86th Annual Oscars: Ballot (for 2013)

Picture: 12 Years A Slave
Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Supporting Actress: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years A Slave
Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
Adapted Screenplay: John Ridley, 12 Years A Slave
Animated Feature: Frozen

Top 10 Films of 2013

Click on each title for my review of that film.

1) Her (dir. Spike Jonze)

2) Frances Ha (dir. Noah Baumbach)

3) Before Midnight (dir. Richard Linklater)

4) Gravity (dir. Alfonso Cuarón)

5) Short Term 12 (dir. Destin Daniel Cretton)

6) Blue is the Warmest Colour (dir. Abdellatif Kechiche)

7) 12 Years A Slave (dir. Steve McQueen)

8) Inside Llewyn Davis (dirs. Joel & Ethan Coen)

9) The Wolf of Wall Street (dir. Martin Scorsese)

10) The Spectacular Now (dir. James Ponsoldt)

Review: With Or Withour 'Her' – Love of Future Present

"The past is just a story we tell ourselves."

Her is writer/director Spike Jonze's beautifully surreal yet emotionally sensitive think piece about the nature of love and technology. Through the use of strong, warm visuals and thoughtful writing about futurism, consciousness, and feelings, the film explores the nature of relationships and (artificial) intelligence. Constructed almost like a comic fable or bittersweet fairytale, the concept of a lonely man falling in love with his operating system manages to seem so strangely intimate and wholly romantic.

Review: Play Me Something from 'Inside Llewyn Davis'

"If it was never new, and it never gets old, then it’s a folk song."

Inside Llewyn Davis is the Coen brothers' mundane yet punishing look into the burgeoning 1960s folk music scene in Greenwich Village. Actor Oscar Isaac (Drive, The Bourne Legacy) is superb as the titular terminally down on his luck, tortured folk singer and musician (inspired by Dave Van Ronk) barely living a life worth singing about. It has all the Coen hallmarks with simultaneously bleak and darkly comic performances.

Review: Sex, Drugs and 'The Wolf of Wall Street'

"This is obscene."

Prolific director Martin Scorsese has teamed up with star/producer Leonardo DiCaprio once again for what can only be described as a three-hour long drug and sex fuelled cautionary yet unapologetic celebration of American opulence and self-indulgence. The Wolf of Wall Street, based on the real-life exploits and memoir of 1990s penny stockbroker bad boy Jordan Belfort, is an outrageous ode to the criminal hedonism of Wall Street excess. It's a purely visceral experience enhanced by every kind of mind altering substance or act possible in order to explore the total depravity of the human spirit.

Review: Imagine 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'

Ben Stiller, the director, continues to prove himself as a true auteur with mainstream comedic appeal. A product of the 1990s comedy scene, he cemented himself with the reverent, audaciously under seen and hilariously subversive The Ben Stiller Show. His early directorial works Reality Bites and The Cable Guy affirmed his streak for darkly comic yet effective turns (even into the bizarrely satirical Zoolander and broad hit Tropic Thunder). With The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, he takes on the classic literary lost character beautifully yet coldly with some breathtaking visuals, creating a vivid sense of wonder and imagination.

Review: Some of 'American Hustle' Actually Happened

"Some of this actually happened."

Early on in American Hustle, director David O. Russell's fictionalized adaptation of the real-life FBI Abscam scandal, Christian Bale comments to Bradley Cooper about a piece of forged art and whether an original or its copy is a true work of art. I took this as a mediation on the whole film as it's clearly a lovingly made replication of classic Martin Scorsese gangster and caper films (think Goodfellas) with Russell mirroring those films' style and sense of cinematic storytelling.

Review: 'Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues' Stays Classy

"God put Ron Burgundy on this Earth to [...] have salon quality hair and read the news."

After much anticipation and a relentless marketing campaign, it's finally here. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, the brainchild of star/co-writer Will Ferrell and co-writer/director Adam McKay, picks up where the original cult film left off, nearly a decade later. It continues the strange, absurdist humour into the next decade, but with a different, more satirical vibe, stretching moments of surrealistic hilarity with awkward political satire.

From Caesars to Seafood x Chewies Oyster Bar x Coal Harbour

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar's grand opening party in Coal Harbour on December 11, 2013.



While the original Chewies in Kitsilano celebrates its second anniversary as a fast becoming staple in the neighbourhood, their brand new, second location has opened up (out with May Pang, below), busting the stuffy nature of Downtown Vancouver's financial district. Along with it, comes their trademark southern comfort food menu (now with nearly twice as many offerings). Highlights from the night included their signature muddy Caesar cocktails, fried chicken (served over biscuits), chicken-fried gator, fried green tomatoes, hushpuppies, and of course, fresh oysters.

