Cover photo by Mike Baehr, used under Creative Commons license

Jon Stewart announces his retirement

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I’m mildly devastated by this news.

I’m not sure when we started watching The Daily Show; by May 2004 I was already including it amongst my must-watch shows. (Along with 24? Sheesh.) Since then we’ve watched it almost religiously, falling off only a little in the last couple of years as we’ve just gotten insanely busy with work and too exhausted to watch every night. We actually flew to New York in 2006 for the express purpose of watching a taping. I’d requested tickets online, and when I got word that we were in for a Monday show we booked flights and found a hotel. It was a great experience, even if the guest was an author I can’t even remember and the following evening’s guest would be Natalie Portman. Dammit.

Over the years I’ve thought many times about all the talent Stewart developed, or helped to develop, on that show. The Verge had a good run-down today: Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, John Oliver, Larry Wilmore, Ed Helms, Rob Corddry, John Hodgman, and so on. I’m not sure who will replace him, but recently I hypothesized that with a little time for Stewart to groom her, it could be Jessica Williams. She has the brains and the talent, and I think she’s charismatic enough to pull it off while veteran correspondents like Sam Bee and Jason Jones hold things together. John Oliver was rusty when Stewart first went on hiatus last summer, but he rounded out nicely.

In fact, I’m guessing John Oliver was part of the reason Stewart is leaving. Most of the talent above went in different directions after they left: Colbert went deep into his satirical character and will now host a network show, Carell became a (now Oscar-nominated) movie actor, Wilmore is just now starting his own show, and Helms and Corddry went on to decent comedic movie and TV careers. Oliver, though, took the Daily Show concept to HBO, and has been killing it. He’s arguably doing it better than The Daily Show. He’s certainly in the same neighbourhood.

I can’t imagine Oliver will be able to keep his show at TDS-esque levels of quality for 16 years the way Stewart did, but that’s not the point. I think that Stewart waited until he saw someone do angry poltical satire better, with the fire that he himself used to have in his belly. Maybe he wants to direct. Maybe he wants to see his family during the week. I’m sure we’ll find out. But ever since Rosewater came out I felt like this move was bubbling, and I think he was waiting until he felt an angry voice could carry the torch, and he found it — built it — in John Oliver.

I hope Mr. Stewart doesn’t go far. He’s been the smartest guy on TV four days a week for more than a decade, and god knows we need smart guys.

.:.

Cover photo by Mike Baehr, used under Creative Commons license

Cover photo by J.G. Park, used under Creative Commons license

“There are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job’.”

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

We watched Whiplash (imdb | rotten tomatoes) yesterday. Maybe I’m biased because I’m a lapsed drummer but to me it was the best movie that came out last year. It was more thrilling and mesmerizing and intense than a movie about jazz drumming has a right to be. You could see that Miles Teller threw himself completely into the role. Meanwhile, J.K. Simmons is a seething goddamn ninja of an actor and should win the Oscar.

I can’t stop thinking about it. I swear I dreamt Caravan.

You have to see it.

.:.

Cover photo by J.G. Park, used under Creative Commons license

Cover photo by Dennis, used under Creative Commons license

Meat coda

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Well, my visit to Jacobs & Co. steakhouse a couple weeks ago without the wife was the last straw. Her birthday is coming up and we go where the birthday girl wants, and the birthday girl wanted steak after hearing me talk about it last month. So.

Nellie’s still getting over the remnants of the flu so we kept it simple: champagne, Caesar salads, mushrooms and rapini, and no Wagyu…she wouldn’t be able to taste it. She had a Hereford bone-in striploin from Alberta; I had a USDA Black Angus ribeye from Nebraska. Nothing fancy on the wine front either: a bottle of Ridge 2010 Cab Sauv. We weren’t looking for a unique snowflake of a meal. We were looking for the perfect  straight-up-and-down steak dinner, and last night pretty much ticked the box. We didn’t even bother with dessert or coffee; the last bite of steak* and last sip of cab was the perfect exit note.

Unexpected stars of the night: our server in the downstairs piano bar who was so adorable you could just put her in your pocket; the smoked, chocolate-infused salt from Oregon which was so good I made the table runner put some in our to-go bag; our server who surprised Nellie with petit fours with a happy birthday message written in chocolate; the takeaway muffin which I always seem to forget about but which hit the spot this morning.

Nellie suggested we eat dinner there every Friday night. Apart from gluttony and destitution I’m having a hard time finding a reason not to.

