Verb Issue R47 (Sept. 28-Oct. 4, 2012)

Issue #47 – September 28 to october 4

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Victor sawa Why classical music isn’t scary billy bishop goes to war Q+A with actor Jacob James Looper & In the family Film reviews ­

sonic expansion and

cuff the duke

Photo: courtesy of vanessa heins

contents

NEWs + Opinion

culture

entertainment

Q + A with Jacob James

Live Music listings

Billy Bishop Goes To War, and the making of a Canadian hero. 8 / Q + A

Local music listings for September 28 through October 6. 14 / listings

behind the uniform

rodney Decroo

Nightlife Photos

Adam talks to the women of the Lingerie Football League. 3 / Local

Alex and Rodney talk poems, and the Allegheny River. 9 / Arts

Tamara visits The Cultural Exchange.

On the cover:

cuff the duke

verbnews.com @verbregina facebook.com/verbregina

15 / Nightlife

Editorial

Cat on a hot tin roof

Sonic expansion with the Canadian Wilco . 10 / cover

Actor Eric Kanius on the appeal of Tennessee Williams. 9 / Arts

Looper & In the family Adam reviews the latest films. 16 / Film

Victor sawa

Publisher / Parity Publishing Editor in Chief / Ryan Allan Managing Editor / Jessica Patrucco staff Writers / Adam Hawboldt + Alex J MacPherson Contributing writer / jessica Bickford

ART & Production Design Lead / Roberta Barrington Design & Production / Brittney Graham Contributing Photographers / tamara klein, danielle tocker, Adam Hawboldt + Alex J MacPherson

Alex finds out about the other side of classical music. 4 / Local

Business & Operations

no plebiscites

Magpies kitchen

on the bus

They’re ineffective. But we think there’s a better option out there. 6 / Editorial

Jessica samples some homemade, healthy dishes. 12 / Food + Drink

Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 18 / comics

comments

Music

Game & Horoscopes

Here’s what you had to say about the penny tax. 7 / comments

Bob Dylan, Jeffery Michael Straker & Dallas Smith. 13 / music

Canadian criss-cross puzzle, weekly horoscopes and Sudoku. 19 / timeout

Office Manager / Stephanie Lipsit Marketing Manager / Vogeson Paley Financial Manager / Cody Lang

contact Comments / feedback@verbnews.com / 881 8372 advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 979 2253 design / layout@verbnews.com / 979 8474 General / info@verbnews.com / 979 2253

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Altering perception

Photos: courtesy of joe petro

The women of the Lingerie Football League aren’t just eye candy, they can play football, too. Really well. by ADAM HAWBOLDT

T

he first time Ashley Richter put on her uniform, she paused.

“Oh my goodness,” she thought, “This is it? This is what we’re wearing?” What she was referring to was a green bikini with white lace frills.

Why she was wearing it, well, that’s the question a lot of people ask.

See, Richter is a rookie wide receiver for the Regina Rage of the Lingerie Football League. And what a lot of people want to know is why someone would dress in glorified lingerie to play football.

“Because it’s empowering,” says Richter. “For all the troubles and tough times women have had in the past, it’s nice to be able to do what I want to do. To put myself on display along with all these other girls to show that we’re strong. What better way to show you’re strong than to show the world your ripped-up abs or bulging biceps, then go out there and really hit somebody?”

Richter pauses for a moment, then says, “It’s really nice to have that choice.”

And therein lies the crux of it all. This is a choice. These women choose to play in the LFL because they want to.

And the reward they get for making this choice, for being bold and doing what they want, isn’t mounds of money or worldwide fame. The reward comes when these athletes open peoples’ eyes and change their minds.

“One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most is when fans come up to

you after the game and say, ‘I came to see pretty girls run around in underwear, but I ended up actually watching a football game,” explains Richter. “To see the shock on their face and change their perceptions, that’s rewarding.”

Heather Furr knows precisely what that’s like. As an LFL veteran, the Saskatoon Sirens’ running back has shocked some people, helped change perceptions, and has fielded her fair share of “lingerie” questions over the years.

Her answer to those queries is direct and straight to the point.

She also knows what it’s like to get seriously injured in the LFL. It happened during her rookie season. Back then the Illinois native was playing with her hometown team, the Chicago Bliss. Things were going well; they’d finished the season 3-1 and were up against the Los Angeles Temptation in the first round of the playoffs. On the fourth play, Furr’s season came to an abrupt end.

“I scored a touchdown and went down,” she remembers. “My knee had gotten turned inside out, it felt like. I suffered a partially torn ACL, PCL, had posterior capsule damage and probably everything else you can think of.”

The lingerie brings people there and the football brings them back.

She’ll be looking to add to those totals next week when Saskatoon hosts Regina.

heather furr

“First … I didn’t choose what we wear, but now after playing in it I can’t imagine having a different uniform,” she tells you. “And second, we play real, seven-on-seven tackle football. The lingerie brings people there and the football brings them back. So many times I’ve heard ‘Wow, you really hit!’ I just think to myself, ‘Yeah … I know.’” Now in her third season in the league, Furr knows what it’s like to get hit so hard that bruises build on top of bruises, on top of sprains and on top of strains.

The road to recovery was long and hard, but like most of the women in the LFL, Furr is tough. She’s persistent, resilient and strong-willed.

Soon enough, Furr was fully recovered. And if the first two games of this season are any indication, her knee is A-okay.

So okay, in fact, that Furr currently sits fifth in the league in rushing yards, is averaging 7.1 yards a carry (more than any of the other top rushers), is fourth in receiving yards and third in interceptions.

Ask anyone in Canada what the best football province in Canada is, and chances are people will tell you “Saskatchewan.” So it seems logical that when the Lingerie Football League expanded to Canada this year that half the teams would be based here.

What’s more, it made perfect sense to end the regular season with a home-and-home stand between Regina and Saskatoon. “These two games aren’t just a battle of two LFL Canada teams,” says Furr. “It’s a battle of Saskatchewan!”

The kind of battle that Richter, a proud Regina girl, is looking forward to. “I can’t wait to see the crowd,” she says. “Having our two teams meet up in October is going to take what we’ve been trying to do … and really bring it to the province.”

Ultimately, what the LFL is trying to do — along with building a strong fan base, of course — is change people’s minds. Alter their perceptions.

Show that the LFL is a real league, where real, rock-’em-sock-’em football is played — and played well.

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It’s not that painful Maestro Victor Sawa and the other side of classical music.

by ALEX J MACPHERSON

F

ebruary 9, 1978 dawned bright and clear. As the sun rose, legions of Harvard students armed with shovels set to work. Three days earlier, a vicious storm blanketed most of New England in forty inches of snow.

