The Museum of Contemporary Art's Fall Lineup and a Hellraiser Halloween

A piece of Art by Artist Bharti Kher. From the Museum of Contemporary Art's Fall 2026 exhibits. The photo was taken at the exhibit's launch on the evening of Saturday, October 3rd, 2026.

MOCA Toronto's Thought Provoking Fall Art and 2022's Hellraiser remake - a nearly perfect Halloween flick

On Saturday, October 3rd, it was my pleasure to attend the launch of the Museum of Contemporary Art's Fall Exhibits. Located at 158 Sterling Road in Toronto, MOCA has become my favourite Art Museum in the city since I discovered it about a year and a half ago.

Built in the early 1900s, the 10-storey structure was originally the Alcan Aluminum Building. When the Aluminum Company of Canada constructed the building, it was the tallest in the city until the Royal York Hotel opened. Next door to MOCA is the Henderson Brewing Company, which in another life was the Toronto headquarters of Scythes Textiles, a historically important manufacturer that contributed to Canada's D-Day efforts in the Second World War. 

Floors 1 and 3 of MOCA feature Bharti Kher's Bones. These are objects created during the past 15 years. The exhibit's title refers both to human remains, and to a foundation upon which something new can be built. Part of Kher's goal with this show is to draw attention to how shapes organize our systems of belief and perceptions of the world surrounding us.

My personal favourite object is pictured above - a deconstructed Artist's Easel that has been made into a triangle. There's plenty to gaze at and consider here. It's clearly the work of a fertile, inspired imagination.

On MOCA's second floor visitors will find a single installation piece titled Ombligo by Delcy Morelos. The work means 'navel' in Morelos's native language. She was born in Colombia in 1967. The Artist has constructed a very large work made of sisal rope treated with soil and corn roots from Toronto. There is a spicy, earthy smell in the room I couldn't quite place. Pleasant to the senses.

My evening with friends ended at Thirsty and Miserable, a cleverly named bar located just east of Roncesvalles on Dundas Street West. The glasses on the bar looked great in the bar's lighting (memories of Berlin's preferred nightlife colours). So I thought I would snap a couple photos of them.  

A closeup of glasses on the bar at Thirsty and Miserable - a pub located at 2102 Dundas Street West in Toronto.

Hellraiser (2022) a Halloween Movie that pays homage to Clive Barker's source material while serving up scares

"It's really nice. What is it?" - Joey Coscuna (Kit Clarke) to Roland Voight (Goran Visnjic)

"It's a puzzle. The only one of its' kind. Forgotten, until now. And it's almost finished. Keep going." - Voight

"So if I solve it, do I get a prize?" - Joey 

"I do." - Voight 

Since it's Halloween season, I want to devote some space in this entry to review Hellraiser (2022). A film by Director David Brucker that's based on Clive Barker's 1986 novel The Hellbound Heart. 

Barker's novel about hedonistic criminal Frank Cotton's pursuit of sensation has spawned no less than 11 horror films. In Barker's original novel the protagonist buys the LeMarchand Configuration (more commonly known as The Box) in Germany. 

The Box is a puzzle. People who solve it open a doorway to another realm - a version of Hell populated by the Cenobites. These heavily mutilated beings do not distinguish between pain and pleasure. In the famous words of Doug Bradley's Pinhead from the 1987 film: "(We are) explorers in the further regions of experience. Demons to some, Angels to others."

The 2022 re-make opens with a transaction in Belgrade, Serbia, where hedonistic millionaire Roland Voight's (Goran Visnjic) assistant Serena (Hiam Abbass) purchases the box from a shady character seated on a park bench.

