Month: January 2017

Something Is Leaking (Snowden review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

There have been dozens of spy films over the years, and the sub-genre is strongly associated with the Jame Bond franchise to be sure, but what do you say to a film that is not your typical gun wielding action hero?

Films like The Lives of Others and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy come to mind, but I bet you wouldn’t expect a biopic to fit the bill, now would you?

 

 

 

Snowden (2016)

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Rhys Ifans, Shailene Woodley, Tom Wilkinson
Director: Oliver Stone
released on blu-ray December 27, 2016
******** 8/10

snowden_movie_poster__2015__by_nabilstevieg-d8kd87l

IMDB: 7.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 61%, Audience Score 73%
The Guardian: ****/*****

 

Oliver Stone is an academy awarding winning writer, director and producer. Known for his tendency to focus on American political issues, Stone is something of a controversial director. He has directed Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Heaven & Earth, Wall Street (and its sequel), The Doors, JFK, Nixon, and W. Snowden is his latest film and maintains the pace for addressing difficult subject material.

Snowden is based on a a series of books called The Snowden Files by Luke Harding and Time of the Octopus by Anatoly Kucherena. It has received mixed reviews and is a box office disappointment, only grossing $34 million worldwide on a budget of $40 million.

Based on the story of Edward Snowden, former computer professional for the CIA and former contractor for the United States government. Snowden is a whistleblower that leaked classified information from the NSA in 2013 without any authorization. He has revealed that the US and European governments had been working with telecommunications companies to run global surveillance and without any knowledge from the general public.

The movie opens with Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meeting in Hong Kong with documentarian Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) and journalist Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto). They discuss releasing the classified NSA information which Snowden has stored in a Rubik’s Cube.

As the movie progresses we see a series of flashbacks of Snowden’s time in the US army, his administrative discharge over a fractured tibia, application for a position with the Central Intelligence Agency, and what he learns working with his employers.

Corbin O’Brian (Rhys Ifans) decides to take him on, and Snowden is educated in the ways of cyber warfare. He learns about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which circumvents the Fourth Amendment rights of U.S. citizens by allowing warrant requests to be approved by a panel of judges that were appointed by the chief justice. During this time Snowden also meets Lindsay Mills over a dating website (Shailene Woodley), they hit it off, though they have different belief systems. Snowden’s first post is in Geneva Snowden where he begins to question the ethics of what they do. After his superior tries to force a DUI on a target of theirs, Snowden resigns the CIA.

Taking a position with the NSA in Japan, Snowden builds backup program of Middle East data called Epic Shelter. He slowly learns that other countries are employing similar practices, and working together on a global surveillance program. The stress of this knowledge and the job leads to a breakup with Mills.

A few months later, leaves this job and returns to Maryland to reconcile with Mills and he take a position consulting for the CIA. During a hunting trip, O’Brian asks for Snowden’s help counterattacking Chinese hackers. Snowden becomes epileptic, and Mills moves with him to Hawaii for his health, while Snowden works on this new post. Snowden learns that Epic Shelter has been repurposed to assist U.S. drones in launching lethal strikes against terror suspects in Afghanistan.

Snowden reaches his breaking point and smuggles a microSD card out of The Tunnel via the previously mentioned Rubik’s Cube. He asks Mills to fly home and contacts Poitras and Greenwald for a meet. With the help of Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson), the information is disseminated to the press, and leaked over other channels as well. The three journalists help Snowden to be smuggled out of Hong Kong. However, the U.S. Government revokes his passport, forcing him to remain in Moscow. The Russian government grants him asylum and Mills joins him.

Snowden continues his to fight right now.

Pros: Gordon-Levitt communicates Snowden’s crisis of ethics well, and the supporting cast all aid in the progress of the story. It’s clear that Oliver Stone is in reverence of Edward Snowden.

Cons: The template of the action-thriller takes away from the message, and the way the story unfolds is far to safe for the subject matter at hand.

Runtime:  2 hours 14 minutes

Points of Interest: To ensure the screenplay was not hacked or leaked, Oliver Stone wrote it on single computer without internet connectivity. Oliver Stone also visited the real Edward Snowden after filming to show him a cut of the film.

Did you know that Luke Harding is a Guardian journalist and that former editor Alan Rusbridger makes a cameo in the film? When I first watched this movie in theatres I was worried that The Guardian might come out with a biased review of the film, but I was pleasantly surprised. The highlights of the film definitely came in performances by Gordon-Levitt, Woodley, and Ifans, but this is a story that asks a question we cannot ignore, and it hits the mark.

