Loading ...I saw Inception a few weeks ago – and loved it. Like, LOVED. IT.
Patrick, on the other hand, had this to say about it:
Around every corner there’s a Christopher Nolan fan ready to defend the director’s honour in a violent burst of glory. Why? I’m not sure. Inception is kind of like Last Year at Marienbad with guns. And without the Last Year at Marienbad. Pass.
So… what did you think? weigh in.
H.
The Registry Theatre August 12th, 13th, 14th & 19th, 20th, 21st at 8:00pm
Cabaret is one of the great musicals. Pre-war Berlin is party town for Germans and expats alike. A place of decadent celebration, the play is set in the nightlife at the Kit Kat Club and revolves around the young English cabaret performer Sally Bowles and her relationship with American writer Cliff Bradshaw. But under the happy-go-lucky surface of the title song Cabaret, lurks the growing Nazi movement.
Advanced tickets are $30 for Cabaret seats, $22 for theatre seats, $18 for seniors and students.
Tickets at the Centre in the Square box office 519-578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977
on-line at www.centre-square.com
H.
I know, it’s about to leave theatres, but surely there’s something we should say about the newest foray in the Predator franchise. Something like: a group of aliens have captured the finest human predators on earth and transported them an intergalactic hunting ground where they test them one by one in a gruelling game of cat and mouse. Swish.
Or, maybe something like, having exhausted all the banal directions this series could possibly take, the makers of this gem have barely concealed their own resignation to remaking the original, covering their plot with the thin veil of a new location…well, still a jungle…and new characters…although, the girl is a relative of the girl from the first one or something? Or, how about, you remember how in the first one when Arnold and Carl Weathers meet for the first time they shake hands and the camera cuts in on their biceps and you realize that the movie is going to be little more than an excuse for Schwarzenegger to shed the seven shirts he’s apparently hiding under his combat vest…well that one shot is better than this movie, which is as pointless as trying to fight your way off a hunting range in the middle of another galaxy, whether or not you found some of that magic mud that makes your body temperature unreadable to thermal sensors (and why hasn’t the US military clued in?). Or maybe we should just say, why on earth did someone think it would be cool to have an aging Lawrence Fishburne rock up in a predator maks and whisper a nursery rhyme? Bah. (and by the way, the first Predator rocks.)
-plf.
I know, I know, it’s only Tuesday and it hurts to think about how far it is until the weekend … but it’s such a great one that you need to start planning your itinerary NOW!
Here’s a couple things you might want to check out:
Craft Beer and Ribfest in Victoria Park – the most delicious event of the summer FOR.SURE. All weekend long. We went last year and it was unbelievably tasty. If you’re not into Ribs and Beer, a) you are crazy b) there is bbqd corn and lemonade and rides for kids. This event rules. Hope you’ll be able to make it!
Uptown Jazz Festival – Going on all weekend in Uptown, the Jazz Festival is always a good time. 100% FREE. There’s two stages, one in the Waterloo City Hall Parking lot off Regina and Waterloo Public Square… so get out, have some gelato and listen to some goodness.
If these two events aren’t quite your style… maybe you’d like to check out Summmer Jam at Bingemans on July 17. Totally sold out, but there’s still tix available on Kijji. Busta Rhymes and T-Pain in Kitchener. Amazing. Last year The Roots played – we were going to go, but totally bailed due to a hangover and being broke. Totally regret it now, The Roots are awesome.
The weather should be glorious, there is no excuse for anyone to have a lame-o weekend…. Get out of your house and do SOMETHING!
H.
Yesterday I received this from Patrick:
Unless you really like watching Tom Cruise wear sunglasses and smile, wait till they remake this with Jeff Bridges.
– plf.
So… I feel that about sums that up for ya.
H.
Patrick saw The A-Team over the weekend. How jealous are you??
Here’s his thoughts on it….
