The ultimate meet-cute: Pseudo-doc’s appeal depends on your tolerance of twee
Your appreciation for Paper Heart, a doc/mockumentary about love, will be closely tied to your appreciation for quirk. Co-star Michael Cera is probably the best barometer: If you find his awkward stammering irresistible, the movie will likely resonate. If the thought of the Arrested Development star wooing an even more awkward comedienne is anathema to … Continue reading
Meet the residents: The Banff Centre expands its embrace of indie rock
Arriving at The Banff Centre late on a Wednesday evening, the complex feels undeniably spooky. Due to a major construction project, the usually open expanses of the centre have become a series of pathways lined with construction fences in Halloween orange. A perfect setting for the October 31 concert that marks the conclusion of The … Continue reading
Film review: Unmistaken Child
Depending on your perspective, there are two separate storylines running through the documentary Unmistaken Child. If you believe in reincarnation, director Nati Baratz has captured the story of Buddhist monk Tenzin Zopa’s quest to find the newest corporeal form of his late master, Geshe Lama Konchog. He and other experts examine everything from astrological charts … Continue reading
Various Artists – Sweet Treats: Live Sessions from CJSW 90.9 FM
On CJSW, variety is the name of the game. So it’s no surprise that Sweet Treats: Live Sessions from CJSW 90.9 FM (available for a minimum pledge of $120 at this year’s funding drive, from October 23 through October 30) is a more eclectic mix than most. The organ-based jazz of Sinistrio sits between the … Continue reading
Review of Where the Wild Things Are
With the possible exception of Calvin & Hobbes, it’s hard to think of a property that would be trickier to adapt than Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. The book only contains nine sentences, but it also holds a great deal of sentimental value to a great many readers, who were drawn in by … Continue reading
Review of Law Abiding Citizen
Director F. Gary Gray’s Law Abiding Citizen wants to be all things to all people. In its opening scenes, it quickly moves from home-invasion horror to legal drama and torture porn before eventually settling comfortably into the thriller template. Beneath it all, it also aims to be an allegory on both America’s domestic justice system … Continue reading
The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Now in its 26th year as a band, venerable psych-rock weirdos The Flaming Lips can be forgiven for a little indulgence. The band’s homemade sci-fi flick Christmas on Mars was a curiosity, a mind-bender that tried the patience of even hardcore fans. Clocking in at 73 minutes and containing a slew of abrasive samples and … Continue reading
Review of Enlighten Up
Skepticism is a healthy trait in documentary filmmaking. After all, without a healthy mistrust of their subjects, documentarians would basically be PR flaks. With Enlighten Up, first-time director Kate Churchill attempts to provide a skeptic’s view of yoga. The twist is that Churchill is a firm believer in the practice as both a physical and … Continue reading
Review of Dead Snow
All you need to know about Dead Snow is in the press photo that accompanies this story: It is a movie about zombies who are also Nazis. If the idea of combining the tenets of National Socialism with an unyielding thirst for flesh and brains strikes you as silly, ridiculous or just plain dumb, read … Continue reading
Review of H2Oil
Albertans may experience a sense of déjà vu while watching H2Oil, Shannon Walsh’s documentary about our province’s tarsands development. Most of the material in the film has been well covered in the Calgary media, from the high incidents of cancer in Fort Chipewyan to the death of hundreds of ducks in a Syncrude tailings pond. … Continue reading
The Consumption 