From here we transition to Voight's mansion stateside. An opulent party night where sex worker Joey Coscuna (Kit Clarke) is selected by Serena to be Voight's final offering to the Cenobites. In this version of the story The Box has six configurations it progresses through: 

1) Lament - Life

2) Lore - Knowledge

3) Lauderant - Live  

4) Liminal - Sensation 

5) Lazarus - Resurrection

6) Leviathan - Power

Years after the events of the prologue, The Box is recovered from an abandoned warehouse by Riley (Odessa A'Zion), a recovering addict. She is aided in the theft by Trevor (Drew Starkey) her less than on-the-level boyfriend. However, if I was dating someone that hot, I wouldn't ask too many questions either.

Riley embarks on a journey with the box as the Cenobites urge her to proceed with offering human sacrifices so she can claim her 'reward' / audience with God (the Leviathan). 

Through Riley's journey and The Box's 6 different configurations, this re-make of Hellraiser really shines. Both Riley, and the viewer, come to see the different gifts the Cenobites have to offer are really just one - Pain. In this way, Hellraiser is a sophisticated metaphor for the emptiness of alcohol and / or substance addiction.  

Riley's choice to live her life without such a 'gift' at the film's end (the Lament Configuration) is a redemptive one. Our heroine recognizes the false choices on offer. Instead, she walks away from addiction and broken promises, and into a healthier future filled with deeper meaning.

007: First Light - A Polished Bond Game with a Modern Twist

 

James Bond (Patrick Gibson) at the Arch Nightclub in London. The level design, which uses IO Interactive's Glacier Engine, is consistently polished and filled with interesting details to discover.

007: First Light is a Bond game that puts a modern spin on classic themes from the movies. It looks, feels, and plays like something on the cutting edge.

6 years in the making, 007: First Light uses studio IO Interactive's Glacier game building engine to realize locations that span the globe. From the opening mission in Iceland, the player is immersed in beautiful scenery. My personal favourite location is the Arch Nightclub in London, England, where Bond and his fellow 00 program recruits head for a few drinks to unwind.

IO Interactive has some experience with creating stories based around globetrotting secret agents. They are also the creators of the Hitman series. This helps to explain how they were able to craft such polished game levels for Britain's most famous spy. 

In this version of James Bond, he is introduced to players as a 26-year-old Royal Air crewman whose Helicopter is shot down over Iceland. Played by Irish actor Patrick Gibson, Bond is full of clever one liners and curiosity about the world around him. Since the story opens just as Bond is discovered by MI6, he has yet to earn his iconic number.

During the opening mission in Iceland, Bond is the only member of his crew to survive the Helicopter crash, and the ruthless gang of criminals who await on the ground. He stages a daring lone wolf rescue of the captured scientists at an outpost which holds a great deal of interest for Bond's MI6 handler.

Without giving away the game's story, I can say it leans heavily into current Newspaper headlines. Namely those claiming Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to change lives forever in some profound way. It's a nice touch that you're able to find objects in your environment, such as daily Newspapers, that provide bits of information. These tidbits help to flesh out the story and make it more meaningful. 

Unfortunately, parts of the plot feel like they've been repeated too many times. Sir Nicholas Webb - an evil billionaire, and one of the story's principal Villains, comes to mind. He came across as a pale imitation of Elliot Carver from Tomorrow Never Dies. The evil corporate titan has been done too many times before in the James Bond universe.

My second criticism of IO Interactive's otherwise solid game, is the theme song - First Light by Lana Del Rey. The lyrics really could have been given more thought. They're this side of cringe worthy. An example: "People try and stop you. All the Fates just watch you, dying just to know whether you'll play your life like a game." The music itself is fine. Lana Del Rey's lyrics are just annoying. I give 007: First Light's theme a C- because of this.

Apart from the above criticisms, this is definitely a game worth learning to love through playing (and re-playing) missions. It features smooth, engaging combat, tense action sequences, and a young (very attractive) Bond who has not yet become jaded and cold through the advance of time. Patrick Gibson's one liners make the character human and relatable; they suit Bond's age here. 

My Verdict: Worth playing. Take your time in the chapters where the game allows you to wander and see the sights. Listening in on NPC conversations, and keeping an eye out for Easter Eggs, will help you get the most from the experience. IO Interactive has put a truly impressive amount of detail into their newest game. 