Whether I was right or wrong I don’t know, but when I was little kid, there was nothing cooler than the A-team. I used to wait till my parents had left the TV room, and sneak out of bed and back downstairs just to catch a glimpse of the cigar smoke, gold chains, quasi-fascist militarism and petroleum fueled explosions that the show offered up in healthy doses. And, even on the 11-inch black and white screen of my parent’s Panasonic, those four escapees from Fort Bragg instantly made Remington Steel look like a wet noodle. For an eight year old, it was like being momentarily transported into some sweet, grown-up marshland filled with violence and smooth lines, the perfect fantasy for kids who haven’t yet started having that other kind of fantasy.
I haven’t been back to the A-team since those years, and I’m not certain it offered more a slick packaging of 1980s kitsch and cool, then it offered something substantial. I’m also fairly certain it probably wasn’t that good. Its ratings died quick, it was cancelled after five seasons, and after George Peppard died, no one mentioned it except to offer a bad quote from Mr. T. Nevertheless, like four prodigal sons, they’re back. And, despite an irish Hannibal, no plot, and a Face with abnormally large pectorals, it’s still fun to watch, its still a sweet little fantasy world where human life, ethics and responsibility extend no further than the next explosion. Hell yeah!
- PLF.
There’s nothing more fun than when you have a weekend all planned out – and then out of nowhere it gets completely derailed by spontaneity…. or pints of free beer… or a combination of the two.
On Friday – Vacuity played the Piston on Bloor for NXNE. It was super great. I was at the back working the free pin giveaway – but Skeesh got a ton of good photos, which you can see HERE. Awww. Best weekend ever Alicia. thanks again for letting us crash… even though you were trying to appear respectable for your fathers…
brunettes for life, indeed.
Oh Hello Mike Christie – You are very tall in this photo…
After the show – P, Mike and I made the rounds to a couple other places… I handed out Vacuity buttons to a bunch of people waiting in line at the Horseshoe to see Mudhoney, hahahaa, Then the boys had a whiskey at the Imperial and I basically passed out at the table. whoops.
The next day, I invited myself to tag along with the Vacuity boys to Joao Cavalho’s NXNE BBQ. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect… and i was a little hung over- but holy amazing time. There was Amsterdam Blonde, Burgers and Bean Salad flowing all day long, and a ton of bands that were doing 3-4 song sets in the backyard. Totally fell in love with The Grates… who i recommend you check out. And a friend pointed out that Hey Ocean was there – you should also check them out. Oooo summer music. love it. Thanks Joao!
Anyways, I was way too much of a geek to be at the party – but i kept my cool and think i did an ok job of blending in. I even made a new friend named Del! Around 9ish, we left (with our new friends) to go experience Iggy Pop and the Stooges at Dundas Square. IT WAS CRAZY. So many people in one little intersection.
Then we headed along Queen (we may or may not have seen Miley Cyrus perform some horrid song outside Much for the MMVA rehearsal) to Tattoo Rock Parlour to spend the evening in the basement listening to music from the 90s – which is UNBELIEVABLY awesome and also a little depressing that I’m old and think back nostalgically on the 90s. But oh well – super cute time with a bunch of super great people. Thanks for the Photos Mardel!
On the walk back to Skeesh and Jogees place, we saw a couple cops on horseback break up a fight on Queen st. That was also fairly entertaining… and P got yelled at by Emeri’s favourite street meet guy. so funny.
The next morning we had a delightful little breakfast at my favourite place in TO… Petit Dejeuner. And then we headed home for an afternoon of Father’s Day eating.
Great weekend. I was sad to miss the closing party for Magnetic North – but I couldn’t resist Iggy Pop.
If you need to know why… you need to read THIS book.
Back to the restfullness that is my cubicle now… more posts later today.
H.
Very excited for the Vacuity show tonight at The Piston in Toronto for NXNE. the club’s at bloor and ossington i hear.
If you’re in the city, or feel like coming into the city – you should DEFINITELY come.
They’re on at 10pm.
