So, despite not having experienced nearly as many of the things as I should have to qualify me to construct the – that I haven’t read Dancer or Manhattan Projects, or watched Silver Linings Playbook or Les Miserables yet are particular sore spots – here are my lists. As in past years, I’ve made three important ‘best-of’ lists: comic books, movies and songs (in no particular order). But this year, I’ve only listed five comic books, because I didn’t read enough comic books in 2012. (Or didn’t read enough really good ones.) And as I noted before, I purposely avoid making a list of books without pictures, because as a book publicist, I’d rather stay on everyone’s good side.

Comic Books
(Read and released in 2012)

1 ) Saga – Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples
For me, the standout discovery of the year is Saga, a beautifully illustrated, epic, fully-formed science-fiction series from one of comics’ best writers, and clearly one of its finest artists. The character design of Staples alone would include Saga in this list, but the book is so wonderfully imagined, with legless ghost babysitters and lie-detecting giant cats, the touching doomed love story between soldiers on opposite sides in an interplanetary war almost gets forgotten.

2 ) Daredevil – Mark Waid & Chris Samnee (mostly)
Daredevil is the best monthly book coming out from a major comic publisher (though I’m told I should be reading Batman). Mark Waid brings the perfect portions of fun and darkness to a character I’ve never been a huge fan of,  and Chris Samnee is such a good illustrator that you barely notice him. He’s a return to the kind of comic artist who could just draw everything well. Like early days’ Marc Silvestri. He’s so good I was even sort of disappointed when one of my all-time favourites, Mike Allred, did a guest spot in issue #17.

3 ) Hawkeye – Matt Fraction & David Aja (mostly)
The series Hawkeye has taken a character generally relegated to the Avengers sidelines (and yes, I realize he led the West Coast Avengers) and turned him into the wisecracking street-level crimefighter he was always intended to be. I do think Fraction and Aja have largely been biting Daredevil’s style and making it slicker/cooler, but I can’t argue with the results. And colourist Matt Hollingsworth deserves a shout-out to for the colour scheme.

4 ) Fatale – Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
Speaking of gorgeous colour work, Fatale’s Dave Stewart is no schlub, either. Stewart, Brubaker and Phillips – the team behind Criminal – takes on Lovecraftian demons and the supernatural in a noir setting? There’s no way they could have messed this up, really.

5 ) Irredeemable – Mark  Waid  & Peter Krause / Diego Barreto
Irredeemable, the Image comic that was largely a long-running ‘What If’ about a Superman-like character snapping and turning bad drew to a close in 2012, and instead of running out of steam (as I fully expected it to), the conclusion brought the book to new heights. Yes, the book became extremely out-there and surreal for a few issues,  but it never failed to tackle near-impossible ethical quandaries and still make for a surprising and, at times, horrifying adventure story.

Movies
(Watched and released in 2012)

1 ) Holy Motors – Leos Carax (dir)
Probably the most unusual movie I saw this year, this French movie is like eight movies in one, with brilliant actor Denis Lavant playing several different protagonists. What follows is a ride-along with a white limo that’s part a comment on film, part a comment on life and probably a billion other things, too. Some segments made me very uncomfortable (worst dad ever), while others had me cracking up with laughter. And my heart just about exploded during the amazing musical intermission.

2 ) Room 237 – Rodney Ascher (dir)
2012 is the year I learned I really like watching movies about movies, and the documentary Room 237, about obsessive fans of The Shining and their detailed theories on what the movie ‘means,’ is one of the best. It exclusively uses clips from the original film (and others) and voiceover from the fans, as if it were the most clever Powerpoint ever assembled. And hiding the speakers and giving them no attribution is a genius move, so viewers don’t know which voice is the respected film professor and which is the jobless woman who lives in her parents’ basement.

3 ) Django Unchained – Quentin Tarantino (dir)
I went into Django Unchained with very high expectations, and while I was a bit disappointed, it’s still a towering achievement. The framing, the dialogue, the references to countless other films – it all combines into a tremendous film. And just as important, suddenly it has everyone talking about American history and its shameful, bloodsoaked legacy. Much moreso than Lincoln. Not bad for what is, in essence, a big-budget exploitation film.

4 ) The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky (dir)
Despite numerous recommendations, I never read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, so I went into the theatre not knowing what to expect. I didn’t expect to see Dylan McDermott (welcome back!) and Tom Savini on screen, and I certainly didn’t expect to be ugly-crying through the final third of the movie. So emo, but really quite good.  And impressive that the author of the book directed his own adaptation. (Has that been done before?)

5 ) Step Up Revolution – Scott Speer (dir)
Probably the most joyous and non-stop entertaining movie I saw in the theatre this year. Sure, its dance flash-mobs who aim to raise class consciousness may be a bit ambitious, but I don’t think it’s political analyses were any less sophisticated than, say, The Dark Knight Rises. Peter Gallagher + neighborhood threatened by gentrification + incredible dance sequences = cinema gold.