There is much in 007: First Light that fans of the previous James Bond films, and videogames, will love. 

Bond gives the once over for a disguise he will wear on an undercover mission. He is standing in 
Q Branch, MI6's R&D Division.

On Art - Alles ist Miteneinander Verbunden Art Show

 

The poster for 'Alles ist Miteneinander Verbunden' (Everything is Interconnected). This very special Art Show will take place on Thursday, April 30th, 2026 from 3:00 - 10:00 PM at Toronto's historic Foy House.

Creativity is Vital

"Some say the world will end in Fire. Some say Ice. Me, I just see fewer birds, fish, and butterflies. Plenty of concrete, though. I run to Europe, I run to the Caribbean, but coming here is the best thing I ever did.

Miami, I love you." - Iggy Pop, New Atlantis  

"Creativity is vital. By starting a dialogue this healing happens, and we start to come out of our corners." - Ethan Hawke, TED Talk, Give Yourself Permission to be Creative 

Visual Art has been around for a very long time. Since our cave dwelling ancestors drew likenesses of themselves and the animals they hunted on rock walls, to more modern versions of representing the world from a personal point of view. Painters like Diego Velázquez, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock and Luke Nicholson took to the canvas to create memorable images using formidable creativity. 

Photographers such as Richard Avedon, Andy Warhol, Jearld Moldenhauer, and Nicholé Velásquez (no relation to Diego) put their eyes to a lens's viewfinder and gave us remarkable portraits that capture the Élan Vital of their subjects, vivid snapshots of everyday life from around the world, and complex photographic collages based on a multiple exposure technique. 

Some individuals with little formal Artistic training, such as myself, have taken Faber Castell markers, pastels, and graphite to the page to render their own impressions of people and places meaningful in their lives. 

One of my most memorable experiences viewing Art happened in October 2016 when I visited the Musée des Beaux Arts in Montréal for the show Focus: Perfection - Robert Mapplethorpe. His black and white photos capturing flowers, celebrities, and most notoriously his erotic journeys in New York City are powerful. In stillness and silence you're invited to contemplate and form your own opinions. 

The exhibition was even more interesting for me because I had previously read Patricia Morrisroe's biography of the Artist and Philip Gefter's Wagstaff: Before and After Mapplethorpe. The latter is a biography of Mapplethorpe's boyfriend and patron Sam Wagstaff. It's one of my favourite reads of all time. 

Why I Make Art

While attending high school in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, I had sketchbooks. Then I put down my drawing tools for several years. It took the COVID-19 Pandemic for me to return to drawing with real enthusiasm.

From 2018 - 2020 I lived in Berlin, Germany. After leaving Berlin at the end of September 2020 I moved to Saskatchewan, where I lived with my family for four months. Because of Covid-related lockdowns and other reasons I was left with lots of time on my hands. 

When I was not contemplating the nature of life, along with why God had seen fit to place me in Purgatory rather than promote me to Heaven or send me down to the Inferno's 9th Circle of Hell to commune with Satan, I was tempted to drink.

Oh, was I tempted to drink... 

The alternative was to use my time productively. Since wir alle haben die gleichen 24 stunden. 

That something was drawing. During 2020 - 2021 I created some pieces that deal with relationships and homoerotic themes. I remain quite proud of those works. You can find some of them for sale on Saatchi Art here. My favourite Artwork from that time is Sean Ford Peeing in a Sink. It features American pornographic actor Sean Ford, and is a comment on selling sex for money. The world's oldest profession. 

Alles ist Miteneinander Verbunden - an Art Show

Which brings me to the present. After some thought I decided to make a big project for myself in 2026. That project is Alles ist Miteneinander Verbunden, an Art Show that will take place on Thursday, April 30th, 2026 at Toronto's historic Foy House at 92 Isabella Street.

