Alice Walker A few swindlers promise gullible investors a huge rate of return for modest investments. Sound familiar? Actually, these kinds of schemes were going on long before the 21st century, and Ben Jonson’s 1610 comedy, The Alchemist, is a testament to that.  Currently being performed by the McGill Department[Read More…]

The 2011 McGill Drama Festival (MDF), an annual event put on by Players’ Theatre, features seven student plays that highlight the impeccable acting, writing, and directing exhibited by McGill students.   “MDF is the only theatre festival at McGill which is entirely student-run, and it also acts as a unique[Read More…]

warmuseum.ca Andre Pratte, the author of a new mini-biography of Wilfrid Laurier for Penguin’s Extraordinary Canadians series, complains that the  man on the five-dollar bill has been mothballed by myth. “Laurier’s fame today is confined to old books on the shelves of public libraries,” he writes. It is the dual[Read More…]

ramascreen.com At first glance, Matthew McConaughey’s new mystery/suspense/legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer might strike you as an unusual project for the actor. A stray from his typecasting as a shirtless hunk in every woman’s favourite romantic comedy, McConaughey plays Mickey Haller, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney. When he is[Read More…]

Eureka, the third album from Canadian rock band Mother Mother, really packs a punch. Full of dance hooks, swelling harmonies, and heavy percussion, the first four tracks showcase what the five-piece band does best. The pop and rock elements are spot-on, and the addition of heavier synth beats makes the[Read More…]

Adam Scotti Adam Scotti Most little boys dream of making a crowd go wild, maybe with a game-winning grand slam in the World Series or a goal in the Stanley Cup final. For Phil Sly, a U3 vocal performance student at McGill, something similar actually happened on March 13. He[Read More…]

jestherent.blogspot.com Seeking to rewrite history, Icíar Bollaín’s Even the Rain recalls the ways in which past confrontations can leave a mark upon the present. Connecting the conquest of the New World with the 2000 Cochabamba Water Protests, Even the Rain is a dramatic marriage of indifference, deception, and hope, where[Read More…]

Opening this Wednesday at TNC Theatre, the 2011 Directors’ Projects are the result of a staggering amount of preparation, coordination, and dedication. Comprised of 11 separately staged productions, the festival is an excellent example of the advantages of student theatre. Each play runs about one hour in length and has[Read More…]

Gao Brothers Beautiful women stare out, lost in a bleak industrial landscape. Naked bodies are crammed into tiny wooden compartments. The sound of barking echoes in the room—a short film portraying office workers as a pack of rabid dogs. These are just a few of the works that confront you[Read More…]

Natalia Evdokimova Natalia Evdokimova “A camera is a megaphone through which you can express yourself,” says Sophie Dab, TVMcGill’s vice-president external, on why it is important to celebrate amateur filmmaking. The Fokus Film Festival, an annual event held by TVMcGill since 2006, has grown from humble beginnings to a legitimate[Read More…]