Disney is once again whisking movie-goers away to the Land of Oz, but this time the journey is anything but magical. The opening credits—a topsy-turvy Victorian circus—promise creativity: a quirky take on a bygone era, drama, suspense, and great visuals. But the best is over before the film begins, and[Read More…]
Articles by Emma Hambly
Twilight surpasses admittedly low expectations
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 2, the conclusion to the popular vampire franchise, is a good movie. Not great—this is Twilight we’re talking about—but good. Yes, I’m just as surprised as you are. The final Twilight film, directed by Bill Condon, is by far the best of the series. It’s[Read More…]
The Noble Thiefs: Beyond the 11th Deck
We live in an age of the retrospective—of Adele, sampling, and electro swing. The challenge for vintage-inspired artists is updating oldies to the tastes of the 21st century. The Noble Thiefs, a Winnipeg-based band, are foraying into vintage-modern territory by combining a gaggle of genres. Their debut album, Beyond the[Read More…]
The true mystery behind a Canadian icon
creations-gallery.com West Wind: the Vision of Tom Thomson by Michèle Hozer and Peter Raymont, isn’t a documentary so much as a detective story. Yes, there is a love triangle, and an unexplained death that may or may not be a murder, but these aren’t the mysteries Hozer and Raymont are[Read More…]
Dragons, magic, and totalitarianism
readingrevels.com Inheritance is about dragons, their riders, an elf princess, and an evil, all-powerful king. But at its core, the last novel in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle is a coming-of-age novel. Throughout his adventures, the main character, Eragon, undergoes drastic change, which coincides with the growth and improvement of[Read More…]
A beautiful apocalypse
Guy Glorieux Guy Glorieux’s pinhole camera photography exhibition at the McCord Museum presents Montreal from a unique perspective. The exhibition, Impressions of a City: Montreal Through a Pinhole, features pinhole photography by French-born Canadian artist Glorieux. The eighteen prints showcase Montreal transformed from a vibrant metropolis into a disjointed ghost[Read More…]
Coriolanus: he is the one per cent
aceshowbiz.com Coriolanus is not an easy movie to watch. Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut, an adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known tragedies, is no popcorn action flick. The plot is complex, the war scenes are more brutal than exhilarating, the dialogue is heavy, and the characters defy empathy. But for those[Read More…]
Holiday Movie Preview
Usually the movies that come out during the holiday season fall into one of two categories: Big budget blockbuster flicks sure to draw in restless crowds emancipated from work and school, or last minute Oscar bids hoping to become critical darlings. Either way, December is a good month for movies.[Read More…]
Difficult to explain, easy to like
Sometimes authors face a chasm between the critical and the consensus. Last year Johanna Skibsrud won the Scotiabank Giller Prize for her debut novel, The Sentimentalists. Critics praised the book for its poetic language and complex themes, though many readers disagreed. Some found the work overwritten, and the storytelling murky,[Read More…]
Toronto International Film Festival tidbits
Twixt Like a fantastical nightmare cut short by wakefulness, Francis Ford Coppola’s ghost story Twixt gives us a wild, imaginative ride but cuts to black before it all makes sense. The protagonist is Hall Baltimore (Val Kilmer), a bargain-basement horror writer making the rounds on his latest book tour.[Read More…]
Drive: In every sense of the word
pixwallpaper.com Drive is not an action movie. It’s not a superhero flick. It’s not grindhouse, gangster, or romance. Drive is all of these things, and it works. Set in some of the seedier parts of Los Angeles, Drive is pulled from the pages of James Salis’ 2005 novel of the[Read More…]
Babes in skimpy attire fight for freedom
koolcampus.wordpress.com Sucker Punch is the kind of movie that will satisfy only the most hardcore action-fantasy film buffs, and alienate almost all others. The film was written, directed, and produced by Zack Snyder, who is best known for directing such graphic novel hits as 300 and Watchmen. Sucker Punch seems[Read More…]
Contemporary China waves its red flag
Gao Brothers Beautiful women stare out, lost in a bleak industrial landscape. Naked bodies are crammed into tiny wooden compartments. The sound of barking echoes in the room—a short film portraying office workers as a pack of rabid dogs. These are just a few of the works that confront you[Read More…]
Tangled
Many of the films that will be contending in this year’s Academy Awards were released during the holiday season. For this reason, we bring you a rundown of the best movies from December 2010 that you should be sure to catch in theatres before school starts taking over.
Definitely decaf
The Lost Art of Gratitude is the literary equivalent of a warm cup of tea: it’s calming, unhurried, and a welcome escape. The plot meanders like a lazy river, driven by characters rather than action. The book is the sixth in the Sunday Philosophy Club series by Scottish author Alexander[Read More…]
Femme fatale
“Caution: there will be loud noises during this performance,” warns the door to Medea. The meaning of this sign came to light during the most explosive part of the play. A murder is revealed, and BAM! The back wall of the set falls down, revealing charred fabric and streams of[Read More…]
Betting the farm on a big red horse
Slash Films I went to see Secretariat having walked through rain for eight blocks to get to the theatre. I was miserable. An hour and a half later I walked out happy. Granted, I had to endure some Disney-patented melodrama to get there, but for once I didn’t mind. Secretariat[Read More…]
Iron Maiden – Final Frontier
At first glance, the new Iron Maiden album reads like an epitaph. But the British heavy metal giants are very much alive, kicking, and rocking out.
CD REVIEW: Iron Maiden – Final Frontier
At first glance, the new Iron Maiden album reads like an epitaph. But the British heavy metal giants are very much alive, kicking, and rocking out. When their latest album, Final Frontier, was announced many began to worry that this would be the last we’d hear of Iron Maiden.
Summer Entertainment Report Cards: Movies – Dinner For Schmucks
Dinner for Schmucks seemingly has a lot going for it: a funny premise (based on the French film Le Dîner de cons) and a big-name comedic cast. It turns out that sometimes the sum can be less than its parts. For one thing, most of the movie takes place before the actual “dinner for idiots” where financial executive Tim (Paul Rudd) has to debut successfully in order to finalize a promotion.
Summer Entertainment Report Cards: Concerts – SSMU Frosh
On Sunday night SSMU froshies were treated to one final night of entertainment, a concert starring Torontonians k-os and Keys N Krates. Keys N Krates featured a drummer, keyboardist, and DJ with a laptop and turntables. The band describes their work as “hands-on remixing,” a style that transforms recognizable riffs and melodies into rave-style mixes.