Lene Trunjer Petersen
The Silhouette
On March 2, the annual Academy Awards will bring the stars together to celebrate yet another ‘best-of-the-best’ film-year for 2013. The prestigious Best Picture Oscar nominations will be announced on January 16 and so far, the film 12 Years a Slave is predicted to be a guaranteed nominee, if not winner. The film has already won People’s Choice Award at the Tiff and is one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time.
12 Years a Slave is based on the autobiography written by Solomon Northup in 1853. Northup was a free African-American New Yorker, who in 1841 was kidnapped and sold as a slave in New Orleans. At that time, kidnapping of African people was commonplace, and Northup was one of the few people who were freed. The film tells the unsettling story of Northup’s 12 years, where he was a slave at several different plantations while somehow maintaining hope of seeing his family again.
The British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor portrays Northup with an intensity that makes 12 Years a Slave both authentic and moving. Northup is the kind of man who will not give in to despair and give up on his old life. He has a certain dignity about him that even the plantation owners cannot see past, which eventually becomes his greatest weakness. Northup receives a violin from his first plantation owner, which becomes a symbol for his struggle to maintain his identity. But when Northup is forced to whip the slave-girl Eliza, portrayed by Adepero Oduye, the fragile self-image cracks – and so does the violin. Michael Fassbender’s portrayal of the drunken slave-owner Edwin Epps is both powerful and disturbing.
Just as the acting is remarkable, the cinematography is breathtaking. The beautiful scenes of nature starkly contrast the brutality of slavery, the loss of human rights and the struggle to maintain your identity in the face of violent injustice. It is the pure genius of British director Steve McQueen to address the conflict through the visual elements. This film isn’t meant to coddle you. Its brutality even made me cry (which rarely happens). The film is a historical drama that forces the audience to reflect upon not only a man’s struggle for freedom and a sense of self, but on the consequences racism and the complexity of friendship.
5/5
ANDY asked its writers about arts and entertainment that affected them most this semester. Here’s what they said.
Shane Madill
My state of mind is regularly conflicts with my thoughts of everyday life, and my desire to be grounded while also achieving success. I often think about the paradoxical idea of zoning out into “Mittyesque” fantasies. I feel bittersweet nostalgia for the past as I remember both good times and bad times. I look back with 20/20 hindsight, and consider how my experiences have molded me into the person I am today and how they have influenced my future.
Recently, I’ve find myself constantly going back to Converge’s discography. I discovered Converge at an especially dark point in my life, and I always go back to them in as a constant reminder of who I was, who I am, and who I want to be. Singer Jacob Bannon once stated, “People will identify with the darkness you’re feeling,” and sometimes we just need a reminder that we are all connected, even by the basic humanity of the darker emotions we struggle all must struggle through.
Alison Piercy
This past semester I read a countless number of books. All of them were for class. None of them felt very artistic. All of them were non-fiction and World War II related. Most of my time off has been spent looking at graduate school or continuing education programs. Whenever I go out with friends, or family, or colleagues, everyone wants to know what I plan to do next year. In retrospect, I probably should have expected this, given that I’m in my fourth and final year at McMaster. Sadly, the arts haven’t been able to affect me very much this semester because I’ve had no time for them. And life feels empty. And maybe that’s their affect. Here’s hoping for a new year filled with the arts. And less WWII.
Michael Gallagher
While this may be a bit cliché, music will always be one of the most important artworks in my life. I cannot imagine going through a semester without it. Almost everything I know would just feel so empty. How would I pump myself up at the gym if I didn’t have an awesome collection of songs to get me going? Would I even go to my classes if the long walk to school wasn’t made better by shuffling through my iPod? I can’t even try and imagine a semester without music that would me through it. And for me, it is most beneficial to listen to music while I’m studying.
Despite being a music lover, I always had trouble listening to music during a study session, because it was often too distracting. Thankfully, I soon realized that instrumental music – or music without lyrics – was the answer. Soon, some of the most played songs on my iPod were old Jazz albums, hip-hop producer beats, and artists like Ratatat, or BadBadNotGood. They helped get me in the zone I needed to boost my grades.
