EIFF REVIEW: Golf meets orphan movie genre in Becoming Redwood
For instant drama, you can hardly do better than an orphaned child-cruel stepparent scenario. Ask Disney. Becoming Redwood – the gala opening film at the Edmonton International Film Festival – offers more insight than the usual stories of this sort, into parenthood, into how kids cope with parents who split up, and into the nature […]
For lack of celebrities, films are the real stars of EIFF
At the Edmonton International Film Festival (EIFF) we can focus on the films instead of being distracted by all the Hollywood celebrities who aren’t coming. Neither Johnny Depp nor Wynona Rider will be here. Gwyneth Paltrow won’t be making it. TMZ crews will not be stalking the lobby of the Empire City Centre 9 Cinemas, […]
THEATRE: Actors dedicated to cause in play about human trafficking
A compassionate person would worry about the state of mind of the actors in She Has a Name, a dramatization of the life of a sex slave. The play runs Sept. 25-30 at the Catalyst Theatre as part of a Canadian tour to raise awareness on the issue of human trafficking. Calgary’s Burnt Thicket Theatre […]
Book lovers lament expected closure of Greenwoods’ Bookshoppe
For years, we have been cocky about our bookstores. As city after city lost their independent book sellers, Edmonton crowed: “We have two strong independent bookstores!” But we crow no more. Although there is no official word from the owners, Greenwoods’ Books is closing in about a week, according to discussions on Facebook and Twitter. […]
A FEW GOOD MEN: The movie?! You can’t handle the movie!
“You want the truth?! You can’t handle the truth!” Imagine having that damned line of dialogue hanging over your head when you’re trying to do a serious stage version of “A Few Good Men.” Hell of a distraction. The line – uttered by the crusty Colonel Nathan R. Jessep in the famous courtroom blowout in […]
MUSIC: Almost too much inspiration in new Maria Dunn album
For a good old fashioned socially-conscious folk singer like Maria Dunn, you couldn’t ask for a richer topic than Edmonton’s famed GWG clothing factory. It has everything: Labour unions, local history, the immigrant experience, women’s rights and – since the factory closed seven years ago – another illustration of the drawbacks of corporate globalization. Almost […]
MORE GIGS: The Sheepdogs, Mother Mother hit town in December
The summers fill with outdoor festivals, the winters with cool indoor gigs. Behold the great cycle of life! The latest on the sked is the Sheepdogs (right), the fast rising Saskatoon foursome playing Friday, Dec. 14 at the Edmonton Event Centre – almost exactly one year after the band’s last appearance in town. Since then, […]