Look at this photo and tell me you don’t want to see these guys play.
H.
Wow. Seeing one ‘Must See” thing in a week is pretty impressive, but seeing 2 is pretty rare.
Last night, thanks to John and Rebecca, I saw NORMAN – a performance honouring the work of Canadian Animator and Filmmaker Norman McLaren.
This is an unbelievably cool piece of art that YOU HAVE TO SEE. I’m not even kidding. YOU HAVE TO SEE IT.
It is way ahead of it’s time and really offers something for everyone. (i’m not just saying that – McLaren’s films were easy to watch and pretty abstract in most cases, so they’re easy to watch – a lot of them focus on motion of humans and animals – and the technological element is a lure for anyone more scientific who thinks they don’t like theatre.)
Yes, it is still Theatre – which is not for everyone, but the way they use projection and image and film is 100% captivating for anyone.
Basically – there’s projections of McLaren’s short films, and a dude dancing WITH the images, as part of the films. They go together like PB and J, You would almost think that McLaren knew this would happen – although he died in the 80s – like he knew his work would be used in this way and so created it to fit. But he didn’t. And i think that’s what makes it all so fascinating to watch.
Here’s a short vid of one of the scenes. Check it out, and then buy your HALF PRICE TICKETS for Tonight or Tomorrow’s show at Centre in the Square.
ENTER PROMO CODE: NORMAN
Call the Ticket Centre at 519-578-1570
Show starts at 7pm, and you’re not allowed in after it starts (i think because the theatre is kept very dark to see the projects properly) so get there early.
If you do one thing this weekend, this should be it.
H.
PS. I hear some pics of this show are coming my way later today – will post when i get them if you need anymore convincing.
UPDATE: Check out these photos from Kevin Hansen – then go see the show.
Last night we checked out the much anticipated Banksy film ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’
Banksy, for those of you that aren’t so familiar, is a fairly prolific street artist from the U.K. He has never been photographed and even in this film, his face is always hidden and his voice pitch-shifted.
(You can go HERE to see a google search of images of his work, and if you’ve never seen it before, i guarantee you won’t be disappointed.)
The film is actually BY Banksy – about Thierry Guetto aka Mr.Brainwash. Guetto is a self proclaimed filmmaker/street artist who … well… you gotta see the flick.
Guetto spent a couple years hanging tagging (hahhaa) along with various street artists across the world, and eventually became good friends and accomplice to Banksy. So the film is a great look at the evolution of Street Art and a bit of a How-To guide for the grey areas of vandalism.
At the end, you’ll come away with some confusion over what is Art? what’s just hype? Why the masses are so fucking stupid? and you’ll be seriously wondering who the joke is really on…
You gotta see it. Tonight’s your only chance. 7pm Princess Original.
H.
I was 100% raised on Star Trek – so sad to admit it,but so so so true.
My parents LOVE it and so I have fond memories of being able to dodge regular bed time hours to lay on the couch and watch some Next Generation. God, where did the 80’s go?
Anyways, if you also love Star Trek – you may want to take advantage of this wicked last minute deal that the Symphony has going on tonight and tomorrow.
But 1 ticket, get the 2nd FREE. They range from $25 – $82 a piece.
Promo Code : KWS Trek
Q and the Holographic Doctor from Star Trek Voyageur are involved, and you can meet them at the After Party if you’ve got a ticket.
You know you want to go. Don’t deny your inner geek.
H.
Saw Chloe last night.
It was good – really creepy.
You should go see it!
I LOVED that it was filmed in Toronto and they don’t try to hide it or pretend it’s New York.. It makes the city look pretty great.
It’ s at the Princess till April 22nd.
Also playing until the 22nd is the doc about Neil Young loving Rock. COME ON. A must see.
H.