In English the theme means, "Everything is Interconnected." Something that is increasingly apparent on our fragile, beautiful planet.

Here is the show's Statement of Purpose:

"We are all connected in this world. Human beings to each other through their relationships. Humanity to the natural world that we have been entrusted to care for, and the natural world to humanity in that we depend on its continued good health for our survival.

This show features a series of works by emerging and established Artists from Berlin, Germany, and Toronto, Ontario, that explore these connections - namely those we have with each other, and those we have with the natural world.

It is my hope you will leave tonight with a deeper appreciation of just how complex, and interdependent, these life sustaining relationships are." 

This will be a very special evening. Featured artists include myself, Boris von Brauchitsch, Nicholé Velásquez, Flavio Belli, Paul Bellini, Josh St. John, Raymond Helkio, David Bateman, Luke Nicholson and Draga Jovanovic.  

Alles ist Miteneinander Verbunden - An Art Show

Where: Foy House, 92 Isabella St., Toronto, ON

When: Thursday, April 30th, 2026. 3:00 - 10:00 PM 

Art as a Way of Making the Future

"Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming." - David Bowie

My personal hero and Patron Saint, David Bowie, lived a life characterized by continual transformation and growth. He gave many insightful interviews on any number of subjects. One of my favourite interviews had Bowie discussing taking risks as an Artist. 

I agree with his insight that making Art is not about meeting other people's expectations. In this same interview he said the best place for an Artist to work is a space where you have swum out and don't feel your feet are quite touching the bottom.

"Always go a little further into the water than you feel you're capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don't feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom you're just about in the right place to do something exciting."

Ladies and gentlemen - I give you Alles ist Miteneinander Verbunden (Everything is Interconnected).  

The Penguin (2024) is a Dark and Engaging Re-Imagining of the Batman Villain's Rise

 

The Penguin (Colin Farrell) looks on as Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) negotiates with Feng Zhao, head of the Gotham Triads. From 'The Penguin' Episode 3: Bliss.

"Do you want to know what's shameful, Vic? Working your whole goddamn life and having nothing to show for it. You still think there's good and bad, right and wrong? There ain't. There's just this. Survival. Security. Pleasure." - The Penguin confronts his assistant Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz) in Episode 3: Bliss

"Now there's a crack in the surface. Something dark is seeping through. We live in the land of the many, we live in the grip of the few. There's a poor girl crying for Justice, there's a rich man playing the fool. All the Wise Men longing for purpose, and they're all just looking to you. 

So baby, you say that we're free, ahh, you've taken what you wanted from me. You've kept me down on my knees for so long, a victim of your broken belief, ahh." - Bob Moses, 'Broken Belief'  

The Penguin (2024) Miniseries Imagines Oz Cobb's Climb from Gotham's streets to Become a Feared Mob Boss
 

To say The Penguin, an eight episode crime miniseries from 2024 is dark, would be an understatement. This show practically marinates in darkness, rolling around and immersing itself in the more pitchy shades of human interaction.

Executive Producers Lauren LeFranc and Matt Reeves re-imagine Bob Kane's iconic Batman antagonist as Oz Cobb instead of the more aristocratic Oswald Cobblepot. In their version of the story, Oz begins life as a child with a club foot in one of Gotham's neglected housing projects. Their story tells how Oz rises from obscurity to become a criminal kingpin.

Most of the heavy lifting, acting-wise, is done by Colin Farrell from underneath layers of prosthetic makeup. His scarred, gold-toothed, limping Penguin oozes ambition and calculation. Morality of the conventional kind plays no part in his worldview.

As the series begins it's only a week after the events of The Batman (2022) which saw Gotham's seawall destroyed, and mob boss Carmine Falcone assassinated. Entering the story, we find Oz looting his deceased boss's valuables from the Iceberg Lounge. He is caught in the act by Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen), the family's heir apparent. 