While I’m sure there are other reasons for the improvement in my grades over the years, I can’t help but decide that music helped me focus, and this was a huge part of it.
Lene Trunjer Petersen
I am a film nerd with a growing taste for controversial, independent films. The very different languages in many of these films is what amazes me. One film in particular that I saw this past term made my reconsider my knowledge of the environment – The East, starring Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård. Skarsgård portrays an eco-terrorist fighting for the world against big corporations. When I walked out from the warmth of the cinema, I stared up in the darkness questioning whether he was committing acts of terrorism or if he was actually saving our world. The film had a grave impact on my own way of thinking and made me strongly consider how I personally can work to save our planet hopefully before it is to late.
Lene Trunjer Petersen
The Silhouette
The highly anticipated sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is an impressive film that demonstrates what all the new teen-series productions should do – produce stories with substance and excellent actors.
Admittedly, I haven’t read Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy. Even so, the fist film’s dystopian setting impressed me and the sequel is even darker. I love how the films toy with our growing need for reality TV, making me question whether or not I myself participate in this pop-cultural phenomenon, just by watching The Hunger Games. Inside the arena, combatants kill each other in a vicious manner, but I still watch.
Catching Fire picks up where The Hunger Games ended. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) are back in District 12 awaiting their Victor’s Tour. Haunted by nightmares from being in the arena, Katniss must face the consequences of her and Peeta’s supposed love story.
Before going on their tour, however, Katniss has a surprising meeting with President Snow (Donald Sutherland). He warns her that her actions in the arena have inspired revolutionary ideas, which he, of course, is not interested in. The whole idea of the Hunger Games is to keep the masses under control. If Katniss does not play her part as ‘lovesick’ tribute, President Snow will eradicate District 12.
Naturally, the Victor’s Tour is not a success and the new game master suggests a different approach to the 75th Annual Hunger Games, referred to as The Quarter Quell. Instead of finding new tributes, President Snow summons previous winners in the hope that Katniss will die in the arena.
Back in the Capital, Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) tells Katniss and Peeta that the arena is not a “kids game” anymore, and the previous winners are definitely stronger and more ambitious than the opponents they faced before.
At the official presentation of the tributes, they demonstrate their aversion to the games, just as Peeta attempts to get Katniss out by telling everyone that she is pregnant. Nevertheless, the next day they all find themselves in a new arena, a stunning setting shot in Hawaii.
It is hard not to be impressed by 23-year-old Jennifer Lawrence, who acts with an intensity that jumps right out of the screen and lingers in your thoughts for days. Lawrence portrays Katniss with a wide range of emotions that makes her character authentic and convincing. Everybody wants to use Katniss, whether it is as a face for or against the revolution, but all she really wants is to protect her family.
It must be difficult for Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), who in the first film seemed to be nothing more than a supporting character. But I must admit that Peeta has found his own voice in Catching Fire. He is not a confused kid anymore, but has figured out what his strengths are, and he seems to be the one who keeps Katniss focused in the game. Hutcherson is definitely playing up to Lawrence and the two of them make an excellent tribute couple, with lots of problems to work out.
Catching Fire exceeds The Hunger Games and it is not a typical teen-film. It debates such themes as revolution, government control, torture and oppression, which are all mingled with a realty show, and it shows how hope can light up even a dark, apocalyptic world like Panem.
4/5
Lene Trunjer-Petersen
The Silhouette
When I heard about the new gallery, Artiques (artiquesgallery.ca), down at King Street East and Wellington Street, I was curious. Artiques is unique in that the owner, Amanda McIntyre, displays a unique combination of antique furniture alongside its selection of fine art.
I went down to talk to her about this idea of furniture and art. When I arrived, I immediately decided that the selection is absolutely worth seeing. “It is definitely something unique, and something Hamilton does not have, and we like being different,” McIntyre said. She also explained that some of the interesting things about having furniture in a gallery. “The way that you are able to display it and almost stage it makes it almost more tangible for the viewer to see,” she said.
McIntyre herself is an artist, and she has a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from York University, as well as a diploma in interior decorating. So her areas of expertise are directly related to the nature of this exhibit. Her opening the gallery is effectively a career dream come true. “I have always loved art and that has always been what my passion has been about,” she says.