6 ) Bernie – Richard Linklater (dir)
One film that didn’t quite make my list was William Friedkin’s Killer Joe, which was undoubtedly a harrowing and incredible movie experience. Like Bernie, it also features Matthew McConaughey in one of the best roles of his career. Bernie is a criminally underrated dark comedy (based on a true story) about the nicest mortician in Texas and his relationship with the meanest old lady in town – a relationship that turns deadly. McConaughey, as the district attorney should win an award alone for his pronunciation of Les Miserables.

7 ) The Master – Paul Thomas Anderson (dir)
I left The Master like I did Holy Motors: unsure of what I’d just seen, but nevertheless affected by it. That’s kind of an ideal movie experience. There may be a little too much masculinity happening in The Master (and that’s probably the point), but it’s incredibly acted, amazingly shot and every single little thing that happens is compelling. Anderson has become the new Stanley Kubrick.

8 ) Manborg – Steven Kostanski (dir)
At the opposite end of the spectrum is a scrappy little Canadian homage to straight-to-video action movies made for about $1000. With duct-tape costumes, ridiculous line delivery and cheeseball special effects, Manborg is (as one movie critic commented) ‘critic-proof.’ It’s way too much fun and far too hilarious to dislike. (Tears were streaming down my face.) And the fake bonus trailer for Bio-Cop may be even funnier than the (very short) feature itself.

9 ) Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson (dir)
People love or hate Wes Anderson. I’m in the love category, and while there were a couple moments I hated (the lightning bolt out of nowhere, the super-jump), I loved sad Bruce Willis, sad Frances McDormand and the deranged Boy Scouts much more. Plus, the movie provided a whole new series of potential Halloween costumes, as all good movies should.

10 ) Cabin in the Woods – Drew Goddard (dir)
I liked The Avengers as much as (apparently) everyone, but Cabin in the Woods struck me as funnier, smarter, and scarier. True, like all Whedon movies, it delights mainly in making the audience feel good about itself for being so clever, but the movie also had some great laughs and genuine thrills. Horror-comedy is a hard balance, and Cabin in the Woods nailed it.

[Honourable mentions: Killer Joe, The Raid, Dark Horse, Looper, The Hunger Games.]

Songs
(Listened to and mostly released in 2012)

1 ) Grimes – Oblivion
Spooky, menacing (breaking necks on dark nights?) and danceable, ‘Oblivion’ is the best song on Grimes’s outstanding album. I could listen to it on repeat forever. And though I don’t quite know what it’s about, I recognize there must be something sinister behind this song.

2 ) Imperial Teen – Runaway
To be honest, I kind of thought Imperial Teen had disappeared after that song on the Jawbreaker soundtrack (which is a phenomenal song), but I was very wrong. And their newish song ‘Runaway’ is perfect pop-rock.

3 ) Skrillex – Bangarang
Skrillex sounds like Transformers grinding on the dance floor (probably Jazz and Grimlock). So, obviously, I like it. Also, this particular song seems to be about the Lost Boys from Peter Pan, so that’s cool.

4 ) Magnetic Fields – Your Girlfriend’s Face
Magnetic Fields’ Love At the Bottom of the Sea is a great collection of songs. Any number of them could have wound up on this list – ‘Andrew in Drag,’ ‘Quick’ – but only ‘Your Girlfriend’s Face’ combines over-the-top insane (and deadpan) lyrics with techno.

5 ) Metric – Clone
Metric’s ‘Clone’ falls alongside ‘The Police and Private‘ as one of their slower, mainly electronic songs that I can’t resists. I liked all of Synthetica, but no songs more than ‘Clone.’

6 ) Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
Full disclosure: I went to Mississauga to see Carly Rae Jepsen at a Canada Day concert and held up a ‘Call Me Definitely’ sign (complete with my number) in the crowd. So there was little doubt this most perfect three-minute pop song in, like, ever, was making my list. But nearly any song on her album full of schoolyard chants set to electronic dance beats could be here.

7 ) Sleigh Bells – Comeback Kid
Oh, I love Sleigh Bells. Did I mention they appear as themselves in the very good Joseph Gordon-Levitt bicycle action movie Premium Rush? ‘Comeback Kid’ is a killer song, and it’s about trying harder, which is very motivational.

8 ) Die Antwoord – Fatty Boom Boom
Die Antwoord: so easy, yet so hard, to like. (They seem to be in blackface in the video for ‘Fatty Boom Boom.’) And seeing them a second time in concert this year, it seems like they’ve drank their own Kool-Aid, which troubles me even further. But there’s something mind-blowing about their music and their whole shtick.

9 ) Kanye West / Jay-Z – Ni$$as in Paris
This song probably came out in 2011, but I only heard it in 2012. It samples Blades of Glory and includes such lines (delivered unironically by Kanye West) as ‘Doctors say I’m the illest / ‘cuz I’m suffering from realness.’ Also, random shouts. That’s a recipe for a song that won’t leave my head (in a good way).

10 ) Blood Red Shoes – Cold
This is like when Martin Scorsese won the Oscar for The Departed. ‘Cold’ is a great song, but it made the list for Blood Red Shoes’ entire body of work, with which I only recently became acquainted. If only it hadn’t been released years ago, I’d put ‘I Wish I Was Someone Better’ in this spot.