* The last bite we took, that is. We each brought home nearly half of our steak, so we’ll have a meat coda sometime this weekend.

.:.

Cover photo by Dennis, used under Creative Commons license

Cover photo by Craig Duffy, used under Creative Commons license

“Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.”

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

A few more movies I forgot to mention:

Snowpiercer (imdb | rotten tomatoes) started off incredibly well: dystopian claustrophobia, hurtling metaphors for class struggle, et cet. It got increasingly weird and metaboring and man-behind-the-curtain toward the end, to its detriment. It was good, but I was ready to like it even more. Except Tilda Swinton. I’m not sure I could like her any more than I liked her here. Gawds, those teeth.

The Sweeney (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was crap. Apparently it was a BBC show in the 70s; remind me never to watch that. Also, memo to Ray Winstone: just because you’re a producer doesn’t mean you should make someone write in sex scenes with Hayley Atwell. It strained credulity.

.:.

Cover photo by Craig Duffy, used under Creative Commons license

Cover photo by Global Panorama, used under Creative Commons license

“I’m kind of thinking it’s the other way around, you know, like the moment seizes us.”

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Finally watched Boyhood (imdb | rotten tomatoes) last night, and it was…it was really something. It started slowly, and at first it was difficult to imagine sitting through nearly three hours of this. By the end, though, I was wishing I could watch more*. The most jarring thing was when I went to Letterboxd immediately after watching the film to log it, and saw the poster of the little boy we’d just watched grow up.

What an epic undertaking for Linklater, and for all the actors. All the accolades are well deserved. Everyone should watch this film. Everyone.

* I’m already hoping that we’ll get to watch Manhood in twelve years. Maybe Fatherhood twelve years after that. ‘Cause, you know, the 9-year cycle between the Before Sunrise – Before Sunset – Before Midnight films wasn’t ambitious enough.

.:.

Cover photo by Global Panorama, used under Creative Commons license

Cover photo by Razas Bovinas de Colombia, used under Creative Commons license

Still the champ

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Thursday night I made a believer out of several more skeptics: people who didn’t quite believe me that Jacob’s & Co. is the best steakhouse in Toronto. Look on our works, ye mighty, and despair:

  • Appetizers:
    • white cheddar pop-overs
    • four Caesar salads, prepared table-side
  • Steaks, shared among the table (there were nine of us):
    • Canadian Piedmont/Angus 40oz porterhouse, aged 30 days (Fergus, ON)
    • Snake River Farms Wagyu 10oz tenderloin (Boise, ID)
    • A5 Black Tajima Wagyu 20oz ribeye (Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan)
  • Sides, shared among the table:
    • sautéed spinach
    • beefsteak tomato
    • duck fat french fried potatoes
    • mashed potatoes
  • Wine:
    • Ridge Estates 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon
    • Hidden Bench 2010 La Brunante
  • Dessert:
    • petit fours
    • Port, Sauternes, Whisky, etc.
    • coffee/espresso

I’m still full.

steakysteaksteak

.:.

Cover photo by Razas Bovinas de Colombia, used under Creative Commons license

Cover photo by Earthworth, used under Creative Commons license

Economic theory

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Sometimes it’s obvious why an actor gets nominated for an Oscar. Like Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night (imdb | rotten tomatoes): obvious. It’s a master class.

The premise is set up in the first few minutes: while she’s away her co-workers are told to vote: Sandra (Cotillard) can keep her job only if the other 16 forego their bonus. They vote for their bonuses. She has the weekend to change their minds one by one, and the camera barely leaves her for a moment. There’s no melodrama or pity-wallowing. It’s stark, and eerily real: the actors, the Belgian suburbs, the corporate ruthlessness. The only disarming thing about it is that, try as you might, you can make Marion Cotillard look only so plain and working class. She’s just too stunning.

But that’s a minor quibble. This film deserves the (still too scarce) accolades it’s collected, even if it isn’t exactly subtle about the societal points it’s trying to make. And I’d very much love to see Marion Cotillard get an Oscar for it. She may be one of the most underrated actresses working today, and part of that underestimation may come from just how beautiful she is.

Side note: while the TIFF Bell Lightbox is a superb film venue (especially for members with access to the lounge) it’s hard to enjoy a film in any theatre when the two idiots behind you won’t shut the fuck up. Nellie shushed them 60 seconds into the film, but they just started up again, especially toward the end. Didn’t matter how many times we shushed them, or gave them angry looks. Blah blah blah de blah blah wank. I wasn’t there, but when they first sat down behind us another gentleman — already seated in the row — recognized them, and got up and moved as far away as he could. I just wish he’d issued a general warning to the rest of us.

