illuminati hotties' "777" Is a Slow-Motion Montage
For self-described "tender punk" peddler Sarah Tudzin a.k.a. illuminati hotties, the standalone single "777" represents a vibe shift. While
Alex Hudson•Mar 6, 2025
comedy reviews Archive
'Night of the Zoopocalypse' Animates the Best of Canadiana
Documentary, comedy and horror tend to be the three tenants of Canada's contribution to cinema, and for good reason — Allan King, SCTV, the
Rachel Ho•Mar 6, 2025Casper Skulls' "Dying in Eight Verses" Reflects on Generational Cycles of Rock
Casper Skulls have released a few songs from their upcoming album 'Kit-Cat,' and I'm enjoying how completely out of step they sound with
Alex Hudson•Mar 5, 2025Marvel Regains Its Superpowers in 'Daredevil: Born Again'
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been in its flop era since 2021, having taken a turn around the disappointment of 'Eternals.' That's not a
Alex Hudson•Mar 5, 2025'Riff Raff' Is a TIFF Laff
'Riff Raff' is a masterwork of typecasting: there's Jennifer Coolidge as a sloppy drunk, Ed Harris as a gruff patriarch who balances caring
Alex Hudson•Mar 4, 2025Silly Stu's "McDonald's in the Pentagon" Is a Brainrot Happy Meal
Working hybrid means I naturally spend a lot of afternoons singing whatever song is stuck in my head to my cat, Monty, changing certain
Sydney Brasil•Mar 3, 2025Jason Isbell's Songwriting Returns Home on 'Foxes in the Snow'
It's a tale as old as time: a man and his guitar. To be specific, a mahogany Martin 0-17 acoustic from 1940. This is the chosen instrument
Dylan Barnabe•Mar 3, 2025Panda Bear Wants It Darker on 'Sinister Gift'
Panda Bear's 2007 masterpiece 'Person Pitch' is on my desert island list of all-time favourite albums, and while I doubt 'Sinister Grift'
Alex Hudson•Mar 3, 2025Even Mike Myers Couldn't Save 'SNL' from Shane Gillis's Disastrous Monologue
On by far the weakest 'Saturday Night Live' episode of season 50 (and after more than a month off, so they could prepare for the 50th
Vish Khanna•Mar 2, 2025Djo's "Delete Ya" Is a Replay-Button Smash
"Then there's a lyric that, in context, stings," sings Joe Keery — a.k.a. Djo — as he reflects on visiting an old apartment in a city he no
Megan LaPierre•Feb 28, 2025cootie catcher Make Smart Indie Pop with "Dumb lit"
When talking about music with friends, I've begun hyping up cootie catcher as Toronto's next trendy indie rock band, and the new single
Alex Hudson•Feb 28, 2025'Last Breath' Doesn't Dive Deep Enough
In the filmmaking world, truth is often stranger — and far more gripping — than fiction. The 2019 critically-acclaimed documentary, 'Last
Victor Stiff•Feb 28, 2025Mindy Kaling's 'Running Point' Follows a Familiar Playbook
'Running Point' is Mindy Kaling's second Netflix series, following the hit 'Never Have I Ever.' Whereas the latter focused on a teenager's
Jericho Tadeo•Feb 27, 2025'Who by Fire' Exceeds Expectations in a Canadian Shield Cabin
In 'Who by Fire (Comme le feu),' Jeff (Noah Parker), a young man and aspiring filmmaker, accompanies his best friend Max's (Antoine
Alexa Margorian•Feb 26, 2025Jenny Hval Is in Full Bloom on "To be a rose"
The opening verse of Jenny Hval's "To be a rose" wafts like cigarette smoke and floral fragrance, drifting ephemerally on a cloud of
Alex Hudson•Feb 26, 2025'Zero Day' Crashes in Spite of Its Cast
'Zero Day' proves that even a stacked cast of incredibly talented actors save a series from a convoluted, messy plot. A politically charged
Marriska Fernandes•Feb 24, 2025Father John Misty Gazed into the Void in Toronto
Father John Misty was way ahead of the curve in articulating the modern sense of despair. For more than a decade, he's been mingling
Alex Hudson•Feb 22, 2025Drake Does Mildly Successful Damage Control on '$ome $exy $ongs 4 U'