I really wanted to hate this film. The premise is simple enough, three grown men, disillusioned with their romantic and professional lives, take a vacation to the last place they felt like their lives had promise and meaning. If you haven’t clued in yet, the hot tub in their room is a time machine and, after passing out in it drunk, they wake up in 1986, and what would be the banner year in their lives. In some ways the sentiment is nice, who wouldn’t want to go back and fix things they regret. Yet, Hot Tub is more concerned with paying homage to the 80s light-sex romp, à la Ski School, than it is with any quasi-metaphysical exploration of the meaning of adulthood. But, should you see it? Well…
The downside of Hot Tub is that it upholds all the values of that which it honours, all the ugly stuff that made the cinema of the 80s the blunt force trauma in the conservative attack on social progress. Hot Tub isn’t subtle, and it beats you over the head, proposing that happiness is found in fights, homophobia, sexual conquests, and the unabashed appropriation of material wealth.
But, if you want to hate Hot Tub, the kicker is that it’s funny, sometimes laugh out loud funny. When it stops being gross and reactionary, the film forgets itself and transforms into a clever of 80s comedies, and of the 80s itself. Watch out for the patriotic ski patroller who, after watching Red Dawn too many times, is bursting at the seams to ferret out and fend off a communist invasion. He is, without a doubt, the perfect reincarnation of every 80s high school tough guy.
Yet, if there is one reason to see this film, it’s Chevy Chase. His performance is so well-delivered, and so well-written, that by the end of the film I was half-convinced of the need for an Oscar for Best Cameo. And best of all, it’s not the belligerent Chevy of Fletch, but some new weird Chevy who’s gotten old and just isn’t all there…way to go!
- plf.
Thank god for Patrick: here’s his review of Alice in Wonderland:
___________________________________________________
So, I haven’t been the best at keeping up with this so far but, as my goal is to post regularly, from here on in there will be one post a week. Like the blog itself, I’ll try to deal with what’s current, but sometimes we’re going to have to dig into the past.
So, getting down to it, let’s talk about Alice in Wonderland, my first experience of the new digital 3D process. Let me put it this way, years ago I was fortunate enough to see a lovely little opus called Stewardesses in 3D. The premise is simple, stewardesses are on leave for the weekend, hijinx ensue. Probably the worst Russ Meyer rip-off ever, Stewardesses does what every other old-school 3D film does, it gives you a flat story, and keeps jabbing stuff into the foreground to remind you just how cool 3D is. Basically, it’s bad 1970s pseudo-sexual revolution film, with a few bouncing breasts and one large cocktail thrust in your face.
Alice in Wonderland is obviously more high-class than that—a girl falls down a rabbit hole, hijinx ensue. But I’ll throw it out there right now and claim that it uses the same formula. The film pales in comparison with the Disney adaptation from 1951…challenge me if you want…and may very well pale against the older live action versions, which I’ve never seen. Burton, aided by screenwriter Linda Woolverton, seem to be trying to mix Through the Looking Glass, Alice in Wonderland and creative license into some form of an ‘unparalleled experience in cinematic fantasy.’ Do we care? Well, not really. To begin, the characters, whether you remember them from earlier versions or not, do very little of interest, and can be outright boring. To compensate, Burton has added some new characters, including the White Queen, who presides over the good part of Underland (no longer Wonderland), but who really just likes like Gandalf’s niece. In fact, the whole movie kind of feels like a shoddy remake of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, meant to fit into the space of two hours. An unsuspecting outsider finds herself on a quest of great importance to bringing peace two an entire world. Guided by a knowledgeable sage, she is aided by different creatures along the way. Finally, she accepts her role as the champion of a new world order and kills the Jabberwocky, a wicked beast that wreaks evil with its fiery claws. Some characters may blur the comparison, but its pretty lord of the rings-ish…
Anyway, you get to experience the majesty of all this in 3D, and when things get flat, Alice, the playing card soldiers, the Cheshire cat, the rose bush—just like in Stewardesses, everybody starts thrusting things in your face. But, to be fair, the 3D is, on occasion, really impressive, with characters floating off the screen and right out over the audience. For moments, the film gets really cool, and is like nothing I’ve seen in the old format…not even grandpa goes through the window. Still, I’m not sure that it was cool enough to shatter the meaning of my own life, but maybe that’s too cynical, or too unfair to Avatar.