[Honourable mention to the holy trinity of pop anthems, Rihanna's 'Love in a Hopeless Place,' Taylor Swift's 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Toegther 'and Ke$ha's 'Die Young.']

This could be the next book's cover ... maybe.

The site has been a bit silent lately, but it’s only because I’ve had my head down, working on the revisions to The Dead Kid Detective Agency 2: Secret of the Ooze (title pending). For a few weeks, I did little else besides work at Coach House, come home and revise. But I’m feeling very good about the new version and I can’t wait for people to start reading it. (The book won’t be on shelves until Fall 2013, however, so I’ll have to wait.)

The new book is actually titled Dial ‘M’ for Morna, and if you liked The Dead Kid Detective Agency, I’m going to guess you’ll probably like this one, too. Same dead kids (and living ones), but with a brand-new mystery and some back story on the town of Sticksville (and why it’s such a hotbed of paranormal activity).

In other Dead Kid news, I’ve recently joined the Authors Booking Service, an organization that connects children’s and young adult authors with schools across Canada. So, if you ever want me to visit your school to talk about my book or conduct a writing workshop, you should contact the Authors Booking Service. (I’m not going to say I’m a great presenter or anything, but I am frequently complimented on my Powerpoint presentations. Just in case you’re wondering …)

Manborg: Revenge Is Back!

Thanks, by the way, to all the amazing librarians and teachers who have been ordering The Dead Kid Detective Agencyand encouraging students to read it (and all the 2013 Silver Birch shortlist)! It warms my black little heart, and since I may never meet most of you in person, I hope that this message, sent out into the electronic ether, somehow makes its way to you.

Since handing in the revisions of the second Dead Kid book, I’ve been trying to catch up on some film masterpieces, including the amazing Manborg, by Winnipeger Steven Kostanski. (Everyone should see and revel in this movie.) Also, working more on Quarter-Life Crisis 2. It’s going to happen, friends! One day …

More posts soon. Thanks for your patience.

Still, I think it remains a great showcase of movies that might never get theatrical release in Canada. Additionally, for about a week, people all over Toronto are talking about movies (and all sorts of movies), which I enjoy. This year I had a great lineup – nearly everything I saw was great or pretty good. A little recap follows:

WHAT’S IN:

MOVIES THAT SOUND SUSPICIOUSLY LIKE IDEAS I’D HAVE THOUGHT UP

The principal cast of Ghost Graduation.

Far and away one of the best things I viewed at TIFF was the supernatural Spanish comedy, Ghost Graduation. An unabashed crowd-pleaser and nostalgia fest, the movie hooked me from its write-up on the TIFF site, which made the movie sound like it had been directly downloaded from my brain. A teacher who can see dead people starts work at a troubled school that has been haunted by the ghosts of five teenagers who died in a library fire in 1986. The teacher realizes the ghosts’ unfinished business on earth is graduating high school, so he sets out to help the five teens pass senior year. Hilarity – and several ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ homages – ensues. The guide called it ‘part Breakfast Club and part Ghostbusters, a throwback to the golden age of teen movies with a decidedly Latin twist,’ which is a fair description. Naturally, I loved it. The tragic part is that it seems Will Smith’s production company has purchased rights to make an English-language remake, so the original will probably never be released in North America.

MOVIES ABOUT MOVIES

After this year’s festival, I realized that perhaps more than anything else, I like movies about movies. I had the pleasure of watching two such documentaries and am happy to report both of them were excellent. (But then again, I’m biased. Re-read that first sentence.

Fiennes and Zizek in action.

I had the honour of seeing Sophie Fiennes’ and Slavoj Zizek’s The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, a sort-of sequel to their collaboration on the three-part The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema. Like its predecessor, the new film puts the Slovenian psychoanalyst and philosopher into various films to describe the various mechanisms of ideology at work in culture. Basically, it’s like a long lecture by an extremely charismatic and animated professor, interspersed with clips from great and not-so-great films (They Live, The Sound of Music, the Soviet epic The Fall of Berlin). The screening was a one-time-only deal at TIFF, and Fiennes and Zizek did a Q&A following. Zizek had ranted for about fifteen minutes before the poor moderator even had a chance to introduce the two of them.

Later in the festival, I watched the documentary Room 237, a clever study of six obsessives’ take on Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Using nothing but film clips and voiceover, the movie plumbs a variety of fairly outlandish interpretations of what The Shining really means. The catch is these theories have been carefully researched by our subjects, sometimes studying the movie frame-by-frame (or, in one case, projecting the movie backward and forward at the same time). The movie is enthralling and you find yourselves agreeing more and more with the various speakers in Room 237. (My one disappointment is that no one spoke about the ghostly couple in the pig-bear masks.)

Both movies did two of my favourite things: (1) look closely at popular culture for deeper and hidden meanings, and (2) give me more movies to seek out and watch. (John Frankenheimer’s Seconds, I’m looking at you.)

