Watch for UFOs suddenly appearing in the north end of Halifax. The Beastie Boys’ DJ Mix Master Mike is coming to rock the Paragon Friday night with a no-holds-barred, “don’t bring your pillows, bring your hockey stick, in-your-face, psychedelic funk instrumental hip-hop show,” and he might just be bringing the aliens with him. “Humans cannot […]
Video
Posted inArts + Music
Even cavemen deserve better
Year One‘s director Harold Ramis has explained that what separates his Old Testament comedy from Mel Brooks’ The History of the World, Part I is its narrative continuity. Because Year One has no unifying point or point-of-view, that difference is negligible. This is still an episodic sketch film, and a mostly flat one at that. […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Proposal gets turned-down
Playing the stereotype of a cold, power-tripping female boss seems beneath Sandra Bullock’s interests. Her appeal has always been that she’s unpretentious and unassuming. Of course The Proposal has to be about her regaining that warm charisma. To avoid losing her job as a Manhattan publishing executive and being deported to her home country of […]
Posted inArts + Music
Video: Totally Wicked music festival recap
We had to leave a little early (about the time the beer ran out), but, holy shit, we saw a lot of bands on Saturday night at the Totally Wicked music festival: a night of 18 bands created just for the night, playing one song each, which also meant marathon set-ups in the Khyber Ballroom. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Dartmouth High School students protest bus terminal expansion into the Urban Wilderness Park
Several dozen Dartmouth High School students braved a downpour to hold a spirited protest against Metro Transit’s plans for an expansion of the nearby Bridge Terminal. They carried signs calling for preservation of the Dartmouth Common, and chanted “Metro Transit, we need a better plan,” and other slogans. The students were well received by passing […]
Posted inArts + Music
roomdoom: funny wee songs about food and art
Out of a mutual desire to have fun, make people dance and eat sandwiches, roomdoom was born. The band is barely five months old, but in that time, they’ve played at least 10 shows, including house parties, galleries (inside a fabric dome at the Khyber ICA), at the recent Obey Convention and two very different […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Hangover is ultimate bromo movie
The secret society of white man-children in their 30s is currently the most represented group in American comedies. For this reigning (and tired) subgenre, The Hangover represents a high point. It’s more quick-witted, and just as character-based as I Love You, Man and its director Todd Phillips’ Old School. The best scene involves the three […]
Posted inArts + Music
Land of the Lost fun in short bursts
The root of Land of the Lost‘s charm is also the limit of its appeal. Against the stone-faced big summer blockbusters (most exemplified by the zero-fun Terminator Salvation), this adaptation of the camp mid-’70s series has deliberately hokey sets and special effects. This makes for an unassuming take on Saturday morning TV—a light retro distraction, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Easy Virtue a light concoction
The friction in Easy Virtue crosses class, manner and continent. John Whittaker (Ben Barnes) returns to his family’s British estate with his American wife Larita (Jessica Biel). For John’s mother (Kristin Scott Thomas), pent-up with anger over the decline of the aristocracy post-WWI, Larita’s carefree manner is vile. The film version of Noel Coward’s stage […]
Posted inArts + Music
Spontaneous singing on the ferry, Monday night
Sound Bytes is the festival that keeps on giving. Monday night at 7:30pm, there’s a live ferry performance orchestrated by Lucas Dambergs and Selwyn Sharples. Dambergs told me to expect some sort of band, and some repurposed Piggy songs that will be “more ferry-oriented.” Here’s the schedule: 7:30 meet at the Halifax Ferry Terminal (bring […]