Oz skillfully defuses the tension, and then invites Alberto to have a drink with him. During their conversation, Alberto makes the fatal mistake of disrespecting the Penguin and belittling his ambitions and childhood hero. For this, he is shot dead by Cobb. 

This action sets the series in motion. As he plays two rival families (the Falcones and Maronis) in order to seize control of Gotham's underworld for himself, Oz Cobb veers between the extremes of complete triumph or terminal failure. 

His principal antagonist, and the greatest obstacle to the throne, is Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti). She is Carmine's only daughter. Once the heir apparent and daddy's favourite, Sofia served a 10 year sentence at Arkham Asylum for murders she did not commit. And she has a history with Oz. Before her commitment to Arkham, Oz Cobb was Sofia's driver and muscle.

For many of the series 8 episodes, Oz and Sofia circle each other. Perhaps the best moment of the series occurs in Episode 3, when the two need to join forces to achieve a deal with the Gotham Triads. Director Craig Zobel skillfully plays with the emotional tension of Sofia and Oz's relationship. Moving from triumph one minute, to a long awaited apology from Oz the next, to the revelation (for Sofia) that Oz has been playing both families to his own advantage.

After this episode, the action moves toward an inevitable showdown between the Bad Guy and the Bad Woman.  

Nobody is a hero in this story because the character motivations are entirely selfish - mostly revolving around money and power. 

However, we do see a warmer, more human side of Oz Cobb in his interactions with Victor 'Vic' Aguilar, his Assistant. As well when he's caring for his ailing mother Francis Cobb (Deirdre O'Connell). Oz and Francis have a complicated backstory that concerns Oz's two deceased brothers. 

Regarding Oz and his mother, their best moment occurs in Episode 2: Inside Man. At the family home, Oz puts on a record, then he and his mother slow dance to Dinah Washington's 'Tears and Laughter.' 

Leaning into Oz's shoulder, Francis implores her son in a thick New York accent: "You promised me Oswald. I deserve a better life." To which Oz responds, "I'm workin' on it."

Oz Cobb is an anti hero for our time. From the decidedly American Gangster stereotype. See also the USA's current occupant of the Oval Office. 

The Penguin can be watched on Amazon Prime Video, Crave TV, Apple TV+ and YouTube. 

Andor: Season 2 is Serious Star Wars for Adults

 

Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) escaping the Imperial Senate building on Coruscant.

"The distance between what is said, and what is known to be True has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of Truth is the ultimate victory of Evil. When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever Monster screams the loudest." - Senator Mon Mothma speaking to the Imperial Senate in Andor: Season 2, Episode 9: Welcome to the Rebellion

"Look at us: unloved, hunted, cannon fodder. We'll all be dead before the Republic is back... and yet, here we are. Where are you, boy? You're here! You're not with Luthen. You're here! You're right here, and you're ready to fight! We're the (Rhydonium) kid. We're the fuel. We're the thing that explodes when there's too much friction in the air. Let it in, boy! That's freedom calling! Let it in! Let it run! Let it run wild!" - Onderonian Rebel Leader Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) speaking to Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier) in Andor: Season 2, Episode 5: I Have Friends Everywhere

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Star Wars Andor: Season 2 is Mature Storytelling that Fills in Backstory before the events of Rogue One

For people who don't closely follow Star Wars, the number of prequels, and the order of the entire storyline must get very confusing. Maybe Andor: Season 2 isn't for those people. For the hardcore Nerds who know their Ewoks from their Hutts, the show is great television.

In a nutshell: the second season tells the story of Captain Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and his friends. They are present at the birth of the Rebellion. These events lead directly into Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is itself a prequel to A New Hope, which tells the story of the Rebellion's victory at the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the Empire's first Death Star.

Season 2 is grown up viewing. Many of the main characters struggle with things like coping with past abuse through substances (Bix - Cassian's girlfriend). Or they are dealing with a high-wire act of balancing relationships while secretly building the Rebellion (Senator Mon Mothma).

