For reasons unbeknownst to me, director Frank Coraci and a slew of writers birthed Zookeeper. Dumped by his bombshell GF (Leslie Bibb), zookeeper Griffin (Kevin James) schemes to win her back half a decade later with the help of the chatty animals he cares for and his sexy colleague (Rosario Dawson), who harbours a crush […]
Molly Segal
Posted inLifestyle
Must see event planner: Visual Arts
To July 3 Second Impressions Image, text and sound interplay in print media artist Dan O’Neill’s curation of lithographs, poetry and cool jazz. When curator Peter Dykhuis asked O’Neill to imagine an exhibition of Motherwell and de Kooning lithographs—limited edition prints paired with the poetry of Octavio Paz and Frank O’Hara, respectively—he jumped at the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Perfunctory Mr Popper’s Penguins
Jim Carrey does his best impression of a manic businessman turned penguin-hoarder for an hour and a half. Mike Waters (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past) alters a classic children’s novel beyond recognition: As Mr. Popper, Carrey winterizes his swanky Manhattan apartment for Antarctic waterfowl bequeathed to him by his absentee father, attempts to reignite a broken-up […]
Posted inArts + Music
Green Lantern provides comic relief
It’s hard to take this shade of green seriously. Martin Campbell’s (Casino Royale) adaptation of the DC comic establishes the universal battle between the yellow power of “fear” and the green power of “will.” Unfortunately, this “info-dump” happens twice: first for the audience, then again for pilot turned superhero Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds). We get […]
Posted inArts + Music
Vegetarianism doc Forks Over Knives persuasive
An infomercial for the whole grain, plant-based diet, Lee Fulkerson’s documentary plugs it as the solution to America’s degenerative diseases, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes. For all its evidence to support this miracle cure —from large-scale studies, to personal examples, to disturbing statistics—a few loose ends remain. Fish isn’t discussed save for in passing, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Super 8 scratches summer movie itch
Just when you thought we’d gone digital for good, J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) brings Kodak back with a bang. The extraterrestrial mystery unfurls when a pack of preteens shooting a movie —on super 8 film, duh— witnesses an explosive train accident leaving behind countless little “white Rubik’s cubes,” misbehaving electronics and prompts clandestine Air Force […]
Posted inArts + Music
Funding film the alternative way
Laura Dawe—-local filmmaker and artist—-scurries between tables at a north end cafe where she’s a server. Multi-tasking is as automatic as breathing for Dawe, who always has a few projects on the go. Last fall her first feature film, Light is the Day, debuted at the Atlantic Film Festival, and she’s about to head to […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Hangover Part II recycles predecessor
Same hangover, new city: Todd Phillips reunites the original Alan-Stu-Phil (Zack Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper) “wolf pack” for raunchy comedy round two. The gang treks to Thailand, where Stu is getting hitched to Lauren, who has a “solid rack for an Asian.” After Alan roofies the crew (again), they regain consciousness in Bangkok in […]
Posted inArts + Music
Kung Fu Panda 2 “animation at its best”
Jack Black whips some animal butt as the voice of Po, the rotund Dragon Master panda, in Jennifer Yuh’s Kung Fu sequel. A vengeful peacock, Shen (Gary Oldman), invents a contraption that “eats fire and breathes metal”—a cannon—to help him conquer China. Po, yearning to discover his past (his “father” is a goose, after all), […]
Posted inArts + Music
Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides sinks
The fourth Pirates movie is a forgettable attempt to extend an expired Disney franchise. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley have abandoned ship, leaving Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp. Even the director of the first three movies has bailed, replaced by Rob Marshall (Chicago). The plot involves a group of pirates (a British flotilla, religious Spaniards, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Bridesmaids hilarious
The movie starts with a bang: down-on-her-luck Annie (Kristen Wiig) and her handsome fuck-buddy (Jon Hamm) are going at it like rabbits—Wiig’s exasperated expressions and flailing limbs will make you laugh so hard you cry. This sets the tone for a hilarious trip down the aisle as Annie attempts to fulfill her Maid of Honour […]
Posted inArts + Music
Empowering through video
Things are running a bit late. It’s after 11 on the last Saturday morning in April, but the couple dozen people at the East Preston Rec Centre are excited, sitting patiently in their chairs arranged in front of a large TV. Here, a seven-minute documentary about the life of local African-Nova Scotian hero Sinclair Williams […]