She also emphasizes another reason for opening the gallery, which was to cultivate the relationship between artists and their communities. “It is such an important connection that you need to have between the artist and the community,” she said, “and we were very lucky to be able to display art from various artists from across Ontario, and make it accessible for local people.”
Before Artiques’ grand opening on Nov. 16, McIntyre reviewed 500 portfolios from artists. “We wanted talented, unique artists, who also had an interesting CV and work in general,” she said. “All their artwork is of unique quality. We like it to be different, just as well as we want a degree of elegance and authenticity in our furniture.”
“We have antique furniture from the 18th- and 19th-century,” says McIntyre. “There will also be custom-made greeting cards, prints and images made by the artists in a wide price range. Lots of unique things you would not be able to find anywhere else.”
Lene Trunjer-Petersen
The Silhouette
I have to admit that I have been looking forward to Thor: The Dark World for quite some time now, maybe even since the Avengers crashed New York in 2012.
Thor is absolutely one of my favourite Norse gods, and when I was younger, I read all the albums of Valhalla, which is a Danish comic book series based on the stories and myth in the Elder Eddas. That being said, I was also a little concerned about how Chris Hemsworth would portray my hero from back then.
The Thor franchise is rather Americanized and does not resemble much of the original Norse stories, but it is based on the Marvel comic books. Thor is, with that in mind, an excellent addition to the Marvel superhero universe, and I found the sequel better than the original film.
The story picks up right after The Avengers, but two years after Thor. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is being imprisoned for his crimes and Thor is out in the nine realms to re-establish peace. Back on Earth, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) has given up on finding Thor again. Meanwhile, Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) is a loon and is, among other things, running naked around Stonehenge. Skarsgård does a marvelous job and he made the whole theater laugh when he, at “the end of the world,” blurted out, “there is nothing more reassuring then knowing the world is crazier than you.”
But there cannot be a superhero without evil lurking somewhere. This time the evil is represented by some more than 5000-year-old dark elves. Their leader Malekith wants to bring darkness into the nine realms. He tried five millennia ago, when the nine realms were aligning, but Odin’s father Bor stopped them. But Bor could not destroy a dark material referred to as the Aether, which Viagra 100mg also is the bringer of darkness. Instead Bor hid it where no one could find it, except for Jane Foster, who stumbles over it. The Aether seeks her as a host and drains her life force. Naturally, Thor comes to rescue her, but Malekith senses the Aether and travels to Asgard to remove it from Jane’s body, so he can try again to bring darkness into the nine realms.
After a gruesome fight between the Asgardians and the dark elves, Thor seeks Loki’s help. Tom Hiddleston plays up the trickster character with several good one-liners. “Evidently there will be a line,” he says, when everyone wants to kill him. Thor and Loki’s shared screen time provides some of the best moments in the film and together they set out to save the world.
With this kind of film there will always be critical reviews. Thor has so far scored 66 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but it has done really well at the global box office throughout its first week.
I found the storyline good, even though Malekith and his quest to bring darkness to all the realms was a bit trivial. What I really loved was how the director Alan Taylor has developed Asgard with houses, mountains and even one of Odin’s ravens flying around. Taylor has possibly also picked up a few things from Joss Whedon (The Avengers) and his lust to smash his settings. These scenes are stunning and there are several new and very well orchestrated battle scenes.
Thor has definitely become the main character of the franchise and all my worries about Hemsworth have fallen silent. He does a really good job portraying Thor as this brave, but fool-headed, hero who is tricked by Loki again and again. Jane seems to be nothing more then a footnote, however, which I really hope will be removed for the promised third Thor adventure.
Lene Trunjer-Petersen
The Silhouette
On Saturday, I travelled down to Hamilton HIStory + HERitage at 165 James Street North. Since 2007, Graham Crawford has used viagra no perscription uk the space as a multimedia exhibition centre that celebrates Hamilton’s history and its people. Over the years, 25,000 people have visited the spot.
