Verb Issue R71 (Mar. 28-Apr. 4, 2013)

read & share

FREE!

Issue #71 – March 28 to april 4

ancient mars the zolas

and

animated life Saskatchewan-born animator talks Family Guy ever after Q+A with Marianas Trench olympus has fallen + bully Films reviewed­

Photo: courtesy of Kirsten berlie

contents

culture

NEWs + Opinion

entertainment

Q + A with Marianas Trench

Live Music listings

On their biggest gamble. 8 / Q + A

Local music listings for March 28 through April 6. 14 / listings

shifting sands

Man in the middle

Nightlife Photos

The changing face of Saskatchewan’s book publishing industry. 3 / Local

Anami Vice’s intriguing fusion of rap and pop. 9 / Arts

We visit McNally’s Tavern.

Gender failure

Olympus has Fallen + Bully

verbnews.com @verbregina facebook.com/verbregina

15 / Nightlife

Editorial

Ivan Coyote and Rae Spoon debunk myths. 9 / Arts

We review the latest movies. 16 / Film

animated living

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 / Baily eberle, danielle tocker, Adam Hawboldt + Alex J MacPherson

How a local animator made it big in Hollywood. 4 / Local

Business & Operations

one for the road

Balance

on the bus

Our thoughts on installing more highway cameras. 6 / Editorial

This week we visit Siam.

Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 18 / comics

12 / Food + Drink

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

contact Comments / feedback@verbnews.com / 306 881 8372

On the cover:

The Zolas

Take a trip to Ancient Mars. 10 / cover

comments

Music

Game + Horoscopes

advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253

Your say about lowering Saskatchewan’s incarceration rates. 7 / comments

Coldest Night of the Year, Billy Bragg + Big Wreck. 13 / music

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

General / info@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253

design / layout@verbnews.com / 306 979 8474

Please recycle after reading & sharing Photo: courtesy of the artist

2 Mar 28 – Apr 4 verb magazine

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

local

Shifting Sands

Photos: courtesy of ben oh

Literary presses in Saskatchewan embrace change while staying true to their roots by adam hawboldt

A

fter reading his obituary in the New York Journal, author Mark Twain, ever the sharp wit, quipped: “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

And you know what? If the Canadian book industry were a person, it would probably be saying the same thing right now. For years worries that traditional publishing and the printed word are dinosaurs one step away from a literary La Brea tar pit were expounded. “It seems like this happens every 20 years or so,” says Jackie Forrie, publishing and production manager at Thistledown Press in Saskatoon. “People start talking about the death of printed literature and the decline of reading.”

As it turns out, these people are dead wrong. According to the last National Book Count, conducted during a week-long span in January 2012, reading is alive and well.

In fact, in a typical week in January nearly 1.2 million printed books were bought here in Canada.Stop and think about that for a moment.

There are 10,080 minutes in a week (or 604,800 seconds). If you take that number and divide it into the number of printed books sold, what you come up with is 1.9-something or other.

That means nearly two printed books are purchased every second.

Oh, and you know the other story, the one about how e-books are taking over the industry and will, perhaps, one day kill the printed word?

You can ignore that rumour, too.

“There’s perception and then there’s reality,” explains Paul Wilson, co-

publisher at Hagios Press in Regina.

“And the reality is, e-books aren’t as big a part of the market as people think.”

And he’s right. During the same week-long period in January, only 111,053 English e-books were sold.

Which, in case you’re wondering, only represents about 10% of all the books sold. So what does all this data mean? Well, for starters, it means you shouldn’t believe everything you hear. It also means the

explains Wilson. “I think the biggest impact on the market was the recession of 2008. It really did change the whole environment for publishing.”

Especially for the big presses, which have a lot of overhead.

But what about the small presses that dot the literary landscape of Saskatchewan?

“It really didn’t affect us that much,” admits Forrie of the recession. “We’re a smaller company, we don’t have that much infrastructure,

…there’s no plans of stopping print books. That’s not going to happen.

Jackie Forrie

book publishing industry is hardly sounding its death rattle.

But it is definitely changing.

Like the newspaper business in the late ‘90s or the music industry in the 2000s, the sands of the book industry have seriously shifted.

“Here in Canada we’re very much in a transitional period,” says Wilson.

“We’ve see the flagships of our publishing industry change entirely.

McClelland and Stewart is no longer Canadian-owned, the dismantling of Douglas & McIntyre — these are all signs of changing times.”

And one of the driving forces behind that change was the economy.

“You can’t talk about this without talking about economic change,”

and we’re able to make changes very quickly. For us, the biggest changes are e-book production. We had to start converting all of our front lists and back lists to e-book. That entails a lot of work and staff time and resources.”

