Venus.

If Peter O'Toole's mesmerizing, fearless, and endearing performance was the only positive aspect of Venus, it would still be well worth seeing.

I was pleasantly surprised that the sharp wit and general delightfulness promised by the theatrical trailer for this film delivered the goods.

Like the critically acclaimed and popular film from 2004, Sideways, this well-written bittersweet comedy celebrates what is means to be fully human by presenting us with complex, flawed characters who don't always behave the way they should- and our hearts end up bleeding for them as much when they're bad as when they're good.

With the simple story line about an aging British stage actor who develops an "interest" in his best friend's great niece, Venus artfully widens into a realistic exploration of how different relationships in our lives fulfill some needs, but not all, and how aging threatens aspects of our identity, but leaves other core pieces intact.

The scenes with "Maurice" and his actor friends are absolutely delightful and perfectly executed. The two wonderful scenes between "Maurice" and his estranged wife (a marvel of a performance by Vanessa Redgrave) are both heartwarming and heartbreaking.

The core of the story- the not-so-kosher, yet not-nearly-as-revolting as-you-might-think relationship between "Maurice" and "Jessie" (an impressive Jodie Whitaker) avoids all clichés and predictability found in Hollywood movies, and presents the viewers with a believable, engrossing slice of life, and fully invests them with an emotional stake in these characters' outcomes.

Venus is an expertly acted, beautifully written little gem that hopefully will not get lost among the more hyped (and over-blown) late year offerings. If The Academy decides to reward Mr. O'Toole with an Oscar for this performance, it will be one that is well deserved and won't be dismissed as "the sentimental choice." Treat yourself to the best adult comedy of 2006, and one of the best performances of the year.

Manufactuing Landscapes.

These new ‘manufacturing landscapes’ in the southern and eastern parts of China produce more and more of the world’s goods and have become the habitat for a diverse group of companies and millions of busy workers.

-– Edward Burtynsky

The massive scale of the transformation that has taken place in China is visualized in Edward Burtynsky’s recent photographs of enormous factories employing thousands of workers in newly established zones of Chinese industrialization. First presented in the fall of 2005, his pictures offer rare access to the sheer enormity of the industry. This ominous yet eerily seductive examination is achieved by Burtynsky’s distant and formal approach. By using a large-format camera and filling the frame with rows and rows of production lines, the factories and the workers become almost infinite. However in some pictures, particularly Manufacturing #11, Youngor Textiles, Nigbo, Zhejiang Province, China 2005, an individual stands out alone. It is at this point that one recognizes there is a personal story behind each of the millions of factory workers.

Burtynsky was born in St. Catharines, Ontario. He holds a BA in photographic arts from Ryerson Polytechnical University, Toronto, and a diploma in graphic arts from Niagara College, Welland, Ontario. He has received multiple grants from the Canada Council, and in 2004 became the inaugural recipient of the Flying Elephants Foundation Fellowship. Solo exhibitions of his work in 2004 and 2005 included Manufactured Landscapes at Brooklyn Museum of Art; Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego; and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; as well as Burtynsky – China at Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco; Charles Cowles Gallery, New York; and Flowers Gallery, London. The Museum of Contemporary Photography featured his Chinese manufacturing work from January 12 through March 4, 2006 in the group show Made in China. Burtynsky established Toronto Image Works in 1985, a digital output facility which he continues to operate.

Sacred Scared

In a world teetering on the edge of self destruction, award-winning filmmaker Velcrow Ripper sets out on a unique pilgrimmage. Visiting the 'Ground Zeros' of the planet, he asks if it's possible to find hope in the darkest moments of human history. Staring directly into the face of war, tragedy and instability, Ripper travels to the minefields of Cambodia; war-torn Afghanistan; the toxic wasteland of Bhopal; post-9/11 New York; Bosnia; Hiroshima, Israel and Palestine. This unflinching documentary captures his five-year odyssey to discover if humanity can transform the 'scared' into the 'sacred'. Confronting horror and heartbreak around the world, Ripper meets those who have suffered first-hand. And in each place, he unearths unforgettable stories of survival, ritual, and recovery. Scared Sacred deftly weaves together haunting and luminous footage with words, memories, and an evocative soundscape to create an exquisite portrait of a search for meaning in times of turmoil. With an engaging, first-person narrative, this beautiful film reveals that the darkness of catastrophe can be illuminated with hope.