Arts
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Rolling with the punches
All That Remains want listeners to make the most of what life hands them.
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Solhounds
Solhounds’s fantastically groovy, funky, punky, possibly drug-infused psychedelic sound falls somewhere between the feel of bands such as Sublime, and Foxygen. Their debut EP, Smells Like Wet Dog, shows incredible potential as each track delivers a unique tone and feel.
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What We Do in the Shadows
I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula at far too young an age. The vampire mythos was as important to my childhood as Robert Munsch or Star Wars. I always appreciate it when a movie can play with that mythology, recontextualize it, and make me laugh while doing so. Last year’s excellent Only Lovers Left Alive did this perfectly. What We Do in the Shadows, a New Zealand mockumentary about four vampire flatmates, is a fun new entry to this weird subgenre.
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Focus
I wanted to like Focus a lot more than I actually did. I had no expectations going in, but I was rooting for it from the opening scene. It’s far from great, but I can’t help admiring it for what it’s trying to do. Most of what the studios shell out this time of year is overproduced garbage. Focus is a smart movie with a point of view. Its ambitions are more artistic than commercial. Sadly, it never quite sticks the landing.
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Building a laugh-filled scene
The Winnipeg Comedy Festival (WCF) is on the horizon again, featuring a boisterous array of comedians to keep your laughter flowing. The festival brings 80-90 comedians from all walks of life to various venues throughout the city.
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Fairy tales in the real world
If you’re a fan of modern fairy tale films that are an edgier, more provocative version of the original, odds are good you’ll want to attend this upcoming University of Winnipeg (U of W) event.
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Anyone Can Shoot
Winnipeg is a movie makin’ city. Huge talents such as Guy Maddin, Noam Gonick and the Astron-6 crew have been crafting strange and beautiful cinematic gems locally for years. Their work has inspired many others to follow suit and pick up a camera. But it’s not easy. Your idea, your story, your script is only the first small step on a very long journey.
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Hungry for closure
Jordan Tannahill’s play is certain to bring some new perspectives to the notion of cruelty. Late Company is an emotionally riveting drama being held at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Center for a series of shows that continue until March 21.
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Art from detritus
Peter Tittenberger, a local Winnipeg artist, is currently showing a solo exhibition at the University of Winnipeg’s gallery 1C03. In this latest exhibition him and me, Tittenberger provides a diverse, artistic vision based from his 35-year practice.
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Surf kings
Every Winnipegger could use a nice ocean breeze this time of year, and we don’t mean the delicious blue Malibu rum-based cocktail (although, one couldn’t hurt, right?).
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Friends of Foes are friendlier than you think
Indie-alt-pop quartet Friends of Foes have declared 2015 to be their building year, and rightfully so. With about 55 shows on the horizon, and one set in Winnipeg - Mar. 7 at the Pyramid Cabaret, we can soon bask in their sonic embrace.
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Stories From the Shadows
No matter your job or your gender, everyone seems to have an opinion about women working in the sex industry.
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Mommy
There are two movies trapped inside Mommy. It’s never both at the same time, just one or the other. One of them is a truly great film that examines family and friendship in a way movies rarely show us. It’s powerfully acted and shot with clear creative purpose. The other movie is infuriating. It’s a hysterical melodrama, overwrought and over-written, with a sense of self-importance so thick you could gag on it.
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Maps to the Stars
Maps to the Stars, the newest feature from celebrated Canadian director David Cronenberg (The Fly, A History of Violence), has a lot in common with last year’s Birdman. Both films are showbiz satires employing ensemble casts. Both dip their toes into surreal, hallucinatory netherworlds of egomania. They’re also both packed full of unfinished ideas that indulge the worst instincts of their respective directors. While not as entertaining as Birdman, Stars is equally as confused.
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Poster child for graphic design
Parlour Coffee received a colourful makeover at the beginning of February, which, to the familiar patron, may seem rather out of place.
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Girls to the Front
Winnipeg’s music scene can be a straight, white, able-bodied boys’ club, but some people have been working over the last few months to try and change that stereotype.
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Spinning the road to equality
Five years ago, the landscape of the Winnipeg DJ scene looked much different than it does today. DJs who identified as women were a scarce commodity. Back then, local DJ and radio personality Mama Cutsworth was feeling a bit lonely in a scene utterly overrun by men. Cutsworth is quick to point out that she’s not the only local female DJ but there were few others.
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Hangin’ with buddies and puffin’ on doobies
If you’re looking for some new folk jams then Ezi Margolis might be a good bet.
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Ricq Rolled
It’s undeniable: Peter Ricq and Robbie Slade are rising to fame as HUMANS, the acclaimed two-man indie-electronic act. On their last trip to England, they were even stopped on the street and begged to pose for pictures, a first for the Vancouver-based band.
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50 shades of anime
If you’re a local bookworm, odds are good you’ve attended one of the many McNally Robinson book launches, held regularly by Peg-city scribes at the flagship Grant Park location. Novelist Trevin Thomas’s Puppy + Prey began as a Creative Communications project for the current Red River student, but quickly snowballed into something much bigger.