SHAKESPEARE

The Much Ado About Nothing gang.

I was also lucky enough to see the second screening of Joss Whedon’s Shakespearean adaptation, Much Ado About Nothing. Knowing the story behind the movie’s genesis – Whedon filming it at his own house in about six days to take a break from editing The Avengers – I didn’t have the highest hopes, despite being a big fan of nearly everything Joss Whedon. The movie was a really pleasant surprise, faithful to the original text but with some added slapstick. Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker really held their own as Benedick and Beatrice, and there were great turns from Whedon regulars like Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg, Tom Lenk and even Ashley Johnson (‘Chrissy’ from Growing Pains!). Even better, nearly the entire cast of Much Ado About Nothing was in attendance for the second screening – nearly unheard of at festivals!

KOREAN HEIST MOVIES

Retro-looking poster for The Thieves.

The Thieves is apparently the current all-time box-office champ in South Korea, and it’s easy to see why. Directed by Dong-Hoon Choi, The Thieves is like a pan-Asian cross between Ocean’s 11 and The Usual Suspects. One South Korean group of thieves teams up with a Chinese crew to pull off a heist in Macau, but things go terribly wrong. Numerous aerial stunts and shootouts follow, with dialogue in at least four languages – it was a great action film, featuring performances by Gianna Jun (My Sassy Girl) and Dal-su Oh (Every Korean movie ever).

WHAT’S OUT:

MIDNIGHT MADNESS

As much as it pains me to admit it, Midnight Madness, often the best program of the Film Festival, disappointed me this year. The experience was still great, replete with rowdy crowds, people bouncing around beach balls, the inexhaustible Colin Geddes shouting welcomes to the audience at midnight, but the actual films were a bit lacklustre. Hellbenders, billed as ‘The Exorcist meets Animal House’ and starring the always solid Clancy Brown and Clifton Collins, Jr., started out punchy but fizzled by the end. The ABCs of Death was uneven, but that’s to be expected in an anthology of 26 short films about death. But the directors I had the highest hopes for proved the most disappointing. Still, it wasn’t all bad. The ABCs of Death is watching for the ‘D,’ ‘Q’ and ‘Y’ segments alone. (And for people interested in CanCon, the ‘Y’ segment was from Canadian director Jason Eisener, the man behind Canadian trash modern classic Hobo with a Shotgun.)

All-night movie marathon survival kit.

This past weekend, I participated in my very first Shock and Awe: From Dusk-to-Dawn Grindhouse Movie Marathon. The Toronto institution, now in its fifth iteration, is an all-night screening of some of the finest low-budget films recent history has to offer, beginning at 11:30 at night and ending at some point in the middle of the following morning.

Despite my enthusiasm for the obscure and questionable in film, I felt a bit bad about losing a night of sleep to watch six movies in a row. Accordingly, I turned my Shock and Awe participation into a fundraiser for the Red Door Family Shelter. If friends and family pledged $666 before the movie marathon, I promised to stay for the entire duration – no napping, no leaving early. I’m happy to say we raised over $850 for the Red Door, which meant I was staying up all night. (Thank you cards are on the way to all those of you who pledged.)

Regular day-time exhaustion documented pre-marathon.

I arrived at the Revue Cinema just minutes before start time, pleasantly surprised (and impressed) by the number of attendees: 80, at least. I recognized no one, save a raver friend of a friend who I felt might have more experience in staying up all night than I did. The group seated just in front of me had come prepared for the long haul, with neck pillows and honest-to-goodness Return of the Jedi blankets. Soon, Dion Conflict, Shock and Awe organizer and host, took to the stage. In his charmingly awkward manner, he outlined the evening and introduced the films.

Shock and Awe is no normal film festival. The Revue concession stand would be offering burritos, pizza and breakfast food, depending on the time of night (or day), as well as bottomless buckets of popcorn, coffee (key) and Red Bull. Additionally, Dion Conflict would be selling some DVDs from his personal stock, including such gems as TV After-School Specials and a collection of stand-up comedy about Pop Tarts. After little preamble, the first film began.

Musical interlude in The Groove Tube.

The Groove Tube:

The first film was a very early television parody, featuring (among others) a very young Richard Belzer and and equally young Chevy Chase acting in spoofs of broadcast news, dramas and commercials. Among some of the highlights were The Ko-Ko Show, a children’s program where the clown host asked the adults to leave the room, then responded to viewers’ requests to read sexy bits of novels (like Fanny Hill), and inverse cop show, Dealers. Lowlights included Richard Belzer playing a black prostitute (complete in blackface!). Don’t think I missed that, Belzer! Most surprising was that most of the film was written and directed by, as well as starred Ken Shapiro – surprising in that I have no idea what happened to Ken Shapiro after The Groove Tube, and neither does the internet.

Attempt to bridge cultural differences in What Waits Below.

