Canada’s favourite foul-mouthed trio hit the big screen last Friday after an excruciatingly long period of anticipation for fanatical devotees. The film, surprisingly, did not disappoint. The “surprisingly” modifier is used hesitantly because, let’s face it, 90-plus minutes of rampant alcoholism, recreational drug use, petty criminality and enough vulgarity to make Lenny Bruce blush has the potential to get old fast.
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
MUSIC: Sout (out out out out) like it’s a dance party
Well before Shout Out Out Out Out even stepped on stage Thursday night, their presence was felt among the crowd. Flocks of college kids gathered outside the venue and later filled the moderately sized La Tulipe to the brim. The level of excitement was palpable, setting the bar of expectation for the evening very high.
TELEVISION: My superpowers trump your superpowers
The newest and most highly anticipated show from NBC’s fall lineup premiered Monday night. Heroes enacts everybody’s dream fantasy – to wake up in the morning and discover an amazing superpower. Along the lines of a televised X-Men, the show follows nine characters around the globe who find themselves in just that situation.
MUSIC: Rejecting the Metric system
I wish I could make it that everyone who sees the Soft Skeleton has to drink Guinness, says Emily Haines, Metric’s cool, commanding and completely sexy front woman, as she takes another swig, “but it’s okay if you’re having, like, a vodka soda. I just don’t think you’ll totally get what we’re doing, but that’s okay!” Despite the absence of Guinness anywhere in the general vicinity, last Monday night’s show at Le National Théâtre was not lost on many.
REVIEWS
Ray Lamontagne – Till the Sun Turns Black. Lamontagne’s mesmerizing debut, Trouble, was one of the most critically lauded sleeper hits of 2004, landing spots on a variety of film and TV soundtracks and rocketing him into folk-rock stardom. Since then, Lamontagne has been on a seemingly ceaseless tour schedule-dropping by Montreal three times in the past year.
Can-Lit chronicle picks the best
Part anthology of summaries and essays, part intro to Can-Lit survey, and part ode to reading, T.F. Rigelhof’s Hooked on Canadian Books is a tribute to English-language Canadian fiction writing since 1984. At first, the introduction and much of the tone of the book seems self-indulgent and self-important.
PREVIEWS
CD REVIEWS: She & Him: Volume 2
She & Him’s Volume 2 makes a slight departure from 2008’s Volume 1. Actress Zooey Deschanel and singer-songwriter M. Ward’s second album is full of Beach Boys-inspired harmonies and twangy California guitar, maintaining the duo’s penchant for a retro sound.
MUSIC: Keeping the Klezmer beat
In 1980, when Dr. Hy Goldman first brought Boston’s Klezmer Conservatory Band to Montreal, not many people believed that the near-forgotten musical tradition of Klezmer could be revived. Roughly defined as the music of Eastern European Jewry, Klezmer had all but disappeared after the Second World War.
CD REVIEWS: Plants and Animals: La La Land
Montreal-based Plants and Animals’ newest release La La Land is a fun, upbeat record that showcases why the band has been gaining recognition in the indie music scene for a few years now. Their first full-length album, Parc Avenue, was nominated for two JUNO awards in 2009 and was short-listed for the Polaris Music Prize in 2008.
