I listen to a lot of podcasts, so here are some of my favourites of the last year.

WTF with Marc Maron
I’m a long-time listener, but this has been a hell of year with Marc. At first the pandemic seemed like a challenge for someone who’s focussed on long format face-to-face interviews in his garage. But he quickly embraced videoconferencing and it unlocked a whole new level of interviews for him.
And then of course his partner, filmmaker Lynn Shelton, passed away in May, and the podcast became part of a fairly open grieving process. One thing about Maron is he has never missed a show. The Monday after Lynn died, I would absolutely have understood if he did not put up an episode, or at least did a re-run. But there he was, and it was very raw and there was a real sense that his one-way relationship with his listeners matters to him.
Saved episodes: Barry Sonnenfeld (April 23rd) and Barry Levinson (Sept. 24th). Thew two Barrys kind of cover most of the important films of the last 30 years between them, and their talks with Marc are just the best.

You Must Remember This
In May, Karina Longworth’s well-produced long-running deep dive into Hollywood history received the back-handed compliment of inclusion on 10 Podcasts to Help You Fall Asleep
.
And I’d be lying if I said I’d never drifted off to the sound of Ms. Longworth’s soothing voice telling me about hottible things Louis B. Mayer used to do. But it’s still one of the best.
Saved Episodes: “Polly Platt: The Forgotten Woman” (May 25th to July 27th). Do not sleep through this 10-part mini-series on an under-appreciated film-maker who never got a director’s credit and often didn’t get her due. From her early days as wife and collaborator of Peter Bogdanovich to later work with James L. Brooks, Cameron Crowe and Wes Anderson, it’s an incredible saga with a lot to say about Hollywood and sexism. Suffice to say she may have started “The Simpsons”, but somehow did not die a billionaire.

Team Deakins
When we look back on The Year of Our Pandemic, one of the best things about it might be the fact that one of the greatest living cinematographers was stuck at home with a lot of time on his hands so he started a podcast.
Coen Brothers collaborator Roger Deakins opened up his rolodex and, with his wife and production parther James Deakins, put on one hell of a podcast which may prove to be the first film school for the next generation of film-makers.
You will probably learn a lot more than you want or need to about making movies. I haven’t kept up with them as they’ve made more than 75 episodes since April, but they are always great taolks with people who are very passionate about movies.
Saved episodes: Joel Coen (August 2, 2020). This is the episode where I came in because THIS NEVER HAPPENS. The Coens don’t really talk to anyone about their work, but here it is. Also Sam Mendes (June 14th) and Denis Villeneuve (July 8th).

Oh, Hello: the P'dcast
For 8 crazy weeks this spring, Nick Kroll and John Mulaney revisited their gormless and barely loveable elderly alter-egos from their Broadway show and
Netflix special.
Only it’s a podcast, about them clumsily trying to find some connection to the death of Princess Diana.
Saved episodes: None. You have to hear this once, but these are intentionally abrasive characters. You are not going to want to revisit them.

The Marx Brothers Council Podcast
I might be all alone on this one.
This is a podcast that grew out of a Facebook Group for fans of The Marx Brothers.
I like The Marx Brothers, but honestly I can’t say I’m a fan. Their movies have not aged as well as you might hope.
And the Facebook Group, which I joined, contains a lot of people who REALLY love the Marx Brothers, and few really cranky people who do not appreciate things that are not the Marx Brothers (or more precisely, the particular Marx Brothers movies that they like).
I haven’t checked today, but I think I may have been banned from the group for saying I liked Mank.
Anyway, what I do like is this podcast. It’s hosted by British film historian Matthew Coniam, New York actor and Groucho re-enactor Noah Diamond, and non-author/actor Bob Gassel of Chicago. It’s just a great hang-out podcast because they love the subject matter so much they can sometimes get to hate it a bit.
Saved Episodes: “You’ll Duck Soup the Rest of Your Life” (March 28th) and “Send Out the Clowns” (June 24th). I guess nothing can capture my affection for this podcast more than listening to 3 smart and funny people share widely diverging opinions about two films that are generally considered to be either either the best or the worst of the ouevre.

The Watch
I’ve been watching a lot of TV and movies this year, but it’s been hard to talk to anybody about a lot of it. So I really look forward to Mondays and Thursdays when Chris Ryan of The Ringer and writer/producer Andy Greenwald show up to dish about what they’ve been watching. There’s a little inside-baseball entertainment industry gossip and a lot of talk about shows they really enjoy. I don’t agree with them about everything, but they have put me onto some of the best TV I’ve seen this year, like Normal People and I May Destroy You.
Saved Episode: “The Rise of Skywalker - A Shocking Disappointment” (Dec. 23, 2019). While technically not a 2020 podcast, you really need to hear this. Chris and Andy attended the red carpet premiere of the last Star Wars movie (and hated it), but they sat next to Kevin Smith (who loved it). Their talk about what went wrong with this movie is better than the movie.