Beginning Nov. 1, Donna Reid will be running HIStory + HERitage as a retail store, combined with different multimedia exhibitions. It promises to be a great place to shop for Hamiltonians, as well as for everyone else who wants to buy products made in Hamilton. I spoke to Reid about why it was important to celebrate Hamilton and learn more about its history.
According to Reid, there is a lot of interest in Hamilton’s past, especially among young people. “Part of it is because we have a lot of buildings that date back to an earlier time and century,” she said. Reid added that the HIStory + HERitage building was formerly a candy store and later a Portuguese bakery.
For Reid, “history is more about the people and how they lived and what life was like, than it is memorizing dates and when things happened. It is more of a cultural history. It is just different lifestyles and different way of doing thing,” she said.
Yet, these older customs remain important and influential today. “We are a very young country,” Reid said, “and so I think in some way it is worth searching for roots.”
Reid has ambitious plans for HIStory + HERitage’s retail store format. “I want to sell products that celebrate Hamilton, and take the Hamilton name into other places so that people recognize the city and the community,” she said. “In the retail store there will be an educational component and an opportunity to learn and view images of Hamilton and of the past, as well as gifts, books and other vintage items for sale.”
Eventually, Reid also hopes to curate a speaker’s series, along with other programming. “It has not been finalized yet, but a couple of very well known Hamilton historians have already offered to do a presentation to small groups,” she said.
“I’m also hoping to host various evening events in the space to make use of the video screen, and also to bring new people into the retail space itself. And there is a plan to have walking tours around the neighborhood that will leave from the store on a regular basis,” she said.
When I asked Reid about the one thing McMaster students should see in Hamilton, she shouted, “get out of campus!” Then she smiled. But she did recommend the waterfront, and her friend Barbara, who had been listening, mentioned Sam Lawrence Park on the mountain. Apparently, on a clear day that spot offers a panoramic view of the city.
So take Reid’s advice, get out of campus, and explore. HIStory + HERitage is one great place to start.
Lene Trunjer-Petersen
The Silhouette
Hamilton’s first annual Comic Con, the Hammer Town Comic Con, took place at Hamilton Convention Centre last Saturday. I must admit that I found myself in unfamiliar territory, this being my first Comic Con. Spidermen in every size, R2-D2s, zombies, stormtroopers, Iron Man just to name a few, were literally crawling out from every corner.
I came there to do an interview with Kylie Szymanski, a.k.a Penny Blake, the Governor’s daughter from the hit series The Walking Dead. Frank Darabont developed the series in 2010, inspired by the comic books of the same name, developed in 2003. At the end of season three, the season final had 12.4 million views in US alone, and it’s safe to say that The Walking Dead has become a pop-cultural phenomenon.
Here I was face to face with a sweet, brown-haired girl, who looked nothing like the zombie girl Penny (luckily). Her role in The Walking Dead was her debut, but you could not really see that, in the natural way she smiled and greeted her fans. I was of course very curious of how she felt about being a popular zombie girl, and asked her a few questions.
How did you prepare for being a part of The Walking Dead?
Is kind of hard to prepare, because you don't really know what you are getting into. Whenever I got to the set, I had no way of knowing what they wanted so I just had to try my best.
Do you think that Penny had any thoughts at all?
If she did have any thoughts, it might have been don’t kill me, I’m still a human. Something like that… I’m still human, don’t kill me – I love you. I don’t know, good question, I never thought about that.
How did you want to portray Penny?
Well, I tried to get into the character as much as I could. I didn’t try to be [me] but I tried to be that zombie girl, the Governor’s daughter and try and act as what might his daughter actually be if she was a zombie but still partially be herself.
At this time, a fan dressed in a military outfit interrupted us. He was completely overwhelmed with the sight of Kylie and barked; ‘you are the Governor’s daughter’. He had just finished all three seasons and needed to say how much he loved the show. Yet another guy came up and got her autograph and a picture. So naturally I needed to know how she felt about her fans.
I like it, its kind of interesting even to me. I get to see to see how cool they are and how much they love the show. It’s amazing.
Back to the interview again, I asked her, if she thought that Rick and everybody were going to survive?
Maybe. The Governor has gone pretty crazy now, so you never know what’s going to happen when he is going crazy. His is just a crazy guy after I died. He already lost his wife in a car accident and now he lost his daughter and now he has nothing left, so he is going crazy.
