The ‘dystopian suburban soap opera’ has become somewhat of a cliché in recent years. Between Alan Ball’s film American Beauty, Tracy Letts’s play August: Osage County, and David Chase’s television series The Sopranos, writers have managed to wring an impressive amount of drama out of debunking the American Dream. Legendary[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
Uproarious and lavish, cast shines in The Drowsy Chaperone
“The spit takes are lame and the monkey motif is laboured.” That’s not to be taken as a particularly aggressive start to this review, rather, it’s the judgment of a character in The Drowsy Chaperone—about the show itself. The self-deprecation is just one of the many charming aspects of this[Read More…]
Against Me!—Transgender Dysphoria Blues
The Florida-based punk rock band Against Me! formed in 1997 and firmly established itself in the punk world with the release of five albums between 2002 and 2012. In 2012, lead singer of the band, Laura Jane Grace—formerly Tom Gabel—announced that she was a transgender woman. Following this admission, the[Read More…]
Young the Giant—Mind Over Matter
Following the very successful release of their self-titled debut album in 2010, southern California quintet Young the Giant has a lot to live up to with their second full-length release, Mind Over Matter. Purveyors of a radio-friendly brand of indie rock, the band has become known for catchy pop hooks,[Read More…]
Warpaint—Warpaint
There is more space on Warpaint’s latest, self-titled album than on their previous release, The Fool and Exquisite Corpse. Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante—who mixed and mastered Warpaint’s debut EP—is replaced by Flood and Nigel Godrich, who handle most of the technical duties this time. There is[Read More…]
Braving the cold for J. Cole
Just months after the release of his sophomore album Born Sinner, Roc Nation artist J. Cole hit the stage at Montreal’s Metropolis on Jan. 23. With his work held in high regard by many rap legends, Cole backed up the hype with his performance, and made every minute of waiting[Read More…]
Mogwai—Rave Tapes
One of the lesser-known bands under the post-rock genre, Mogwai has recently released their eighth LP, Rave Tapes. Perhaps unlikely to garner many new fans unfamiliar with their experimental tastes, the album is a testament to the band’s evolution into a progressively more electronic sound—and the synths serve them well.[Read More…]
Flowers in the Attic comes out wilted
Flowers in the Attic, the made-for-TV movie adaptation of the eponymously titled novel that premiered on Lifetime Network last weekend, resembles a mash-up of A Series of Unfortunate Events and the most disturbing rendition of The Little Red Riding Hood you can imagine. The plot, originally penned by V.C. Andrews[Read More…]
The film that cried wolf
What would you do with a $100 bill? Deposit it in your bank account, perhaps; or maybe buy that new sweater you’ve been eyeing for a while. If you’re Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), however, the bill is perfect as a crumpled wastebasket ball—or for snorting cocaine. In DiCaprio and director[Read More…]
The 25th hour: a strong finish at TNC’s playwriting dash
The stakes were high last Saturday evening at Morrice Hall’s Tuesday Night Café Theatre (TNC). With the pride of winning McGill’s most temporally concentrated dramatic competition—not to mention the promise of free pitchers of beer at Bar des Pins afterwards—on the line, a trio of hastily prepared student-written plays were[Read More…]
