Movie review: Maestro reveals duelling Bernsteins living within a single legend
Movie review: Maestro
Bradley Cooper brings a heap of passion and a stylish eye to a dysfunctional love story that strips artistic ego down to the studs. Echoing the core themes of an entirely different film about Leonard Bernstein, Maestro may have you asking who plays Bernstein better: Bradley Cooper, or Cate Blanchett?
Bohemian Rhapsody misses Mercury’s sexy essence
Movie Review: Bohemian Rhapsody
Rami Malek does an awfully good job of manufacturing an English accent and a sense of sweet mischief, but for all his talent and ambition, he lacks the physical magnetism that defined Freddie Mercury and Queen’s unique place in the arena rock pantheon.
A Star is Born is a gassy giant, indeed
Movie review: A Star is Born
Bradley Cooper writes, directs and stars in this latest revamp of a seminal Hollywood yarn that proves the nexus of progressive America remains completely conservative when it comes to its own story. On the bright side, Cooper and Lady Gaga use their first-timer adrenaline to fuel this bumpy rocket ride, creating great spectacle -- if not deep drama.
At #TIFF18, it’s all about the music
Movies: #TIFF18, Toronto International Film Festival
The soundtrack of movies can leave you with the exhilaration of the dance floor, or bring you down into the existential angst of neo-noir
By Jay Stone
(September 8, 2018) TORONTO — There was a great moment at the movies this morning, near the end of Gloria Bell, Sebastian Lelio’s English-language remake of his own 2013 drama Gloria. Julianne Moore, replacing Chilean actress Paulina Garcia in the original, stars as a 50ish divorcee — are they still called that? — who has a productive but somewhat lonely life that she spices up by going to dance clubs and letting herself get lost in the candy sounds of disco. A romance with a divorced man (John Turturro), who seems not quite totally divorced, disrupts her balance, but in the final scene, we see Moore back on the dance floor, raising her arms and swaying from side to side as Laura Branigan sings the old hit Gloria. You can sometimes forget the importance of music in movies, ...
Folking things up made for summer’s bright spot
Music: The Vancouver Folk Festival 2018
We celebrate the summer that was with a fond look back at what proved to be the highlight of Vancouver's smokiest season ever: A fully reinvented Folk Music Festival featuring acts that rocked, rattled and rolled young and old alike.
By Rod Mickleburgh
The line-up was skimpier than past years. Sunday clashed with the final of a riveting, month-long World Cup and the sun was hot enough to boil a monkey’s bum, but once again, the Vancouver Folk Music Festival cast its magic over me and thousands of other attendees with its annual mix of good vibes, a setting to die for and outstanding music. Even at my increasingly creaky and cranky advanced age, I found myself dancing, most notably at a wonderful, spirited workshop jam session involving Little Miss Higgins, Les Poules à Collin and Petunia & the Vipers. Thankfully, there were no cameras in sight, and the young people politely refrained from giggling. There were other highlights:
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Juliet, Naked strips romance down to nagging self-doubt
Movie review: Juliet, Naked
Director Jesse Peretz brings alt-rock authenticity to Nick Hornby’s story of a singer-songwriter who fell off the map, only to be rediscovered by the long-suffering partner of an obsessive fan. Ethan Hawke and Chris O’Dowd offer pure performance, but it’s Rose Byrne’s quiet navigation of personal desire that redeems the ego-fest.
Juliet, Naked strips romance down to nagging self-doubt
Movie review: Juliet, Naked
Director Jesse Peretz brings alt-rock authenticity to Nick Hornby’s story of a singer-songwriter who fell off the map, only to be rediscovered by the long-suffering partner of an obsessive fan. Ethan Hawke and Chris O’Dowd offer pure performance, but it’s Rose Byrne’s quiet navigation of personal desire that redeems the ego-fest.
Gord Downie’s Courage
Tribute: Gord Downie
Gord Downie Tragically Dead at 53, but the Hip's tune Courage will endure through The Sweet Hereafter, as will the frontman's legacy for compassion
By Katherine Monk
(October 18, 2017) — The song is stuck in my head. No doubt, there are others stuck in a similar loop of Gord Downie lyrics as they process the loss of the Tragically Hip’s iconic frontman today. According to the band’s website, Downie passed away last night surrounded by friends and family. He was 53. Downie succumbed to the brain cancer we learned about last year, after his oncologist held a news conference releasing the terminal diagnosis. Ever since, we’ve been waiting to hear the worst. And ever since, the words to the song Courage have been churning through my head. Yet, it’s not Downie’s voice I hear — though his gut-clenching vocals are familiar enough to be conjured at will. I hear the whisper of Sarah Polley’s soft soprano from The Sweet Hereafter. Mychael ...
Patti Cake$ Bakes Familiar But Tasty Formula
Movie Review: Patti Cake$
Geremy Jasper cooks up Hollywood's sweetest formula in his debut feature about a young woman from New Jersey who craves to make it big in the rap game
Song to Song falls flat
Movie Review: Song to Song
Terrence Malick probes the nature of intimacy through a portrait of Austin's music scene, but the existential maestro fails to find the right notes in this hollow solo
