Neither Waffles nor Pancakes, Dave Barrett’s Proof was in Pudding
Tribute: Dave Barrett
Back in the summer of 1972, Dave Barrett hit the campaign trail and started changing the mindset of British Columbians about socialism. After his historic win, he went further still, and literally transformed the provincial landscape by introducing the Agricultural Land Reserve. The act was is designed to increase food security, but like many other initiatives, it was at risk from the very start.
By Rod Mickleburgh
In the best of summers, Dave Barrett ran the best of campaigns. Up against the seemingly unbeatable W.A.C. Bennett, the NDP leader was as unruffled as the weather, relaxed and purposefully out of the media spotlight. Forty people at a small gathering in Houston, a brief visit to the distant mining town of Stewart, a mid-morning tea in mighty Yahk, mainstreeting in Revelstoke. It was all the same to Barrett, part of his strategy to defuse once and for all Bennett’s tried-and-true election fear mongering about the “socialist hordes.” Of course ...
Kathleen Hepburn Takes a Metaphorical Skinny Dip
Interview: Kathleen Hepburn
The first-time feature director went back to the family cabin in northern B.C. -- and deep into the wilderness of mother-child dynamics -- in Never Steady, Never Still
Red Sparrow Flutters, Flaps, Finally Flies
Movie Review: Red Sparrow
Jennifer Lawrence has trouble with a Slavic accent, but she nails the emotional conflict and physicality of a ballet dancer turned sex spy in Francis Lawrence's Cold War thriller that feels like a return to the good old bad days
Look for McDormand, Three Billboards and Nolan for Oscar – Or Not
Movies: Oscar Picks 2018
A strange year without frontrunners leaves Oscar an open field with Three Billboards catching the eye of film critic Katherine Monk for best picture, and Jordan Peele for best original screenplay
By Katherine Monk
So a plumbing issue has delayed the publication of my picks which I made a few days ago, but never got around to filing because of my frikkin' kitchen sink. Buckets and shammies will have to do for now, and I'll write it all off to being part of a strange, strange year. I'm thinking The Shape of Water could be this year's Color Purple, a film that went in to the show with eleven nods for Steven Spielberg and came out without a single statuette. I don't think Shape of Water will go home without hardware, but most of the prizes will be on the technical side, with Canadian craftspeople coming up strong. But it's getting late. The red carpet it out... so here goes nothing.
Best Picture Nominees:
Call Me By Your Name, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady ...
Death Wish Shoots Blank Point
Movie review: Death Wish
Bruce Willis is left to fend for himself in director Eli Roth's inept reload of the Charles Bronson groundbreaker that gave the Everyman a loaded gun and a will to kill
Sweetest Olympic Hangover I Don’t Want to Get Over
Entertainment: The Olympic Hangover Begins
The 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang get a five-star review from a career movie critic who laughed, cried and finally fell asleep on the couch as the Olympic flame shone a light on our nobler selves.
By Katherine Monk
So it begins. The Olympic hangover. A sad headache prompted by a cocktail of adrenaline, fatigue and extinguished propane fumes. For eighteen days, we couch potatoes put our bodies through the rigours of extended television viewing and all-night streaming. Now sleep-deprived, about three kilos heavier and feeling emotionally bereft without a need to channel hop across the grid, it's time to look back on the games that were -- and what made the PyeongChang Winter Olympics such fantastic entertainment. Obviously, the athletes and their individual feats were the highlight -- and the reason why the drama is so sincere, but sorting through the sporting achievements is for experts such as Bev Wake and Rod Mickleburgh. I see the ...
Canada’s record-breaking Winter Olympics, medal by medal
Sports: 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang
From double gold medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who carried the flag in the opening ceremonies, to triple-medallist Kim Boutin, who carried the flag in the closing ceremonies, here's a snapshot look at the athletes who made the podium
By Bev Wake So it turns out the absence of NHL stars from the 2018 Winter Olympics may not have been a bad thing, after all. It allowed so many other athletes — from so many sports — to step into the spotlight and shine. For the first time since 2002, it wasn't the men's gold-medal hockey game that brought Canada to a standstill: it was a pair of ice dancers from southern Ontario. When Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won their second gold medal of the Olympics — in ice dance, to go along with the team title won earlier in the Games — social media exploded. Sure, a lot of the chatter had to do with their relationships status, but there was an obvious appreciation for what they were doing on the ice. ...
Phantom Thread Pushes the Needle
Movie Review: Phantom Thread
In what might be his final movie, Daniel Day-Lewis fully inhabits another of his difficult characters, this time a fashion designer who demands praise and silence.
Game Night: A Pretty Box but a Bored Game
Movie Review: Game Night
Jason Bateman has a comic edge all his own, but the only sharp knife in this junk drawer of cluttered genre is Rachel McAdams, who brings perfect timing and believable emotions to a farce about a murder mystery gone awry.
