Down in the ValleyDirected by: David Jacobson (Thinkfilm)Harlan (Edward Norton) is a cowboy in a gas station, and Tobe (Evan Rachel Wood) the teenage “valley” girl he sets his hat towards, though not if her gun-lovin’ daddy Wade (David Morse) has anything to say in the matter. The story doesn’t get much more complex than […]
Carsten Knox
Posted inArts + Music
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada(Columbia TriStar)In this modern-day western, actor-director Tommy Lee Jones delivers one of the year’s most unexpected and moving dramas. The fragmented first reel introduces a large ensemble cast that quickly closes in to just a few: Texas ranch worker (Jones) brings the body of his friend into Mexico while kidnapping […]
Posted inArts + Music
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Perfume: The Story of a MurdererDirected by: Tom TykwerConstantin FilmJean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) is born into the filth and fish markets of pre-revolutionary Paris with the gift of superhuman olfactory abilities: His sense of smell is one in a million. Becoming an apprentice to a perfumer (a distracting Dustin Hoffman) Grenouille learns what goes into […]
Posted inArts + Music
Dear Frankie
Dear FrankieDirected by: Shona Auerbach(Pathée Pictures)Scottish single mum Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) and nine-year-old Frankie (Jack McElhone) are perpetually on the move, as we are informed by Frankie’s voiceover. Frankie is deaf, so the VO is pretty much the only time we hear his voice. It crops up when he writes letters to his father, who […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Fate of The Artist
The Fate of The ArtistEddie CampbellFirst SecondAs a memoirist, Eddie Campbell could be described as willfully obscuring. His minimalist artwork on Alan Moore’s titanic Jack the Ripper tome From Hell tended to reveal truths in the darkness, whereas his Alec series (the titular hero a character standing in for the author), though also based on […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Corporation
Published December 08, 2005. The Corporation Directed by: Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott (Mongrel Media) A primer for anti-globalization, this long but fascinating Canadian-made documentary touches upon economic greed in many, many forms by comparing the corporate model with a psychopathic personality. More even-handed than Michael Moore, it’s essential viewing as part of the new wave […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Lives of Others
The Lives of OthersDirected by: Florian Henckel von DonnersmarckMongrel MediaAcademy Award winner in 2007 for best Foreign Language film, this beat out the healthiest field in years, including the fairy tale horror Pan’s Labyrinth. The story is of the final days of East Germany behind the Iron Curtain, and how a Stasi eavesdropper gets caught […]
Posted inArts + Music
Blood work
“People make a lot of parallels between the stories of privatizing of public resources, downsizing of government services and off-loading of responsibilities to community…we’re all in that boat. This is the same agenda that’s hitting health care, education. People, even if they’re not fishing, they see the themes resonating in their own lives.” That’s Martha […]
Posted inLifestyle
Paddle to the medal
She has a dry, firm handshake. Her smile is brilliant, white-toothed, her skin tanned from all the outdoor training. On her left wrist is an oversized sports watch and dangling beneath her throat, a gold medallion of a kayaker, a gift from her parents after she won her first gold medal. The evidence of an […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Street
Editor’s note: With its latest Best Street win in 2007, Spring Garden Road was elevated to the Best of Halifax Hall of Fame. Did you know Spring Garden is more than simply the most-lauded shopping street in our city? It’s also a designated “area.” According to the Spring Garden Business Association, the area stretches from […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Winner’s Picks
“Certainly Al Tuck,” says Joel Plaskett, of people who are Halifamous to him. “He’s famous in my world for his Halifax songs.” He also finds a few places Halifamous, for instance The Last Word Bookstore (2160 Windsor, 423-2932). “I go in and talk to Wayne when I’m home.” He also mentions his drummer, Dave Marsh—“I […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Theatre
Editor’s note: With its latest Best Theatre win in 2007, Neptune was elevated to the Best of Halifax Hall of Fame. Two-thousand and seven was the most successful year in the 44-year history of Neptune Theatre in terms of bums-on-seats. More people took in a Neptune show than ever before. These days, with so many […]
