COMEDY: Brent Butt ALMOST a movie star
The great thing about being a stand-up comic who gets a TV series is that you have a pretty sweet gig to fall back on once the series – inevitably – ends. A lot of comedy actors who try to be comedians after their television careers end aren’t so lucky. Ask Michael Richards. Brent Butt […]
DOC AS A GAME: Fort McMoney oiling up for Round 2
The future of the Sim City version of Fort McMurray depicted in Fort McMoney – half documentary, half interactive video game – did not turn out very well. Changes suggested by 309,000 viewer-gamers between Nov. 25 and Dec. 22, 2013 may have reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the Northern Alberta boomtown by 58%, but the […]
WIN: Tickets, posters to CBGB, The Movie
Now that we’re all getting back to normal after holiday horror, it’s time to turn our attention to swag! Or schwag, if you prefer. That means free stuff no matter how you smell it. Today, we have a pair of tickets for the Edmonton screening of CBGB, The Movie, playing Jan. 3-9 at the Metro […]
FILM: Joy of discovery in CBGB
There are some spine-tingling moments in CBGB, The Movie. It’s the vicarious joy of discovery: Like seeing an unknown band called the Talking Heads play “Psycho Killer” for six pool-playing bikers in the most famous punk rock dive of all time. Or the Police. Or the Ramones. Patti Smith. Blondie. Iggy Pop. The Dead Boys. […]
What science can we learn from Harry Potter magic?
The Telus World of Science has been asked to make it crystal clear that Harry Potter, The Exhibition is “not educational.” It’s purely entertainment. And you know what that means. Probably no field trips. Sorry, kids. Anyway, what is an exhibit featuring props, sets and other bric-a-brac from movies dealing with MAGIC doing in a […]
Grim cities vie for horror film infamy
The organizers of Edmonton’s horror film festival, DEDfest, never pass up an opportunity to promote the city to its visiting VIPs as an ideal place to shoot their next slash-fest or zombie-romp. But like the horny camp counsellors at Camp Crystal Lake in Friday the 13th, Edmonton isn’t alone. There are other cities lurking out […]
EIFF REVIEW: Belgian bluegrass drama hard to watch in more ways than one
There are a number of worthy ideas you can take away from The Broken Circle Breakdown – the gala closer of the Edmonton International Film Festival, Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7 pm in the Empire City Centre 9 Cinemas. One, it’s pretty much the best romantic melodrama about Belgian bluegrass singers you’ll ever see. The […]
EIFF REVIEW: Spinning Plates feeds heart and soul
Towards the very end of Joseph Levy’s acclaimed documentary Spinning Plates, airing Oct. 3 as part of the Edmonton International Film Festival, there is a defining moment. World-renowned chef Grant Achatz compares his ultra-expensive, ultra-exclusive Chicago restaurant to those hometown spots run by his parents when he was a kid. He says, “It’s the same […]
EIFF REVIEW: Furry friends forever in Furever
The only thing missing in Furever is a visit to another country whose citizens aren’t so privileged, maybe one that doesn’t spend $52 billion a year on cats and dogs. In some places, people think we’re crazy for pampering what’s for dinner. It’s strangely ironic that the only place in the world you can get […]
EIFF REVIEW: Thanks for Sharing a sober look at sex ‘addiction’
If God allowed us to pick our addiction, who wouldn’t pick sex? No matter how many times you do it, you’re probably not going to get cirrhosis of the liver, bad skin, rotten teeth or lung cancer, provided you take the appropriate precautions. All you get out of it is a nice happy little rush […]
EIFF REVIEW: Sex After Kids a riot of awkward encounters
It was a stroke of genius to cast veteran Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent as a sexual therapist in Sex After Kids, a comedy which to name is to know. It plays Saturday, Sept. 28 as part of the Edmonton International Film Festival. But it is really necessary for him to tell us, “Kids are not […]
EIFF REVIEW: The Auctioneer like an Alberta landscape painting
Farm equipment doesn’t fetch much money at auctions these days. As Hans Olson’s languid but visually beautiful documentary The Auctioneer suggests, the family farm is dying out on the Prairies, and with the surging popularity of the Internet as a buying and selling source, so is auctioneering. Thus we see Vegreville auctioneer Dale Menzak also […]
