Who gets a spot in the collective unconscious? /Content Warning: Discussions of racism and homophobia./ Thanks to a series of events involving a broken button maker and my coworker being late, I managed to score myself a free ticket to Vancouver’s outdoor Shakespeare festival, Bard on the Beach. As I settled into my seat for […]
What’s the deal with the romanticization of the 80s? Read More »
Exploring the impact of vaccines on mortality and life expectancy while debunking the ‘anti-vax’ narrative Vaccines have long been at the forefront of medical innovations, preventing death and diseases worldwide. They have eradicated smallpox, which killed an estimated 300 million people in the twentieth century, and reduced the global cases of polio by more than
What’s the deal with anti-vaxxers? Read More »
The illusion of subversion: how Hollywood packages “progressive” stories Recently, the new Superman film sparked significant discussion online about supposedly being an allegory for the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Or maybe it was about Ukraine. Or Kashmir. Truthfully, it was hard to discern the film’s political messaging. Superman depicts a generic oppressed nation, without giving
Is the new superman movie really pro-Palestine? Read More »
The true gravity of Trump’s war on science Once a world leader when it came to scientific research, the United States has taken a hard turn on its stance regarding science, as the Trump Administration has implemented significant research funding cuts. Over the past six months, the United States has seen unprecedented levels of scientific
What’s the deal with research funding cuts in the United States? Read More »
The strange paradox of student apartments If you’ve ever lived in a student apartment, you already know the script: the shower that you can never quite get clean, the landlord who ghosts you once rent is paid, the mysterious smell that no amount of Febreze can fix. My place, the bottom half of a creaky
Why we love the rats in our walls Read More »
Want,desire,yearning,pining, craving,weight… waiting.The sickness,aching,longing.Whatever the word may be to describe the hot burning sensation that pools in your gut and spreads through your body like wildfire.Each torch you dropped did not snuff out, the amber still burns blue. You stuff and stuff and stuff to no surprise, you remain unsatisfied.The definition of insanity is“doing the
Approaching the situation with misinformed caution Read More »
When melancholy strikes,and my laundry piles up,a 13-year-old bloodhoundthe size of two American footballsmaterialises between the layers of rough jeans, synthetic wools,and a couple freshly washed pairs of thongs. Here he slobbers.Profusely.Heaving in heavy distress,as if to bring to my attention the gravest offence of my existence –that he has NEVER, not ONCE,been taken on
The Bach-bowel movement: no. 2 in A minor Read More »
Nouvelle Vague is no masterpiece. But neither does it want to be. Nouvelle Vaguea film directed by Richard Linklater and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, September 4–14, 2025 Issue 152 of the French film review, Les Cahiers du cinéma, was a tribute to the seminal French filmmaker Jean Cocteau, who passed in October
« Qu’est-ce que c’est dégueulasse? » Read More »
Or, the Roger’s experience of America’s making Train Dreams a film directed by Clint Bentley and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, September 4–14, 2025 Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams—an adaptation of Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella of the same title—has the same sentimentality and prodigious lens flare as an Ozempic advertisement. It’s important to establish
Frankenstein a film directed by Guillermo del Toro and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, September 4–14, 2025 In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Victor’s ambitions lead him astray. How ironic, then, that Guillermo del Toro’s lofty aspirations to vivify this classic novel end in disaster. With any literary adaptation, fans will naively point to
Vaulting ambition o’erleaps itself in del Toro’s Frankenstein Read More »
