A Vegan Education
March 23, 2013
One of the reasons I love documentaries is because I like to learn. Call me a nerd, but it’s true, I love digesting information on just about any topic. More
Michaela Pontellini
A Flying Visit Through Economics
March 16, 2013
My latest Netflix adventure took me into the heart of the world of economics, and how the thorough mining of data points can bring up some surprising information. I dove
The Definition of Debt
March 8, 2013
“He has paid his debt to society”. It’s an old term, though one that has fallen out of common use. The turn of phrase puzzled writer Margaret Atwood so much,
Craigslist Joe is More Awkward Than Not
March 1, 2013
Documentaries featuring the filmmaker as subject to some strange social experiment have always interested me. Although the possible scope of their project is limited to individual results, if properly presented,
At a Dark Crossing
February 11, 2013
A writer moves from an unfulfilling marriage into a violent relationship with a thuggish, though strangely charming ex-con. Crossings, Betty Lambert’s first and only novel, is a chaotic storm of
Slow Crawl Towards The End of Time
February 9, 2013
Time is just a perception. Or so I kept reassuring myself as I sat down to watch The End of Time and experienced the slowest hour and 45 minutes of
All That Glitters
January 25, 2013
Chinese immigration is deeply entwined with the development of the West. The labour of new Chinese immigrants, and the subsequent backlash which led to racially charged government mandates are the
Behind the Scenes of Marvel Comics
January 3, 2013
I have always been a fan of superheroes. As a child I would spend many hours in front of the television watching the cartoons for Spiderman, and my personal favourite,
The History of Punjabis in British Columbia
December 1, 2012
The immigrant experience is not one story, but many. In her book, The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nation, and Multiculturalism, Kamala Elizabeth Nayar describes the experience of
How to Survive a Plague
November 13, 2012
You know that you’ve seen a good film when as soon as the credits roll, you want to start it over again to relive the experience. This is how I felt when
Facing Animals – A Harsh Reality
October 16, 2012
Of the many varied films screening at VIFF this year, there were a number of shorts that played before longer features. One of these was Facing Animals, a half hour
Suzuki Looks for a Brighter Future
September 24, 2012
Want to have the joyous bubble of your Western consumerist lifestyle momentarily burst? Pick up Everything Under the Sun: Toward a Brighter Future on a Small Blue Planet, the latest