As the campus slowly came back to life, someone dropped the needle on the final movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and pushed some speakers to the window. Edmund Morris, writing in his excellent biography of the composer, describes the scene: “Nothing was ever so loud, so bright as that C-major fanfare, surging over a blare of trombones with all the force of Old Faithfull…Skiers, shovelers, and plungers stood transfixed. After three great leaps (the last requiring an extra beat to discharge all its sound), the chords subsided, only to gather strength for higher and higher ascents, to the crest of the scale and beyond…”

These are the moments Victor Sawa hopes to create, the moments when the music sweeps across the frozen landscape like spring in a good year. Sawa knows what it feels like to transcend the normal, the

banal; he knows what it feels like to ride a towering geyser of music to some other dimension. And now, he wants to share that experience with you.

Victor Sawa has been the musical director of the Regina Symphony Orchestra since 1997. In late 2010, he took on a similar role with the Saskatoon Symphony; today, he is the face of classical music in Saskatchewan.

But, he explains over breakfast in a Saskatoon café, his long career in music was actually the product of pure chance. “I was in grade eight,” he says. “And I needed another subject. They gave everybody tests, including listening tests. I scored high, like 99 percent, so they said, ‘You’ve got a good ear, why don’t you take up music?’”

Sawa says this very quickly. He speaks in short, clipped sentences, as if ideas are jostling for space, flowing faster than he can get them out. Wearing a sweater, jeans, and sneakers, Sawa looks more like a novelist than a conductor. His profound enthusiasm for classical music is matched, and perhaps exceeded, by his love of pop culture; his paragraphs

are peppered with references to pop music, video games, television shows, and films. In fact, Sawa’s introduction to and infatuation with classical music were the product of darker forces than most people expect.

Living in British Columbia in the 1940s, Sawa’s parents were swept up in what became an indelible stain on this country’s record: the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. They relocated to Montreal’s east end, where Sawa’s father worked as a chef and his mother as a homemaker. But Montreal, where Sawa grew up, was not without bigotry. “In the early days, there was a lot of prejudice in this country,” Sawa says, meaning the 1960s. “But not in music. It seemed like it didn’t matter what you looked like, it mattered how you played. If you were good, you were in.”

Sawa, then learning the clarinet without any real direction, found inspiration in the concert hall. “By October or November [of grade eight], the Montreal Symphony was offering concerts on Saturday for a buck,” he says. “So I thought, ‘Why not? I’ve never been to one before, never heard classical music outside Fantasia and Looney Tunes.’ So I went

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Maestro Victor Sawa works to make classical music popular with the people. Photos courtesy of Merrissa Karmark

to a concert and that was it — I was floored. I wanted to be the dude with the stick.” The one piece he remembers is Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

It was a life-changing experience.

To his parents’ horror, Sawa enrolled in the Conservatoire de Musique de Montreal. Unlike his contemporaries, some of whom had been playing for years, Sawa was a beginner. He had

changed in 1985, when a botched dental procedure left him without feeling in his lower jaw. “I started practicing [clarinet] again, thinking I could do it, but conducting became more of a reality,” he says. In 1986, Sawa began at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Maine.

When asked why he loves conducting, Sawa struggles to frame a

It’s not a root canal. Don’t worry: it’s not that painful. victor sawa

grown up on pop music; his parents didn’t keep classical records in the house. He started at the bottom, but hard work paid off; he went on to study at McGill and the New England Conservatory of Music. He played with the New England Ragtime Ensemble, performed at the White House, and won a Grammy.

Sawa came back to Canada in 1973, and a successful audition landed him the principal clarinet chair with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. He also worked with the North Bay Symphony and the Guelph Youth Orchestra. Everything

reply. “It’s phenomenal,” he finally says. “This massive wall of sound coming at you, that’s what does it.”

Today, Sawa is an extremely proficient conductor. Watching him conduct is like watching wind bite into a forest — he sways with the music, leans into it. But conducting Mahler and Beethoven is not Sawa’s greatest accomplishment; his greatest accomplishment is bringing Mahler and Beethoven to the people.

Classical can be intimidating.

Some experts scorn beginners,

people who want nothing more than an evening of entertainment.

Sawa scoffs at this. “Snobbery is another form of prejudice,” he says.

“I thought if I ever make it in this field, that’s the last thing I’m going to do.” Like Leonard Bernstein, who conducted the New York Philharmonic, wrote Broadway musicals and partied all night, Sawa is a populist.

“Except,” he laughs, “I have no cape.

Bernstein had a cape.”

“It’s like a great novel,” he says of classical music’s broad appeal.

“You can read it on many levels. Don Quixote is the perfect example. They say you read it in your youth because it’s a story, you read it in your middle age because you’re starting to understand, and you read it in your old age for the wisdom. Great art, great literature, great music — it’s the same thing. It’s totally satisfying on every single level.”

Ultimately, Sawa appreciates good art. In a single sentence he will reference Dvořák and the Beatles; he’s read Balzac, but he’s intimately familiar with Rowling, too. His enthusiasm is contagious, and it has done wonders to popularize classical music in Saskatchewan. By recruiting pop artists, conducting dozens of movie scores, and attracting dynamic young performers, Sawa has blurred the line between genres. It’s simple,

really. All Sawa wants to do is share the things he loves.

And while he still harbours dreams of moving to New York and conducting opera, Sawa knows that he can make a difference in Saskatchewan, if only by showing people how it feels to ride a tidal wave of sound and joy. After think-

ing for a moment, he says: “It’s not a root canal. Don’t worry: it’s not that painful.”

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Photo: courtesy of computer_saskboy

Change we can believe in Why we don’t think plebiscites are a good way to go. by the editors of Verb

A

plebiscite, according to the Oxford dictionary, is “the direct vote of all the members of an electorate on an important public question.”

The only reason we bring this up is because in last week’s anti-penny tax editorial, we mentioned the idea that, should that tariff become law, it could possibly lead to referendums (ie. plebiscites) on various projects.

And we are not fans of that idea.

In fact, we feel that direct, representative democracy — while decent, just and equitable in theory — probably isn’t in our best interests. Now, that’s not to say that we all shouldn’t participate in the politics of our respective communities, nor that we shouldn’t educate ourselves on the issues that affect us. But what we are saying is that plebiscites are simply not the way to go about it.

Consider this: if you are of the esteem that governments are bad now, imagine how bad it would become if each person had his or her say on every last, single issue put forth?

Think about the squawking and jockeying. Think about the threat of herd mentality, the ineffectiveness, the wild inefficiency.

“Democracy,” H.L. Mencken once wrote, “is the pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.” Individual ignorance, that’s the ticket. That’s what makes plebiscites and referendums and

participatory democracy so darn risky. Now don’t get us wrong, we’re not using ignorance in a derogatory, all-encompassing sense. Not at all.

You, dear reader, are intelligent and socially responsible and politically savvy. But the thing is, not everyone is like you. There are people out there who aren’t educated on the issues — politics may not interest them, or they’re more go-with-the-flow individuals. There’s also the individuals who want consultation on every last little thing, or those who only rely on second-hand knowledge they picked up around the way. Combine all this with a fickle public opinion and, well, things could really go south in a big damn hurry if pure democracy ever came to our city.

