Half Moon Run (Montreal) Indie rockers Half Moon Run struck it big this year with a third row mention on the Osheaga lineup poster. The band’s biggest performance challenge will be proving that they are not Walk The Moon. Grimes (Montreal) Ex-McGill student Claire Boucher is returning to the Osheaga[Read More…]
Articles by Christopher Lutes
Pop Dialectic: Macklemore and the question of white privilege
Macklemore’s latest hit, “White Privilege II” gives the outspoken rapper a chance to delve into the serious issues of white privilege and appropriation in Hip Hop, but do his lyrics drive home a powerful point, or are they just an ironic display of the very privilege he’s lambasting against? “White[Read More…]
SSMU Council adds referendum question on political GA motions
Amendment regarding GA motions The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Council approved a motion for the upcoming Winter referendum on a process to prevent motions deemed as ‘divisive’ or ‘external’ to SSMU’s mandate from being discussed at the General Assembly (GA). Under the proposed amendment, the GA Steering Committee—an[Read More…]
2016 Academy Award Predictions
For the 2016 Academy Awards the Arts and Entertainment section of the Tribune did the work for you, predicting the winners for Best Film, Best Leading Actor and Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and Film Editing. Read the reviews, rent the films, and be ready to watch the Oscars on[Read More…]
Blast from the Past: The evolution of football
Every sport has a rubicon to cross, a dividing line between infancy and legitimacy. A concoction of traditions, house rules, and conventions huddle together and break apart across time, forming and reforming to become an entity that doesn’t look anything like its predecessors, but has elements of all of them.[Read More…]
Staff Round-Up: Kanye West’s The Life Of Pablo (TLOP)
As a long-time Kanye West fan, I knew The Life of Pablo (TLOP) would deliver in terms of innovation, and considering Kanye’s career progression it was easy to guess that TLOP would feature heavily over-processed samples and gospel-esque backing beats with strong hooks and stronger guest artists. Admittedly, the best[Read More…]
High infidelity: McGill Savoy Society’s “The Merry Widow” brings a classic into the modern era
Opera is an art form that has been in jeopardy for at least the last few decades. With a near complete lack of any notable new operas since the early 20th century, the entire genre is in danger of becoming stagnant without the intervention of passionate fans who are willing[Read More…]
Love Songs Crossword
Across: 1. Less serious than an exam 5. What gymnasts balance on 9. Covered with 14. High-minded notion 19. Bismarck’s first name 20. Rooney and Kate 21. Modern message 22. Musk’s company 23. Black Eyed Peas (2003) 26. Mexican staple 27. Standards 28. Ex-Russian leadership title 29. Disgusting 32. It[Read More…]
Visible invisibility: The science of cinematography
Just about everybody loves seeing a good movie. Though a person’s experience is tied to many different factors, it generally boils down to whether or not the viewer can relate to what they’re seeing on screen and how fully they become immersed in this imaginary world. This is contingent on[Read More…]
Staff roundup: Rihanna’s ANTI
In light of Rihanna's latest album, ANTI, and genre trasition that came with it, the Arts and Entertainment staff at the McGill Tribune got together to write up their initial thoughts on Rih-Rih's latest project. Is ANTI a good album? Sure it is. It’s simple and stripped down, allowing for a cohesive but emotive[Read More…]
Kevin O’Leary’s legacy of ashes
Dragon. Shark. Mr. Wonderful. These are all nicknames of Canadian entrepreneur and TV personality Kevin O’Leary, the unfiltered personification of capitalistic inhumanity. More than usual, he has been artificially inserting himself into the nation’s headlines. O’Leary has offered the tidy sum of $1 million in investment to the Alberta energy[Read More…]
Conspiracy! is about more than just theories
History is a black box where nobody in the present can ever really know what happened in the past. Lies become truth through force of attrition, and truths are lost forever to the erosion of records. This unsteady ground is the foundation of Chocolate Moose Theatre Company’s production of Conspiracy!,[Read More…]
Anonymous Monsters: Players’ Theatre examines the legacy of evil in East of Berlin
Part of growing up is coming to the realization that your parents aren’t exactly who you thought they were when you were a child. They lived for a relatively long time before your birth, had their own careers, loves, and transgressions. Though that specific version of them is lost forever[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: How TV can improve in 2016
2015 was arguably the best year for television in the history of the medium, both in terms of quality and quantity. Last summer, John Landgraf, president of FX network and de facto ‘mayor of television,’ stated that people have reached an age of “peak TV in America,” pointing out that[Read More…]
