This year a slew of musical stars put down their guitars and picked up a pen, among them Neil Young, who wrote the idiosyncratic Waging Heavy Peace and Pete Townshend, who bares all in Who I Am. Some rockers trusted someone else to do it -- the definitive Mick Jagger bio comes from Philip Norman and there is more on Joni Mitchell from Katherine Monk. CBC's Laura Thompson looks at the top memoirs of the year.
Memoirs that look behind the music
Categories: Books, Celebrities
5 key developments in books in 2012
Categories: Books
All those e-readers Canadians bought appear to have had a major impact on the publishing industry. Excitement over e-books seemed to help drive the hunger for so-called "Mommy porn," but hoped-for blockbusters, like J.K. Rowling's first adult novel, didn't have the same impact. Meanwhile, the anxiety about e-books emerged again as the industry endured major changes. Susan Noakes looks at a few key developments from the book world this past year.
Top movies of 2012
Categories: Movies
Tags: Lincoln, Looper, Moonrise Kingdom, Rebelle, Skyfall, Stories We Tell, The Master
From time travellers to pre-teen love, when it comes time to look back on the year in movies, our reviewer Eli Glasner had trouble keeping the list to just 10. Here's a ranking of the best that cinema had to offer, from the provocative to guilty pleasures.
5 films to watch before the world ends
Categories: Movies
Tags: apocalypse, end of the world, movies
Even if you believe the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world on Friday, you still have time to squeeze in a movie marathon to end all movie marathons. If you are planning to witness the end from the comfort of your home -- or from the safety of your bunker, as the case may be -- here are five movies to rock your world, courtesy of CBC arts reporter and film critic Eli Glasner.
From a rebooted Bond to naughty teddy bears to Batman taking his final bow, it's been a year of the fast, the filthy and the familiar at the movies. As we pause to catch our breath during the holiday season, however, it's a great time to discover some hidden gems of 2012. Eli Glasner shares his picks.
5 top viral videos of 2012
Categories: Social Media
It was the year of Kony 2012 and Gangnam Style, of the cinnamon challenge and Lil Bub. There were bursts of sheer exuberance, such as actor Isaac Lumb's lip-dub proposal and small slices of life such as the crying toddler who could take no more election talk. Susan Noakes picks out five videos with impact from 2012.
FILM REVIEW: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Categories: Movies
A new High Frame Rate technology that looks like harsh, unforgiving video is just the start of the problems with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Director Peter Jackson appears to be so devoted to J.R.R. Tolkien's original, he's forgotten he needs to tell a story rather than just fit all those dwarfs on the screen. Bilbo, who should be the centre of the action, is an enigma until he finally meets Gollum, far along in the epic-sized adventure.
There is something about artists advocating for human rights that just rings true. Often artists are the first victims of political systems that erode human rights, as in Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union. So when Amnesty International held an event, hosted by CBC's Deana Sumanac, to celebrate International Human Rights Day, Canadian artists stepped up.
Getting hands on with TSO's interactive symphony app
Categories: Live Performance, Music, Social Media
Tags: app, A Toronto Symphony, interactive, public, social, Tod Machover, TSO
Remixing a symphony for the TSO to perform? There's an app for that (sort of). Innovative composer Tod Machover is creating a brand new classical composition inspired by Toronto that incorporates actual sounds from the city and submissions by its residents.
Jem Cohen's We Have an Anchor
Categories: Live Performance, Movies
Tags: film, hybrid, Jem Cohen, music, We Have an Anchor
Jem Cohen doesn't call We Have an Anchor a film, but it's certainly an intriguing cinematic experience. A multi-screen film project accompanied by a live rock band, Anchor is an epic tone poem -- an ode to Cape Breton and Nova Scotia by an American filmmaker who fell in love with the place. Eli Glasner gets swept away.
Other The Buzz Entries
About the Authors
Jelena Adzic (1)
Arts reporter, trend tracker and Pinterest devotee.
Deana Sumanac (10)
CBC News arts reporter, lit lover and music geek.
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February (9)
- Canada's Stella Sisters sing a birthday tribute to the Man in Black
- Oscar swag the ultimate consolation prize
- Oscar predictions: the shoo-ins and the should-have-beens
- Authors bare all for PEN Canada
- Anoushka Shankar and the One Billion Rising campaign
- Beyoncé's Life Is But a Dream a curated peek behind the curtain
- Drake gets wild in the street over Grammy win
- 25 billion songs downloaded on iTunes, and counting
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January (16)
- 6 bone-crushing football films
- FILM REVIEW: Warm Bodies
- Justin Timberlake's musical comeback
- Argo moves to the fore in Oscar best picture race
- FILM REVIEW: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
- FILM REVIEW: Knife Fight
- FILM REVIEW: Parker
- Kroll Show parodies Degrassi with "Wheels, Ontario"
- FILM REVIEW: The Last Stand
- FILM REVIEW: Gangster Squad
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