Arthur Miller's classic, The Crucible, centres upon the Salem witch-hunts of 1692, though highlights similarities and perhaps even a distinct allegory between American McCarthyism of the '50s, all the while drawing upon modern-day politics that allow the play more relevance every year it is performed.
The Niagara Indie Film Fest is entering its seventh year of entertaining the St. Catharines crowd with entries from all across the country. Beginning as an affiliate of Brock University, the festival has expanded into downtown St. Catharines, presenting screenings and workshops everywhere from the Niagara Artists' Centre to the Centennial Library.
The Manitoban You know you are in trouble when the registration desk at a music festival is offering free energy drinks instead of the usual water. "Here, take one," a red-shirted North by Northeast volunteer told me. "Take a few." NXNE, as the hipsters call it -Canada's largest independent music festival - ran from June 8-10 in downtown Toronto.
The S.C.E.N.E. Music Festival is back for another summer in the downtown core. From its humble beginnings back in 1995 with 20 bands in only three venues, St. Catharines' Event for New Music Entertainment (S.C.E.N.E.) has grown into its own as one of the largest independent music festivals in all of Canada.
The idea of comics inspired by a band is not a new one. In the early '90s bands like Aerosmith, Van Halen and KISS all had comics based on them. Since then, both comics and music have changed. The latest pairing of music and comics is called Put the Book Back on the Shelf: A Belle and Sebastian Anthology and is published by Image Comics.
Hollywood, slow down with the remakes. You have obviously run out of new ideas, now pace yourself before you run out of olds ones too. It is understandable why you would remake a film like The Poseidon Adventure, it is pure spectacle and showcases the special effects of its day.
While listening to Neko Case's brilliant new album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, I was asked what genre it would be classified as. I did not know what to say. There are elements of classic country, alt-country, folk, indie-pop and rock, but the album does not even come close to fitting into any pre-defined category.
Their name means 'skilled storytellers', a label that's more than lived up to on the band's debut album Broken Boy Soldiers. The Raconteurs are the brainchild of White Stripes' Jack White, Jack Lawrence, Patrick Keeler and Brendan Benson. That said, this is nothing like a White Stripes album.