Best of 2015: The Snubs
This year, the Arts & Entertainment section editors worked with our staff writers to come up with the best songs, music videos, albums, TV shows, and movies of 2015; however, not everyone’s favourite made the list. To let the close runners-up shine we’ve each picked our two most-beloved snubs that[Read More…]
10 best songs of 2015
Here are our picks for the best songs of 2015: 10. “Sorry” – Justin Bieber Although released in November, this second single released from Bieber’s new album Purpose, “Sorry” is likely to remain a hit for the rest of the year and into the summer. The success of “Sorry” largely[Read More…]
10 Best Albums of 2015
Here are our picks for the best albums of 2015: 10. Lana Del Rey — Honeymoon Dramatically toning down the gritty sound of her previous album, Ultraviolence (2014), in favour of a more layered, ethereal, and timeless aesthetic, Lana Del Rey—one of pop music’s most divisive artist—takes the listener on[Read More…]
10 best music videos of 2015
Here is our list of the 10 best music videos of 2015: 10. Childish Gambino — “Sober” Choreographed by Ian Eastwood, Childish Gambino’s single from the Kauai EP tackles and subverts the oft-depicted ‘guy approaches girl’ scenario in a music video that comically comments on both itself and other videos[Read More…]
10 best movies of 2015
Here are our picks for the 10 best movies of 2015: 10. The End Of the Tour A film about two authors driving around the midwest on a book tour could have been a exercise in pseudo-intellectual masturbation, even when one of them is legendary author David Foster Wallace (Jason[Read More…]
10 best TV shows of 2015
Here's our list of the 10 best TV shows of 2015: 10. How To Get Away With Murder Suspenseful, sexy, and seriously entertaining, How to Get Away with Murder may be Shonda Rhimes’ best work to date. The plot twists at the end of each episode avoid the deus ex-machina[Read More…]
What’s new on Netflix
The combination of Netflix’s vast selection and terrible search capability makes it easy to forget the titles that aren’t at the top of the page. To rectify, here are five titles that have been added recently, or will be soon. With Bob and David (Premieres November 13th) In many ways,[Read More…]
Beyond Rhetoric: Investigating McGill’s Student Political Clubs
federal election is finally over after the longest campaign period in modern Canadian history. Over the past 11 weeks, the three political parties with the strongest chances of forming government—Conservative Party of Canada, Liberal Party of Canada, and the New Democratic Party(NDP)—have been hard at work trying to win the[Read More…]
Flashback: After Hours (1985)
As the bars start to close and people settle into bed for the night, a different type of person emerges from the shadows and takes to the streets. The world becomes populated with insomniacs, shift workers, and club-goers; their lifestyle is fundamentally different—not just because of their nocturnal nature, but[Read More…]
Fall 2015 TV Preview
The Muppets In The Muppets Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the gang return to the screen in a more adult-targeted comedy. The show follows the ‘real’ version of The Muppets behind the scenes a of a talk show. Conservative groups in the U.S. have already called for a[Read More…]
Pop Dialectic: Owen Kydd’s Durational Photographs
Is the latest exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Owen Kydd: Durational Photographs, actually a representation of high-quality art, or is it nothing more than a meaningless gimmick? Keep scrolling to read another perspective Emotionless frivolity does not make good art Alissa Zilberchteine When some people[Read More…]
Trib mix: Back to school edition
Add-Drop is almost over and it can’t be denied any longer—school is back in session. To celebrate the start of the new year (or mourn the impending loss of the warm weather) the staff at the McGill Tribune has compiled 25 tracks that define what back to school means for[Read More…]
The extended reign of Stephen Colbert
SInce the days of Johnny Carson, the format of late night talk shows hasn’t changed much. Working with some variation of the ‘opening monologue, guest one, guest two, pre-recorded bit, musical guest, goodnight’ formula has proven to be ironically versatile. A revolving door of new hosts has also helped prevent[Read More…]
2015 Emmy Predictions
The 2015 Emmy nominees are so full of familiar faces to the degree that the newcomers are negligible. When picking winners, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) tends to keep awarding old favourites or layers accolades on one standout newbie. To acknowledge both Emmy traditions and hopes-against-hope, the[Read More…]
More than just cheap beer: A backstage look at four of OAP’s finest performers
Zoo Legacy Zoo Legacy is undeniable an anomaly. Part hip-hop, a little bit of indie, a sprinkle of rock, all mixed together to form a sound that can only be described as collaborative, but certainly not disjointed. “When we began, it was really a rock group with a rapper,”[Read More…]