In cinema, there’s always a fine line between the supernatural and the ridiculous, and the best horror films flirt with this boundary without crossing it. Unfortunately, director Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman was less than tactful in his approach to the werewolf genre, and the film ends up resembling more of a farce than a truly scary movie.
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
CD REVIEWS: Four Tet: There Is Love In You
The fifth full-length album from British electronic musician Kieran Hebden (better known as Four Tet), isn’t a dramatic departure from his earlier work. Nor will it disappoint fans of Four Tet’s already well-established oeuvre. The album is barely over 45 minutes long and undemanding enough to not need your full attention.
STANDing tall against genocide
Since 2003, a reported 400,000 murders have taken place in Darfur, Sudan, at the hands of the state-sponsored militia, the Janjaweed, and their campaign of ethnic cleansing. While the main violence has ended – there are few villages left to burn – the atrocity has displaced over 2.
Everybody’s a terrorist in From Paris With Love
Pierre Morel’s new film From Paris With Love is exceptionally tasteless. Admittedly, action movies are meant to be vile concoctions of guns, cars, drugs, and racial/sexual stereotypes, but From Paris With Love is so strikingly problematic that it cannot be considered a harmless testosterone-fuelled fantasy.
CD REVIEWS: OK Go: Of the Blue Colour of the Sky
You may know OK Go from their infamous viral videos on YouTube – including the treadmill dance routine in “Here it Goes Again” – from their previous album Oh No. Of the Blue Colour of the Sky is the latest album from the unique digital rock band. The album starts out with a Prince-like track, appropriately titled “WTF?” OTBCOTS is a departure from their first two albums, with a funkier, dancier sound.
CD REVIEWS: Line Spectra: Maps & Directions
Line Spectra has finally released their first studio album. For the past couple years, you may have noticed this all-girl trio playing at staple venues around Montreal and even a few shows at OAP. These ladies wield their instruments with a fancy, sparkle and a twist.
CD REVIEWS: Beach House: Teen Dream
Since 2004, Beach House has been the leader of the dream-pop scene with slow, simple pop melodies layered over lush soundscapes to create achingly beautiful songs of love and longing. Vocalist Victoria Legrand and guitarist/keyboardist Alex Scally have crafted a winning sound that is completely their own, and with Teen Dream it seems they’ve truly perfected it.
CD REVIEWS: Yeasayer: Odd Blood
If the African- and Middle Eastern-tinged flavour of Yeasayer’s 2007 debut All Hour Cymbals impressed you, get ready to be transported by their sophomore effort, Odd Blood. Yeasayer leaves the tribal aesthetic behind for an electronic vibe, with distorted vocals, synth, and pounding bass lines.
Oscars 2010: The shoo-ins, the underdogs, and the buzz-worthy
You’ve got 26 days until the Academy Awards, so here’s the buzz and predictions you need to know so you can decide which films to catch up on in the weeks leading up to the Oscars. BEST PICTURE This year the Academy has selected 10 motion pictures as candidates for Best Picture, instead of the usual five.
POP RHETORIC: R.I.P. MTV
The Buggles need to come out with a new one-hit wonder: “Internet Killed the Video Star.” This is the sad but true fate that our music age has come to. Remember when VH1 only played new music videos? How about MTV? Or MuchMusic? For the latter, you may be thinking, “but MuchMusic still plays music videos.