You see, just because e-books account for a minor percentage of all books sold in Canada that doesn’t mean small presses are ignoring them. Quiet the contrary. Forrie and the folks at Thistledown Press understand the importance of getting e-books into these changing markets.

So too does Wilson and the Hagios Press team. They’re just changing at a slightly different speed.

“For a small press like us, it’s taken a bit of time to wrap our heads around it,” says Wilson. “We’re moving into the e-book market slowly so we don’t get

overcommitted in terms of resources.

And, to start out, we’re going to concentrate on non-fiction e-book titles.”

Along with forcing small Saskatchewan presses into the real world of e-books, advances in technology are also changing the way they promote their products.

“At one point, we used to do a lot of print advertising,” says Forrie.

“Now, with blogs and social media we try to focus on that. Yes, we still take out advertising in trade and literary magazines, but we try to, more and more, promote our books on our social media pages.”

And yet, no matter how swiftly

the winds of change have blown, regardless of the differences that technology has impressed upon the book industry, many small presses like Thistledown and Hagios remain true to their original ethos.

“Yes, we need to have e-books out there and we need to promote our books differently,” says Forrie. “That’s all a part of adapting to change, but there’s no plans of stopping print books. That’s not going to happen.”

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

3 Mar 28 – Apr 4 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

news + opinion

local

Photos: courtesy of 20th century fox

Animated Living

Saskatchewan animator making good in Hollywood

by ADAM HAWBOLDT

H

ave you ever seen the “The Blind Side” episode of Family Guy? It’s the one where Brian starts dating a blind girl who hates dogs, and Lois replaces the old staircase because Stewie gets a splinter.

Anyway, early in that episode there’s a scene where Peter has trouble navigating the new stairs that are installed in his house.

The first time he goes down the stairs he takes a step and instantly falls down them, wildly crashing into the living room. Two seconds later he’s back at the top of the stairs, and boom — down he goes again. The third time, Peter wises up. He tip toes to the top of the stairs, sandpapers the soles of his shoes for traction, grabs the railings for balance, and whoosh! First step he takes, Peter goes arse over tea kettle down the stairs yet again, ending up in a broken, bloody heap at the bottom.

That’s a scene Bob Bowen, who directed the episode, looks back on with fondness.

“I do like watching Peter falling down the stairs three times in a row,” says the Saskatchewanian, who now calls Los Angeles home. “I can really appreciate the scene now.”

But that wasn’t always the case.

See, back in 2011, when Bowen was directing “The Blind Side,” the episode lost its hilarity.

The episodes he directs always do.

“It’s a funny show, yeah. But are we constantly laughing? No,” explains Bowen. “Believe it or not, it’s work. At the table read there are always big laughs. But then you have to draw it out, watch it, respond, make changes, watch it again and again. You stare at things for so long, sadly, the humour gets lost. When you see a joke 50 times, you can appreciate that it’s working, but at the same time it’s not like we’re sitting around laughing over and over at it.”

But that’s not to say Bowen doesn’t like his job or thinks it’s boring. Heck, no. He loves directing hit animation shows.

And he knows just how lucky he is to be able to do that.

Growing up in the small prairie town of Rosetown, Saskatchewan, Bowen spent a lot of his time drawing. In class, outside of class, it didn’t matter. But he never really took it seriously.

“It was more doodling than anything,” remembers Bowen.

“You see, growing up I wasn’t particularly driven. I could draw, but didn’t understand that, like everything else in life, if you practice it you get better.

I just thought people could either draw like professionals or they couldn’t. It was as simple as that.”

So instead of honing his gift, Bowen walked away from drawing and into a gig at SaskPower. That move lasted exactly three years.

“While I was working at SaskPower, on my lunch hours I’d be drawing jokes and cartoons of the guys at work, that kind of stuff. ” says Bowen.

Continued on next page »

4 Mar 28 – Apr 4 news + opinion

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

Photos: courtesy of 20th century fox

“And the more I did it, the more I saw improvement.”

So much so that one day Bowen said to heck with it and applied to The Kubert School (formerly the Joe Kubert School) in New Jersey — the only accredited school in America devoted entirely to cartooning.

It was there that Bowen found his true calling.

“When I discovered the art of storyboarding, something just clicked

employed and searching for work.

“This is a small industry, you meet people through other people,” says Bowen. “So one day I was hanging out with friends, and friends of friends, and one of the people there was working with a show called Futurama.”