"Drake elimination, fake intimidation / Take a minute, take a deep breath, have a little bit of patience / 'Drizzy, you amazin', you the
Alex Hudson•Feb 21, 2025Nemahsis Triumphantly Overcame the Flu at Heartfelt Toronto Show
Record-high levels of snow couldn't stop Torontonians from descending upon the Danforth Music Hall to see Nemahsis in concert. Last night
Ozioma Nwabuikwu•Feb 20, 2025Father John Misty's 'I Love You, Honeybear Demos, etc.' Feels Like Real Love, Baby
'I Love You, Honeybear' is Father John Misty's biggest and best album — but "Real Love Baby" is his biggest single, and the newly released
Alex Hudson•Feb 20, 2025'My Dead Friend Zoe' Hits Like a Ton of Bricks
While writer and director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes was fortunate to return home after serving in the United States Army in Iraq, not everyone
Matthew Simpson •Feb 20, 2025Silverstein Continue to Up the Ante with 'Antibloom'
In the mid-2000s, Burlington, ON-born post-hardcore heavyweights Silverstein often took hits from heavy music fans for being sweeter than
Anthony Boire•Feb 20, 2025'Parthenope' Is Suffering
As 2022 became 2023, I found myself at an all-inclusive resort on the cusp of a depressive episode whose primary cause, I later realized
Alexa Margorian•Feb 19, 2025Youth Lagoon Melds Memory and Make-Believe on 'Rarely Do I Dream'
As a child, when the cable bill went unpaid, my mom would dig out the VHS tapes — 'Forrest Gump', 'City Slickers,' every pre-Y2K Disney
Kyle Kohner•Feb 19, 2025Pixar's 'Win or Lose' Does Both
Rather surprisingly, 'Win or Lose' marks Pixar's first original series, and unsurprisingly, the animation house has created a show filled
Rachel Ho•Feb 19, 2025'The Monkey' Kills to the Beat of its Own Drum
After becoming a household name among both horror and movie fanatics alike after 2024's 'Longlegs,' Osgood Perkins continues his killing
Karlie Rogers•Feb 19, 2025Avalon Emerson's "Don't Be Seen with Me" Is a Ravey Daydream
A couple years ago, my wife and I were obsessed with Avalon Emerson's dream pop album '& the Charm,' so we bought tickets to her Toronto
Alex Hudson•Feb 18, 2025Mereba's 'The Breeze Grew a Fire' Is a Breath of Fresh Air
Singer-songwriter, producer and rapper Mereba's idiosyncratic, vibe-y songs often have a breezy quality to them, so it's quite fitting that
Megan LaPierre•Feb 18, 2025Art d'Ecco's 'Serene Demon' Is a Masterclass in Juxtaposition
For someone with a vision as strong as Art d'Ecco's, any stray from form can be seen as somewhat of a departure. This feels true of
Sydney Brasil•Feb 14, 2025'Captain America: Brave New World' Has Five Writers and It Shows
It seems unfair that one movie has to carry the weight of a whole studio on its back, but things haven't been going so great for Marvel
Ian Gormely•Feb 13, 2025'The Gorge' Is Promising but Empty
Unique ideas are hard to come by, and while 'The Gorge' begins strong with a great concept, it falls apart in the back half. In the earliest
Matthew Simpson •Feb 13, 2025‘Paddington in Peru’ Fails to Live Up to Its Predecessors
Threequels, ugh. Sometimes, they become timeless classics — much beloved and endlessly rewatchable — others serve as the black sheep of the
Marko Djurdjić•Feb 13, 2025‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ Captures the Success, Not the Headlines
To be or not to be: a question that engaged some stodgier, sexless Brits maybe, but not rock's mightiest quartet, Led Zeppelin. From the on
Matthew Teklemariam•Feb 13, 2025Questlove Fearlessly Humanizes a Musical Enigma in 'SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)'
After the massive success of his directorial debut, 'Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),' multi-award
