Up in the hills above Feathertown, Tennessee, Dellarobia Turnbow is about to turn her back on husband and kin. Then, she witnesses an environmental phenomenon: an enormous population of monarch butterflies have settled into the hills above her small town to wait out the winter. No one understands quite why this is happening, but the […]
Wednesday Playlist: Into the Woods
With Victoria Day weekend just passed and Memorial Day Weekend approaching, the official start of summer has arrived in both Canada and the US. And whether you’re firing up the BBQ or loading up the car for a weekend of camping in the woods, here are a few songs that will inspire you as you […]
All Sons & Daughters: a refreshing take on worship
Although countless worship albums are released every month, they tend to be homogenized, or as I like to put it, Hillsong-ified. Not that Hillsong doesn’t write and record some incredible worship songs, but when every bridge of every song reaches epic proportions… it can get a little weary. Which is why All Sons & Daughters’ […]
Judging by the Trailers: Summer Edition
We all love summer. It’s the sunshine, the beaches, the ice cream, the flings…right? Or is it the monsters, the mystery, and the action that light up the screen? The summer movie season is upon us with countless trailers, hinting at what’s to come. Here are a few of the more promising and surprising films […]
Short Term 12: small in stature, big in heart
Short Term 12 is the kind of movie I love. Small in stature but big in heart, the film far exceeds its own modest expectations to stand among the best films of the year. Set in a foster-care home for kids awaiting placement, the story of the film centres around Grace (Brie Larson), a compassionate, […]
Wednesday Playlist: For the Dreamers
This one’s for the dreamers. This one’s for the lovers, the lovelorn, and the lonely. This one’s for anyone dreaming of sunshine on a wintry March day. It’s for the unrequited crushes, the happy flights of fancy, and the lazy mid-spring days. But enough preamble, let’s get into the music. Tracklist: 1. “Argentina (Parts I, […]
2014 Oscars Cheat Sheet
This Sunday America’s dancing queen Ellen DeGeneres will host the 86th Academy Awards. You’ve probably watched a few of the nominated films, but who has time to see all of them? To help you keep up with your film aficionado friends, here’s the Oscar Cheat Sheet: your indispensable guide to talking about Oscar nominated films […]
Judging by the trailers
It’s a strange time for the movie business. We know what to expect from the summer and fall seasons: blockbusters and award bait, respectively. We even know what to expect in December: movies with either big hearts or big budgets. But January through April is a mishmash of award season rejects (The Monuments Men), risky […]
The Gateway Guide to Sufjan Steven’s Christmas Catalogue
No one says Christmas quite like Sufjan Stevens, possibly because no one has said it, or better yet sung it, quite so much. With precisely 100 published Christmas songs to his name, Sufjan is the Christmas minstrel of our day. This Christmas journey for Sufjan began in 2001, when he recorded his first Christmas EP […]
Wild: The Modern Pilgrimage
In the summer of 2005, Cheryl Strayed set out on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) — a 2,663 mile trail running through California, Oregon, and Washington, stretching from the Mexican to Canadian border. Strayed was 26 at the time and reeling both from the death of her mother four years previous and the more recent […]