Anyway, to finish on a positive note, there are several other Alice adaptations for rent in K/W, at places like Gen X—and these include two of the sexploitation versions—so when you’re done with Burton’s, and you want to see what other people have tried, you can check them out…I’m banking on the 1966 BBC production being pretty solid.
Until next time…
- plf.
You heard it here first:
Theatre on the Edge is the best way to spend $5 in the Waterloo Region.
Every Thursday night, The Button Factory, 8pm till about 9:30ish.
What to expect?
Well, you get there a couple minutes before 8, pay your $5 and get your “Frequent Fun Card” stamped… 5th show is free i believe.
You find a seat and wait for the host (this person is a part of TOTE and rotates every week) they give you a quick rundown on how the show works, and then the 5 players for the night come out and get introduced.
Each skit is about 5 mins and the host will ask for key information from the audience to incorporate into each act.
For example: Name a Profession, something you would get for your birthday, a room in the house or a make-believe theme of a ballet.
I literally laughed for 2 hours straight. How great is that?
Suck it Reality TV.
There’s tons of free parking across the street, there’s snacks for $1 each at intermission and some mix and mingle time with the welcoming cast. You can get involved with the show, or just sit back and enjoy. I of course HAD to make an ass of myself in the second half. LOL. But i received a 5 free admissions ticket as reward … so let me know if you wanna go!
i got a special shoutout for keeping this position in heels. hahahaha.
Thanks for the photos @cutegecko and @cutergecko! There may be some video posted in a bit.
H.
It’s been a busy week – very much looking forward to chilling out a bit this weekend and doing a whole lot of nothing organized.
If you have never heard of Peter Katz or Jadea Kelly – you should probably give’em a listen on myspace. Definitely worth checking out. I hadn’t heard of them till a couple weeks ago when Ramy mentioned he was Peter’s biggest fan.
Emily R and I checked them out on Wednesday night at Maxwell’s and it was soooo great.
Here’s Jadea doing a cover of Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” complete with chorus sing-a-long. Amazing.
Here’s Peter Katz doing his thing.
Both extremely witty, talented, comfortable, genuine and super earnest Canadian individuals, who warm the ice cold cockles of my heart.
Thanks for the reco and the photos Ramy.
H.
PS. Did you know that you can stream some local and semi-local music in the foooter of this blog? Bet you didn’t… but now you do.
Karl from Cute Gecko has organized the gang hitting up Theatre on the Edge tomorrow after cinq a sept!
Looks like a crazy cast of characters at this little Improv show that happens every Thursday in Uptown.
Starts at 8pm. $5 to get in.
If you wanna come with us, drop me a note!
H.
Just got in from a lovely lunchtime visit to media launch event for The Magnetic North Theatre Festival, which is happening in June.
I am so psyched for this 10 day event that is going to take over KW with theatre people from all over Canada… and the world i guess.
How EXCITING is that???
Many more details as we get closer to the event, but I wanted to tell you that they ARE looking for volunteers, and maybe YOU have been looking for a low key way to get involved in the city?
They are looking for people to help out in these areas: (pre-festival) administration, fundraising, helping collate info kits (during festival) front of house, drivers, help with hospitality, transportation dispatch.
Here’s a couple of the benefits of volunteering:
If you’re interested, fill out the form on this INFO SITE.
H.
A friend recently introduced me to the music of Peter Katz – a singer songwriter from Toronto, and i am quite taken with him. Sings about doing what you love, and other people’s stories of life. He just seems so sweet and lovely – and talented. So you should probably come out to Maxwell’s in Waterloo on Wednesday to see him.
Doors @ 8:30, opener (who is apparently also great) at 9:00, Peter on 9:45 ish. Tix are $7.
H.