Barbara Goslawski •Feb 12, 2025'Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory' Proves Itself
When a longtime solo songwriter suddenly starts gives their backing band co-billing, it doesn't usually fill me with confidence about their
Alex Hudson•Feb 11, 2025Season 3 of 'The White Lotus' Gets Darker and Freakier in Thailand
There were two main talking points when Season 2 of 'The White Lotus' aired almost three years ago: who's going die, and how good is that
Nathan Chizen•Feb 11, 2025'DISCO'S REVENGE' Gets the Last Laugh
Disco was a dirty word, at least when I was a teenager in the 1990s. It was an exiled musical style from a bygone era, only spoken about to
Matthew Simpson •Feb 11, 2025Horsegirl Make Their Own Enduring Consonance with 'Phonetics On and On'
Horsegirl have deftly bridged the wide gulfs between archetypal and ingenious by making music that, while indebted to the sound of decades
Marko Djurdjić•Feb 10, 2025'Heart Eyes' Finds True Love Amidst the Bloody Hellscape of Modern Dating
Dating in the current technological moment is its own gruelling circle of hell. It's not just courtesy of the motley web of apps
Alisha Mughal•Feb 7, 2025'Mo' Season 2 Brings Mo Problems, Mo Laughter
We return to the luckless Mo Najjar (played by comedian Mohammed Amer) in the second and supposedly final season of Netflix's 'Mo,' the
Sarah Jessica Rintjema •Feb 7, 2025'Love Hurts' Like a Kick in the Head
It's the season of love, and what better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than with a swift roundhouse kick to the head? In his first
Karlie Rogers•Feb 7, 2025The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's 'Perfect Right Now' Is a Wistful Postcard from the Past
Of all the different eras of music I've been around to witness, the lo-fi blog pop era of 2008–2012 was the time when it felt like music was
Alex Hudson•Feb 7, 2025Jack White Rips "Fucking Fascist" Donald Trump, Hails His Nova Scotia Roots at Explosive Toronto Show
It's been an exploratory couple of decades for Jack White. Once known as a retro rock minimalist, he has gone from weirdo marimba jams to
Alex Hudson•Feb 7, 2025Georgia Harmer Is Timeless on "Can We Be Still"
For as long as I can remember, I've valued friendship above most things. I was the kind of kid who would give all of their worldly
Megan LaPierre•Feb 6, 2025Netflix's 'Apple Cider Vinegar' Exposes the Poison of Wellness Influencers
All six episodes of 'Apple Cider Vinegar' begins with a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer read by one of the limited series' characters: "This is a
Rachel Ho•Feb 5, 2025'Bring Them Down' Will Bring You Down — in the Best Way
Some people go to the movies to be whisked away by romance, others for laughter, many for an adrenaline rush. Me though, I like having my
Rachel Ho•Feb 5, 2025Squid Bravely Face a Burning World on 'Cowards'
Before their second album was even released, Squid had already finished writing and recording their third. In fact, the band finished
Marko Djurdjić•Feb 4, 2025Waxahatchee Digs Deep into Her Roots on "Mud"
Waxahatchee's 2024 and 2020 AOTY contenders, 'Tigers Blood' and 'Saint Cloud,' respectively, cemented Katie Crutchfield firmly in her
Allie Gregory•Feb 4, 2025The Weeknd Says He's Peaked, and 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Proves Him Right
"Lore" has become a buzzword in pop music in recent years, as stars pepper their lyrics with cryptic hints about their personal
Alex Hudson•Feb 3, 2025Doechii Takes a Well-Deserved Victory Lap on "Nosebleeds"
The Grammys seldom get it right — but as last night proved, it might be a new era for the Academy. This tone was set early on in the
Sydney Brasil•Feb 3, 2025