Billy Boyd: From Hobbit to Beecake
Actor, musician, surfer, martial artist, hobbit – these are just some of the things Billy Boyd has become rather good at. Known for his role as Peregrin “Pippin” Took in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Boyd has been making a name for himself as of late with his band Beecake. Along with his various […]
Dead Venues doc honours Edmonton’s fallen clubs
“One day your pet’s going to die. One day your club’s going to close. Nothing lasts forever, and that’s too bad.” Leave it to Jr. Gone Wild founder and Edmonton music legend Mike McDonald to deliver the stinging slap of truth – deftly summing up the heart of a new documentary about Edmonton’s music scene. […]
Put it where the Sun don’t shine
They came to mock, not to bury – but then The Sun News Network suddenly went off the air, leaving a group of local performance artists intent on venting their feelings towards Ezra Levant’s soapbox with a wake instead of a roast. The first – and probably last – presentation of The Scum News Network […]
Plastic Men shut out at Canadian Screen Awards
Tiny Plastic Men, Edmonton’s sole representative at the 2015 Canadian Screen Awards, went zero-for-three at Sunday night’s ceremony in Toronto – but it was an honour just to be nominated. Really, it was. Mark Meer, who was up for Best Actor in a Continuing Leading Comic Role, was a good sport about the loss, Facebooking […]
Edmonton People, Places and Things of 2014
Instead of holding a ridiculous contest to determine the Edmontonian of the Year – which is dependent on the determination of the subject and his or her followers to win at all costs, much like a political election – this year we present a straight recap of the most widely read stories on GigCity. Guarantee: […]
EIFF REVIEW: Gone Doggy Gone a howl
The most sympathetic character in Gone Doggy Gone is the dog. Ooh, but Laila is such a sweet little crumbcake! With her wee sweaters and booties and her adorable little baby puppy carriage, and her humans wipe her butt with baby wipes because she sleeps in their bed, literally coming between man and wife, and […]
Is Glen Campbell Alzheimer’s documentary exploitive?
Director James Keach’s documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me follows the country music legend’s farewell tour following his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease in the summer of 2011. While chock full of joyful moments, it’s hard to watch the rapid descent of the great musician into dementia, as documented during a scene at the Mayo Clinic […]
EIFF REVIEW: Doc celebrates Memphis history
How do you watch a 90 minute documentary about the recording sessions for an album no one knows about, coupled together with countless anecdotes about people most music fans have never heard of, filmed in a city that was once crucial to the development of the American 20 century musical and cultural identity, but isn’t […]
Grant Imahara on geeky delights at Edmonton Expo
Times have changed since Grant Imahara was a kid. The geeks discovered their power. That’s a big one. “Certainly being a geek when I was in high school in the late ‘80s, it was not a team of endearment,” says the former host of MythBusters who’s appearing this weekend at the Edmonton Comic and Entertainment […]
EIFF REVIEW: The downside of altruism in One of a Kind
Can humans help themselves by helping others? Veteran French auteur Francois Dupeyron explores this very complex question in his 17th film One of a Kind (original French Title: Mon âme par toi guérie, or My Soul Healed By You). It screens Saturday, Sept. 27 at 2 pm as part of the Edmonton International Film Festival. […]
Sound of Edmonton like one hand clapping
The problem with calling your music documentary Sound of Edmonton is that there isn’t one. No one sticks around long enough. Is there hope in the next generation? Most of the subjects in Evan van Ramshorst’s low budget short film are in their 20s: The oldest is probably Wunderbar owner Craig Martellica, and he’s over […]
SkirtsAfire to burn glass ceiling
Whatever you think of grouping artists by gender first and by their art second, consider the all-female SkirtsAfire “herArts” festival – playing March 6-9 at venues around Alberta Avenue – as “theatrical affirmative action.” The stats on theatrical sexual equality in Canada are “grim,” says festival director Annette Loiselle, citing a 2008 study done by […]
