MUSIC PREVIEW: UP+DT takes a stand
A quick recap of the controversy leading up to this weekend’s Up + Downtown Music Festival: On Sept. 19, after organizers caught wind that former Misfits singer Michale Graves had allegedly shared and written some controversial things on social media, his appearance was cancelled. “Upon review,” a statement read, “his views expressed do not align […]
EIFF: Rabbit so good it needs to be proud to be Canadian
Films like Rabbit make it easy on reviewers. When the material and performances are as nearly flawless as they are here, the only thing that needs to be decided is how much to gush – so get ready. This film could easily be the best dramatic feature at this year’s Edmonton International Film Festival. It […]
Twenty One Pilots adds Edmonton to Banditø Tøur
From Stressed Out to world domination in just three short years, Twenty One Pilots is finally getting to headline Edmonton’s new hockey arena. The Ohio duo plays Rogers Place on May 15, 2019, one of several dates recently added to the second leg of a world tour behind their new album Trench, out Oct. 5. […]
EIFF: Bel Canto serves palatable pablum
Bel Canto, starring Julianne Moore and Christopher Lambert, is a historically revisionist melodrama so loosely based on the 1996 Peruvian Japanese Embassy Hostage Crisis that actual Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was renamed President Masuda in the film. That should tell you how close this one sticks to the facts. To be honest, it’s more directly […]
Paul McCartney rocks Edmonton with marathon concert
The trouble with setting the bar so high is that you might never get over yourself again. This is now known as the “Paul McCartney Rule.” The British Rock God’s epic and self-worshipping marathon of a rock concert at Rogers Place on Sunday night was Beatleseque nostalgia lovefest of the highest order – from one […]
REVIEW: It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad Lemoine world!
Skirts On Fire takes Stewart Lemoine’s usual volatile collection of eccentrics and cheery misfits, vigorously shakes them together and sets them to fizzing like an exotic cocktail. If you’re looking for an existential probe of humanity’s existence you’re searching the wrong planet. A remount playing at the Varscona Theatre through October 13, Lemoine’s 1950s New […]
REVIEW: Once, twice, three times we love you!
“Let me entertain you!” sings Baby Rose in Gypsy, giving voice to what might be called the mantra of the American musical. Once, the new musical currently gracing the Shoctor Stage of the Citadel Theatre, demonstrates with a cunning combination of simplicity, heart and charm that a great musical doesn’t have to pound you into […]
EIFF: Hang Ten in … Ireland?!
Every film festival always has a documentary or two, and Between Land and Sea focuses on the lives of a band of like- minded sportsmen in the international surfing hotspot of … Ireland. No, that wasn’t a typo. The town of Lahinch, on the west coast of Ireland near the cliffs of Moher, lays claim […]
EIFF: Necessary Evil an existential comedy with horns
Fans of The Good Place might be interested in another existential comedy, Necessary Evil – making its premiere at the Edmonton International Film Festival on Friday night. The web series (aiming for TV) is a bit darker in its hour-long pilot episode Soul Purpose. It’s set in a hell that actually looks like hell – […]
A Visit with the Puppet Master
Some puppets broke the (local) internet recently in what appeared to be a professional television commercial for the Bear’s Worst Show Ever, starring puppet versions of Scott McCord and Yukon Jack. It turned out to be one amazing contest entry for the “Worst Ad Ever.” It didn’t win the $10,000 prize. Puppetsmith Trevor Duffy says […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Crash Test Dummies make smart return
Winnipeg alt-folk act Crash Test Dummies are best known for their 1991 single Superman’s Song, but the band has managed to propel that into a lengthy career in the music world that now includes a total of nine full-length albums, plus a couple of compilation albums and even a live album. The band plays a […]