What Waits Below:

I passed on the burritos to view What Waits Below on an empty stomach. During the break, Conflict handed out door prizes – everything from the second season of The Sopranos on VHS to a series of Islamic Prayer wall clocks and (most impressive) a Blue Jays Jell-O mold. What Waits Below was a decent action film about a military group who attempt to plant some sort of transmitter in a never-explored cave in Central America, but find it filled with a race of albino cave dwellers. You might be unsurprised to discover these cave dwellers, who looked like David Bowie in Labyrinth covered in Golden Retriever pelts, were not friendly. Our hero, Wolf (‘As in Lone Wolf?’ / ‘No, as in Wolfson.’ – sample dialogue), owns a bitchin’ leather jacket (I think with an eagle on the back) and gets involved with a bunch of U.S. military and anthropologists, both wanting a remote cave for very different reasons. What follows included the triumphantly delivered line, ‘I don’t give a DAMN ABOUT ANTHROPOLOGY!’

I bought a pizza and coffee at the break (3 a.m.) while trailers for movies like A Bullet for Pretty Boy and The Sicilian Clan played. (At this point, it should also be noted I believe I went to the washroom a full seven or eight times over the course of the evening.)

Michael Gough is getting upset in Horror Hospital.

Horror Hospital:

The third film was an uncomfortable mash-up of British sex comedy and mad scientist horror film. Our hero, who looked like Jay Ferguson from Sloan, takes a trip via ‘Hairy Holidays,’ a tour that caters to the hippie crowd. He meets a fetching young woman on his train ride and they both end up at the aforementioned Horror Hospital. Their host is a villainous scientist (played by Michael Gough, Alfred from the Burton-era Batman movies) who lobotomizes his guests to become his servants. And if they run away, he chases them down with his souped-up black towncar / decapitation machine. Bizarrely, this was probably one of my favourites of the night, despite the movie never deciding whether it was a fun romp or disturbing horror flick.

Early morning break outside the Revue Cinema.

Mystery Film:

Before the fourth film, all attendees were required to take an oath not to reveal the name or details of the Mystery Film, and I intend to honour that oath. It’s truly unfortunate, however, that the Mystery Film had one of the catchiest theme songs I’ve heard. (I find myself starting to sing it at the most inopportune moments.) Dion Conflict introduced some audience participation into this screening, with audience members instructed to boo and clap at the appearance of some characters or the recitation of some lines of dialogue.

Rappin' John Hood's family photo.

Rappin’:

Finally, it was time for Rappin’, the move that HAD to happen. Rappin’ was the movie I’d been waiting all night for. From the people who’d brought us Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (two of my favourite all-time exploitation films) came Rappin’, the hip-hop musical. The film featured Mario van Peebles as John ‘Rappin’’ Hood (who takes up a Robin Hood role in his neighbourhood after returning from prison) and a pre-ER Eriq LaSalle. However, the titular rappin’ for John Hood was handled by none other than Ice-T (the night’s second appearance of a Law & Order: SVU cast member, for those of you keeping track)! Though my eyes were becoming weary at this point, Rappin’ was worth the wait for two things in particular: (1) the second appearance of a stenciled leather jacket (Hood wore a jacket featuring a winged panther on the back), and (2) an all-cast closing credits sung in rap.

At 8:30 in the morning, I bought my second cup of coffee.

A not-so happy camper from Sleepaway Camp.

Sleepaway Camp:

The last movie of the night was also the only one I’d seen before, the cult classic Sleepaway Camp. For those of you who haven’t seen it, I won’t ruin it by saying too much about the plot. Sleepaway Camp is often described as derivative of Friday the 13th. And while the movie does involve campers being picked off one-by-one by a deranged killer, it’s so much weirder than Friday the 13th and takes some unexpected turns. The final shot of the movie truly haunts my nightmares. As my brother suggested, they should have shown Sleepaway Camp first, as the last scene would have kept everyone awake for the remainder of the night.

Documentation of post-marathon fatigue.

The two-thirds of the audience that survived the entire night stumbled out into the mid-morning sun, just as Roncesvalles was beginning to awake. It really was an experience like no other, and the organizers and Revue Cinema staff were extremely helpful and friendly, but man, was I tired. Would I do it again? Probably, but I’d probably bring along a friend next time. It’s hard to make quips by yourself.

Thanks to your collective generosity, I’ve reached and exceeded my donation goal for the Red Door Family Shelter! Now, thanks to you, I’m obligated to stay up all night and watch the entire six films in the ‘Shock & Awe Dusk-to-Dawn Grindhouse Movie Marathon‘ beginning this coming Saturday at 11:30 p.m. I hope you’re happy.

Following the ordeal, I’ll write something up on this website, in the unlikely event you want to know just how entertaining Sleepaway Camp or Horror Hospital were. Personally, I have high hopes for Rappin’, featuring Mario van Peebles and Ice-T:

And if you’d still like to donate (beyond my $666 goal), please do. I’m more than certain the Red Door Family Shelter could use your help! Thanks again! Stay tuned for a Shock & Awe recap.

Sleepaway Camp
Horror Hospital
The Groove Tube
What Waits Below
Rappin’
and one mystery film!

