When Robb Murphy releases something new, we know that we’re going to be treated to the best that Belfast’s contemporary folk scene has to offer. He’s known for the meaning behind the music. Whether its April Fool’s Day fun or the nostalgia of prom-days, Murphy has a habit of creating tunes that resonate with real life. “Sleep Tonight” follows this […]

Based in Amsterdam, Spill Gold brings a distinctly euro-phile vibe to their psyche-folk-rock sound. Embarking on an odyssey strangeness, the video expression of their track “Palms” moves from stripped-back and simple, washed-out landscape of virtual monochrome, through characters and actions that demand the viewers’ interpretation. Concluding with colour on a backdrop of coldness, this mini-film by Annelies Verhelst intrigues and […]

Feexer, a one-man-band from Italy released a fantastic five-track EP, Diamonds and Defects in 2014. It blurred the lines between rock and electronic music in a laid-back fashion, and left us intrigued for what would be next. The wait for that is almost over, on July 20th, Feexer will release their first LP, Headed To. Ahead of the release, we […]

The transition from pro baseball player to reality TV star to successful singer-songwriter may seem to encompass everything that anyone could ever want from life. By 2015, Brady Toops had achieved all this and more, yet there was something missing. He reveals: I think I had slowly lost heart, and didn’t realize it. The youthful zeal of my 20s had […]

Brooklyn-based indie rock trio Monograms has the sonic solution to cure those pesky negative thoughts that plague us all from time to time. Their newest video, “Downer”, is awash in a neon rainbow palette with the pulsing visual energy of Silversun Pickups’ “Panic Switch”. The music here is reminiscent of early Bloc Party: from the first notes, your pulse quickens. You […]

Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words     director: Stig Björkman (Sweden)     Bright Nights: The 6th Baltic-Nordic Film Festival     Thursday, February 18, 2016, 7:00 pm     River Building Theatre, Carleton University     Every ten years, movie starlet Ingrid Bergman changed her life: countries, husbands, studios, directors and sometimes children. She loved life, and lived it […]

2 NIGHTS TILL MORNING     director:  Mikko Kuparinen (Finland)     Bright Nights: The 6th Baltic-Nordic Film Festival (CFI)     Friday, February 19, 2016, 7:00 pm     River Building Theatre, Carleton University)     Oh hey, the perfect one night stand: a couple of buff travellers from far away lands (Finland, France) on a brief Vilnius stopover, conveniently […]

LOUDER THAN BOMBS     director: Joachim Trier (Norway) Bright Nights: The 6th Baltic-Nordic Film Festival (CFI)     River Building, Carleton University     Hiding in a dark drama vehicle from Norway, Jesse Eisenberg delivers a staggering performance that tops his ridiculously prolific, yet young career. Sparring with heavyweights Gabriel Byrne and Isabelle Huppert (and excellent newcomer David Druid) , Eisenberg stealthily steals […]

ROAR     director: Noel Marshall     opens January 29th     Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank street     Remember the early days of colour tv, when Sunday afternoons were filled with cheapo Disney vignettes starring rascally vermin getting into all kinds of home alone mischief?  Pesky raccoons in the kitchen? Sly foxes in the den? Silly monkeys in the […]

HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT      director: Kent Jones      opens: January 7th, ByTowne Cinema      325 Rideau Street, Ottawa      In 1963, during the frenzy stirred by “Psycho”, fresh French filmmaker Francois Truffaut interviewed Alfred Hitchcock in a series of interrogation style questions. The resulting book became an insider’s bible to movie making 101. It was long, dry, and […]

As is fairly obvious, I am a massive fan of musical theatre. So, to celebrate the new year, I am going to share my top 10 musical theatre moments to watch in 2016, in no particular order. So, without further ado, lets begin. (Before I begin, I have to mention, closing in February 2016 is Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean […]

I SMILE BACK     director: Adam Salky     opens December 11     The Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank Street, Ottawa     Hoping for a rib-tickling hijinx escapade with razor sharp witticisms from Sarah Silverman? Not happening. Instead, “I Smile Back” slaps audience faces awake with a desperate housemom coke binge scene. Its realism is disconcerting, and quite shocking. […]

Earlier this year we featured NJ native Bitter’s Kiss (aka Chloe Baker) as our of our Hidden Gems. We state previous hidden gem because some of her soundcloud plays now have over 500k per song and her fan base is steadily growing. Today we have the video for “Love Won’t Make You Cry” which is off of her self-titled debut […]

WILD LIFE (VIE SAUVAGE) director: Cedric Kahn Tuesday, December 8th, 7pm Bytowne Cinema, 325 Rideau Street, Ottawa Living off the grid sure sounds romantic, but unfortunately in real life, living off the land, romance is not top priority. “Wild Life” traces a drastic family separation when the mother decides to escape a communal hippie culture she no longer believes in. […]

ENTERTAINMENT    director: Rick Alverson opens December 5th    Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank Street, Ottawa This, without a doubt, will be the toughest watch of 2015. Terrible stand up comedians have their place, and can offer entertainment value in some form or another. Enter Greg Turkington, who as his alter ego Neil Hamburger has been mastering the craft of truly unremarkable, offensive, […]

LIFE    director: Anton Corbijn    opens December 4th    Troubled photographer. Moody, genius actor. LIFE magazine. Sounds like cinema bonanza. Almost. Dennis Stock’s iconic still of a sopping wet James Dean wading through Manhattan is a grand piece of art, and former NME photog Anton Corbijn attempts to translate that magic on to a moving screen. Corbijn has tread similar waters […]

KAUBOJI (COWBOYS)    director: Tomislav Mršić    Croatia, 107 minutes    30th European Union Film Festival     ByTowne Cinema, 325 Rideau Street    Wednesday, November 25, 2015, 6:55pm Small town, local theatre productions can be utterly delicious in their awfulness. Now imagine such a venture featuring a band of Croatian misfits stumbling to produce a western play. Not as far fetched […]

THE SINKING OF SOZOPOL    director: Kostadin Bodev    30th European Union Film Festival    Monday, November 23, 2015, 8:45 pm    ByTowne Cinema, 325 Rideau Street    Be prepared for a soaking. This is one wet film. There is rain, there is ocean, there is vodka. Ten bottles worth in fact. When Chavo returns to the seaside village of […]

BABY(A)LONE    director: Donato Rotunno    Luxembourg, 2015, 90 minutes    Friday, November 20, 7pm    ByTowne Cinema, 325 Rideau Street    30th European Union Film Festival    The kids are not alright. “Baby(a)lone” is an unsettling primer about disenfranchised youth dealing (poorly) with contemporary first world problems. It is also a very good looking piece of cinema. Like a kiddie version of Bonnie […]

MAN VS. director: Adam Murray    Back in 1971 at the Crystal Palace Bowl Garden Party, Pink Floyd slipped dry ice in the lake to kick off their very loud set, killing all the fish. There’s a scene in “Man Vs.” where a loud explosion is followed by ex-fish floating on the surface of a lake. Sadly, this is no trippy […]