It doesn’t sound like nice things are coming for Rick, Glenn, Daryl and everybody in season four. Saying goodbye to Kylie, I asked her, what’s next?
I’m doing some acting classes and a couple of auditions. We don’t know what’s coming up next. Not yet. But it’s so amazing how much I like acting. It’s so cool.
The new season returns Sunday, Oct. 13 to AMC.
Lene Trunjer Petersen
The Silhouette
Last Saturday, Sept. 29, I attended the AGH BMO World Film Festival screening of the American documentary Out of Print. I knew from the trailer that the film was going to be kind of depressing, especially because I’m studying literature, and absolutely love the feeling of a book in my hands. My favourite Sunday activity is to sit somewhere comfortable, open a book, touch the thin paper and let myself disappear into the world of letters. But maybe in a few years it will be some sort of an e-reader that I have in my hands. An electronic device doesn’t have the distinct scent of a book, nor the beauty. Will the reading experience be the same?
Unfortunately it’s not only a battle between old-fashioned books and e-readers, but within our culture. The ability to read a book may be disappearing into an abyss of illiteracy. People use the Internet not only for gaining information, but also to read snippets of a book, or even just reviews, so they don’t have to read the whole thing themselves. Suddenly, it’s a matter of forcing kids to read, rather than being concerned about what they are reading.
I still remember my first encounter with a book. My mother would read to me at bedtime, and at the age of six I could read by myself. My all time favourites were Mio, My Son and The Brothers Lionheart, by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren. There is just nothing like feeling part of a written universe in which the characters are your new best friends - just for a while.
The filmmakers behind Out of Print emphasize the importance of reading, not only for learning, but to develop the ability to reflect, and think critically and abstractly. They question what happens with our own fantasy and development of empathy if reading does not challenge us. But it’s not really kids’ fault. They need role models and inspiration. How can we, as adults, give them that when the majority of the population is reading less than stimulating bestsellers, like Fifty Shades of Grey? Who will ever know Ishmael, laugh with Don Quixote, or sail alongside Odysseus, if they dare not open a classic book? They are not just dust and old words. They have real meaning and reach out to us throughout time.
In Out of Print, the American author Scott Turow raises additional question about the lack of diversity in our literary culture. Authors are fighting to earn a living from publishing their books. Their difficulty can be explained by a general societal reluctance to pay for literature. We look books up online, but Turow makes that excellent point that we don’t expect cars and electronic devices to be similarly free of cost - just information.
I am not here on a crusade to keep the printed book at the expense of e-readers and the Internet. I can’t live without my Internet connection, and I’m a big consumer of information both on the net and in printed form. But even though a lot of people are publishing online, we need to question the quality of what we read. I really wish that people would step outside their comfort zone, engage with different books, broaden their perspectives and remember their responsibility to inspire others to do the same. Literature is our very soul, and books can help challenge our thoughts about who we are.
So please, don’t let the printed book die.
Lene Trunjer Petersen
The Silhouette
For a film enthusiast such as myself, the annual Art Gallery of Hamilton’s World Film Festival is an obvious reason to dive into great independent films and documentaries. To satisfy my curiosity, I spoke to Festival Director Annette Paiement about how the World Film Festival came to be and what the AGH has to offer during its fifth anniversary celebrations.
As I was waiting in the lobby at the AGH, a smiling woman with curly hair came towards me. She introduced herself as Annette Paiement, and we went to some chairs near the big glass facades that make the AGH so recognizable.
Of course, my first question was, “why Hamilton?” With a big smile she replied, “why not?” Then she elaborated. She said that the nearest movie theater that runs several independent films is in Toronto. In general, it is mainstream movies that are shown in Hamilton and the surrounding areas. That means that if you like more artistic, independent films you will have to drive to Toronto. Of course, there is also the opportunity to go to the Toronto International Film Festival, but the price and distance is a factor for people here. According to Paiement, a lot of people who live in Hamilton wish to see more complex and debatable films, and these are what the AGH wants to supply.
