Wednesday, November 14, 2007



It was around 1972 that my Spanish neighbour in Mexico City and I found out we both read science fiction. We exchanged books. He gave me a Stanislaw Lem and I gave him Olaf Stapledon's Hacedor de Estrellas. A month passed and we returned the books after having a short chat. I had not read the Lem book and I am sure he never gave Stapleton's book a chance. We still managed to express or views re Polish/Russian science fiction versus the rest of the world. What comes to mind is the recent translation into English from the French of Pierre Boyard's How To Talk About Books You Haven't Read.

I mention the above because with only a perfunctory look at local media I feel I have seen all those films that I haven't. It seems that our whole Vancouver culture, particularly as noted by our Vancouver Sun ,is all about food, fashion, gossip (movie gossip) and Hollywood films. That lefty rant, The Tyee does not welcome much cultural content unless it is about TV and film. The logical explanation is that this fine BC web magazine must cater to not only Metro Vancouver but the interior. The only aspect of culture that binds all those communities is viewable on a TV screen or computer monitor. That eliminates ballet, dance, theatre, the visual arts, symphony music, baroque music, opera, new music, etc. We are to be defined by our reaction to film and TV. Vancouver's leading blog aggregators also stress food and even sports as arts.

I have vowed not to rant here nor write about politics or religion. I have especially vowed not to review films. That is why I will not complain about the pervasive media emphasis on film. I will read my reviews in the New York Times and enjoy such flops as Steven Soderbergh's The Good German to my heart's content.

As I look back to compare and contrast what was film criticism then and what it has become, I must note that I miss the Vancouver Sun's Les Wedman who later reviewed films on television. He had a pleasant demeanor and he did his best to like the films he reviewed. He was never nasty or cruel.



But I also miss the whacky, down home reviews of Rick Forchuk (seen eating pop corn above and left). He reviewed movies for Harvey Southam's and Pia Shandel's (and Daryl Duke, too) CKVU. Please, Mr. Forchuk come and save us from all these film critics. Tell us about the movies you like.