Because no matter which way you slice it, decisions made by an uninformed electorate are democratic but they’re not always decent. That’s why we elect politicians to represent us. It’s their job to be informed. It’s their job to keep their constituents’ concerns in mind, even, from time to time, to make decisions that are unpopular with the majority because it’s for the better of the community.

And yes, like you good reader, we too bemoan the ever-weakening role of individual citizens in the political process. We detest that, at times, it feels like we’re being tossed into the flotsam and jetsam of political boondoggling. But here’s the thing:

there’s something we can do about it.

Something that doesn’t require a plebiscite.

You see, on a municipal level, city council is open to the public. If you have an issue and/or want to get more involved in the process, attend council meetings. Get council’s attention and inspire change. But if you don’t want to do that, well, how about we leave the politicians to do their thing on our behalf. Are they infallible? Certainly not. Are certain politicians power-hungry rascals who operate in their own self interest? You bet. But that’s why we need recall provisions — where an elected official can be removed from office before the end of term through a direct vote — to get rid of the cheating, conniving politicos we elect.

We think that’s a much better solution than simply transforming our society into a flat-out direct democracy. And if you disagree, that’s fine. But if you’re hellbent on plebiscites and pure democracy, just remember this other quote from Mencken: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”

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On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about the idea of a penny tax. Here’s what you had to say:

text yo thoughtsur to 881 Ve r b 8372

– We are taxed enough remember elections coming up new maYor should put money for more infrastructure roads

– ...She hand’s me her cell phone says it’s my dad.... Man this ain’t my dad! This is a cell phone!!!! I THREW IT ON THE GROUND!!!!!!

– Look taxes aren’t fun, we all get that, but I think having a specific fund set aside only for infrastructure makes total sense, and would be something I would support, should it come to a vote.

– Preferred old Verb format better.

Looks like your trying to compete with Metro. I like your niche with small info bytes - more arts stuff.

– Right so every time before Harper didn’t mean to make any mistakes with money, but this time if we just give him a teeny bit more everything will be all right.

OFF TOPIC – I enjoyed reading people freaking out over the ‘holy crap article more then reading the article itself. Settle down people. The verb is right and you know it.

In response to “Holy crap,” Editorial page,

– Don’t get the commenters who say there’s nothing to read. Not as many stories but longer, more in depth material. I don’t really love the verb but I appreciate the direction you’re trying.

– Great sodoku is back. Why so many mistakes? Its hard to complete.

– It really is funny how this weeks Verb has got the Sudoko in it.. after so many complained about it being gone. What’s the deal with it?

Verb’s new layout is a success, if for no other reason than people are wining about it.

you are don’t let anybody bring you down God loves all his children!

– Good Luck Verb i still love you!

– The damn thing is so boring you cant find anything to read!;->

– So excited for Breakout west gonna check out as many shows as I can!!!!

#45 (September 14, 2012)

– Churches like any charity should be tax exempt. How would you like money you’ve donated going to taxes rather than for the cause or faith you support? Gov. already gets its cut with corporate and personal income taxes. Its also ironic that this article was published in the same issue as the article about the struggles of Hands on Street Ministries.

– Like the other person says the new verb sucks also too many ads not enough stories!;-(

– I used to enjoy reading Verb on the toilet...now its only good for toilet paper. New Verb sucks!

In response to “Holy crap,” Editorial page, #45 (September 14, 2012)

SOUND OFF – Firing your Legal Aid lawyer to defend yourself is DOWNtown!

– People whine to no end EVERY SINGLE TIME Facebook changes it’s layout, explaining ad nauseum how the new version is so much worse than the last…yet nobody would ever go back to the very first version if they could. Based on this info, I’m going to say that

– QUACK QUACK QUACK! Any Big Brother fan will get this! Go Ian!

– Lets face it. Christian Fundamentalists who cling to strict I.D. doctrine just aren’t as evolved as the rest of us.

– I AINT missing you since you’ve been gone away i AINT missing you at all ! N0 matter...

– To all the gay lesbian and transgender people be proud of who

– Heaven God Allah help any pocket of racially ethnically whatever “pure” people in the face of the cosmopolitan leviathian thats breeding across the planet!

– I see the RPS step over the line quite a lot. They’re arrogant cops.

I’d go after em for it. Got pics vid.

But I’m satisfied knowing how punk ass they are.

– News report last night. Chili for Children turning away hungry kids in North Central Regina.

Poverty is on the rise. In the middle of a so called boom. Loser Society!

Nothing but greedy selfish losers!

Nobody went hungry, least of all children, when the aboriginal chiefs rules this land!

Next week: What do you think about our view of plebiscites? Pick up a copy of Verb to get in on the conversation.

We print your texts verbatim each week. Text in your thoughts and reactions to our stories and content, or anything else on your mind.

– Be the positive change that you wish to see in the world.

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Billy Bishop Goes to War

Jacob James tackles one of Canada’s greatest heroes.

by Alex J MacPherson

B

illy Bishop is a figure of some controversy, but that hasn’t blunted his legacy as a Canadian hero. Born in Ontario, Bishop won the Victoria Cross after a lone wolf raid on a German aerodrome in June, 1917, before amassing the third-highest kill count of the war. Tracing the journey from adolescence to hardened adulthood, Billy Bishop Goes to War, a play by John Gray in collaboration with Eric Peterson, examines the folly of war, and how a young man from Ontario became the symbol of a nation. Jacob James plays Bishop in the play; I caught up with him to talk about Bishop’s legacy.

Alex J MacPherson: Bishop is an extraordinarily complicated figure.

What’s your take on him?

Jacob James: I think this play is the story of the journey from boy to man, and it happens to be under the cloak of the Great War. What I find fascinating about the real history, and also the story of the play, is

how does a kid from Owen Sound, who is cheating on his exams and stealing canoes to go meet girls … end up becoming the leading flying ace of World War One? AJM: What does it mean to you, as an actor, to play a character like Bishop?

AJM: You play multiple characters besides Bishop. What’s that like?

JJ: It’s kind of my lot. I’m the kind of actor who usually plays five roles in the same play. I did the Canadian premier of The 39 Steps. It’s a four-hander, but there are two actors called the

[H]ow does a kid from Owen Sound … end up becoming the leading flying ace…

Jacob james

JJ: To me it’s obviously quite a huge honour. I was very, very close with my grandfather, who was in the navy in World War Two. We were best friends. He used to speak so highly of his older brother Eddie, who was an observer in the Air Force. He was shot down. All my life I’ve been aware of fighter pilots and the war, through my grandpa. This play in particular is a great gift for any actor.

Clowns and they play about 12 different characters each. I really enjoy the exercise of doing that, of trying to make the audience feel like they’re seeing 20 different people up there.

AJM: The play tracks Bishop’s transition from wide-eyed young man to hardened veteran. Is acting that journey a challenge?

JJ: There’s a quote, when he’s getting told he’s going on extended leave

and [will] not fly again, to preserve colonial morale. In his argument he says, “You don’t understand, sir. I like it.” As an actor, it’s a wonderful challenge to see how it starts as this kid who doesn’t really care about the war, and gets to the point where he actually thrives on killing people.

