. [18 September 2007] 
Howling with the AngelsAlas, we learn little of Jan Bodon, and little of why his son felt compelled to make this film. [5 September 2007] 
Myrna Loy and William Powell CollectionWitty and urbane Nick and Nora drink and fumble their way through these films with an easy grace, a charming lethargy, and a captivating, detached humor. [30 August 2007] 
Life After Death: The Movie - Ten Years LaterEssentially a 75-minute cobble of shaky amateur holiday snaps, many of which feature nothing more than a group of shirtless friends hanging out, chatting, vacationing, swimming, smoking dope, etc., this DVD is unavoidably boring. [23 August 2007] 
The Abandoned (2006)A perplexing little ghost story about one woman’s search for her roots, the film grapples with the weightiness of the past, the inevitability of fate, and the madness of desire. [26 July 2007] BlogsNotes from the Road: Toronto International Film Festival 2009: Part 5 [18 September 2009]Notes from the Road: Toronto International Film Festival 2009: Part 4 [17 September 2009]Notes from the Road: Toronto International Film Festival 2009: Part Three [16 September 2009]Notes from the Road: Toronto International Film Festival 2009: Part 2 [15 September 2009]Notes from the Road: Toronto International Film Festival 2009: Part 1 [14 September 2009] |
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