In Joel Hopkins’ awkwardly lovely Last Chance Harvey, Dustin Hoffman is Harvey Shine, a music composer who’s on his last legs at work as he heads to England for his daughter Susan’s (Liane Balaban) wedding. Upon arrival, he endures a series of injustices that make a mockery of that last name—little things like hotel blinds […]
Tara Thorne
Posted inArts + Music
Fall Out Boy
This typically solid batch of hooks takes a different tack than Fall Out Boy’s 2007 release, Infinity on High, which opened with Jay-Z announcing, “Welcome, it’s here.” Instead, an organ leads into Patrick Stump moping about how “I’m coming apart at the seams.” But lest you think Fall Out Boy has dropped its self-aware wit […]
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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2Directed by: Sanaa HamriWarnerThe entire, note-perfect—yes, even Gossip Girl Blake Lively—cast of the very good 2005 original has returned for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, including Amber “Joan of Arcadia” Tamblyn and Alexis “Rory Gilmore” Bledel. America “Ugly Betty” Ferrara’s ascension activated the actors’ contractual obligation to […]
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Harvey Milk: Action figure
“He was celebrated by his city, not just his people,” says Dustin Lance Black of Harvey Milk. The groundbreaking gay activist rose to prominence in the 1970s until he was murdered by a fellow San Francisco city supervisor. Black is the screenwriter of Milk, the new biopic directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean […]
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Contrived
Contrivedblank, blank, blank(Hand Drawn Dracula)The Yarmouth-bred, ultimately Halifax-based collective Dependent Music discreetly faded out of the scene years ago, but for over a decade it was the home of a number of influential artists. Founder Brian Borcherdt released his solo records through its network; Wintersleep, heavy meadows and Jill Barber all had key releases with […]
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Discs of the year:Old Man Luedecke’s heart strings
“It seemed like a loser’s instrument, you know, like a real underdog,” says Old Man Luedecke of his chosen tool, the banjo. “Here’s this happy-sounding thing that’s full of life and totally unknown to me and everything I’ve known.” Luedecke, given name Chris, is seated in the back corner of a downtown coffee shop, under […]
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High schooled
“I’ve read a lot of things, talked to some people at the Atlantic Film Festival who were saying, ‘What is it? Is it a comedy? Is it a drama?’” says Steven Yaffee, star of Halifax filmmaker Michael Melski’s Growing Op. “I don’t think it can be put into one category. I just think what it […]
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Tricks and treehouses
With the launch of its season in September, The Simpsons reached a remarkable milestone: it turned 20, tying Gunsmoke‘s record for the longest-running primetime television show of all time. Though it’s safe to say the series will grab that crown in ’09—its current contract with Fox runs through 2011—it’s also worth pointing out another accomplishment: […]
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Ben Folds
[image-4]Published October 16, 2008.Ben FoldsWay to Normal(RED INK)For his first true LP since 2005’s Songs for Silverman—2006’s Supersunnyspeedgraphic was a compilation of previously released EPs and singles—Ben Folds has cracked his style wide open. The piano’s still central, as are the swears and wit, but sonically he and producer Dennis Herring have packed Way to […]
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Kinnear’s Flash of Genius
“Oftentimes, these kinds of stories are about someone fighting the system in this giant way—plutonium in the water or nuclear reactors gone bad—but here,” said Marc Abraham, the writer/director of Flash of Genius, “you can dismiss the idea and hopefully go, for me, deeper about justice and principle and the cost of that battle.”The idea, […]
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Meaghan Smith
Meaghan SmithThe Cricket’s Quartet(Sire)The Halifax chanteuse’s major-label debut is being rolled out in parts, beginning with this EP. Produced by Jill Barber’s longtime helmsman, Les Cooper, its four tracks have been smartly selected: Smith’s homage to her grandfather, the languid “I Know,” which is an unexpected and delightful collaboration with Kid Koala, “A Little Love;” […]
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Jenny Lewis
Jenny LewisAcid Tongue(WARNER)Jenny Lewis has been accused of saving her best songs and why shouldn’t she? As a solo artist, she has to fend for herself; in a band, in this case, Rilo Kiley, she’s only responsible for one-quarter of the awesome and has been providing about three times that since the band’s inception. Under […]