Anyway, we took note so as not to fall into the same trap next time, and left the Lightbox in search of food. We found it in round, flat form at Pizzeria Libretto, already a (pretty much) local favourite. I had a sausage pizza with a Dieu du Ciel Moralité IPA and a Flying Monkeys oatmeal stout; Nellie had Chardonnay and Primitivo with her prosciutto pizza. Love it there.

[2014 movie update] On Saturday night we watched Blue Ruin (imdb | rotten tomatoes) and it was AMAZING. I love movies that can pull off grand themes with, by the look of it, almost no budget. Savage and serene all at once. Watch it.

.:.

Cover photo by Earthworth, used under Creative Commons license

Cover photo by Rob Nguyen, used under Creative Commons license

Rocky Mountain Horseshit

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As you might have seen in previous posts, we spent a lot of time at the Air Canada Centre between Christmas and last Monday. We watched about a dozen World Jr games there, which means we saw the same people, watched the same between-periods entertainment, and heard the same terrible in-arena songs. It also means we had no options for good beer.

I’ve never understood the need that some people have to drink beer while watching sports. I mean, if it’s good beer, or even moderately decent beer, then yeah, great. But I can’t imagine what madness seizes the brains of the people who paid $15.25 for a glass of Coors Light, Molson Canadian, or MGD. I mean, maybe a Creemore (which cost $17), but those weren’t even very easy to find. I’d wait and drink real beer at Cork’s between games, like Black Oak Nut Brown or Great Lakes Winter Ale. Bonus: I didn’t spend 20 minutes lining up to piss.

It’s not like the ACC is the only Toronto arena serving shitty macro beer though. Skydome Rogers Centre has taken flack for not serving any craft beer at Jays games after severing ties with Steam Whistle — which brews their beer literally next door. That practice led to Toronto being rated near the bottom of all MLB teams by the Washington Post, and from what I can tell saved from being dead-last only because the Post gives them a better uniqueness score than other teams, presumably because other teams don’t carry Keith’s.

But back to the ACC: given all the beer nearby, and in province, and in Canada, it’s inexcusable that they’re still serving the mass produced foreign-owned (or half-foreign-owned) crap. The Canucks now serve craft beer at their games. Nashville has an annual craft beer festival for Predators fans. Nashville, fer chrissakes. We may not be in Quebec (speaking of which: get on it, Canadiens, you have world-class beer on your doorstep) but we do have breweries like Beau’s, Muskoka, Nickel Brook, Sawdust City, and Wellington in Ontario and the likes of Bellwoods, Black Oak, Great Lakes, Left Field, and Steam Whistle right here in the GTA.

All I’m saying is that it would have been nice to drink a real Canadian craft beer while watching Canada win gold. Who knows, maybe when the tournament returns in two year it’ll happen. Hey, the beer store monopoly appears to be in the midst of death throes, so anything’s possible, right?

.:.

Cover photo by Rob Nguyen, used under Creative Commons license

Cover photo by anthonyfmiller, used under Creative Commons license

“It’s just an ordinary pen. Looks like a pen, writes like a pen, and listens like a pen.”

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Our blitz to watch the best movies of 2014 continues. Or did, at least, until we returned to work earlier this week.

  • Willow Creek (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was scarier than any movie about Bigfoot deserved to be. Straight-up Blair Witch rip-off, but really effective. Certainly the scariest scene from inside a tent since Blair Witch.
  • We knew nothing about The Babadook (imdb | rotten tomatoes) before we started watching it, other than that it had a dumb name. But it was one of the more effective horror movies I’ve seen in years. Almost impossible to believe that they made it for $30,000.
  • Starred Up (imdb | rotten tomatoes) is a great example of a simple story gaining weight with a lot of amazing performances, especially Jack O’Connell. Holy cow. Prison, emotional breakthroughs, family…simple themes are sometimes the best ones, if they’re done right.
  • A Most Wanted Man (imdb | rotten tomatoes) made me sad that we won’t get any more Philip Seymour Hoffman. This was such a taut, graceful thriller, and he so awkwardly, bearishly trod around in it, feeling out of place the whole time, and yet totally in control. Terrific political thriller though.

.:.

Cover photo by anthonyfmiller, used under Creative Commons license