Bowen needed a job, there was an opening for a storyboard artist on the show, so he seized the opportunity and got to work

So one day I was hanging out with friends … and one of the people there was working with a show called Futurama. bob bowen

for me,” he says. “I knew that’s what I wanted to do, so I spent my second and third years at school learning all I could about it.”

Bowen learned so much and got so good at storyboarding, his talents eventually led him to Tinsel Town.

Bowen’s first gig as a storyboard artist in animation came at the turn of the millennium.

Prior to that, he’d been storyboarding for live action — commercials and television, and on movies like Dungeons & Dragons. But a writers’ strike soon left him un-

organizing an episode called “Parasites Lost,” which aired on January 21st, 2001.

“It was just meant to be temporary,” says Bowen of his initial venture into animation. “But I never really escaped, just kind of jumped from one show to the next as a storyboard artist.”

Those shows include: Futurama, Drawn Together, American Dad and Family Guy. Then, after being in the animation racket for just over half a decade, Bowen made the leap from a storyboard artist to parking himself in the director’s chair.

“As a story artist you’re always getting guidance from directors, and there comes a point, if you progress enough, there’s a natural leap into directing,” explains Bowen.

And since making the transition, first on American Dad and then on Family Guy, Bowen has been enjoying himself immensely.

“Oh, I definitely like directing better,” he admits. “I like the control. I like being able to say, ‘I have a written joke here. So here’s how we’ll lay it out, here’s how we’ll execute it’ and boom!

Away we go.”

But the going is much slower than you may think.

Stop for a second and take a guess at how long it takes for one episode of, say, Family Guy, to be made.

One week? One month? Nope.

The correct answer is about one year — sometimes longer. “I just had an episode air on February 11th [called “Valentine’s Day in Quahog”],” says Bowen, “and I started that episode, oh, about a year and four months ago.”

Which begs the question: why the heck does it take so long to make a show? “Well, we have to read the script, storyboard it, do design, that kind of stuff,” explains Bowen.

Then the film is shipped off to Seoul, South Korea, for inbetweening (generating frames between two images, which conveys a sense of visual consistency). It stays there for roughly three and a half months before being returned

to Los Angeles, where retakes, rewrites, final mixing, and more is done before the episode goes to air.

“In total, I have my hands on the show for about five months,” says Bowen. And while during those five months some of the jokes and funnier bits grow stale, the job never does.

“Success is about doing what makes you happy,” says Bowen.

And by all accounts, Bowen is one happy man.

Can you blame him?

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

5 Mar 28 – Apr 4 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

news + opinion

editorial

ONE FOR THE ROAD

Photo: Courtesy of Daryl Mitchell

Our province needs to dramatically increase its number of highway cameras

A

nyone who has driven in Saskatchewan in the winter knows how treacherous the highways can be.

And look, the province is doing what it can to help motorists out: they release traffic and weather reports, have a handful of tools online, including a Highway Hotline you can call for current updates, and manage four highway cameras that provide current images of our roads, and are conveniently refreshed every 30 seconds).

Sorry, what? In a province that boasts approximately 26,000 kilometres of highway, we have four — count ‘em! On one hand! — cameras to give drivers updated visuals on highway weather conditions? Doesn’t that seem just a tiny bit … insufficient?

After all, here’s the thing about winter driving around these parts: we, the motorists, rarely have an idea of how bad the highways truly are. Sure, if someone we know has been out driving, they can tell us. And sure, if you listen to the radio you’ll hear reports of how bad the conditions are, or you can hop online and see if the highways that snake around this fine province are open or not. But for the most part, you can never actually know bad it is out there — not to mention how quickly the weather can change — and as a result many people hit the road anyway, assuming they’ll be fine.

Right now we have a handful of cameras dotted around the lower third of our province to combat the issue: two on Highway 11 between Davidson and Saskatoon, one on Highway 2 leading to La Ronge, and one near

weather conditions, along with speed and an increased number of motorists on the road, are among the factors that have contributed to that spike.

Now, obviously installing cameras won’t magically eradicate all highway accidents, but giving drivers more information before they head out won’t harm anything.

But to the cost: according to Doug Wakabayashi, spokesman for Saskatchewan Highways and Infrastructure, each of the new cameras they’re installing has a price tag between $25,000 and $35,000. Yep, you read that right. And yes, that is a lot of lucre to be dropping on each camera.

But public safety should be a priority, and if these past couple weeks have demonstrated anything, it’s that knowing what it’s like out on the highways could save a lot of people a lot of trouble.

Saskatchewan drivers face a lot of challenges out on the road, as demonstrated by the dramatic increase we’ve seen in highway fatalities.

Clearly it’s time the government puts the pedal to the metal, so to speak, and increases the number of cameras on the highways.

