Category: Arts

RDtNVC: Verbal arts attacks

(Reason of the Day to Not Vote Conservative)

Being the odd man out on the arts funding issue, this is what Mr. Harper had to say about it: “I think when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see a gala of a bunch of people at, you know, a rich gala… claiming their subsidies aren’t high enough… I’m not sure that’s something that resonates with ordinary people.”

So, typically, kind of mean-spirited, somewhat insulting, somewhat misleading (since when are most artists rich?) — but that’s not what I want to focus on. See what he actually said there? What he used as his example? “I think when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see a gala…”

You mean ordinary Canadian come home from work and immediately turn to — the arts?

Of course most Canadians don’t list the arts as “top of mind” issues. They simply take them for granted. It’s woven into the fabric of our lives. TV, galas, concerts, festivals, dance recitals, musicals, music downloads, CDs, DVDs, theatre, plays, museums, galleries, radio, novels, poetry, children’s literature, essays, magazines… It’s all part of the arts, high and low. And government helps fund a good part of them.

No political party would win if they pledged to make arts funding the biggest part of the budget… But none would win if they pledged to eliminate all cultural activity from this country, either. TV, galas, concerts, festivals, dance recitals, musicals, music downloads, CDs, DVDs, theatre, plays, museums, galleries, radio, novels, poetry, children’s literature, essays, magazines — we do want at least some of that to be made by Canadians, in Canada.

I leave you now with this hilarious video by Michel Rivard. Even if you speak French, it’s even funnier with the English subtitles on.

Reason of the day to not vote Conservative: Drive-by arts funding cuts

What do the Conservatives have against arts and culture?

Too many naughty words, maybe?

That was the suspicion behind Bill C-10, which gave give the Heritage Minister the power to deny tax credits retroactively to films or television shows that are “contrary to public policy.” The film Young People Fucking was said to be the impetus for it—or rather, the title of the film was, as few had (or have) actually seen this movie. (My favourite quip in response was that if we’re just judging by title, we better ban Dirty Dancing and see something wholesome like Last Tango in Paris.) What was said to be especially chilling was its “retroactive” nature—since hard-won federal grants could be withdrawn, no one would have the confidence to go ahead with any movie projects.

Given how much attention the Bill eventually got, it’s easy to forget now that the Conservatives snuck it into “a lengthy omnibus bill of technical changes to tax law” — where, for an alarmingly long time, no one noticed it.

And it wasn’t exactly the first time they’d tried something like this. In 2006, a $4.6 million reduction in spending on Canadian museums was buried in a much larger announcement. “The news was a shock to the museum community and particularly the Canadian Museums Association, which thought it had an agreement with the Heritage Ministry for a new museums policy that would be more generous with all museums and provide stable funding.”

Then this summer? When the House wasn’t sitting, when you were on vacation, when arts groups were gearing up their programs for the fall? First up was the $13.7 million cut to programs that support artists’ travel. Then the motherlode—$44.8 million in cuts to five arts programs. With promises of more to come.

Now, there may be defensible reasons for these cuts. Maybe the programs were inefficient. Maybe they were outdated. Maybe they were just great, but were frankly sacrificed on the altar of the stupid GST tax cut and an interest in preventing the deficit from getting any bigger.

We just don’t know. Because the Conservatives haven’t bothered to tell us. They didn’t let it go through debate in Parliament, they didn’t hold a press conference on it, they didn’t consult any experts in the field, they didn’t warn anyone whose livelihood was about to be damaged. They just cut it. Surprise!

“The government has departed from its usual consultative process and cut these programs without warning,” said Stephen Ellis, a board member and former chair of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association and president of Toronto-based Ellis Entertainment Group, an independent TV production company.”

Of course, they are campaigning now, so it’s a little harder to avoid the questions. But just a little. In the Globe and Mail this weekend, Harper mumbled something about these being programs “Canadians don’t want” (when did we say that?), while the Heritage Minister told a CBC reporter they would be redeployed to other areas, though she couldn’t say to what, ran away when pressed, and refused to be interviewed formally on the subject.

That’s the best these spin doctors can do? Wow, now I’m comforted that these cuts were so very well-thought and won’t harm this very important sector of our economy one bit. Aren’t you?

The Liberals, the NDP, and the Green Party have all spoken out against these cuts.

