Maintaining a consistent career trajectory in the withering Hollywood spotlight is no mean feat, and is unfortunately seemingly easier for men.

Matthew McConaughey has drifted along amicably in the wilds of the foreign press as little more than a stoner adonis, a grinning torso for Versace spouting the likeable dreck we remember him so fondly for in Dazed and Confused.

But in the last two years, he has made some of the most interesting choices of anyone in his medium and made the transition from movie star to actor. From portraying a beefcake catcher’s mitt that revelled in the sleaze of Soderbergh’s Magic Mike to diving head first into Lee Daniels’ completely unhinged The Paperboy, it’s been supremely compelling to watch a relatively vanilla performer take some serious risks.

And what more definitive way to complete the chrysalis than by graduating from the Christian Bale Academy of frightening method acting to play the extremely demanding role of a nihilistic, homophobic rodeo cowboy turned calculating messiah following a diagnosis of being HIV positive?

Although Russian playwright Anton Chekov based his 1901 play The Three Sisters on the lives of the Brontë Sisters, the themes of isolation and the many shades of grey of love are as relevant today as they were over a century ago.

With this in mind, director Jane Werger brings together a talented cast and crew of players together in a potent rendition of Chekov’s play at the Peterborough Theatre Guild.

Paul Nabuurs throws down at Art Battle #87 at The Venue

Paul didn’t quite know what he was getting himself into, but he was determined to be ready.

Ian Rogers is a writer, artist, and photographer.

His debut collection, Every House Is Haunted, was the winner of the 2013 ReLit Award in the Short Fiction category, while his novelette, “The House on Ashley Avenue,” was nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award. His short fiction has appeared in several markets, including Cemetery Dance, Broken Pencil, and Shadows & Tall Trees.

His work has been selected for The Best Horror of the Year and Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing. Ian is also the author of SuperNOIRtural Tales, a collection of stories featuring supernatural detective Felix Renn.

Ian lives with his wife in Peterborough, Ontario.

As the anticlimactic buzz of awards season pulsates ever closer, we cast our critical eye on the past 12 months of cinema and reflect on what we loved and what we endured.

Film is purely product driven: if the material is good people will come; and 2013 was a banner year for commercial entertainment. Taste and commerce met in the middle and audiences were treated to films that occasionally scraped the heights of great art at the multiplexes. I pray this trend stays in vogue.

Here are some films that I loved this year.