Their storylines play out against one main narrative arc. That arc is the Imperial occupation, and eventual destruction of, the planet Ghorman. The Empire seeks to sow unrest, and eventually take complete control of Ghorman because Emperor Palpatine needs a rare mineral under the planet's surface for the construction of his Death Star.

Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) and her boyfriend Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) play big roles in the Empire's efforts to stir up Rebellion in Ghorman so that an excuse exists for occupying the planet and taking its' resources. Dedra Meero's storyline is quite sad - she is eventually consumed and spat out by the system she dedicated her life to serving. As the season progresses we see her iron exterior begin to buckle and eventually collapse.

Cameo appearances from Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) are quite fun to watch. We know that in Rogue One we'll meet him again as the principal Antagonist, the father of the Death Star. Here he is ascendant, flexing his muscles. Mendelsohn steals every scene he's in.

My favourite storyline of Season 2 is Senator Mon Mothma's. During the four years leading up to the Battle of Yavin (when this Season takes place in the timeline) Mothma becomes increasingly frustrated by the Empire's actions on Ghorman. As a member of the Imperial Senate, she sees at a high level how the Empire's propaganda is used to bury the truth.

In Episode 9: Welcome to the Rebellion, Mon Mothma decides she's had enough. With help from friends she plans an Atomic Bomb of a speech to be delivered in the Senate chamber. Her speech, and evacuation from the Senate by Cassian Andor immediately following, are for me Season 2's best moments. Showrunner Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) did a great job with this part of the story.

The other really great episode of this Season is Episode 5: I Have Friends Everywhere. Saw Gerrera's speech to Wilmon Paak at the episode's end is the second best speech of this Season. It gives some real insight into Saw's character, and why some of the Rebellion's more mainstream leaders are wary of the Onderonian insurgent. 

The Verdict: Andor: Season 2 is great Star Wars for hardcore Nerds and people familiar with the universe and overarching narrative of the 12 (and counting) Star Wars movies. If that's not you, feel free to skip it - you won't be missing anything.

Anora Gives a 2024 Spin on Cinderella's Story - a Sine Curve Fairytale

 

Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn) and Anora (Mikey Madison) enjoy a moment while gambling with friends in Las Vegas.

Anora is an Independent Film that Challenges Stereotypes and Gives a Modern Take on a classic Fairytale

"It is no accident that his greatest song of this period, 'Heroes', both celebrates its protagonists' potential and constrains it: while everything might be possible, it is all: "just for one day." It is an embrace of the present that acknowledges the passing away of future dreams, but in its intimate immensity absorbs the sadness of that loss.

It is, like much great Art, universal precisely because of its response to a particular place - and time."

-Excerpt from 'Starman Jones', The Economist's Obituary of David Bowie (January 16th, 2016)

"Today this could be, the greatest day of our lives, before it all ends, before we run out of time." - Greatest Day, Take That

Situationship: A romantic or sexual relationship that is noncommittal and undefined. People in a Situationship are more than friends but less than committed romantic partners.

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There's no question that Mikey Madison is the breakout star of Sean Baker's Anora. With her brassy attitude and Brooklyn accent, Ani, as she prefers to be called, is a Cinderella for the 2020s. We are introduced to her at Headquarters, the nightclub where she works. In long shots we see Ani sell her services to the clients, then take a smoke break outside the club with another Dancer. She is the film's hero, for whom everything will be possible, if only for one week.

Such is the level of dedication the actress brought to the role, that she learned a Brooklyn accent, and how to pole dance so she could convincingly play an Escort.

In the film's first act her character, Ani, meets Ivan, the Oligarch's son. They quickly connect. During their first meeting Ivan invites Anora to his parents' Mansion for an encounter. Following the sex, Ivan makes Anora an offer to be exclusive with him for one week. He has some partying to get out of his system before he leaves America to work for his family's business in Russia.

