“What will become of all of you? What will you do with no good movies?”
Richard Kramer writes about Pauline Kael.

Book to film
“I find that a lot of my best character stuff and ideas come unwittingly from novels… [Y]ou get to learn how to make good backstories in your own head, without needing to share them with anybody. You can just know stuff about your character that nobody else needs to know.” Alison Pill’s advice on becoming a better actor.

The intermingling of power and poetry
Michael Lista on presidential poetry: “Occasional poetry is almost uniformly bad because it’s an act of will, and not an act of grace. Poetry’s power is its uselessness; as soon as it’s employed in the service of an end, it’s robbed of its wellspring. Auden: ‘Poetry makes nothing happen.’ Even here there’s a valuable double meaning. Poetry both does nothing and initiates the fertile, pre-cosmic state of un-being.”

What winter is for
Cabin porn.

You should know that this exists
Not happening until the end of the month, but you should probably mark your calendars now: Dachshund UN.

The Al Purdy Show
A fundraiser for the A-frame and a unique celebration of the life of Al Purdy, The Al Purdy Show will include readings from Margaret Atwood, Ken Babstock, George Bowering, Gord Downie, George Elliot Clarke, Michael Enright, Phil Hall, Steven Heighton, Dennis Lee, Gordon Pinsent, Robert Priest and Karen Solie, as well as musical guests Bidiniband with The Billie Hollies, and The Skydiggers. Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013, 7:30 pm at Koerner Hall. Tickets start at $50.