Pop This! The Girl on the Train
Podcast: Pop This!
Paula Hawkins's thriller debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list and now it's headed for the big screen with Emily Blunt in the lead, but is that a good thing? The feminist culture vultures pick at the problem of page to screen.
Featuring Lisa Christiansen and Andrea Warner. Produced by Andrea Gin.
A sampling of what you might hear in Episode 14: The Girl on the Train
One of the hardest things about being a book and movie lover is you have to wait for them to announce the casting decision. Sometimes they get it so wrong that you actually feel nauseous. Harry Potter was a pretty good adaptation... The Shipping News was not. Kevin Spacey played a character described as a giant man with red hair. I love Maeve Binchy. I love Maeve Binchy, too. I did enjoy Willem Dafoe as Christ. Megan’s missing. That’s the inciting incident. If you haven't read the book, read it. It’s a definite thriller. I read it in four and a ...
Snowtime! animates a Canadian classic
Movies: Snowtime!
The creators behind Snowtime! talk about the challenges of tinkering with an emotional strand of the Quebec's cultural DNA, and getting Celine Dion onboard to sing about loss
By Katherine Monk
PARK CITY, UT — The footsteps they chose to follow were Yeti-sized craters, but that didn’t stop the filmmakers behind Snowtime! from recreating one of the most popular films in Canadian history. Originally released as a live action feature in 1984, La guerre des tuques went on to become the highest-grossing film of the year in both English and French Canada with well over a $1.2 million in domestic receipts, not to mention several more million in ancillary merchandize in the years that would follow as the film became the go-to Christmas season broadcast — the Rudolph or Frosty for French-Canada. “What you have to understand is this is part of the DNA of the quebec people,” said producer Marie-Claude Beauchamp, who sat down with The Ex-Press during the ...
András Schiff conquers gridiron goliaths
Rod Mickleburgh: The Super Bowl vs. Classical Piano Recital
How a 62-year-old pianist in a knee-length tunic made one lifelong sports fan forget about the Super Bowl, and feel the magic of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert
By Rod Mickleburgh
The treasured Leila Getz, described in the program as “Head Honcho” of the Vancouver Recital Society, welcomed us with her usual enthusiasm. “Thank you for choosing András Schiff over the Super Bowl. The magic begins.” And indeed, it did. Moments later, the stately, 62-year old master pianist, wearing a knee-length black tunic, walked out from the wings, acknowledged our applause, sat down on the cushioned bench, rested his hands on the top of the piano for 20 seconds of contemplation, and began to play. While gazillions tuned into the greatest annual event in the history of the world, aka the Super Bowl, which surpasses even the Eurovision Song Contest in global importance, I sat entranced, with hundreds of others at the packed ...
Deadpool reanimates comic book form
Movie review: Deadpool
Ryan Reynolds's physical skills and comic timing prove unbeatable as he takes on the role of a nihilist antihero in Deadpool, a self-conscious wink to Spandex form that would have been unwatchable without him
Konelïne drills deep into the dark heart of colonialism
Movies: Available Light Film Festival
Veteran documentary filmmaker Nettie Wild heads North to explore a motherlode of ugly conflict unfolding against a backdrop of pristine beauty in her latest film, Konelïne: Our Land Beautiful
By Katherine Monk
WHITEHORSE, YUKON — “We didn’t want it. We still don’t want it. But it was a done deal when they called us to the table.” Tahltan elder Lillian Moyer was speaking about a transmission line along the once-scenic Highway 37 in Canada’s Yukon, but the comments she uttered at the premiere of Nettie Wild’s latest documentary, Konelïne - Our land Beautiful, seem applicable to just about every situation that pits traditional First Nations’ values against the continuing colonial reality. From resource extraction in pristine wildlife habitats in the North to condos and casinos on traditional lands in the South, Canada’s colonial history clearly didn’t end with when Europeans left the garrison. It continues to claim ...
Homelessness pulls up to the curb
Movie review: The Lady in the Van
Maggie Smith stars as a woman who makes her home in a rusty van parked outside the house of an uptight playwright named Alan Bennett in this story about finding safe harbor
Getting lost in The Valley of the Dolls
Podcast: Pop This!
Jacqueline Susann revolutionized the female coming-of-age story with her melodrama about three women trying to make their way in show business, and 50 years hence, Valley of the Dolls remains a great place to pitch camp
Featuring Lisa Christiansen and Andrea Warner. Produced by Andrea Gin.
A sampling of what you might hear in Episode 13: Valley of the Dolls
Quinoa fatigue. I don’t care about quinoa in the same way I don’t care about space. What I liked most about the hotel sex is the bright blue towel. It’s the most amazing blue towel. If you were going to watch this just for the set-dec and the linens… do it. Every couch pattern is amazing. It’s a movie of scenes and lines. The only hit that comes out of a Helen Lawson show is Helen Lawson, and that’s me baby! If you think Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is vicious... That hurt my feelings and I’m not even on screen. Gender politics... we have not resolved that one. Buy ...
45 Years a devastating drama
Movie review: 45 Years
Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay play a married couple who uncover a long-buried secret that changes everything they think about their marriage in this devastating British drama
