TIFF21 REVIEW: Jagged [2021]

There’s hope even when the song is hopeless. It really is strange to look back almost thirty years later and realize just how huge and seminal Alanis Morissette‘s Jagged Little Pill was to rock music. I was only thirteen at the time of its release and therefore didn’t understand then what I can with hindsight now. “You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket,” and “Ironic” were on constant rotation every time the radio was turned on, but my brain processed them as songs just like any other. When you hear…

Read More

REVIEW: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry [2012]

“They silence him, but his voice grows louder and louder.” Chinese artist/activist/dissident Ai Weiwei—a man deeply entrenched with the social media scene so his voice can be heard around the world—acts by responding to his opponents. A self-proclaimed chess player awaiting the government, police, critics, etc. to spin China’s oppressive nature as ‘being better than it was’, he chases his detractors around the board fully aware checkmate is impossible. But despite knowing full-scale victory is futile, Weiwei refuses to yield or take his freedom for granted. Willing to spend hours…

Read More