Interview: Dita Von Teese All Set to Tease Toronto

By Brian Baker

Photo © Kaylin Idora

There’s no hesitation in Dita Von Teese’s voice when responds to a question she’s obviously been asked before: How does she get into the huge martini glass? The burlesque vedette will issue a modest laugh, and respond, “I’d like to tell you, I do a big backflip, but I don’t.” No, it’s actually a little three-step, Swarovski crystal staircase that’s hied off stage once her performance begins.
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Music Review: Clara Venice, Electric Dream

By Brian Baker

Don’t let Clara Venice’s saccharin appearance fool you. The cover of her Electric Dream EP features her in multi-colored, pig-tailed hair, licking a lollipop. However, her synth-infused pop is by no means child’s play.
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Movie Review: Star Trek Beyond

By Brian Baker

Let me level with you, I’m not particularly keen on Star Trek.

That’s not to say I don’t like it, or dislike it. Science fiction is just not my milieu when it comes to films. All that diplomacy between antagonistic alien species and the Federation of Planets has never been an impetus to get me to the theater. I also don’t play favorites. That means I’m not into Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica, either.

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Movie Review: Green Room

By Brian Baker

At one point, during the film Green Room, “Welcome to the meatgrinder” is uttered.

No other phrase can sum up the misadventures of an out-of-town punk quartet—with left-of-the-middle politics—as they take on a last-minute gig at a white supremacist roadhouse outside of Portland, Oregon.

Green Room is director Jeremy Saulnier’s third full-length feature and much like his cult favorite Blue Ruin, it’s a lovely shot of adrenaline directly into the scrotum called fear.

WARNING: SPOILERS

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Music Review: Shark Toys, Outsider Sect

By Brian Baker

I don’t know who you are, but I know I can cruise with your surfer punk rhythms like Johnny Fain carving the California coast, Shark Toys. (more…)

Interview: Karen Allen Thrilled With News Of Fifth Indiana Jones Film

By Brian Baker

Karen Allen is all smiles during her visit to Toronto ComiCon, March 19, 2016.

Marion Ravenwood, Katy, and Claire Phillips. They’re all roles played by Karen Allen in the lengthy filmography she’s compiled over five decades of work.

All three of those characters—from the films Raiders of the Lost Ark, Animal House, and Scrooged—have been strong dynamic women. They’ve also been a huge pleasure to portray for Allen. (more…)

Music Review: Soft Fangs, The Light

By Brian Baker

When an artist uses “fangs” in its name, you expect a body of work with teeth. For Soft Fangs, a nom-de-plume for Brooklyn, N.Y. denizen John Lutkevich, his debut full-length album, The Light, is lacking that necessary bite.

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