But how do you choose between so many films that are being produced each year? Paiement smiles again and nods, before she explains that there is a deep commitment to film in this community. A lot of people email requests, and the AGH has a selection committee that includes McMaster professors. She also points out that the most important thing is that everyone who helps plan the AGH World Film Festival is a film lover and wants to share that feeling.
In the end, the job of the festival director is to figure out how the films speak to each other, what people want, and what surfaces elsewhere. For instance, she attends film festivals, reads reviews and uses sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic in order to evaluate films. One of her main focuses is how to create a platform for people to meet and discuss the themes of a film. In this way, it is not just a film, but becomes a valuable instrument in an ongoing debate.
Next year, the AGH celebrates its 100th anniversary and she really hopes that it can be combined with the sixth annual AGH World Film Festival. As for the future, Paiement has two wishes. The first one is that the festival can get access to more places where they can screen films. She is very happy that this year Anchor Bar at Jackson Square is collaborating with the AGH. They are showing short films and are always open after a film screening, which provides people a convenient place to meet and discuss the films. Her other wish is that young people continue to attend the World Film Festival.
Before I am on my way, Paiement reminds me that AGH also runs the ilovefilmseries, for which McMaster students receive a discount. The series runs throughout the year, and continues with a screening of the acclaimed documentary The Act of Killing on Nov. 13.
As for the AGH World Film Festival, it runs until Sunday Sept. 29. So don’t miss this chance to buy a ticket to what might be your new favorite film.
Lene Trunjer Petersen
The Silhouette
Supercrawl was busy on Saturday night. Everywhere you could see art displays and food wagons, while music was coming from almost every corner. Here I was walking down James St. N., when I saw something different. Well, it was really just a black painted fence, but the unusual part of it was that everywhere people were writing quotes or their names with chalk, and taking pictures of the fence and themselves.
My curiosity won, and I went over to see.
What was going on? Was this actually an intended work of art? Who was the artist behind this? Was there one? Somehow there must be one, or else who started the writing? So I asked around me. Nobody really seemed to know, until this sort of shy guy came up to me, confronting me, asking if I really wanted to know? Yes, of course, I replied.
It all started with an Andy Warhol quote
The artist who stood before me was very reluctant to be a part of my article, but he gave me permission to paraphrase him and his thoughts about art. So what is art really? He elaborated that every one of us has a godly spark of creation. But whether or not it might come from a divine inspiration or a feeling of ‘need’ to create, the most important thing is to follow this tone of creation through. He felt that too many people were wondering about the right way to express their artistic thoughts instead of just doing it. That was why he wrote part of the Andy Warhol quote on the fence:
“Don’t think about making art, just get it done.”
Besides the Andy Warhol quote, he had also hung a few pictures on the fence. While he was writing, someone had asked for the chalk to write some of his own, and that was how the engaging fence writing came to be and transformed itself into a work of unified art.
Memory Wall
But what were the participants’ thoughts about the writings? I said thanks to the artist and went over to the fence and talked to people. Why were they writing on the fence, and what were they thinking when they did so?
The first person I asked was a younger guy, who answered that he wanted to be part of what he described as a feeling of togetherness. This feeling of being part of something bigger was a very unanimous reply. An older guy pointed out that it was everybody’s ideas, which made it a very inclusive art display. He also liked the idea that it was temporary and, with a good solid rain, the words of chalk would disappear, while the feeling and pictures would remain. Two other women I asked worked in home design. They wanted a picture of themselves in front of the fence for their webpage, to illustrate the varieties of art. Another person shouted graffiti and memory wall, before he turned around to help his kid to draw his own little creation.
What is art?
A lot of different ideas seemed to flow around that evening by the black fence, and it made a lot of the participants reflect on the concept of creation. But what seemed really important was the opportunity to be involved. Art is no longer the right of geniuses or the protected paintings behind the windows of an art gallery. Art is what speaks to your heart; it gets you involved, leaves a feeling of being part of more then just yourself and makes you reflect on art, life, creation and beyond. Finishing up my interviews, I found a piece of chalk and drew my own little cartoon, my statement, among the others who found that the memory wall was a truly significant art piece at the fifth annual Supercrawl.