Maple flavour films

Cultural lessons in three movies… (Links are to YouTube trailers of same)

1

Last Saturday we wanted to go see The Stone Angel, but it was on at 7:00, and we just couldn’t get ourselves organized to get there on time. So as a kind of boobie prize, we thought, we decided to go see the comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Now, admittedly, that film had received pretty decent critical notices, which is why we considered it at all… But so did Knocked Up, and I was pretty underwhelmed by that one, with its many “man-boy” characters.

But Forgetting Sarah Marshall was different. It is what it is, which is unabashedly a sex comedy, but it rises above what I was expecting in that none of the characters were mere caricatures. Sarah wasn’t just a bitch. Her new boyfriend wasn’t just a stupid himbo. The main character wasn’t entirely blameless for the break-up. You kind of cared about these people. You kind of liked them.

We left the movie in a really good mood.

2

The next night we managed to get ourselves to The Stone Angel. It featured good performances (from the likes of Ellen Burstyn, Ellen Page*, and the yummy Kevin Zegers), moments of humour, and strong characters. But it is what it is, and that is a drama about a 90-year-old woman looking back at the tragedies of her life, and the decisions that led to them.

We didn’t dislike the film, but we weren’t in as good a mood afterwards.

3

By Thursday DH was a little movied-out, but I went to see Maple Flavour Films, a documentary about English-language Canadian movies, and why Canadians don’t go see them. (Ironically, very few people were there!) Various theories are put forward as to why that is—screens dominated by Hollywood movies; lack of star system; lack of promotion. But the director’s own view (he was there for the screening) was that Canadians make too many dramas, which never do as well as other genres. Why not make more of the types of movies people want to see—why not more comedies? Why wasn’t the low-budget, Scarborough-inspired Wayne’s World not made in Canada? “We need our Full Montey“!

And he may have a point. But I’m also thinking, even if The Stone Angel wasn’t a barrel of laughs, there are a number of Canadian movies that have a put big smile on my face. La Grande Séduction—OK, that’s a French-language film—but it’s still one of the damn funniest movies I’ve ever seen. Bon Cop, Bad Cop—bilingual—was rather a lot of fun as well. And Touch of Pink—all in English—was rather fun as well.

And—this sounds like damning with faint praise, but it’s not—some movies are lot more fun than their premise would make you think. Yes, in Saint Ralph, the boy is inspired to run because his mother’s in a coma… But the focus is on him, not her, and the journey is fun, funny, inspiring. Last Night is about the end of the world, but it’s Don McKellar, and to some extent, it restores your faith in humanity as you marvel at some of the absurd responses to this fact. Snow Cake begins with a terrible car crash (I’m maybe not helping the cause here), but gains considerable humour as the British driver involved (the lovely Alan Rickman) is thrust amongst Canadians in Wawa, of all places—including an autistic woman played Sigourney Weaver. And New Waterford Girl has overtones of Juno—a preternaturally smart and witty teenager finds pregnancy the only possible escape from her tiny home town, though in this case it’s a fake one (the pregnancy is, not the town).

And I’m not going to pretend that Les Invasions Barbares or Away from Her are anything but primarily dramatic, but they really do have a lot of humour, and they’re both just so good, everyone should see them.

Or maybe my tastes are weird. Certainly I see way, way more Canadian movies than other people do…

* In 2008, when this was written, this was the name of this actor.

Floyd, Lemony snicket, and a brass quintet

Just wanted to give an update on some of the more interesting events we’ve been to at Centre in the Square…

First up: Lemony Snicket – The Composer is Dead. Part of the KW Symphony’s Pops series, this sold-out performance featured the actual composer, Nathanial Stookey, who is not dead, but who did want to reflect on the fact that only dead composers seem to be celebrated. The first half of the concert featured a number of “spooky” pieces, including “Danse Macabre”, best known as the Alfred Hitchcock theme, then introduced Stookey. He and conductor Edwin Outwater gave a detailed explanation and preview of the major piece from the second half, a piece in which Stookey had assembled bits from multiple composers, all on “mortal” themes, into a coherent whole—without changing any of the original keys. If you know anything about reading music, you can understand how that’s astonishing. If you didn’t, Outwater and Stookey did a good job of explaining why you should be impressed.