I just find it fascinating, that question, that someone who is inherently polite and kind — the Canadian personality — can get to the point where he enjoys killing.

AJM: This play also includes a lot of music. What is that like?

JJ: I feel that this is predominantly a play that has music in it. They aren’t

songs in the sense of Les Mis, where words can’t encapsulate the emotion so they break into song. There are moments where I think it borders into the act of using the song as an extension of the emotion, though.

This play covers all sorts of emotions.

It makes you laugh and it makes you cry — and it makes you think.

Billy Bishop Goes to War October 10-28 @ Globe Theatre $29+ @ Globe Theatre Box Office Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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It connected everything Rodney DeCroo on the Allegheny.

W

hat a filthy river.”

This is Rodney DeCroo’s description of the Allegheny, a polluted ribbon of black water that bisects Pennsylvania and feeds the massive Ohio. DeCroo grew up on its banks, swimming in the oily water; he could see it from his bedroom window. Dark and dangerous, the Allegheny was the longitudinal centre of DeCroo’s childhood. It was the scene of great joy and great pain. Now, the Allegheny is the subject of DeCroo’s latest record, a collection of poems set to music called Allegheny, BC. “When I was a kid and I had read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I was captivated by the idea of the Mississippi River,” DeCroo says. “It ran through the centre of America and it seemed to run through the centre of the story and everyone’s lives. It connected everything. For myself, the river back home, the Allegheny, it’s hard to explain — that’s the reason I write poems.”

DeCroo is an accomplished songwriter, and one of Canada’s most powerful voices. He has released six albums to date. Allegheny, BC is his first collection of spoken-word

by alex J MacPherson

pieces — he calls them poem-songs.

Tracing the arc of DeCroo’s life, from his troubled upbringing in the United States to his turbulent teenage years in British Columbia, Allegheny, BC strips away the fog of history, leaving only raw experience — gritty, gripping experience.

“I believe art should challenge us,” DeCroo says, pointing to the painful memories dredged from the Allegheny. “And I believe art needs to go into the difficult places and create something from it. We all have those things in us. I think to connect with them through art, and to have them transformed, to find the beauty, the meaning, the transcendence in them, gives us something you can’t get elsewhere.”

For DeCroo, songs and poems have redemptive power. His life was transformed by the simple act of writing; the current of words carries the pain away. By exposing himself, his memories and his experiences to the rushing river, DeCroo offers a poignant symbol of hope.

“It seems to be its own thing,” DeCroo says of the Allegheny. “Deep and mysterious, it connects all these

Photo: courtesy of Robyn jamieson

places. More importantly, it’s a symbol for ourselves.”

The song “Allegheny” ends the same way it begins. “All summer we swam in it,” DeCroo crows. “What a filthy river.”

Rodney DeCroo October 18 @ The Club $ TBD

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Eric Kanius and the role of a lifetime. by alex J MacPherson

C

at on a Hot Tin Roof is one of the most important and influential American plays of the twentieth century. Written by Tennessee Williams, who is best known for A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a classic study of a family in crisis. Set against the backdrop of the south in the 1950s, the play captures a thin slice of America in a period of sweeping change and uncertainty. Even today, it casts a long shadow.

“Both the location and decade together make for a very heady time, when racial and gender tensions were coming to a head,” Eric Kanius

writes in an e-mail. “In the script, however, Williams’ avoids discussing regional problems in order to focus on the themes that the play revolves around.”

course of the play, must deal with the death of a friend and a disintegrating marriage, in Regina Little Theatre’s upcoming production of the wellknown drama.

Both the location and decade together make for a very heady time…

Eric Kanius

Kanius, who is 22, is starring as Brick, the alcoholic progeny of a dying cotton tycoon who, during the

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is, like all great stories, about human nature.

From Brick’s wife Maggie, who

escaped poverty by marrying Brick and must come to grips with the hollowness of wealth, to his father, Big Daddy Pollitt, who must balance his mendacious children and a carefullyconstructed web of lies, each member of the family must battle demons.

Stripped bare and laid out for consumption, these struggles shed light on our nature, which Kanius thinks is malleable: “Even though this play is getting to be 60 years old, people are stubborn, selfish, and just struggling to survive,” he writes.

“Even with that harsh side to the characters in the play, they all have their softer side, even Brick. They all care about something in a genuine and honest way.”

Ultimately, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is not a play about answers; it is a

play about questions, the massive problems that we all must confront — life and death, family and friends.

“It is very exciting to have the privilege of being in a Tennessee Williams’ play,” Kanius writes. “The challenge of bringing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to its full potential is a big one, but who said a challenge is a bad thing?”

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof October 3-6 @ Regina Performing Arts Centre $19 @ Regina Performing Arts Centre Box Office, or at 779-2277

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Photo: courtesy of Vanessa Heins

Sonic expansion

How Cuff the Duke is the Canadian Wilco, and why that is a good thing. by Alex J MacPherson

I

n 2004, Chuck Klosterman wrote an essay for Spin about Wilco, a rock band from Chicago. Conceived as a profile of Jeff Tweedy, the band’s profoundly interesting singer, the piece is important today because of the parallels Klosterman drew between Wilco and Radiohead.

“The story of Wilco — and the arc of Tweedy’s career — is ultimately a story of sonic expansion,” Klosterman wrote. This sentence could easily be repurposed to suit Thom Yorke and Radiohead; indeed, when the story was collected, it appeared under the title “The American Radiohead.”

This is important because if Wilco is the American Radiohead, then the Canadian Wilco is a band from Oshawa called Cuff the Duke. Their story is also one of sonic expansion, their singer also profoundly interesting. His name is Wayne Petti.

Naturally, the first question I asked him was about Wilco.

“I love Wilco,” he replied, laughing. “Is that obvious? I guess we

love bands that do that. It’s funny, sometimes for us we don’t always see the forest for the trees. You start out thinking the record is going to sound one way and it ends up sounding a bit different, maybe not quite how you thought it would, but in a positive way.” Petti is talking about Union, the second half of a two-album cycle the band set in motion with Morning Comes, which was released in October 2011. (When I interviewed Petti last year, he promised that Cuff the Duke would release another album within a year. That conversation took place on October 7; Union will be released on October 2.)

Like all Cuff the Duke records, Union is different from its predecessors.

Morning Comes was a sombre affair.

“Our way of dealing with anxiety or sadness is by not necessarily talking about it, but expressing it through music,” Petti told me last year. Union has lost none of the sincerity that pervaded its predecessor, but its sonic profile is effervescent.

“When we made Morning Comes, it was very much acoustic-based,” Petti says. “I don’t think I even played electric guitar at all on that record.

On this record…I played electric guitar almost all the time and we would overdub the acoustic. Right out of the gate, I knew I wanted it to be more electric” Instrumentation aside, Union is part of Petti’s vision for the band, a pair of albums that work in tandem. “I envisioned it being figuratively, and almost literally, two chapters of a book,” he says. “Morning Comes has a beginning, middle, and end, and Union…has a beginning, middle, and end. But they connect.”

