Jordan Mounteer

Shugendo Now

The philosophical practice of Shugendo finds its roots in many of the proto-religious paradigms that made up Japan prior to the Meiji Period (1868-1912), including elements of Shinto, Daoism, and

A Profound and Perplexing Love Story

When you give a philosopher a camera, you have to expect a product that defies (or otherwise transfigures) convention.  And if that convention is film-making, you may come up with

Beauty in Depth

Written and directed by, and based on Benjamín Ávila’s infancy growing up in a family of political activists, Clandestine Childhood takes place at the tail-end of 1979.  Juan (alias Ernesto

Kiarostami’s Simplicity

If it’s possible to describe Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s style of shooting in one word, then careful comes to mind.  There’s elegance in his ability to capture the wholeness of

I am Susan, Hear me Roar

Taking its title from the 1985 movie about a housewife who gets amnesia and is mistaken for a drifter, Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang’s anthology charts the wildly diverse lives, experiences, and

Angels of the 1950s

Combining the visual flair of film with the sultry seduction of dance, the March 12th premiere of The True Heroines webisode series at Vancouver’s Rio Theater brought the 1950’s back

Get Stuck In This Rain

I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day. Yes, it’s often a bitter reminder of subsequent Valentine’s Days that consisted of too many beers, grocery bags full of comfort food, and

Buke and Gase MacGyver A New Sound

It’s easy to encounter adjectives like “innovative”, “original”, or “inventive” when talking about bands who toe the proverbial fringes of contemporary music – their sound inhabits a kind of liminal

Fidlar Don’t Give A Flying…

If you took the Beach Boys, stuck a skateboard under one arm and a cheap lukewarm beer in the other, and then added some leather and punk regalia with a

Get on the Valium Rollercoaster

For most of us the end of January marks the in-between of the winter wearies. Yes, we’ve had enough of the bone-pinching cold and relentless grey weather. Thank you. You