Arts
-
Still Alice
The success of a film like Still Alice lies solely on the shoulders of its lead performers. In that sense, it’s a triumph. Alice, played by the continually brilliant Julianne Moore (The Hours, Crazy Stupid Love), is a Columbia professor of linguistics who’s diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 50. Her contentment with life prior to the diagnosis makes the story even more tragic.
-
Monsoon
Monsoon is a visually stunning documentary about the struggle for life during monsoon season in India, a country whose economy hinges entirely on rainfall. Despite the sobering nature of the subject matter, one can’t help but marvel at the endlessly dazzling imagery. It’s the kind of film they might play on the display televisions at Best Buy to show off the lush picture quality, which is indicative of the film’s main problem.
-
Dancing about the issues
Social change isn’t always about pickets and petitions.
-
Celebrating Dilla
Winnipeg is finally catching up to other cities in paying tribute to the late J Dilla, an influential rapper and record producer who was based out of Detroit, Michigan.
-
Someone always pays
Terms like “veterans” or “pioneers” get used pretty loosely when describing bands. But they rarely hold truer than when used to describe Napalm Death. The English band, active since 1981, essentially created the grindcore genre, laying the groundwork for much of today’s heavy and extreme music. The group’s current lineup, intact since 1991, just released their sixteenth album, Apex Predator – Easy Meat. It’s a chaotic blast of discordant noise and rabid spontaneity.
-
Soothsayers & superheroes
Financing a feature film is no picnic. Pursuing grants from arts organizations like Telefilm Canada can take years and crowdfunding campaigns are a gamble with no guarantee of success. So when O. Corbin Saleken decided to make the leap from short films to features, the Vancouver filmmaker took an approach that few filmmakers dare. His film Patterson’s Wager, which has its world premiere at the 2015 Winnipeg Real to Reel Film Festival, was entirely paid for by Saleken himself.
-
The Boy Next Door
It’s 2015 and it seems like Jennifer Lopez is still making cheesy movies. This time around, the singer/actress stars as Claire Peterson, an English teacher who is in the midst of a divorce. One day a mysterious young man named Noah Sandborn (Ryan Guzman) moves next door, befriends her teenage son, fixes her garage door and starts trying to get into her pants.
-
The Lunchbox
Some romantic dramas can be a little cheesy and unrealistic, but the Lunchbox doesn’t fall into that category and manages to keep things fresh. It tells the story of two very different people who share lots of chemistry while writing letters, but never get to take their relationship off the page.
-
Up All Night
Inside the windowless cube of the Empress Street Walmart, open 24 hours, time doesn’t seem to move. Blue-smocked, zombie-like employees shuffle past, throwing inquisitive looks at the two bearded fellows who’ve just come in from the cold. Folk musician Micah Erenberg’s in the market for a new rug, so we’re cruising the aisles in search of carpeting.
-
Pages of Possibility
What would it feel like to walk through a magazine?
-
Culture Shock
New Canadian Kid could not have arrived at a better time.
-
Still Breathing, but barely
On the third night of the year I got into the backseat of my parents’ Mazda next to my aunt and uncle. My dad drove and my mom fretted over whether she’d fit in. We were headed to a chilly Exchange District studio, where my cousin and her friends hosted a hip hop dance battle.
-
Oi-maica
DC Sound System is tired of cliches, like Ska is dead, and The Sex Pistols weren’t punk. Alex DeChoiseul believes ska is very much alive and well.
-
Dance party promises
The Big Fun Festival is set to showcase over 40 of the best up-and-coming artists from Manitoba, as well as some hand-selected acts from across Canada. Running from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 at venues around the city, the festival is sure to bring warmth to our cold winter nights.
-
Making time for magic
Getting fiction published isn’t easy, but Samantha Beiko has managed to pull it off.
-
Foxcatcher
It’s odd to think of a tale about two Olympic gold medal winners and a millionaire as a story of outsiders, but Foxcatcher is exactly that. It follows the true story of Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) and his older brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo), who both triumphed at the 1984 Olympic games.
-
Force Majeure
I can’t decide if Force Majeure is a perfect date movie, or the worst date movie of all time. On one hand, it’s the type of film that will inevitably spurn a lively discussion afterward. On the other hand, the subject of that discussion could devastate a precarious romantic mood.
-
A Dedicated Bender
The human body is far more amazing than it’s often given credit for.
-
One Part Outlaw, One Part Artist, One Part Explorer
It might be considered graffiti and an act of vandalism, but Kush’s poster of the late ‘homeless hero’ Faron Hall reads like something completely different.
-
_200_200_90_c1.jpg)
It’s about confidence, not compliments
Winter can be a dull season for intimate fashion, especially in Winnipeg. All we see are parkas that leave absolutely everything to the imagination, and layers upon layers of wool that make you wonder why you even bothered buying that lacy push-up bra in the first place.