These connections are subtle.

Petti wrote parts of Union in response to certain songs on Morning Comes, though it’s not entirely clear where reflection ends and progression begins. Casual fans of the band might not conclude that they are two sides of the same coin. This pleases Petti.

“That is where double records get boring,” he says. “If you listen to the first side of the White Album and the second side of the White Album —

Jesus, comparing the White Album to anything is ridiculous! — they’re so different.” He’s right. If the songs on Morning Comes and Union had been culled from the same batch, Petti’s ambitious plan would seem like a gimmick. The concept works because it’s not obvious that it should.

What is obvious is how good Union is. Capturing elements of the band’s previous efforts while pushing

The opener, “Live My Life,” begins with a spacey guitar riff that is soon subsumed by a wickedly fast country rock anthem with Petti snarling over top of the reverb-drenched guitars.

The album’s other bookend, “Night After Night,” is a straightforward rocker that reads like a promise for the future: “You have to keep your head up, night after night,” Petti wails. “You have got to keep your

As a songwriter, it’s a challenge … but it always ends up working out…

Wayne Petti

the boundaries of what four guys with guitars can achieve, Union sounds like a Cuff the Duke record without sounding like any other Cuff the Duke record. The best song on the album, “Something for Free,” is reminiscent of an electrified Bob Dylan cover — the perfect fusion of expansive sound and pointed lyrics.

head up, ‘cause it’s do or die. You’re going to make it through the night.”

Petti, though, is quick to divest himself of responsibility for Union.

He is the principal songwriter but he attributes the band’s ability to reinvent itself to the other members: Paul Lowman, A.J. Johnson, and François Turenne. “We all really Continued on next page »

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Photo: courtesy of Vanessa Heins

push each other,” he explains. “On this record, I brought in some of the songs and there were a couple times when the guys said, ‘We’ve done this feel already. Maybe we should try something different.’ As a songwriter, it’s a challenge … but it always ends up working out — and that’s the best thing about being in a band.”

The pop sensibilities that pervade Union are also, to some degree, the result of good production. Cuff the Duke have been working with Greg Keelor, a founding member of Blue Rodeo, since 2009. Keelor produced Way Down Here and Morning Comes; after the success of those records, Petti invited him to work on Union as well. But even familiar faces couldn’t shake the anxiety Petti felt on the first day of tracking. “When we started making it and recording it, I remember the first day I just felt overwhelmed, like maybe we’d bitten off more than we could chew,” he says. “I guess for me the studio is always a bit overwhelming. You go in there with all these ideas and then you have to rein all of that in and

make it happen.” Petti started to relax on the second day, and by the third the mellowed ambience and slow pace started to produce results.

Union is Cuff the Duke’s best record to date. What’s really important, though, is how it slots into the band’s catalogue. The first two albums, Life Stories for Minimum Wage and Cuff the Duke, offered plenty of synth-infused pop songs; Sidelines of the City, was a straightforward alt-country record. Way Down Here was airier than anything the band had done previously, and Morning Comes was the brooding font of intellectual and emotional depth. In Wilco terms, the list reads something like this: Being There, Summerteeth, A.M., Sky Blue Sky, and A Ghost is Born. Which leaves a big hole. A Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-sized hole.

Put simply, Union is a pivotal moment for Cuff the Duke. It is their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Born from a decade of experimentation, Union is both the culmination of their work to

date and a roadmap for the future — tangible evidence of just what Petti and his bandmates can accomplish.

Like Wilco, Cuff the Duke will never be content mining the same piece of land for long. Petti said he always looks forward to the next Wilco record because he never knows what to expect. Now, there are thousands of people across this country wondering what on earth Cuff the Duke will come up with next.

At the end of his article about Tweedy, Klosterman wrote, “If every band was like Wilco, rock music would be a whole lot stranger.” This is true, but it’s also true that if every band was like Cuff the Duke, rock music would be a whole lot better.

Cuff the Duke October 6 @ The Exchange $ 15 @ ticketedge.ca Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Pretty, Delicious Outstanding baked goods & healthy lunches at Magpies Kitchen. by jessica Bickford

T

he first thing you will notice about Magpies Kitchen is just how adorable the whole place is. With blonde wood and gleaming display cases, the entire café is cute and bright with a friendly atmosphere.

Shannon and Sharron Matthews are sisters who opened Magpies Kitchen about two years ago, where

the best of what is in season. Luckily my visit fell at the end of summer, when the majority of their ingredients were fresh from the garden.

I started out with Thai noodle salad with portobello mushrooms, which was full of colourful veggies and gently tossed in a citrus dressing with a touch of spice and cilantro.

After this was a green and black bean

[The] local spaghetti squash frittata … was full of tender squash and salty bacon. jessica Bickford

they started off offering homemade baked goods. But demand quickly increased for lunch options, and they happily obliged.

The selection at Magpies Kitchen changes almost daily, and the sisters use local, organic ingredients as much as they can in order to make

succotash, which was vivid and had a bit of crunch from the corn and red peppers.

The open-faced lemon herb cream and garden tomato sandwich on house-made focaccia was honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten. The garden basil, ripe

tomatoes and creamy spread all atop the dense and hearty bread was just perfect: indulgent yet wholesome.

Last for lunch was a local spaghetti squash frittata, which was dense and cheesy, full of tender squash and salty bacon. This was served with a spinach, patty pan squash and beet salad with saskatoon vinaigrette.

Up next was an assortment of fantastic baked goods, starting with lime shortbread biscuits that were buttery, citrusy, and rich. The strawberry rhubarb scone was flaky, and dotted with fruit that gave it a sweet, tart flavour. A prairie cherry and dark chocolate muffin was up last, and it was an indulgent treat to have with your coffee.

Magpies doesn’t just have wonderful food, it is also an outstanding coffee shop with a great selection of beverages that are made with just as much care as the edibles. I tried a classic cappuccino, which was beautifully presented, an aromatic chai tea latte, and a London fog that was both delicate and sweet.

I can’t say enough nice things about Magpies Kitchen because they are doing everything right. From their focus on fresh, local, seasonal dishes, to the obvious love that goes into everything they make, the Matthews sisters have created a little oasis of sweetness.

Magpies Kitchen 4059 Albert St. | (306) 546 4647

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372 @TheGeekCooks jbickford@verbnews.com

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide Spiked Autumn Chai

Ingredients

As the season starts to change and the evenings get cooler, a warming mug of something creamy is just the ticket. The spices of chai along with a healthy dose of tasty flavoured liqueurs take this hot drink to a new level.

8 oz. brewed chai tea 3 oz. milk or cream 1 oz. bourbon ½ oz. Grand Marnier ½ oz. amaretto 1 cinnamon stick

Directions

In a saucepan, bring the brewed tea and milk (or cream) up to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Pour the bourbon, Grand Marnier, and amaretto into a mug before adding the hot tea mixture. Add the cinnamon stick as both a garnish and flavour enhancing stir stick, and enjoy!