This biopic is an excellent exploration into the sub-genre and a strong urging to deal with issues of security, secrecy and privacy as they continue to evolve in our globalized world. Snowden might not be for everyone, and it is likely biased towards the viewpoint of its protagonist, but the topic is essential. And that’s all the theories I’ve got for now.

Tim!

When Music and Politics Collide (Gord Downie, Secret Path for Chanie Wenjack review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Politics and music have always been brothers in arms. The connection between expression and intention can be seen in a number of different cultures and subsets of cultures too. While we cannot know the implication of making music that has a political slant, it is in the emotion that we become effected, and hopefully change for the better.

As I hold my chest in anguish and joy, I can say that this project is worth it.

Gord Downie – Secret Path (for Chanie Wenjack)
released October 18, 2016
********** 10/10

forchanie

Gordon Edgar Downie, better known by his stage name Gord Downie, is a Canadian rock musician, writer, and sometime actor. He is also the lead singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock group we all know and love, The Tragically Hip. As an independant artist he has released five solo albums: Coke Machine Glow, Battle of the Nudes, The Grand Bounce, And the Conquering Sun and now Secret Path (for Chanie Wenjack). On the first three of these records, he was backed by the Country of Miracles; with The Grand Bounce specifically credited to Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles.

And I would be remiss not to mention this, but it wasn’t too long ago (May of 2016) that The Tragically Hip announced on their website Downie had been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. Downie has responded well to treatment, but unfortunately what he has has been deemed as uncurable. Downie toured with the band in the summer 2016 after reporting his cancer and to support Man Machine Poem, the band’s 14th studio album. The band confirmed that the tour would be the final one for the group and it concluded with a concert at Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston, the hometown of the band, and it was streamed live by the CBC, viewed by roughly 11 million people.

Then in September 2016, Downie announced he would be releasing a solo album, Secret Path in October, and dedicated it to Chanie Wenjack. The album was also set up with a graphic novel by Jeff Lemire and which Downie also collaborated on, and later an animated film. Secret Path is likely the last studio album we’ll ever see by Gord Downie, but interestingly enough, it is not about Gord Downie, not at all.

Maybe I’m guilty of both loving and hating this album immediately for what it represents, but I think you’ll agree that this is a powerful concept album. Chanie Wenjack was a young Anishinaabe boy from the Marten Falls First Nation who died in 1966 while trying to return home after escaping from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian residential school while facing brutal winter conditions outside. This is a very sad thing, and one which has marred the history of Canada without “white Canadians” even knowing the impact of it. We have no way of measuring the impact, because the Canadian government stopped recording the deaths of residential school children in the 1920s, and many original records have been lost or destroyed, but an estimated 6000 children lost their lives in an attempt by local churches (funded by the federal government) to “take the Indian out of the child.”

What Secret Path does is tell the story of Chanie and exposes the history of these schools, which is hardly ever mentioned, and certainly not taught.

It starts with The Stranger, and Downie protests that he is stranger, and that you can’t see him. But as the album unfolds we learn how Chanie escaped in Swing Set, what he may have been thinking as he walked the train tracks in I Will Not Be Struck. As the album enters it’s final moments, Haunt Them, Haunt Them, Haunt Them brings the emotions upwards and lets us know that Wenjack will not be forgotten and that the pain is all too real. It becomes even more real with the closing track, Here, Here and Here and how we know the story plays out. But I admit that the album by itself is not a clear indication of what happened, its in the combination of its parts – the album, graphic novel, film, and marketing by brothers Mike and Gord Downie to bring this to light that we feel the weight of it all.

 

 

 

This is not a solution to a non-history, its the beginning of a lesson and a reconciliation which we all need to participate in. The secret path is not so secret any more, and hopefully within a century we’ll be able to look back on this moment as a turning point in our humanity beginning to swell towards embracing all cultures and protecting the previously alienated. Canada has a future, we just need to follow the unbeaten path.

Tim!

Films That Changed The Game (Cross Talk Ep. 15)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

There is this phrase out there which tells us that history is written by the victors, and attributed to Winston Churchill. It’s a good quote, and the gravity of it is not lost on anyone. But the intent of the quotation and the reality of it are two different things.

If we stop and consider what that quotation is really saying, its that history is written by writers, and much like present day events, there are conflicting viewpoints on what went down, and over time the extremists viewpoints are taken out and we are left with a more generic set of stories that can be taken in by those with an interest in the past.

