Content warning for sexual violence and violent content. Contains Spoilers for Strange Darling. With an endorsement from The Haunting of Hill House creator Mike Flanagan on its poster, JT Mollner’s latest film, Strange Darling, is receiving high praise from Stephen King and critics as a shocking and brilliant new thriller.[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
‘A Way to Be Happy’ book review: Short stories for a rainy day
A Way to Be Happy is the latest work of short stories by Canadian author Caroline Adderson. Adderson, who currently lives in Vancouver, B.C., has published five novels and several popular children’s books. The eight stories in this collection range from mundane to fantastical, showcasing the benefits of the short[Read More…]
Saints, Sinners, Lovers and Fools subverts time
Standing in the final room of Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools, I find myself transported into an era abundantly different from my own. My eyes glance over the drapery of richly pigmented paint layers, taking in the synthesis of colour, subject, and function. On the walls hang over 20 paintings,[Read More…]
Trigger warnings: Are modern audiences too soft?
Language is one of the most illusory human creations. We trust that words will remain objective and unchanging. Thus, we are often ignorant of the ways they can distort before our eyes. In a momentary sleight of hand, a word’s meaning can slip away, adopted anew by generation after generation.[Read More…]
What we liked this summer break
We Are Who We Are (TV miniseries) By Jordana Curnoe, Contributor The HBO miniseries We Are Who We Are, directed by Luca Guadagnino, follows a headstrong army brat from New York City named Fraser (Jack Dylan Grazer) who moves to a fictional American military base in Chioggia, Italy. There, he[Read More…]
Remembering Alice Munro
Alice Munro died on May 13, and I ate half a grapefruit every morning for the next week. I first encountered the acclaimed author’s work in school, as Canadians often do. I remember enjoying her stories—particularly the landscapes within them—but was not yet entirely engrossed. Then moments began to emerge[Read More…]
‘Été’ paints a portrait of a livable, walkable, and lovely Montreal
For many, thinking about video games elicits images of shooters, strategy titles, stressful levels, and intense gameplay. Été isn’t that. Developed by Montreal-based indie studio Impossible, the new PC game is all about relaxing. The player assumes the role of a budding painter who has just moved to Montreal for[Read More…]
The surrealism of ‘Problemista’ elevates its poignancy
Scored with futuristically unsettling synth melodies and interjecting choral staccatos, narrator and famed arthouse actress Isabella Rosellini relays the complicated and costly process of acquiring a sponsored visa in the United States in Problemista. What begins visually as a cramped, two-room equation expands into a maze-like structure of trapdoors, fluorescent[Read More…]
Melodies of a lifetime with Claude Dubois
As I pulled into the parking lot of Théâtre Hector-Charland on March 29, eager to see a Québecois musical legend perform, I noticed a bus transporting residents from a nearby retirement home had beat us there. This moment hinted at the crowd that I would find sitting inside, waiting for[Read More…]
Cash grab or uninspired choice? Deluxe editions of albums are both
Typically as an artistic or stylistic choice, deluxe editions of albums are released a few months or so following the initial album drop, expanding upon the original record with the inclusion of more songs. With (relatively) recent examples such as Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS (spilled) (2024) and Tyler, the Creator’s CALL[Read More…]