The releasification occurred on Nov. 21 at the 13th hour on the silver screen downstage-right of the Time Dragon Clock—the direct result of adaptifying Act One of Academy Award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz’s stage classic into a movie musical. Yes, the second act of Wicked—Wicked: For Good—is officially in theatres. Thank[Read More…]
Articles by Jamie Xie
Le Quémino: A walk of hope against cancer
What do a 142-kilometre trek and the McGill community have in common? A lot more than you might initially think. Over the course of five days—from Oct. 24 to 28—McGill students embarked on a formidable journey from Montreal to Mont-Tremblant on foot, in support of the Quebec Cancer Foundation and[Read More…]
The true cost of daylight saving: Gaining an hour, losing our rhythm
As we trade our jack-o-lanterns for winter coats, a new yuletide tradition takes over. With the first snow rapidly approaching and the air already crisp with season’s greetings, it must be that festive time of the year: Daylight saving time (DST). Across the country, people collectively forget to adjust their[Read More…]
Haunted happenings at McGill
On certain nights, when the odd moon glows pale and crooked over campus, McGill is an impossibly-held breath of swallowed light. In a certain Burnside basement lie the remnants of something remarkably gruesome: The dark undertow of a winding tunnel that seems too narrow, a labyrinthine corridor folding in on[Read More…]
Act like a man, perform like a male
“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.” Thus wrote Marx in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. Aligning itself with a long legacy of alternative male archetypes, the performative male exists in conversation with the Metrosexual, Soyboy, Nice GuyTM and Male Manipulator—each a cultural attempt to grapple with[Read More…]
A Virgin sacrifice, live in Montreal
On Pure Heroine’s twelve-year anniversary, Lorde was reborn a Virgin at Montreal’s Bell Centre. After a four-year hiatus since Solar Power, she arrived incomplete and half-made, perpetually becoming—an invitation to get ready with her—for one tender night of confessional pop. Discussing her fourth album, Virgin, Lorde told Apple Music: “Everything[Read More…]
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!
They walk among us, disguised as men. They whisper in accents you don’t recognize and laugh at jokes no one finds funny. Rumour has it that McGill students have superior, bigger ears for listening, while Concordia students have pointier elbows indicative of too much time spent doing studio art. McGill[Read More…]
Point-Counterpoint: Sabrina Carpenter and the thin line between submission and control
On Aug. 29, Sabrina Carpenter released her album Man’s Best Friend. But the real conversation began months earlier—on June 11—when she unveiled the provocative cover art on Instagram. It features Carpenter on all fours, in a black mini-dress and high heels, as an anonymous man grips her by the hair.[Read More…]
Quebec’s threshold of grace: Suffering, solace and the right to die with dignity
There is quiet strength in the decisions made at life’s edge—a reality Quebec has been able to realize through its approach to end-of-life care. Quebec has long been at the vanguard of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)—a medical protocol which allows an eligible individual to receive assistance from a medical[Read More…]
Sleep on it: ‘Share Your Sleep Story’ spotlights sleep as a healthcare and human right
When all the world is asleep, the body is hard at work. While many people view their resting hours as lost time, the Share Your Sleep Story initiative explores sleep as time invested in a deeply human act of being. The public engagement initiative highlights individuals’ experiences with sleep—and the[Read More…]
Four gates, one Chinatown
At the very heart of Montreal, nestled alongside the bustling downtown blocks, is Montreal’s very own Quartier Chinois. Occupying roughly one square block, the neighbourhood is portrait-framed by four ornate Paifang gates—the most of any Chinatown in Canada—denoting the cardinal directions. Robert Frost once said “Good fences make good neighbours,”[Read More…]
Red lights on the silver screen
Hiding in plain sight, you might have passed it by once or twice. It’s whistling past the graveyard, tucked away beneath the fairyland starlight of St-Laurent: Cinéma L’Amour has become a defining symbol of Montréal’s modern adult entertainment industry—and one of the last Cinemas Libertins of its kind. In all[Read More…]
Get to know your neighborhood: Four gates, one Chinatown
At the very heart of Montreal, nestled alongside the bustling downtown blocks, is Montreal’s very own Quartier Chinois. Occupying roughly one square block, the neighbourhood is portrait-framed by four ornate Paifang gates—the most of any Chinatown in Canada—denoting the cardinal directions. Robert Frost once said “Good fences make good neighbours,”[Read More…]
When there are no words
When I was little and my parents were checking out at the grocery aisle, I would wander over to the greeting cards and wait. It was only upon discovering the floral-fronted sympathy cards that I began to realize death was all around us. With a history as banal as its[Read More…]
Soft power in hard times
Over the holiday, I visited the New York Public Library’s Polonsky Exhibition, a permanent collection of “treasures” that includes the original Winnie the Pooh stuffy—a surprisingly familiar Farnell Alpha bear model donated by Christopher Robin himself. Though nearly a century older, the plushy beared resemblance to my own childhood teddy.[Read More…]
Nosferatu reawakened: A symphony of horror!
‘Twas a dark and stormy night, when the screen flickered bright. Not a creature was stirring, not even a bite. The Christmas bells jingled, but something wasn’t right. Shadows were creeping, the moon hid from sight. Nosferatu emerged, a creature of night. We finally found out who was flickering the[Read More…]
Something wicked this way comes!
It’s good to see me, isn’t it? I’m a certified sentimental fan and infamously famous son of a witch. If you were to ask me my favourite musical, I’d answer like a mother would if asked her favourite child: I love them all equally but differently. Of course, I would[Read More…]
At rock bottom? It might be time to dig a little deeper!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that all great stories of the world require adversity. In critical times of civil unrest and political despair, it can feel like an act of hard faith in the face of a cruel joke to believe things might truly improve. We get so invested[Read More…]
Prêt à Manger—not as prêtty as you’d like to believe
It’s a common phrase: You are what you eat. Because people have such an intimate relationship with it, food makes for a particularly powerful political protest tool. Everyone has an opinion on food—anyone could delineate a bad egg from the apple of one’s eye. Similarly, much can be inferred about[Read More…]
The light is always greener on the other side
It’s the neverending question lingering in the back of everyone’s mind, the eternal darling in the dark of Montreal urban legend—the unspoken elephant in the room, if that elephant were green and also floating a hundred metres in the air. For decades, there have been reported sightings of an ominous[Read More…]
Silent stones: revisiting the forgotten in Montreal’s cemeteries
Graveyards occupy a uniquely taboo space that bridges the gap between the grieved and the grieving. They might almost be considered parks, yet they are not always viewed as sanctuaries. With 41 recognized cemeteries and a rich history of burial rites, Montreal stands as the resting grounds to 1.5 million[Read More…]