Movies Preserved By Collectors

Much can be said about the history of cinema as well. We pick our favourites and share those stories with whoever we will, sometimes movies make it into our homes and sometimes distributors stop carrying copies as technology improves. I’ve seen it happen with one of my favourite movies Anti-Trust. Nearly impossible to find on blu-ray, it was FINALLY released just over a year ago.

And carrying on that line of thought, there are some movie moments that have saved the future of cinema. Not in so literal a result, but by inspiring future directors to push the envelope in new ways. Many movies have their own unique examples that can stop a conversation in its tracks. The wood chipper scene in Fargo, the velociraptors in the kitchen during Jurassic Park, the box reveal in Se7ven, and The Pixies playing “Where Is My Mind” as the city blows up during Fight Club, are all iconic moments.

Whether these moments have taken good movies into the realm of great, or great movies into the exceptional, when it comes down to it, every year in film we get to see some scenes, technical achievements and themes which set new standards in film expectations. Making this art form still relevant and open for public consumption, but resulting in some ideas moving out of favour, ie the traditional western.

In fact, I like to think we prefer to think of film in this way. Quoting from Harry Potter, Dirty Harry, The Big Lebowski and Zoolander have become a natural process, because we embrace the new, though only when it is capable of enthralling us.

And so today, we share with you some of our favourite benchmark movie moments and why they are so incredibly relevant even decades later. Chris and I decided to share the couch with our friend André Lindo once more, and he brings some really cool examples to the room. This is episode fifteen of Cross Talk and it’s a thoughtful one.

Another day, another theory. I hope you enjoyed this episode creative cuties and that you have a fantastic week. Otherwise, please comment, subscribe, and share this video with friends. We want to hear your feedback!

Tim!

Campfire Theories (timotheories January 2017)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Yesterday I promised that I would reveal the timotheories theme of 2017, and today I fulfill that promise dear readers.

I’ve been humming and hawing on what that theme should be for weeks now, and dammit if I didn’t wait until the last minute to hope the idea would just pop into my head. Conveniently enough, when you live a fast and furious lifestyle, things happen when you need them to happen. Which is why this year I’m really embracing the notion that the culture of The Fast and the Furious series pushes on us over and over again.

No, not the theme of family, though that might be a good direction to explore somewhere down the line. It’s more eloquent than family. It’s the activity that holds the family together and which lights up their eyes – the metaphorical barbeque OR campfire.

the-best-fast-and-the-furious-memes

That’s why 2017 is the year of stoking the campfire – the ties that bind us creative professionals together. A campfire invites people together to ask questions and share stories but it also serves as a beacon, and a deterrent to that which we are afraid of – a fantastic symbol of community. And I think after almost a year of consistently writing theories and reviews, sharing resources and events with you, that I should begin the process of building my own campfire. That means putting together proper logos, marketing, and even giving valuable self-contained theories that you can take with you on the go. Its a step forward, but not without some effort on my part.

 

Let’s see what January looks like creative cuties.

*Disclaimer* As always, every week I purchase an album and movie one week ahead of the actual review release and while I have the best intentions, I don’t always get what I want… so if you follow me on instagram (@timotheories) you can actually see what’s coming.

timotheories summarized – January

Stimulating Sundays – (01/08) Cross Talk Ep. 15, (01/15) Byron Martin preview interview, (01/22) Byron Martin interview, (01/29) Cross Talk Ep. 16
Melodic Mondays – (01/02) Sum 41, (01/09) Gord Downie, (01/16) Kid Cudi, (01/23) The Flaming Lips, (01/30) The xx
Theatrical Tuesdays – (01/03) Don’t Breathe, (01/10) Snowden, (01/17) Deepwater Horizon (01/24) Ouija: Origin of Evil (01/31) The Monster
Wisdom Wednesdays – (01/04) Community, (01/11) Decompression, (01/18) Peggy Orenstein, (01/25) Education
Timely Thursday – (01/05) timotheories January, (01/12) Family Tree, (01/19) AGA, (01/26) Sugar Swing Dancing

My album choices are inspired by politics, mental health, and creative expression, while the movie picks are similarly inspired. Funny how those posts seem to cycle together quite nicely.

I’ve got an extra special interview lined up for January with Byron Martin, founder of Grindstone Theatre who also happens to be it’s visionary artistic director. Byron is in the process of setting up a new YEG based theatre space in the heart of Edmonton’s creative sector.