While the event is not a fundraiser, I’ve decided to turn my participation into one. I’m taking pledges to raise money for Red Door, a very important family shelter in Toronto that does incredible work in this city. Since 1982, they’ve provided safe emergency housing to individuals and families in need of refuge from domestic violence and to those who find themselves without accommodation. Currently, the Red Door Family Shelter provides comprehensive 24-hour accommodation through 156 shelter beds at two sites in Toronto, while also providing crisis counselling, legal and immigration assistance, on-site medical assistance and referrals, assistance in finding and keeping permanent housing and much more.

If I reach my fundraising goal for the Red Door — a very modest (and appropriate, given the movies’ subject matter) $666 — I promise to subject myself to the entire six-movie lineup (without napping or dozing or anything like that). I’ll also make sure to document the entire experience in some way following the event (via website post or something) for those of you morbidly interested in the event.

I’m hoping it proves to be a bizarrely fun way to help with a good cause. Realistically, I’m never going to run a real marathon. And those of you who know me know this is the event I’ve been training for my entire life. Any amount helps, so I hope you can aid in this worthy cause. My donation page can be found here, at CanadaHelps.org.

Prospective illustration for the second book.

At times, it seemed it was impossible, but the second manuscript of The Dead Kid Detective Agency, tentatively titled Dial ‘M’ for Morna, is complete!

Well, not quite. I’ve handed in the manuscript to ECW Press. Most of the editorial process is still ahead, and while I think the book is in pretty good shape, I’m sure my talented editor Erin Creasey will have other thoughts. That said, the second book does have a chapter entitled ‘Sk8 or Die (or Do Both).’ So, you know it’s gotta’ be good.

DOOM: Love Poems for Supervillains, is hot off the presses at Coach House Printing. Author Natalie Zina Walschots swooped by (she traveled by boom tube, I think) to catch a couple copies of the book as it came off the gluer. If you’re in Toronto on May 15, you should attend the launch of DOOM at the Insomniac Press Party at the Dora Keogh. (You can find all the details here.) I’ll also have copies on me at TCAF this coming weekend. So come by and pick up a copy, or buy a copy of our SketchKrieg! collaborative book or berate me for not having Quarter-Life Crisis #2 done yet (I deserve it).

In other news, I just saw The Raid, which is the action movie to end all action movies. Seriously, this movie is bananas. I spent most of the viewing with my hand in front of my open mouth. Just look at this trailer.  (Don’t worry. There’s way more where that trailer came from.)

Dr. Horrible and Buffy go their own ways.

Long-time (and long-suffering) readers of this blog (hi, mom!) will know I’m the co-organizer of a monthly Toronto event series called Geek Love. With co-organizer (and real founder) Emma Woolley, we’ve been hosting nights of geek-themed television at The Ossington (61 Ossington Street) for a year. We’ve screened nights of The Venture Brothers, Battlestar Galactica, The Mighty Boosh, Freaks and Geeks and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. And on the occasion of Geek Love’s one-year anniversary, we repeated the event that began it all (back when Woolley was organizing things on her own), the Whedonfest Singalong: a crowd participation screening of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ‘Once More with Feeling.’

Toronto news leader the Torontoist was there to cover the action, and interview us. I was in my pyjamas, but I was in character (Xander, while singing ‘I’ll Never Tell’). You can visit the whole article at Torontoist, but I’ve posted a short excerpt below:

In a dark, small-ish room with exposed brick walls in the back of the Ossington, a buzzing crowd has already begun to form nearly an hour before the main event. One girl is wearing a white scientist’s smock with a pair of black goggles dangling around her neck. A young gentleman is looking dapper in a classy librarian-esque jacket and tie. Another guy is really pulling off a plaid pyjama set—the silk ones were too expensive, he says.

This last costume-wearer is Evan Munday, co-organizer of the monthly Geek Love screening series, which celebrated its first anniversary on Monday night with a repeat of the event that started it all: a Joss Whedon Singalong. Together with Emma Woolley, these two lovers of all things geek-related planned their first event in 2011, screening the 42-minute-long Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog followed by “Once More With Feeling,” the musical episode of Whedon’s best-loved TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Did we just ignite an internet firestorm of debate?)

“Joss Whedon’s musical episodes provide people with a more readily available way to appreciate [his work] as a group, in that you can sing along,” says Munday. “I think it would be annoying if you were to watch an episode and just recite all of the lines, but singing—that’s an acceptable thing, and these episodes are the perfect way to have audience participation.”

Munday and Woolley have packed about 80 Whedon-heads into the bar’s back room, including one fan who says she has watched “Once More With Feeling” on all seven continents. Among nerds, Whedon is like a rock star—stories about sightings and near-sightings fly at Geek Love, and a fairly enthusiastic field of swaying hands is not out of place during Captain Hammer’s misguided, macho rendition of “Everyone’s a Hero” in Dr. Horrible’s final act.

Read more at Torontoist (with videos!), and be sure to check out the Geek Love website and Twitter feed. We’re always looking for more suggestions of what to screen!