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Next Week

coming up

Bob Dylan

Jeffery Michael StrakeR

Dallas Smith

@ Brandt Centre Saturday, October 6 – $52.50-135

@ The Artful Dodger wednesday, october 10 – $15 (advance) $20 (at the door)

@ Pump Roadhouse Tuesday, November 20 – $20

Simply put, the man formerly known as Robert Allen Zimmerman is a living legend. A giant in the history of American music who stomped the terra to the beat of his own drummer. One of the most important cultural figures alive, and one of the finest poets of the 20th century. Bob Dylan’s body of work, which spans five decades, includes classics like “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Tangled Up in Blue” and oh so many more.

And now he’s heading back on tour to promote his 35th studio album, Tempest. He’ll be stopping in Regina in early October to grace the Brandt Centre with his legendary presence, and to put on a show that’s definitely worth catching. Tickets available at Ticketmaster.

Jeffery Michael Straker is a busy man. Performing more than 100 shows a year all across Canada, the singer/songwriter from Punnichy, Saskatchewan, has paid his road dues. With a catchy yet raw folk/ pop sound, Straker has won fans across the country. A classically trained pianist, Straker is also a highly accomplished songwriter, and was a top-10 finalist in the Canadian Radiostar National Songwriting Competition and a top-20 finalist in the global Unisong Competition.

He’ll be releasing his new album, Vagabond, in early October. Don’t miss your chance to hear Straker when he performs at The Artful Dodger on the 10th. Advance tickets for the show are available at www.ticketedge.ca.

For a decade or so, Dallas Smith was the lead singer of the post-grunge/alt-rock band, Default. From 2001 to 2010, Smith and his bandmates pumped out hits like “Wasting My Time,” “Deny” and “Count on Me.” These days, however, Smith — who hails from Langley — has taken his musical talents in a new direction.

Having grown up in a house where country music played alongside classic rock, Smith decided to try his hand at the former. Earlier this year he released his first solo country album, Jumped Right In. For the former Default frontman, country music has always been about the “special combination of voice and song,” a combination that immediately stands out on his new record. He’s on tour this autumn with Chad Brownlee.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: the artist / the artist / the artist

Sask music Preview Dallas Boyer is one of many Saskatchewan artists nominated for an Aboriginal Peoples’ Choice Award this year. The 22-year-old Metis man from Saskatoon began playing the fiddle when he was nearly nine years old, and has learned from the likes of John Arcand and Lenny Dumont. His album, Metis Fiddle Music, is nominated for album of the year.

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

Photo: courtesy of the artist

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september 28 » october 6 The most complete live music listings for Regina.

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28 29 5

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Indigo Joseph, Federal Lights, JP Hoe, Rococode, The Lonesome Weekends / Artesian on 13th — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 9:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Blake Berglund, Tenille, Sean Hogan, Keith and Renee, Jerry Sereda / The Artful Dodger — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of the BreakOut West Festival. 8:45pm / http:// breakoutwest.ca/ Sarah MacDougall, Belle Plaine, Dana Sipos, Oh My Darling / The Club — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Joal Kamps, Mireille Moquin, Zachary Lucky, Rosie and The Riveters / Crave — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Scott Benson Band, Alexis Normand, Michel Lalonde, Marco Castillo / Creative City Centre — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 9:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ The Magnetic North, Indian City, Slow Down, Molasses, Shuyler Jansen, Castle River, Cityreal / The Exchange — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West.

8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Don Amero, Brandon Isaak, David Gogo, The Harpoonists and the Axe Murderer, The Ramblin Ambassadors / The Gaslight Saloon — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 9:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s Martini & Cocktail Club — Local DJs spin top 40 hits. 9pm / $5 cover Alain Lalonde / The Hookah Lounge — Come check out this local DJ. 7pm Mary Caroline, Fur Eel, Sidney York, Smokekiller, The Steadies, Foun-

tains of Youth / McNally’s Tavern — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Flo, Animal Nation, Georgia Murray, Evil Ebenezer, Rellik / O’Hanlon’s — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 9:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Albert / Pure Ultra Lounge — Appearing every Friday night. 10pm / $5 cover Conrad Bigknife / The Sip Nightclub — This will be a night of country done right. 10pm / No cover if in attendance before 6pm Jeff McLeod, Val Halla, colleen brown, Cam Penner / Slow Pub — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Jessica Moskaluke / Whiskey Saloon — With edgy vocals and a stunning voice, Moskaluke has won fans from here to Nashville. 8pm / Cover $10 DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm / Cover $10

Saturday 29

Scott Benson Band, Jeff McLeod, Belle Plaine, Cam Penner, Indio Saravanja, Jason Plumb and The Willing / Artesian on 13th — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Don Amero, Murray Porter, Jerry Sereda, Indian City, Rellik / The Artful Dodger — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West.

8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Zachary Luck, Mary Caroline, Sean Hogan, Keith and Renee / The Club — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Marco Castillo, Sarah MacDougal, Oh My Darling, Dana Sipos / Crave — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Michel Lalonde, Mireille Moquin, Alexis Normand, Daniel ROA / Creative City Centre — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Indigo Joseph, JP Hoe, The Magnetic North, Rococode, Sidney York, Said the Whale / The Exchange — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/

Shuyler Jansen, Castle River, Fountains of Youth, Makeshift Innocence, The Steadies / The Gaslight Saloon — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West.

9:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ DJ Noor / Hookah Lounge — This DJ knows how to rock a crowd. 7pm / $5 cover Tenille, Blake Berglund, The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer, The Ramblin’ Ambassadors, Imaginary Cities, Slow Down, Molasses / McNally’s Tavern — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Smokekiller, Flo, Jeans Boots, Library Voices, Foam Lake, Federal Lights / O’Hanlon’s Pub — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Drewski / Pure Ultra Lounge — Doing what he does best. 10pm / $5 cover Conrad Bigknife / The Sip Nightclub — This country musician puts on quite a show. 10pm / No cover if in attendance before 6pm Val Halla, Joal Kamps, Brandon Isaak, David Gogo / Slow Pub — Come and enjoy some great live tunes courtesy of BreakOut West. 8:45pm / http://breakoutwest.ca/ Jessica Moskaluke / Whiskey Saloon — With edgy vocals and a stunning voice, Moskaluke has won fans from here to Nashville. 8pm / Cover $10

Sunday 30

Nick Fay, Tara Holloway, Tiny / Creative City Centre — Celebrating the final day of Culture Days. 7:30pm / No cover Lee Baxter, Tim Richards / The Exchange — East meets west as presented by the Zarifah Dance Troupe. 5pm / Tickets $15 (advance@Vintage Vinyl or email info@ascherarose.ca), $20 at the door

Monday 1

Monday Night Jazz / Bushwakker Brewpub — Featuring The Whole Half Steps. 8pm / No cover

Tuesday 2

Troubadour Tuesdays / Bocados — Come check out some live tunes from local talents. 8pm / No cover Karaoke Tuesday / McNally’s Tavern — Show what you got! 8pm / No cover Kathleen Edwards / The Exchange — This songstress has a bold, reckless, beautiful voice. 7:30pm / Cover $20 (advance), $25 (door)