On top of that, we’ve got a couple of cool Cross Talk episodes lined up – benchmark moments in film AND life lessons we’ve learned as film enthusiasts. These’ll be fun, and who knows, you just might see the return of one of our favourite new additions to the team…

And I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but there is some wisdom brewing on the topics of community, decompression and education… plus I’m reading a book about the western phenomenon of princess culture and how it’s marketed to our female youth. And I’ve got some timely posts about dancing, the Art Gallery of Alberta and an ongoing art project I designed for my mother.

I guess you could say I have a few new theories I want to fuel the fire with, you fine folks. But I promise that we’ll have some fun along the way, and who knows, we might just keep that bogeyman on his toes with all that warmth and light.

Tim!

Building Bridges, Forging Families (Community)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

A new year, a new theme.

And while I’m not going to unleash that theme on you just yet, mostly because I’m saving it for the timotheories January post that’ll be released tomorrow, let’s just agree that this first Wisdom Wednesday post of the year is significant. Heck, I’ve even layered this post into an existing series on health and wellness, and influenced by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Let’s consider that statement one more time “new year, new theme.” We could pretty easily replace the words “year” and “theme” with almost anything really.

It’s one of those catch-all-modify-it-as-you-like phrases that I often like to say, and which many of us are guilty of sharing too. It’s such a North American thing to embrace newness. Except that you can’t hear me saying it, so looking at it through the lens of my writing will have to do, dear readers. And if you really want to see me speak you can always head over to the YouTube channel. Lots of theories over there.

You know what else? It’s been an excellent Christmas break. For me especially.

Break In The New Year

An opportunity for both reflection and decompression with a strong mix of socialization thrown in for good measure. As is the tradition, but odd for me to written as a staunch non-traditionalist, we had our typical Christmas eve Secret Santa gift exchange, then a full day of Christmas activities, Boxing Day shopping and movie watching, my annual Fast and Furious marathon, a roommate holiday party, New Years Eve, and New Years Day dinner. It was a full docket to be sure.

If you haven’t guessed it yet, I insist on taking the last week of the year off because Christmas and New Years are big holidays in my family. We always seem to have at least three or four days dedicated to the holiday season and so the preceding weeks and afterglow take both a physical and emotional toll on me. It ain’t easy being green, as the once Kermit the Frog once said.

kermit

Communication Breakdown

The feedback I often get from more vocal friends who only want a cursory view of my break is “why do you even take holidays if you aren’t going anywhere?” Well my friends, I think it’s important to spend time with family and friends and I want to be in the best state possible to partake in these festivities. But honestly it’s just not simple drop in and drop out situation. I have to absorb it all and then filter the experiences. That, and I often catch some sort of seasonal illness around this time of year.

Now granted, I have been told on more than one occasion that I push myself to the limit at this time of year, but recognizing  the deadline oriented nature of the holiday and my own needs working retail (which doesn’t matter if at a store or head office), have led me towards this solution.

This is important to realize. Community is vital for a creative person, so we each need to find a way to inject it into our set of priorities.

You see creative cuties, community and communication often go hand in hand. The people who attend these events with me all bring their own unique perspective to each party, but the desire to be there and connect is important to each of us. Whether it’s bonding over a film series. the act of handmade gifts or sharing in a homemade meal that celebrates culture, there requirements for participating in these events are clear.

Advanced Community Studies

But is this really the life we should be living?

Of course, I have this theory that it all comes back to values. In fact, I call it the campfire theory. Which I’ll likely elaborate upon int’s own post sometime this year…

We all need to be in alignment with the people we spend time with, and a great shared valued is much like a campfire, we gather around it for warmth, share stories around it hours, and struggle to leave it in the wee hours of morning, even when we know we could be sleeping. This is passionate living, and one of the most important things we can do in life is find community with like-minded individuals. The world challenges us to do it on our own, but this is a fallacy, because studies have proven time and time again that giving back to others is good for us and after a certain point of success we want to give away what we have.

We need to make the time for community. Life lessons and experiences are often reverberated through the friends and family in our lives.

Once each of us realizes that we must actively work with a community, then we can begin to determine how often we engage with our communities (daily, weekly, monthly) and the best way to structure said community. It could be a Facebook group, a What’sApp groupchat, a dinner party or a campfire. But knowing what you want to offer the group(s) and receive back is essential.

I’m ecstatic to see what 2017 brings for you creative cuties, so hit me up with your own learnings and let me know what you thought of this wisdom. I’m out of theories for now, but I’ll share some more tomorrow.

Tim!