As with last year, I’ve broken it into three important ‘best-of’ lists: comic books, movies and songs (in no particular order). And as I noted last year, I’m purposely avoiding books without pictures, because as a book publicist, (a) the medium is dangerous territory for me, and (b) nobody cares what I think about books.

(Things I noticed: if you make a movie that blends comedy and tragedy or have a band that has a male-female duo, you have a pretty good shot of making one of those lists. I’m so obvious! Also, I didn’t read enough comic books. I need to take more comic book risks.)

Comic Books
(Read in 2011, not necessarily released in 2011)

1 ) Hark, A Vagrant! – Kate Beaton
Hands down, one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. Most of these strips will be familiar to followers of the web comic, but it’s wonderful to have it all in one compilation. Two personal notes: I want to open every talk I do about The Dead Kid Detective Agency with this Teen Boy Detective strip (but it’s sadly not age-appropriate) and Kate Beaton is incredible at drawing the facial expressions of the deranged.

2 ) The Intrepids – Kurtis J. Wiebe & Scott Kowalchuk
A bunch of teenage runaways are taken in by an old inventor and are trained to save the world from the menace that is mad science. With an art sensibility somewhere between Jack Kirby and Mike Allred and threats ranging from cyborg bears to angry baboons, this is like a no-brainer for me. I just feel the writing doesn’t always live up to the promise of the concept, a problem to which I am all-too sympathetic.

3 ) Criminal 5: The Last of the Innocent – Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
I raved about the Criminal series last year, too, but The Last of the Innocent took the excellence to the next level, mixing in nostalgic Archie-like flashbacks in a story that reads like Criminal’s version of The Kreutzer Sonata. (Yep, I just dropped some Tolstoy on you.)

4 ) Anya’s Ghost – Vera Brogsol
After my book came out, I started reading a lot of stories about kids and ghosts, and this is a very good one, with such a nice illustration style and some unexpected twists.

5 ) Walking Dead – Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard
Even though the comic series doesn’t have a Daryl Dixon, this zombie survival story is one of the most addictive comics I’ve ever read. Every book, I feel truly awful after reading it: things just seem to get worse and worse. And even when they’re okay, you just know something bad is going to happen. But still, Kirkman and Adlard’s work compels you to keep reading.

6 ) Pope Hats – Ethan Rilly
Local comics guy Ethan Rilly is, I’m convinced, going to be the next big thing. He just needs to quit his day job and do comics full time. Pope Hats is a beautiful book that blends realism with surreal elements (like early Dan Clowes) and features beautiful linework.

7 ) Axe Cop – Malachai Nicolle & Ethan Nicolle
After Hark, A Vagrant!, this was the funniest comic I’d read all year. For the uninitiated, this is a book written by a 5-year-old and drawn by his 29-year-old brother. The results, understandably, are the completely surreal adventures of a deranged policeman that read like they were written on a sugar-high (possibly because they were).

8 ) Morning Glories – Nick Spencer & Joe Eisma
I’m not usually fascinated by prep school, but this ‘Runaways meets Lost’ story has kept me intrigued. The artwork could use a bit of help here and there, though.

9 ) Suicide Squad (original series) # 1 – 10
The terrible, terrible decision of DC to turn Amanda Waller into a woman half her original age and one-third her original size sent me back to the original comic series about dangerous supervillains working for the government on suicide missions to earn time off their sentences. Somehow under mid-80s comics code, the book manages to be grittier and more subversive than its more modern iterations.

10 ) Infinite Kung Fu – Kagan McLeod
Torontonian and National Post staff illustrator Kagan McLeod’s years-in-the-making phone book of a comic is worth the wait, somehow capturing the energy of kung fu film in comic form.

Movies
(Watched in 2011, mostly released in 2011)

1 ) Drive – Nicolas Winding Refn (dir)
I can’t figure out whether Drive is more like, as the director and star say, ‘a John Hughes movie with head-stomping,’ or like Camus’s L’Etranger with a love story thrown in. Either way, it’s so good. Sitting in the theatre, I honestly had no idea where the story was going at any point. The soundtrack, art direction, acting: all gold. And the opening sequence (including the credits) are just perfect.

2 ) The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius (dir)
Silent film about the waning fortunes of a silent film star that’s much, much too charming to dislike. It even has an adorable dog, for Pete’s sake.

3 ) Attack the Block – Joe Cornish (dir)
I saw this in a double-bill with Cowboys and Aliens and this blew it out of the water … or dust bowl. Low level thuggish council-estate kids in London defend their apartment block from gorilla-like aliens. Like a much more violent Goonies with endearing British street slang.

4 ) Submarine – Richard Ayoade (dir)
This very funny and well-done coming-of-age story set in Wales and directed by IT Crowd and Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place star Richard Ayoade is reminiscent of Rushmore, but isn’t nearly so stylized . The film’s protagonist Oliver Tate might be even more unpleasant than Max Fischer and Yasmin Paige as Jordana Bevan is tremendous. This should be on more year-end lists. ‘My mother is worried I have mental problems. I found a book about teenage paranoid delusions during a routine search of my parents’ bedroom.’