Star Wars Nerds
Speaking of Star Wars, here’s the only Winnipeg podcast on my list, which I almost exclusively listen to in the car with my 12-year-old son in the Wal-Mart parking lot while my wife is shopping. RRC Cre-Comm instructors Dan Vadeboncoeur and Kenton Larson don’t put out the most consistent podcast, and they devote a bit too much running time to trying to remember things or looking things up on their phones.
But my son is a big fan, though he thinks they swear too much. I guess if you have as many million listeners as the Star Wars Nerds, you don’t need to worry about whether kids will want to listen to your podcast about kids’ movies and TV shows.
Saved Episode: “Tauntauns Are Real” (June 1st). I think this is one where they mention me by name because of something I tweeted at them. This was the only time my son was impressed with me last year.

Honourable Mentions:
-Blank Check
-Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History
-How Did This Get Made
-Reply All
-Slate Spoiler Specials
-Smartless
-Someone Else’s Movie
-The Greatest Discovery
-Travolta/Cage
-Witchpolice Radio

I continue to schedule client meetings in my Satellite Office in Room 304 at 915 Grosvenor Avenue, though some clients have had issues with finding the street number is visible on the metal sign to the left.

To assist in wayfinding, I’m going to start using the building name visible over the front door “Galleria”. I’m not sure what the significance of the name is, but it’s more visible since the tree in front of the building was cut down this fall.

Also, I call it the “Satellite Office” now, as opposed to the Home Office at 265 Academy which is literally my “Home Office”. Please call or email if you need an appointment.

Hanks Law Office will be closed the week of Canada Day, from June 29th through July 3rd. I will be checking e-mail but calls may not be returned until the following week.

The COVID-19 situation is beginning to show up in family law matters. A leading case so far appears to be the Ontario Supreme Court case of Ribeiro v Wright, 2020 ONSC 1829 (CanLII)

In that decision, Justice Alex Pazaratz had an observation worth repeating:

Judges won’t need convincing that COVID-19 is extremely serious, and that meaningful precautions are required to protect children and families. We know there’s a problem. What we’re looking for is realistic solutions. We will be looking to see if parents have made good faith efforts to communicate; to show mutual respect; and to come up with creative and realistic proposals which demonstrate both parental insight and COVID-19 awareness.

In family court we are used to dealing with parenting disputes. But right now it’s not “business as usual” for any of us. The court system will always be here to deal with truly urgent matters, especially involving children. But that means there will be little time or tolerance for people who don’t take parenting responsibilities or COVID-19 seriously.

If you currently have a file with Hanks Office, please be advised that Lawyers are permitted to carry on business after April 1, 2020 and Hanks Law Office will continue operating and working on your file.

We will continue our COVID-19 protocol of restricting personal meetings to the bare minimum necessary for verification of identity and witnessing documents.

If an in-person meeting is necessary, we will be employing phisical distancing and these meetings will be limited to 10 minutes.

If you have any questions or concerns about your file, please call or e-mail me.

My office at 915 Grosvenor is now set up for social distance protocols. Until further notice all in-person meetings will be limited to 10 minutes and restricted to verification of identity and witnessing of signatures. All other business will be conducted by phone or email.

Since Hanks Law Office is largely a home-based business, my work has not been greatly disrupted by the ongoing health alert.

Most of my contact with clients is usually by phone or e-mail. When a face-to-face meeting is necessary, I’ll be practicing social distancing and trying to screen for risk factors before setting a meeting.

Finally, I know from my work with separating parents that schools and day cares are a huge part of how they co-parent. Please try to be patient. Remember this situation is putting a lot of stress on everyone, not just you, your co-parent and your kids.

Please be cool, give each other some slack, and remember your lawyer doesn’t have a magic wand that will make the other person be somebody else. Take care and be well.

If you have any questions, please call.

I’m watching Watchmen on HBO, and it’s much better than it has any right to be. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but I didn’t expect a hard look at how deeply racist the US is today.

The first episode started with a re-enactment of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, a mass lynching of black Americans that seems like something out of a dystopian alternate reality even though it actually happened. It picks up on the superhero themes of the original comic series, but focuses very sharply on White Supremacy.

It may not be for everyone. It is very unforgiving in assuming you read the graphic novel, but at the same time, it’s very slow to directly engage with the surviving characters. Also, it definitely follows in the universe of the book, not the movie. This is a world where Ozymandias dropped a big space bug on New York 30 years ago. (If the previous sentence made no sense to you, you would definitely want to go back to the book before watching.)