So, of course, Ivan, Anora, and his friends fly to Las Vegas to blow off some steam and spend vast sums of his parents' money. At the end of their time in Vegas, Ivan and Ani are married in one of the city's little white chapels. There is a real connection between Ivan and Anora, which makes their scenes together something more than a transactional relationship (even though Anora is being paid for her time).

Once married, Ivan's minder / senior Babysitter Toros (Karren Karagulian) gets wind of the fly-by-night nuptials. He is sent to the Mansion by Ivan's livid mother to annul the marriage.

In this second act, where Toros, Igor (Yura Borisov), and Garnik (Vache Tovmasyan) enter the Mansion only to have Ivan flee, real comedy begins. Director and Writer Sean Baker is playing with character types here. Toros, Igor, and Garnik are remarkably polite and behave in ways you would not expect. In many ways Igor develops into the film's most interesting character. Particularly in the way he eventually stands up for and takes care of Ani when circumstances demand.

As the second act progresses, there are a couple of things about Anora that don't work. The chase through Brooklyn and Long Island restaurants and nightclubs to find Ivan somehow doesn't trigger the NYPD's interest. Ivan himself becomes rather one dimensional when he re-enters the picture. His character's motivations and flaws aren't fleshed out nearly as well as Ani's.

Anora was filmed entirely in Brooklyn, including the neighborhoods of Brighton Beach, Coney Island, and Sheepshead Bay.

The film's third and final act finds Toros, Igor, Garnik & Ani locating Ivan. They then meet Ivan's parents and fly back to Las Vegas to have the marriage annulled. This real and gritty ending reminds viewers that life is never a Fairytale. At least, not for any length of time. The return landing is usually an unpleasant experience for those caught up in the fantasy.

After watching the film twice, I can say Anora shines as a modern Cinderella story with believable characters and plot. Watching the main characters interact, and react, to what happens to them felt very real. Sean Baker's plot is more than well-written enough for viewers to suspend their sense of disbelief.

Luca Guadagnino's Adaptation of William Burroughs's 'Queer' Captures the Novel's Essence

 

William Lee (Daniel Craig) and Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey) share a drink in a Mexico City watering hole.

William Burroughs's 1985 Novella is about a one-sided longing; a formula the Director changes slightly to great effect

William Burroughs was a difficult man to pin down. Born to a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri, he was the grandson of the Inventor who founded the Burroughs Corporation. He was also a nephew of public relations manager Ivy Lee.

When Burroughs was denied admission to the U.S. Army to serve in the Second World War, he began experimenting with drugs. Around this time he also met poet Allen Ginsberg, and fellow writer Jack Kerouac. Together the three of them would become the leading lights of the Beat Generation.

In 1985 Burroughs published a novella titled Queer. At its' heart the novella is a one-sided love story. William 'Bill' Lee haunts Mexico City's gay bars in the early 1950s, looking for sexual partners. When he finds a man he particularly likes, one Eugene Allerton, he pays for Allerton's time and eventually invites him on an expedition to South America to find the hallucinogenic drug Ayahuasca, which Lee is interested in because of its' potential to facilitate Telepathy.

Queer was written, as Burroughs revealed in an introduction to the novel, partly in response to the death of his wife Joan Vollmer. She was tragically shot by Burroughs in September 1951 during a drunken game of William Tell. This event is referenced twice in the movie.

Director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, Challengers) has made a wonderful adaptation of the novella, which mostly adheres to the source material it's based upon.

Daniel Craig does a fantastic job of interpreting the character of William Lee, who is, of course, Burroughs himself. The twitchiness, the southern drawl, the barely concealed neediness (partly a byproduct of Lee's Heroin withdrawal). It's a performance that's less imitation than a sort of becoming. We first meet Lee in one of Mexico City's gay bars where he is picking up a local.

Fans of Burroughs's fiction will note the man's Centipede necklace. Centipedes were something of an obsession for Burroughs, turning up in several of his novels. It can be interpreted as someone who is consumed by pleasure seeking or an individual who has succumbed to his most base impulses. 