5 ) Fright Night – Craig Gillespie (dir)
At first, I was hesitant about a remake of possibly the best horror comedy of the 1980s, but Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) does a really nice job, relocating the story to the Las Vegas suburbs and maintaining a balance of menace and humour. The movie also features a very nice acting turn by Anton Yelchin (Chekov!) and Colin Farrell being really funny. Even Christopher Mintz-Plasse isn’t completely annoying!

6 ) Hanna – Joe Wright (dir)
Like an art-house fairy tale version of The Bourne Identity, Hanna is a weird movie, but a thrilling one. Just watch Eric Bana dispatch a group of thugs in the subway and tell me it wasn’t exhilarating. Or tell me this movie doesn’t have the most killer opening and beginning. Bonuses: great soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers, Cate Blanchett dressed up like Agent Scully.

7 ) The Guard – John Michael McDonagh (dir)
I’d heard so many good things about this movie, I was a little afraid to watch it. But I wasn’t disappointed – a buddy cop movie set in small-town Ireland, featuring what is probably the role of Brendon Gleeson’s career. Like with The Commitments, you’ll probably miss half the hilarious dialogue due to the thick accent. This is like a movie by Tarantino, if he were more interested in people than movies. Also, it features my favourite type of end credits – ones that show film clips of the actors in action!

8 ) Hobo with a Shotgun – Jason Eisener (dir)
The poutine of a film – so good, but so bad for you, and 100% Canadian. The exploitation film homage about (what else) a hobo with a shotgun ends with the theme song to The Racoons and may be the only film to receive funding from the Government of Canada that shows graphic shotgun-to-crotch violence.

9 ) Beginners – Mike Mills (dir)
A nice little story about love and death that falls just on the right side of ‘too twee.’ Ewan McGregor, Melanie Durant, Christopher Plummer and Goran Visnjic (who I like seeing in any movie) are all fantastic. The subtitled dog manages to be only the second most charming pet in this list of ten movies.

10 ) Bridesmaids – Paul Feig (dir)
This movie was just plain funny. Kristen Wiig trying not to give into diarrhea? That whole air marshal sequence? Giant cookie? Wilson Phillips? What else do you want?

Songs
(All released in 2011)

1 ) Beyonce – Countdown
A friend turned me on to this song by saying she’d just been watching the video on repeat for days. Soon, I was in the same boat. It’s like five songs in one, and all of them are club bangers. (I’m not sure I’m allowed to say that unironically.)

2 ) Cults – Abducted
I like every song on Cults’ debut album (which I have a sneaking suspicion is sort of a concept album about actual cults … can anyone support me on this?), but the opener might be my favourite.

3 ) Lady Gaga – Marry the Night
If Lady Gaga comes out with an album, you know I’m going to include a song on this list. ‘Marry the Night’ is like Meatloaf writing a ’90s techno hit.

4 ) Kavinsky – Nightcall (from the Drive soundtrack)
All the song choices in Drive are dazzling, but I think this song, playing over the opening credits, captures the mood of the film best.

5 ) The Sounds – Best of Me
Swedish rock group The Sounds are, for my money, the best purely pop rock band around. Better Off Dead is a fantastic song on the new album, but Best of Me just hits me harder, when they sing: ‘We are still young / but we are getting older / Our hearts are still warm / but they are getting colder / and this liiiiiiife / is getting the best of me.’

6 ) Sleigh Bells – Infinity Guitars
Technically, this may have been released in 2010, but Sleigh Bells are such a nice messy guitars and drums phenomenon.

7 ) The Lonely Island – Jack Sparrow
The troubling part about The Lonely Island is that their songs, while incredibly funny, are also just good as songs. Like, I’d-listen-to-this-even-if-it-wasn’t-funny good. This song also has the great distinction of bringing back Michael Bolton to public consciousness and coining the phrase, ‘back to the good part!’

8 ) The Book of Mormon cast – All-American Prophet
Similar to The Lonely Island, the team behind The Book of Mormon are so successful because the songs work just as songs. The Book of Mormon is both a reaction against and love letter to the traditional musical. And this song, which sums up the narrative of Mormonism in the catchiest of ways, is just one of the show-stoppers.

9 ) The Raveonettes – Forget That You’re Young
The Raveonettes write great songs. And this is probably the best one on the new album Raven in the Grave. I still like In and Out of Control better – this isn’t one of their best albums. But even a so-so album by The Raveonettes is better than 99% of everything else.

10 ) Avril Lavigne – What the Hell? / Ke$ha – We R Who We R (tie)
Judge if you must, but I love Avril Lavigne’s What the Hell? And Ke$ha’s We R Who We R. I can’t explain it, but I’d take either of these songs for a million Bon Iver songs.

(Full disclosure: my favourite song I discovered in 2011 was Robyn’s ‘Call Your Girlfriend‘, but that came out a couple years ago. Too bad, because it allows once to dance while crying, always a great quality in any song.)

Comments, criticisms, arguments, screeds: all welcome! What did I miss? What did I get totally wrong?