// Category Archive for: Current Faves

Music Review: Royal Tusk, DealBreaker

By Tyler Hodg

Debut albums are meant to hook to a listener, and make a fan out of them. Royal Tusk, a Canadian rock’n’roll band, is sure to accomplish such a feat with their graceful premiere effort titled DealBreaker.

(more…)

Movie Review: High-Rise

By Less Lee Moore

Ben Wheatley adapting a 1975 JG Ballard novel into a film starring Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, and Luke Evans? It sounded too good to be true. With three planned screenings at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival which were then reduced to two, and rumors of six hour lineups for the second screening’s rush line, it was not an exaggeration to suggest that High-Rise was one of the most hyped films of last year.

(more…)

Music Review: The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Higher Ground

By Melissa Bratcher

It’s difficult to listen to The Blind Boys Of Alabama’s Higher Ground (2002) and not compare it to its predecessor, Spirit Of The Century (2001). Both are Grammy-winning collaborations with producers John Chelew and Chris Goldsmith and both feature bold, spiritual covers of songs by contemporary artists, with the Blind Boys Of Alabama being backed by a band in “musical conversation.”

(more…)

Music Review: The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Spirit Of The Century

By Melissa Bratcher

The Blind Boys of Alabama have performed together for nearly seven decades and have recorded over 60 albums. Joining together as glee club singers at the Alabama Institute For the Negro Blind in 1939, founding members Jimmy Carter, George Scott, and Clarence Fountain (with newest member Joey Williams joining in 2001), The Blind Boys of Alabama make honest, American music, rooted deeply in gospel, focusing on the truly glorious way that their voices blend.

(more…)

Music Review: Black Absinthe, Early Signs Of Denial

By Tim Murr

Toronto, Ontario’s Black Absinthe demand your attention and they have the songs to keep it! Blending classic and modern metal, Black Absinthe hasn’t just done their homework, they’ve innovated the game. Yes, you can hear Maiden, early Metallica, and Motorhead in their sound, but these influences blend into the band’s own flavor, rather than sounding like the source of its parts. As metal albums go, Early Signs Of Denial prove that new life can still be breathed into old monsters.

(more…)

Music Review: Those Pretty Wrongs, Those Pretty Wrongs

By Melissa Bratcher

The music that Those Pretty Wrongs makes is familiar in the best of ways. It’s sun-dappled melancholy, 1970s AM radio-friendly songs that soar with warm harmony and delicate guitar. It’s quiet power pop with heart, which makes sense if one looks at their pedigree.

(more…)

TV Review: Lucha Underground, S2 E11 – 15

By Sachin Hingoo

Hey, I just met you,
and this is crazy,
Robert Rodriguez
loves lucha libre!

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve visited the Temple, and with Dario Cueto back in control and his feral brother Matanza as champion, the whole show has a different feel. Gone is Mil Muertes looming over the Temple on his throne and the candles and other spooky touches Catrina put in Dario’s office. Instead we’re back to having live bands play us into the shows and a general feeling that chaotic violence can erupt at any time. I have to say that I’m glad to have Dario back in the backstage vignettes in particular, because he’s a much better actor than Catrina and has his sadistic douchebag character down pat.

(more…)

Movie Review: Ratchet And Clank

By Tyler Hodg

Beloved video game series Ratchet and Clank has made its way to the big screen, and much to fans’ delight, embodies the unique attributes that turned the franchise into something of substance in the first place. While the CGI film is bumpy at times, it never feels like a forced project developed strictly for monetary reasons, and celebrates the classic story that many have grown up with.

(more…)

Comic Review: ExMortis #1 – 4

By Tim Murr

I’d love to meet Mary Shelley’s spirit and find out what she thinks of how far her creation has come in the two hundred plus years since she released it into the world. Doctor Frankenstein and his monster are two of the most enduring characters in the history of literature and fit any number of genre interpretations. Not unlike much of Shakespeare’s work, Shelley’s Frankenstein can easily be adapted to any time period and any given version can emphasize the dramatic, the horrific, or the comedic.

(more…)

DVD Review: Emelie

By Tim Murr

It’s mom and dad’s anniversary and they hire a new babysitter to watch their three young children. She comes highly recommended and seems like a sweet, smart girl, but the parents aren’t gone long before she starts to strangely assert herself over the children, guiding them into the darkest night of their brief lives.

(more…)