Wednesday 3

Wednesday Night Folk / Bushwakker Brewpub — Featuring The Sean Burns Trio. 9pm / No cover Kathleen Edwards / The Exchange — This songstress has a bold, reckless, beautiful voice. 7:30pm / Tickets purchased for the postponed shows will be honoured tonight

Thursday 4

2 Beats & A Hat / Artful Dodger — Presented by DJ Verbal & E-Major, the first Thursday of every month. 7pm / $5 in advance or at the door Nova / Creative City Centre — A mix of raw, post punk and catchy indie. 7:30pm / Cover $10 PS Fresh / The Hookah Lounge — DJ Ageless and DJ Drewski have come together to sling some bomb beats. 7pm / No cover Open Mic Night / King’s Head Tavern — Come out and play. 8pm / No cover Dr. Bird & Blue Beat / McNally’s Tavern — This rocksteady/reggae/ska band is all kinds of funky. 10pm / Cover $5 DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm / Cover $5 J.J. Voss / Whiskey Saloon –This local country/Americana/folk rock singer rocks. 8pm / Cover $10

musician is great! 8pm / Tickets $30–35 (available at the Show Lounge box office or online at www.casinoregina.com) Meaghan Smith / Conexus Arts Centre — The RSO’s Shumiatcher Pop concert series will kick off with this 2011 Juno Award winning vocalist. 8pm / Tickets $39+ (tickets.reginasymphony.com) Cuff the Duke / The Exchange — From Oshawa, this Ontario alt-country band is really worth checking out. 8pm / Tickets $15 (www.ticketedge.ca) Sean Burns Band / McNally’s Tavern — A slick singer/songwriter. 10pm / Cover $5 The Pack A.D. / O’Hanlon’s — A garage duo from Vancouver that’s pretty darn good. Early show / No cover.

DJ Noor / The Hookah Lounge — This talented DJ knows how to rock a crowd.

7pm / $5 cover Drewski / Pure Ultra Lounge — Doing what he does best, every Saturday night.

Come on down and dance the night away with this local DJ. 10pm / $5 cover J.J. Voss / Whiskey Saloon — With more than 15 years of live stage performances under his belt buckle, this local country/ Americana/folk rock singer based out of Regina has come by his inspired stage presence honestly. 8pm / Cover $10

Get listed

Friday 5

DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s Martini & Cocktail Club — Local DJs spin top 40 hits every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover Alain Lalonde / The Hookah Lounge — Come check out this dope local DJ/ producer. 7pm Sean Burns Band / McNally’s Tavern — A slick singer/songwriter. 10pm / Cover $5 Albert / Pure Ultra Lounge — Appearing every Friday night. 10pm / $5 cover J.J. Voss / Whiskey Saloon — This local country/Americana/folk rock singer rocks. 8pm / Cover $10 DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm / Cover $10

Have a live show you'd like to promote? Let us know! layout@verbnews.com

Saturday 6

The Bystanders / The Artesian — This local folk/rock four-piece is holding a CD release party. 8pm / Cover $15 Bob Dylan / Brandt Centre — A living music legend. 7:30pm / $52.50–135 (www.ticketmaster.ca) Dan Hill / Casino Regina — This Grammy-winning/five-time-Juno-winning

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Friday, september 21 @

The Exchange The Cultural Exchange 2431 8th Avenue (306) 780 9494

Music vibe / Eclectic, depending on who is performing about / The Exchange is a live music venue promoting

both local and touring artists Coming up / BreakOut West shows September 28 and

29, Kathleen Edwards October 2 & 3, Pass the Hat October 12, and more

Photography by Klein Photography – feedback@verbnews.com

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Photo: Courtesy of TriStar Pictures

Throwing sci-fi for a loop Rian Johnson’s Looper is a brain-rattling, mind-blowing time travel flick. by adam hawboldt

Q

uick, name your five favourite movies about time travel. You have thirty seconds…twenty…ten…

Okay, time’s up. What did you come up with? If you’d asked me last week, my answer would have been something like: 12 Monkeys, Donnie Darko, Terminator, Back to the Future, and Groundhog Day. Wait, is Groundhog Day even a time travel flick? Maybe not. So to be safe, let’s stick Hot Tub Time Machine on that list instead.

At any rate, that’s how my list would’ve looked last week. But now that I’ve seen Looper one of those other movies simply has to go.

And to be completely honest, I thought Looper was better than all of them. There. I said it. “Looper is the best time travel movie I have ever seen.”

Written and directed by Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom), Looper tells the story of Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an assassin in the

year 2040. You quickly learn that, while time travel has not been invented yet, it soon will be. Thirty or so years in the future, crime syndicates will begin sending targets back in time that need to be killed.

That’s where “loopers” like Joe come in. It’s his job to kill these targets and dispose of their corpses.

And on the surface, for people of a certain bent, it seems like a pretty good, high-paying job. But there’s

Looper Rian Johnson Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis + Emily Blunt

Directed by Starring

118 minutes | 14A

So when Joe from 2070 (Bruce Willis) gets sent back in time for disposal, Joe from 2040 sets out to close the loop and kill the older version of himself.

[A]s far as acting goes, everybody here is at the absolute top of their game.

Adam Hawboldt

a catch. Eventually, old loopers are sent into the past to be executed by their younger selves. This strange, sadistic form of suicide is called “closing the loop.”

Problem is, old Joe is a pretty hard dude to kill. And when young Joe briefly hesitates, the Joe from 2070 escapes. This is called “letting the loop run.”

What happens after the old Joe runs, well, that I refuse to tell you because this is the kind of movie you simply have to see for yourself.

Visually, it’s stunning. Intellectually, it’s the kind of movie that leaves you wanting more.

And as far as acting goes, everybody here is at the absolute top of their game.

Bruce Willis does his thing, Joseph Gordon-Levitt expertly captures the subtle nuances as a younger version of Willis, and the rest of the cast — from Emily Blunt to Paul Dano and Piper Perabo — are flat-out awesome.

As for director/writer Rian Johnson, well, he’s exactly what the doctor ordered to help remedy

the sick, sad state Hollywood is stuck in at the moment. His range is uncanny; his vision arresting and unpredictable.

A real and incredible talent, that’s what Johnson is. Gordon-Levitt, too.

So far they’ve made two amazing movies together (Gordon-Levitt was also in Brick).

And here’s hoping it’s a partnership that will continue long into the future.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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Family Issues

Photo: Courtesy of VAGRANT FILMS RELEASING

In the Family is a meditative and engrossing piece of filmmaking. by adam hawboldt

T

he trailer for In the Family begins with a stark black screen and a voiceover.

The voice is deliberate, a sonorous southern baritone. The voice asks a character named Joey if he’s going to be okay. Then it tells Joey he has to figure out what’s important to him, regardless of the law.

