When thinking outside the box just isn't enough
“Have you heard the news? I am bigger than ants!” – ‘Big Gigantic Body’, The Anthony Hansen Problem There is nothing in the city right now like The Anthony Hansen Problem. Despite being a newly formed act, they came in at #9 for both “freakiest” and “most pretentious” musical act in CULTMTL’s Best Of Montreal […]
During it’s 20th edition, the Fantasia Film Festival presented Takashi Miike with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Mike’s name has been a staple of the Fantasia experience over the years which is no surprise because the prolific Japanese filmmaker has over 100 credits to his name in 25 years. If the shear number of films doesn’t blow […]
Something’s stirring inside me. It’s a strange feeling that I can’t resist, won’t resist. This year, as I gather my top must-sees, I’m being pulled into new directions at the altar of Fantasia’s offerings. This is my fifth year covering the fest, and although I certainly won’t pass up the opportunity to immerse myself in […]
Something’s stirring inside me. It’s a strange feeling that I can’t resist, won’t resist. This year, as I gather my top must-sees, I’m being pulled into new directions at the altar of Fantasia’s offerings. This is my fifth year covering the fest, and although I certainly won’t pass up the opportunity to immerse myself in […]
Starting tonight and for the next four days, Kickdrum presents a Summer Marathon featuring 50 local acts in 16 shows. A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hanging out at Kitsuné’s cozy terrace, drinking coffee, and chatting with Kickdrum founder and director Joshua Spencer. In the couple of years that Kickdrum has […]
Winter is coming. At least it should be once Montreal stops getting assuaged by insufferable heat waves (not a fan). During Fantasia, I had the pleasure of sitting down with director Douglas Schulze and lead actor Lauren Mae Shafer of The Dark Below, which held its international premiere during the fest. Set on the icy […]
The forecast reveals an incoming hurricane of pop heading straight for Montreal from September 16 to 20th. Umbrellas will do nothing for you; give in and embrace the vibrant shower of art and rock. Pop Montreal is coming. <3 With over 400 artists involved, we’ve got you covered with our top 10 picks from this […]
“I never liked horror movies growing up; I’m really scared of them,” Sonny Mallhi laughed, “I don’t enjoy the experience. I get really scared and strangely paranoid and think someone is gonna come kill me in the theatre. But Roy Lee of Vertigo loves horror movies and so, working with him, I learned to appreciate […]
Last week, We Are Still Here had its highly anticipated homecoming at Fantasia. Hours before the screening, I had the pleasure of speaking with director Ted Geoghegan, who has worked at the Fest for several years, and lead Barbara Crampton, well known for her role in the 1985 dark horror comedy Re-Animator. We Are Still Here is […]
COOTIES U.S.A./Jonathan Milott, Cary Murnion/2014 Cooties is a laugh-out-loud, good time – perfect for Fantasia audiences. Comedy-horror is a tricky business which can often fall totally flat or be so over the top that it completely misses the mark. A promising premise does not always a good movie make and there are so many ways […]
Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception. – Carl Sagan There is something particularly thrilling about watching people battling insurmountable odds. Perhaps this is due to the way many of us are (not so secretly) preparing for the zombie apocalypse or the moment when global warming finally wreaks havoc and kicks humanity to the […]
On July 7, humidity engulfed Montreal, gloomy, thick and viscous. The perfect setting for suspense and dark tales to unfold. On that day, Fantasia Film Festival unveiled its generous program chock full of unnerving, innovative flicks that will haunt you potentially for years. For many, this season offers more gifts than any other festivities: over […]
Sun rays warm bodies as aspirations stir from tinder to flame. It’s beautiful outside: for some, exam season is over and school’s out for the summer; for others, being broke might suck a little less with some free Vitamin D to go around; and for all, there is nothing like emerging from heavy layers of […]
As part of the Printemps Numerique 2015, Title 66, the production company that brought Clive Barker’s The History of the Devil to the International Fantasia Film Festival to high acclaim, gave a limited run of their new piece Nuclear Sky: The Experiment at the Theatre Rouge du Conservatoire d’art dramatic de Montréal. I broke my […]
The Queen Mary Records team wanted to put something together for those artists whose talent and craft “was slipping through the cracks every day because they couldn’t find their niche, or didn’t have the infrastructure needed to launch into the public eye.”
I’ve been enthusiastically trying to schedule an interview with ‘thunderous-meltdown’ local rockers Smokes, whose Unlucky EP cassette tape is a favourite in my collection. Finally the stars aligned, Saturn returned, and I had the luck of sitting down with Nick Maas and Patrick Cruvellier at Chez Boris for discussions about their inspirations, how Smokes came […]
