An Inconvenient Truth
Directed by Davis Guggenheim
By Mike Sauve

Al Gore, formerly know as Al Bore, or the next President of the United States, isn’t a bore at all, nor is he acting very Presidential (at least not by the current standard.) That’s because he’s taking on the issue of global warming with a contempt for the status quo usually associated with the likes of Al Franken or Michael Moore.

Unlike these wannabe world-savers, Gore’s words carry significant weight. The majority of the movie is simply Gore standing in front of a slide presentation delivering one alarming fact after another about climate change with a surprising amount of warmth and wit.

Pulp Fiction producer Lawrence Bender caught Gore’s impassioned plea one night and realised his articulate explanation of the problem deserved a bigger stage. Participant Productions (Good Night and Good Luck, Syriana) got on board and this slick 90-minute film was made.

The few scenes not spent in front of the digital blackboard offer a personal look at Gore’s mission. Moments like the death of his sister from lung cancer and the near death of his son reveal the statuesque Gore’s deepest motivations. Despite all the science-speak, Gore translates effectively for the layperson, banging you over the head with the magnitude of the situation.

By the end of the film you should have a deeper understanding of climate change, and the producers hope that will motivate some towards fixing the problem. This is truly an inspirational piece of activist filmmaking. (Paramount Classics) (Paramount)
A Prairie Home Companion - Dir. by Robert Altman
Garrison Keillor has made a career out of telling rambling, folksy tales and singing rambling, folksy songs on the NPR show that bears the same title as this film. The show has run almost continuously since 1974 — the same year Altman shot the brilliant country music satire Nashville just down the road. ...Read More

Brett Ratner may be one of Hollywood’s least capable directors, but somehow not even he could screw up the third instalment of the durable X-Men franchise. Despite said director’s Palaeolithic mentality, The Last Stand manages to continue the teen-angst/crypto-gay subtexts of the first two films while not doing too much to embarrass itself. ...Read More
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Phoenix / Holy Fuck - Sound Academy, Toronto, ON December 5
Saturday night is meant for hand pumping and fraternal writhing, and nothing inspires it like Parisian pop. With an armoury of feel-good songs — almost all single-worthy — and a stellar warm-up act in Holy Fuck, French six-piece Phoenix played a joyous and infectiously amiable Sound Academy show.Full Review
Misstress Barbara - Montreal, QC November 21
One of this city’s superstar DJs, Misstress Barbara specializes in big beats for the masses, and with her three-piece band Girls on a Ducati, she’s extending her house pop chops to a more traditional live setting. With a guitar and mic, as well as keys and effects, she’s a capable front-woman but he... Full Review
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The deliberately lo-fi, yet earnest, split between Transit and Man Overboard sounds like the product of a bunch of friends growing up on punk and hardcore throughout the '90s. The hardcore leanings of Boston fivesome Transit lay the groundwork for the pop punk tendencies of the Jersey kids in Man Ov... Full Review
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