Given the movie's title, it's no surprise that Lee's biggest impulse is to spend time (and eventually have sex with) Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). He's a damn attractive man, and is the film's human question mark. We never learn much about what makes Allerton tick. He is not given to speaking very much about himself. 

When the two aren't having sex, they are usually drinking in one watering hole or another. Allerton being an audience for one of Lee's many comic monologues. These monologues are lifted verbatim from the novel, and are one of the film's real treats. 

As the movie progresses, Lee invites Allerton to accompany him on a trip to South America, where he is searching for Ayahuasca, or Yagé. Once there, they track down Dr. Cotter, a wonderfully unhinged Lesley Manville. She eventually assists Lee with finding what he seeks.

Following a ceremony in which Lee, Allerton, Dr. Cotter and her husband all drink an infusion of Yagé, there is a lovely dance scene. It's a special moment because it suggests there is some reciprocity in Lee and Allerton's relationship. The 'mirror' of the drug shows both of them together, intertwined. 

 

It's a lovely touch.

For William Burroughs fans, this is one you'll want to see. My only criticism is how the ending dragged on. It could have been shortened to conform with where the novella ended, and the impact would have been the same.

The Shawshank Redemption - From Darkness to Light

 

Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) takes a moment for himself while his fellow Inmates enjoy cold Beers earned through Andy's ingenuity.

A Study in Contrasts, The Shawshank Redemption takes us from Suffering to Redemption

"I found the Stephen King story so compelling, and so touching, that to me it was just natural as a movie." - Director Frank Darabont in conversation with Stuart Maconie for the BBC

Filmed at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio, and based on the Stephen King novella from his 1982 novel Different Seasons, Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption is one of those rare movies that stands the test of time.

Released in 1994, the film's setup is straightforward enough - Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is a senior Bank executive wrongly convicted of the double murder of his wife and her lover. Our Hero enters the Prison, learns the rules of his new home, and gradually befriends Red (Morgan Freeman) a fellow Inmate.

Slowly but surely, Andy earns the respect and admiration of other Inmates at the jail through his actions and character. He petitions the state government to give more money for the prison's library, and, once that library is finished, helps some of the Inmates earn their High School diplomas. 

Andy's executive background and financial know-how soon get him noticed by Warden Norton (Bob Gunton). The Warden deals in discipline, the Bible, and making himself rich through unethical financial trickery facilitated by Dufresne. 

Placed in an environment that would break lesser men, Andy Dufresne's actions in prison teach us what hope, resilience, and survival really mean. Instead of turning inward, he chooses to look outward. This is shown in a scene where he takes an enormous risk to get the attention of the prison guards. Andy's gamble pays off, and in return for the tax help he offers the guards, he requests cold Beers for his fellow workers.

Part of the brilliance of The Shawshank Redemption is that it takes us through several years of Andy's time in prison. We join him for the long haul. It really increases your investment as a viewer into seeing what will become of Andy and Red.

As the film moves along, we see that Andy's working relationship with Warden Norton is a double edged sword. Realizing how valuable Andy is to his self enrichment schemes, the Warden decides to bury evidence that Andy is innocent of the crimes he was convicted of. 

In one of the movie's most satisfying scenes, Warden Norton asks Andy to have his suit cleaned and shoes polished for the following day. As the viewer, we are made to understand this is one of the Warden's usual requests. 

Only this time, when Warden Norton opens his shoe box, he finds a pair of prison shoes instead of his shiny executive loafers inside. This is just one of several clever plot twists that help us along the way as we follow Andy Dufresne's path from suffering to earned redemption.

It's no spoiler to say that Andy escapes to find his happiness in a much warmer, friendlier place.

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Author's Note: I watched The Shawshank Redemption for the first time a few weeks ago. I think it's no coincidence that Apt Pupil and Stand by Me, two other excellent films, are from the same Stephen King novel. Very rewarding material for anyone looking for some insights on humanity, along with the scares.