The sporting case for the Grammy Awards
By Aaron Wherry - Monday, February 1, 2010 - 6 Comments
The Grammys are to pop music what the Super Bowl is to sports
It is perhaps possible to take the Grammy Awards seriously. But only if you stop worrying about them.
Consider, for a moment, the National Football League.
The NFL is presently the premier professional sports league in North America: a multi-billion-dollar cultural institution that can claim, in the Super Bowl, the biggest single sporting event on the planet. Its athletes are among the world’s most exceptional and most beloved. But success in the NFL is not the ultimate standard of sporting achievement. The NFL does not define the concept of sport. In fact, no league, tournament or event—not even the Olympics—does. And it is generally understood that it is impossible to compare athletes of different leagues and disciplines—any discussion of “the world’s greatest athlete” generally defined by he or she who dominates their particular competition most spectacularly. (Tiger Woods, for instance, wasn’t ever as fast or as strong as any number of Olympians, football players or basketball players. But he was, by virtue of his unique excellence in golf, in the conversation as the best athlete in the world.)
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Newsmaker of the Year ‘09: Lost boy, forever
By Brian D. Johnson - Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - 0 Comments
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Michael Jackson is redeemed by a movie
By Brian D. Johnson - Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 1:05 PM - 9 Comments
He always fancied himself a movie star. Now, finally, he is. Last night, as I arrived at a press screening for Michael Jackson’s This Is It, the posthumous film of Jacko rehearsing the show he never gave, I had reason to be deeply skeptical. How could it be any good? If it was, why would Sony Pictures release it for only a two-week limited engagement? And why was it holding off the press screening until 9:30 p.m. of the day the movie would be commercially premiered at midnight? It all had the whiff of damage control, and I expected a frustrating glimpse of a performance that was only half there, a lurid cash grab to capitalize on the biggest showbiz event of Michael Jackson’s career: his death.Boy, was I wrong. This Is It is quite amazing. Directed by Kenny Ortega, who also directed the show that never opened, it offers far more than a glimpse. Out of the rehearsals, Ortega has constructed what amounts to a full-blown concert movie, framed with a smattering of candid backstage moments that are both amusing and touching. And the end of it you feel you’ve seen pretty well the whole show—which is spectacular—as well as getting some gems of unprecedented insight into the artist behind it. And here’s the real news: the movie refutes once and for all the glut of media reports after his death claiming that he was washed up as a performer, and was in no shape to put on a show. Yes, he does look frail, and with all that make-up, we’ll never know how pale. But he never appears stoned, unfocused or incapable. The movie could serve as evidence in the trial of the man accused of his murder. Executing intricate choreography, Jackson dances with the same semaphore precision and fluid virtuosity that made him a legend. And although he lacks power, his dreamy falsetto is still in tact, and he’s clearly trying to hold back. “Don’t make me sing out,” he begs at one point in a scene that’s both funny and freighted with sad irony. “I gotta save my voice.” Continue…
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High-priced stunt
By Jason Kirby - Friday, October 23, 2009 - 7 Comments
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Top 10 Best Moments at TIFF
By Tom Henheffer - Saturday, September 19, 2009 at 12:46 AM - 0 Comments
Click here for the Top 10 Worst Moments at TIFF
- George Clooney hates Facebook
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet, dream-maker
- The bubbly Gabourey Sidibe
- Like father, like son
- Chris Rock is a brave man
- The dead will walk the earth
- The ruby red queen of fashion
- Ben Barnes, Don Juan in both worlds
- Werner Herzog’s publicists won’t be happy
- Mo’Nique’s lock on best supporting actress
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Margaret Atwood goes on tour, Anna Wintour thaws, and the director of fun
By Lianne George - Friday, August 28, 2009 - 0 Comments
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Coroner tells police: Jackson death a homicide
By macleans.ca - Monday, August 24, 2009 - 2 Comments
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Newsmakers: A is for Atlas
By Patricia Treble - Thursday, August 6, 2009 - 1 Comment
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Kids to stay with grandmother
By macleans.ca - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - 1 Comment
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Hunted to death
By Barbara Amiel - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - 24 Comments
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Long live the king of pop
By Cathy Gulli - Thursday, July 16, 2009 - 1 Comment
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Nanny has “nothing to hide”
By macleans.ca - Monday, July 13, 2009 - 1 Comment





















