Author: Valur Gunnarsson
Happening Tonight: Kris Kristofferson
You may know him as the old dude from the Blade movies, as Barbra Streisand’s co-star in ‘A Star is…
Search And Rescue With Tom Cruise
Most Reykvíkingar tend to think that being born outside of the capital is some terrible accident that needs to be…
Why Cats Are Better Than Dogs
by Valur Gunnarsson and Andie Sophia Fontaine
The most characteristic sound of Reykjavík is neither the desperate noise of drunkards during the weekend nor the lonely song…
Movie-Star, Painter, Man Of The World: The Story Of Muggur
“From Iceland’s Frigid Shore, Where Women Vote, Come Wondrous Fairy Tales.” Thus read a headline in the Evening Sun on…
The Look Of Silence: Our Darkest Natures Exposed
We all know what a communist victory in Southeast Asia can look like. But what would it look like if…
A Civilized Way to Die: A German director talks about his on-screen suicides.
by Valur Gunnarsson and Andie Sophia Fontaine
Everyone knows that Heartbreak Hotel is located down at the end of Lonely Street, but what happens if you keep…
The Brits Are Coming! Again!
The British Occupation that started in 1940 has certainly been dealt with a lot in Icelandic culture, as we at…
Finding True Iceland Part 2: Dentist, Sailors, Soldiers, Smelters
Entering the eastern fjords of Iceland, one gets a sense of being closer to Europe. They have ferries here, and…
An Almost Totally Random Selection Of David Cronenberg Films, Described
Videodrome (1983) Back in the early 80s, we all believed VHS would slowly take over first our minds and then…
Film Review: ‘Everest’ Pits Man Vs. Mountain
Things that once looked unassailable turned out not to be. Everest must have seemed impossible to climb until one day,…
A Heartfelt Love Letter To David Mitchell, On The Occasion Of Reykjavík LitFest
No, the novel lies not dead. It‘s merely sleeping. And the person to rouse it for the 21st century is one…
Finding True Iceland Up North: The Sagas Of Skagafjörður, A Siglufjörður Gold Rush, Húsavík Whales
There are many ways to get to the North from dear old Reykjavík. One entails flying, which provides an impressive…
Searching For New Iceland Part 5: The Mystery Of The Goolies
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that the Icelanders in Manitoba were nicknamed “Goolies,” which started out as a slur…
Origin Stories, Or: Why We Believe We Are Who We Think We Are
Every nation has an origin story. Unique about Icelanders in this regard, at least from the European perspective, is that…
Scandinavia Explained To The English Speaker
To the outsider, the Scandinavian countries tend to all look the same. This is, in fact, not entirely true. First…
What Does It Take To Become A “Friend Of Iceland”?
The term Íslandsvinur, “Friend of Iceland,” first appeared in Iceland’s media in 1874, in the annual Fréttir frá Íslandi (“News from Iceland”)….
Home Of The Prairie Wind: Searching For New Iceland Part 4
Prairie. Nothing but prairie as far as the eye can see. It must have been terrifying for the New Icelanders…
How To Insult An Icelander: Searching For New Iceland Part 3
What do you call an Icelander? Would an Icelander by any other name still smell as sweet? Being small island…
Searching For New Iceland Part 2: At The Heart Of It All
Somewhere between Selfoss and a Springsteen song lies the town of Gimli, Manitoba. If any town can be said to…
Searching For New Iceland Part 1: Celebrating June 17 In Toronto
Maybe it’s the friendliness of the bus driver, or perhaps just the scorching heat, but it’s pretty clear I’m not…
What Can The Recent British Elections Teach Us About Icelandic Politics?
Two things of note happened in the United Kingdom on May 7. One of them, as you may have heard,…
Film Review: A Dark Horse With A Good Heart – ‘Fúsi’ (“Virgin Mountain”)
Icelandic cinema seems to be doing rather well with upwards of twelve premieres expected this year. For those who worried…
Does the West Pass the Test? A Great New German Film Re-examines The Cold War In The Shadow Of Snowden
The current spate of movies set in East Germany started as far back as 2003 with the comedy Good Bye,…
Dark Valley: A Sauerkraut Western Renounces Religion
Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained was not the first German (or Austrian) to discover the Wild West. In the late…
A Legend Attempts Real Life: Handball Hero Ólafur Stefánsson Portrayed In New Doc
One of the many, many things Icelanders like to brag about to foreigners are the merits of our handball teams….