This captivating voice belongs to Brian Murray (who plays a lawyer in the film), and in a way its slow, measured pace mirrors the pace of the entire movie. Its seriousness echoes the film’s seriousness.

Written, directed and starring Patrick Wang, In the Family is the kind of movie that doesn’t come around very often. It’s a serious, unsentimental piece of filmmaking that explores the essence of human nature in a new and interesting way. It’s a meditative motion picture that pulls the audience into its fold without seemingly trying. It’s the kind of movie in which nothing really happens, yet everything seems to happen all at once.

And no matter how that sounds on paper, In the Family is a stark and stunning debut from a guy who may very well end up becoming an important director/writer/actor in the not-so-distant future.

The movie tells the story of Joey (Wang), an Asian-American man who is living with his lover, Cody (Trevor St. John). Cody has a young son named Chip (Sebastien Banes) from a former marriage. Things are happy in the household. Life is good.

Then Cody dies in an accident and everything goes all topsy turvy.

In his will (which one would assume was written before falling

[A]t the very heart of it, In the Family is a film about love and … family.

Adam Hawboldt

in love with Joey), Cody has granted his sister and her husband custody of Chip. From there, Joey works towards trying to get the kid back.

“Trying” being the operative word here, because being an Asian, gay man in Tennessee, well, let’s just say Joey has some things working against him.

But don’t be mistaken. In the Family isn’t a film about gay plight

Compliance In the family Directed by Patrick Craig Zobel Wang Starring Ann Patrick Dowd, Wang, Dreama Sebastien Walker + Pat Healy Banes + Trevor St. John 90 minutes 169 minutes | | 14A G

and gay rights. Nor is it a film about racism or prejudice. No, at the very heart of it, In the Family is a film about love and stoic determination and the importance of family.

And even though the movie is long, every scene is so well-crafted and unfolds at such a perfect, deeply focused pace that the movie never drags. It pulls you into Joey’s world. It gives you hope, it touches your heart.

Much of which comes from the acting. Wang is simply amazing as Joey. He’s so effortless and enigmatic that, having never seen Wang on screen before, it’s hard to tell if he’s acting or merely playing himself.

His ability to fold himself into character is compelling.

So too with the rest of the cast.

From lead to supporting actors, every person thrusts him or herself deep into complex roles in order to carry In the Family to stellar heights.

Is it perfect? Well, no. Some people will feel it’s too long or too boring.

But if you’re interested in a movie about the human condition and how people really behave in the real world, don’t miss this one.

In the Family will be screened at the Regina Public Library starting October 4th; see reginalibrary.ca for show times and ticket costs.

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@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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© | Check onthebus.webcomic.ws/ for previous editions! © Elaine ElaineM. M.Will Will| blog.E2W-Illustration.com | blog.E2W-Illustration.com

18 sept 28 – oct 4 entertainment

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crossword canadian criss-cross 26. Term of endearment 28. Bedroom furniture 30. Rocky debris 33. Where plays are shown 37. Before, in poetry 38. Truth alternative 40. Sediment left in the bottom of a wine bottle 41. Not manual 43. Charge for the use of a bridge 45. Velvety surface 46. Roughly-made building 48. Inheritance 50. Largest moon of Saturn 51. Contract negotiator 52. Vein of ore

53. Filly’s brother

DOWN 1. Surgical knife 2. Hill builder 3. Ditch round a castle 4. Dignify 5. Canadian whose parents are Japanese immigrants 6. Lyric poem 7. Having more than enough money 8. Proposal in a meeting 9. Papal court 11. zip.ca rental 12. Put money in the bank 14. Depend on

17. Outstanding conductor 20. Walk in water sudoku answer key 22. Hymn pronoun A 25. Raised livestock 27. Spoken 29. Wood finish 30. Do a caulking job 31. Vinegar bottle 32. The selling of goods 34. Rent payer 35. Do a double take B 36. Catch sight of 39. Go to confession 42. Aware of 44. Brand of toy blocks 47. Degree of difference 49. Hair-styling stuff

8 2 1 6 9 5 4 7 3 7 9 6 2 3 4 8 1 5 5 4 3 8 7 1 6 2 9 4 6 8 1 2 3 5 9 7 9 3 7 4 5 6 1 8 2 1 5 2 9 8 7 3 6 4 6 7 5 3 1 2 9 4 8 2 8 4 5 6 9 7 3 1 3 1 9 7 4 8 2 5 6

1. Like some excuses 5. Standard 9. The law of a church 10. “Down in the dumps” is one 12. Become brown 13. Part of the economy 15. Compass drawing 16. Unabridged dictionary, e.g.

18. Buzzy place 19. The area you can see from a window 21. Can of worms 23. Black gold 24. Proper for food

4 8 3 2 7 6 5 1 9 5 6 1 9 3 8 2 4 7 2 9 7 5 1 4 3 6 8 8 7 4 1 2 5 6 9 3 1 3 5 6 8 9 4 7 2 6 2 9 3 4 7 1 8 5 9 5 8 4 6 3 7 2 1 7 1 6 8 5 2 9 3 4 3 4 2 7 9 1 8 5 6

ACROSS

© walter D. Feener 2012

Horoscopes September 28 – october 4 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

This week facts may not fit the theory, Aries. If that happens, take Einsteins’ advice and change the facts — which is to say, “be flexible.”

Don’t be afraid to look a gift horse in the mouth this week, Leo. That way you can see what it’s eating. Or if it’s going to bite you.

If it feels you’ve been missing the mark as of late, Sagittarius, then here’s some sound and sage advice: move to your left half a step.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

Don’t let people take control of situations you feel you should be in charge of this week, Taurus. Have the courage to stand up for what you believe in.

Your bullcrap detector may be on overload this week, Virgo, as people try to feed you lie after putrid lie.

Don’t let them get you down.

Is someone you know openly jealous of you, Capricorn? If so, there’s only one thing to do. Revel in their envy for the rest of the week.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

You don’t have to beware the ides of March, Gemini. March is a long ways away. But you should beware the police this week. Whatever you do, don’t speed!

For every problem there is usually a simple solution. Except for one you’re about to encounter. Time to start thinking out of the box, Libra.

Lately you’ve been completely out of answers, Aquarius. No worries, though; everything is okay! All you have to do is start avoiding questions.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

Fight or flight? That’s the question this week, Cancer. And if you want our advice: get out of Dodge as fast as your two legs can carry you. Run, Cancer! Run!

This may be one of those weeks where your arse is jealous of all the crap that’s coming out of your mouth. It’s probably best to keep opinions to yourself.

You might find minor things annoying, so for the good of your health carry around a stress ball. Either that, or start working on your apology voice.

sudoku 3 5 1 5 6 3 8 4 7 9 5 1 7 4 2 5 8 7 2 6 2 7 1 8 9 4 6 1 2 9 3 3 4 9 8 6

crossword answer key

A

8 5 4 7 9 6 2 4 3 7 2 9 6 1 2 5 9 3 5 8 1 2 8 6 7 3 1 8 4 9 7 3 1 4 5 6

B

19 sept 28 – oct 4 @verbregina

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