TIFF: Shakespeare and Victor Hugo’s Intimacies

Yesterday we went to see “Intimidades de Shakespeare y Victor Hugo”, a very personal Mexican documentary by Yulene Olaizola, at the Toronto International Film Festival. It’s a fantastic film, a beautifully constructed exposition of a delicate, twisting story. (Nothing to do with Shakespeare or Victor Hugo though, the title refers to an intersection in Mexico City.) [...]

2007 recommendations: Games

And to wrap up this recommendations series, a brief list of games I loved this year:
Boardgames:

BattleLore, by Richard Borg: A fantastic 2-player medium-strategy game, and probably the best boardgame I’ve found. Flexible, deep, and with gorgeous components.
Thebes, by Peter Prinz: Archaeological digging in Indiana Jones’ times. It’s got some really interesting game mechanics packed up [...]

2007 recommendations: Books

Here’s a short list of some of the great books I discovered this year. Fiction:

The Dispossessed and The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin: Both are honest, bold, exciting, and soothing. And they’re science fiction too.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon: High adventure around the comic books industry (?!). [...]

2007 recommendations: Podcasts

First, two great public radio shows that I discovered this year, thanks to my colleague Jon Pipitone:

This American Life: Initially the title was a bit of a put-down, but this show is absolutely fantastic. Emotional without being cheap; intelligent but accessible. No other radio show has made me cry and laugh out loud through my [...]