Blog

Tag: Movie

Shakespearian conspiracy theories

by Natalia
Current Affairs + Film + History / October 31, 2011

I was pretty excited over the weekend to hear that Roland Emmerich's new movie Anonymous is out.  I love me a good Elizabethan costume drama—the clothes, the language, the political intrigue!  If you haven't heard of it, the film dramatizes the Oxfordian theory of authorship—the idea that Shakespeare's plays were written by Edward de Vere, the 17th earl of Oxford (who, as various people have pointed out, died several years before the publication of The Tempest).

The film has triggered a positively apoplectic response from the scholarly community; the New Yorker's David Denby calls it a story "so rotten that, as Shakespeare, or, rather, Oxford, might put it, the kites wheel and shriek rather than batten on so foul a carcass."

Personally, I find the authorship question rather silly—I prefer to read the plays for themselves rather than scan them Da Vinci Code-style for hidden clues to their composition.  And why fabricate conspiracy theories when so much historically accurate skulduggery exists?  If you like your Shakespeare spiced with criminal intrigue yet still backed up by rigorous scholarship, may I suggest:

The Shakespeare Thefts

Stealing the World's Most Famous Book

VIMFF: Climbing While Eating Popcorn

by Siobhan
January 26, 2010

I've been to the Vancouver International Film Festival before... but this week I'll be attending the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival for the first time. I'm excited to go - from what I've heard, it's a really fun festival.

I'm not a climber myself, but my partner is - and one of these days, he's going to show me how to scale a rock wall myself. Gulp.

Until the then, I'm happy to watch some great films - with both feet firmly planted on the ground.

Books for climbers:


- The Zen of Mountains and Climbing: Wit, Wisdom and Inspiration
- Sport Climbing: From Toprope to Redpoint, Techniques for Climbing Success
- Climbing: Training for Peak Performance

Click here to see a list of more Climbing books.



- Trekking in Nepal Himalaya
- Trekking in the Patagonian Andes
- Trekking in the Indian Himalaya

Click here to see a list of more Trekking books.

We love the NFB… and we’re not alone

by Siobhan
January 22, 2010

The National Film Board of Canada, perhaps better known as the NFB, has had a banner year.

Last year they launched the NFB Screening Room, where they've posted tons of films online for anyone to watch - so far there are close to 1,500 films on the site.

In the spirit, they're sharing their stats about how the program is going so far. The response has been amazing: 3.7 million total online film views since they launched a year ago. 2.2 million of those views (59%!) were in Canada alone. In a time of seemingly endless budget cuts to the Arts, it's really heartening to see such enthusiasm for Canadian creativity.

You can read more about NFB's success on their blog, where they also list the 10 most popular films on the site this year -- nice to see that The Log Driver’s Waltz is still going strong!

Natalie Portman to produce and star in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies movie!!

by Danielle
Fiction + Film + News / December 11, 2009

Yes that's right! Variety broke the news this morning that Natalie Portman will star as Elizabeth Bennet in the movie adaptation of the bestselling PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES.

                                                                                                                 photo courtesy of

                                                                                                              natalieportman.com

No official release date has been announced.  But I can certainly assure you we here at Raincoast and the folks down at Quirk are stoked about this news! She'll make the perfect Elizabeth. Wonder who else'll be cast? I'll let you know as soon as I find out!

Here's a link to CBC's website. They're talking about the new movie as well. But who isn't?