The second half, which included this piece, was all narrated by “Lemony Snicket“, investigating the mysterious death of the composer. All members of the symphony were suspects and had to come up with alibis. The Concert Master was busy showing off. The violas were feeling sorry for themselves (because everyone forgets about them). The brass instruments were partying. The French horn players were busy with their croissant. You get the idea, but not how funny it actually all was, thanks to the talent of the narrator.

Next up: A little KW Symphony event we got invited to—not sure why—but that proved very enjoyable. It began with a tour of Centre in the Square, part of which we missed because we were late, but still caught enough of to be reminded how amazing the hall is, given its size and its acoustical integrity. We’d toured it before, but learned some new stuff this time, such as the reason that acoustics were paramount was the Raffi Armenian, KW Symphony Music Director, had final say. When costs overran, he wouldn’t compromise there. Instead, lobbies were shrunk, restaurants removed. We also caught that this was the second largest stage in North America, but have been wondering since if that’s really true (though it certainly is big). The official history page says only that it’s “one of the biggest” in North America.

We were then seated on this big stage, facing the “audience”, in much the same configuration the symphony is normally arranged in. The symphony’s brass quintet—two horns, a trombone, tube, and French horn—then proceeded to play a small concert for us, concluding with the Theme from the Simpson’s! They then answered some questions—yes, they have to buy their own instruments; what they do to protect their hearing; how a woman ended up a tuba player (the only way into the band); and so on. And there was also wine and cheese.

So all quite nice.

Finally, the Floyd. Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon was the Electric Thursdays concert I was most looking forward to this year, and it did not disappoint. The first half featured songs of the era, including Roxy Music’s “Avalon”, David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, and Supertramp’s “Crime of the Century”, along with Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and “Another Brick in the Wall”. The second half was all Dark Side of the Moon (except “Any Colour You Like”), uninterrupted. They had video accompaniment to this part that worked very well; it enhanced this music’s ability to really draw you in to a particular mindspace, even if you’re not stoned! (And the wine from dinner had pretty much worn off by now.) The photo montage of current and past war photos during “Us and Them” was particular affecting.

Hairspray comes to town

Do you like musicals?

Interesting how people often lump all types of “musicals” as being one thing, and categorically answer “yes” or “no” (more often “no”) to that question.

Do I like musicals? Some, very much. Others, not really. Loved Moulin Rouge, Les Miz, Once More With Feeling (Buffy musical), Rocky Horror, Singing in the Rain, Tommy (the play), Hair (the critically drubbed movie), and Grease. Didn’t so much care for Chicago (despite the Oscars), Oklahoma (the play), Tommy (the movie), and Hair (the play).

So wasn’t sure what I’d make of Hairspray, part of the Broadway Series playing at Centre the in Square. Would I be transported, or sighing as yet another song stopped everything dead?

Not having seen the original movie, the movie remake, nor any other version of this play live, I have to say, I thought this was fantastic. (And so did Jean which, trust me, is high praise.) The swing dancing was top-notch and a lot of fun to watch; the very good-natured plot moved along swiftly; the tiny lead actress had a serious set of chops; and many characters—particularly that of the best friend—were just comic gold.

I will recognize that the lead actress was not quite as good a dancer as the part requires, and that a couple of the slower numbers in the second half did seem a little—slow. Overall, however, no matter. I went in sleepy and grumpy and emerged upbeat and smiling. That’s a fine musical in my book.

Up next: the local production of The Producers. [Postscript: Which turned out to be another musical… I didn’t enjoy.]

Rocky Horror [no Picture] Show

I get invited to plays put on at UW each year. Not exactly sure why I get the invites, but I’m guessing it’s because I donate, and have given my email address. At any rate, this year the performance was a live version of the Rocky Horror Show.

I must say, that was great fun. The story (such as it is), and songs are pretty much exactly like the movie (Rocky Horror Picture Show). But it’s really cool to see it live, and the actors / musicians / makeup and costume people / videographers did a great job. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and would highly recommend it, even if you don’t get to go free (like we did) and don’t get to eat pastries afterward (like we did).

Plus, you’ll be spared the somewhat uncomfortable experience we had in being at a “special” performance full of dignitaries. Who tend to be a little more, uh, aged.

‘Cause sweet transvestites from transsexual Transylvania? A bit of a weird thing to be watching with people who remind you of your grandparents.