From the Weekend: In Da Club x Let It Snow x Cabana Lounge

Entice Events' Let It Snow holiday club night at Cabana Lounge nightclub on Granville Street on December 14, 2013.



Dashing through the club. Yes, I went to a nightclub, on a Saturday, on Granville Street. There's only one plausible reason for this, to support a blood relative (my cousin Angelica, above). I was the night's photographer. Proceeds went to support of BC Children's Hospital Foundation.

From Vodka to Gin x Yaletown Distilling Co. x The Distillery

Yaletown Distilling Company launch party at The Distillery bar and Paulie's Kitchen in Yaletown on December 5, 2013.



Yaletown's newest liqour distillery has opened its doors marking the latest venture from the Mark James Group. The traditional in-house craft production and bottling machinery is pioneered by the Yaletown Brewing Company, distilling vodka and gin produced with 100% local BC ingredients. The custom-made, stainless steel distillery’s equipment was intentionally designed for the space in partnership with Bavarian Brewing Technology. Signature cocktails made from their craft vodka (40%) and gin (42%) are served up in the adjacent The Distillery bar and Paulie's Kitchen.

Review: A Weekend in 'Nebraska'

Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) excels in telling seemingly small stories with emotionally thoughtful and rich performances. Nebraska is a hilariously poignant film about families and looking back through our lives and rediscovering our personal histories. Payne uses the film's road trip style narrative to explore themes of elderly stubbornness and old men.

From Seafood to Brunch x The Roof at Black & Blue x Glowbal

Brunch menu tasting at The Roof at Black & Blue from The Glowbal Collection on Alberni Street on November 30, 2013.



Weekend brunch in the city has become fierce as Black & Blue's brunch service extends to their new rooftop patio.

Review: 'Short Term 12' Memory Loss

"It's not your job to interpret tears."

Short Term 12 is a powerfully earnest and skillfully heartfelt drama about human struggles and the cyclical nature of abuse from child to adulthood. Sophomore filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton crafts a genuinely effecting, naturalistic film full of raw performances and emotional honesty. In the performance of her life, Brie Larson plays a tough but vulnerable care worker, and former foster child herself, taking care of children in the titular group foster home for troubled kids and at risk youth.

Cocktails & Lego x Douglas Coupland x VAG

Cocktails & Lego at the Vancouver Art Gallery on November 26, 2013. As seen in Vancouver Is Awesome.



It was a night of reliving your childhood with booze, of course. Local artist/author Doug Coupland, as a part of crowdsourcing his next art project, got together with Jelly Marketing, the Vancouver Lego Club, and some "towering ambition" for an evening of drinks, hands-on tower building, and architectural discussion in creative celebration of Lego as an art supply.

From Fall to Feast x Burdock & Co. x Mount Pleasant

Fall menu tasting at Burdock & Co. restaurant on Main Street in Mount Pleasant on Main Street on November 25, 2013.



A few of us were invited to a private tasting of Burdock's cozy and comforting fall menu. Immediately, the grilled beef brisket ramen (with poached egg and candied bacon, above) caught my eye and it proved a fairly satisfying and flavourfully comforting dish. Also, the roasted squash and barley miso ramen (vegetarian) was intriguing despite some blandness. To drink, I recommend the burdock boilermaker (with whiskey, saison, and ginger beer) for its refreshing nature.

Review: 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Strikes Back

"Remember who the enemy is."

It's hard not to argue just how more confidently made and executed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is than its predecessor in almost every conceivable way. Journeyman blockbuster director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) takes over from original helmer Gary Ross and brings a stark visual and adventurous momentum to the Suzanne Collins' authored young adult series. The sequel succeeds in raising the stakes of the characters and maintains a remarkably fluid cinematic story by expanding its ideas and themes.

Bestie Live x 2013 Lotus Awards x Convention Centre

Bestie live at the 2013 Lotus Awards gala at Vancouver Convention Centre West on November 13, 2013.



Local indie pop band and The Peak Performance Project top 3 finalist, Bestie (not to be confused with Chinatown's sausage eatery), performed a quick yet electrically enthusiastic set for the crowd live on stage.

Last Week: Leonidas x Okanagan Crush Pad x BC Living

Last week's happenings from November 5 to 7, 2013. As seen in Vancouver Is Awesome.



Leonidas Belgian Chocolates & Cafe's 2nd anniversary party at Waterfront in Coal Harbour on November 7, 2013.

Review: McConaughey Dares to Live – 'Dallas Buyers Club'

Matthew McConaughey continues his streak of strong, interesting roles in compelling independent dramas. This time around, he plays real-life 1980s cowboy and AIDS activist Ron Woodroof in a drama directed by Quebec filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée (C.R.A.Z.Y.). Dallas Buyers Club is about one fiercely dramatic performance wrapped around a fairly conventional narrative of uncovering and facing injustice (think Erin Brokovich or Philadelphia).