Lloydminster. But when you look to our neighbours to the west, you’ll see how far behind Saskatchewan is when it comes to providing lives feeds of its roads. In Alberta there are more than 80 highway cameras (heck, there’s seven on the road between Edmonton and Calgary alone). As for B.C., they have more than 200 cameras watching the roads and showing the weather to the residents of that province.

And that’s why we think the government should put more cameras on our highways, then link the feed into the Saskatchewan Highways and Infrastructure website. This way anyone who is curious can see what the roads and weather are like at any given time, in nearly any given part of the province. The live updates will ensure the availability of current information on highway conditions, and the prolific use of technology means this information can be accessed from pretty much anywhere — even on the go.

Now, we realize the government has pledged to add a few more cameras (up to five this year), then incrementally add some more as the years go on. But to be frank, that’s simply not enough. It’s time to up the number. And not just by a handful, but significantly.

Say, by 50, or even 75. That way our motorists would be much safer, and have much more information about the conditions they are about to face.

And while this won’t come cheap, the investment in highway safety will pay dividends. After all, according to the RCMP 2012 was one of the deadliest on record for Saskatchewan highways, with 162 fatalities. Poor

These editorials are left unsigned because they represent the opinions of Verb magazine, not those of the individual writers.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina feedback@verbnews.com

6 Mar 28 – Apr 4 news + opinion

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

comments

On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about lowering Saskatchewan’s incarceration rates.

Here's what you had to say:

– I think that is far some people don’t belong in jail just wasn’t thinking and did something stupid. But if the so it again then put them in jail. Being in jail doesn’t always help

– How is going to jail a punishment for crime when they get tv and get to hang out. This is supposed to teach them a lesson not reward them for what they did. What a stupid idea.

– I agree we need to focus more on rehabilitation for prisoners than just putting them in the jail and expecting that will miraculously fix everything. The Norway jail sounds a little extreme. Doubt anyone would want to fund it but we should explore other options.

– One hundred percent agree with both prongs on your approach.

Great article; with that said, I wonder how bad will it get before we allow our prison system and the laws which feed them to evolve?

-a (mostly) law-abiding citizen

– Suggesting a need to lower incarceration rates presupposes Judges are making mistakes and that Canadian Law is inappropriate - is this the Verb’s contention???

– Sask prisons are so overcrowded with too many non-violent offenders judges don’t give a crap though and are too harsh!

text yo thoughtsur to 881 vE R b 8372

OFF TOPIC – People need to see that anything other than a private jet is insecure because anyone can board a plane and as we have seen,bad guys sometimes do. But the big lie that people are safer because the government is forcing them to pay for “security” disguises the real agenda to train people to kowtow to the emperor. It starts at the airport,then the Court,government agencies,the Bank. Pretty soon you’ll need a passport to go to work in the morning. Internal security checks are coming.

In response to “Flight of Fancy,” Editorial page, #69 (March 15, 2013)

– I find your article on airport screeners highly offensive. If you disagree with the process or feel the employees are poorly trained maybe you should contact CATSA and let them know that the hour cut backs and subcontracting companies to hire screeners is not working. Not knowing the ins and outs of the job does not make your arrival accurate. Remember the shoe bomber? Underwear bomber? Things that matter are being caught. TSA actually let’s small knives through now. The screeners don’t make the rules!!! They enforce them. Who is to say your employee didnt pick the knife up somewhere between Canada and the states? I do my job the way I was taught how. I understand the process is not fun and may be flawed but we are just following orders from above. S.O In response to “Flight of Fancy,” Editorial

mean what you think it means. Also, knife incident was clearly in the US, and nowhere did it say it was years ago. And saying metal detectors kept us all safe so far is like pretending nothing terrible has ever happened in air travel. Critiquing something is one thing and the opinion was far from perfect but disregarding the actual statements in what you are ripping apart just makes you guys look foolish.

In response to “Flight of Fancy,” Editorial page, #69 (March 15, 2013)

SOUND OFF – Next time you check into HMV take a look at the latest by Justin Timberlake and check out the blurred cover photo. Now who bears a more than passing resemblance?

HINT -- it ain’t Stephen Harper.

– I’m so tired of people saying OMG. Just be quiet already you drama queens!

– the problem with the “social democrats” is that their wealth redistribution agenda reduces itself to a form of thuggery where those who want to achieve are compelled to pay for those who don’t and as the dependencies mount the Ponzi scheme collapses. Just look at the US owing 17 Trillion, Or Cyprus.

– Don’t know why you feel so threatened by God. It’s not about whose God is bigger. I sense your animosity. Let it go.

Next week: What do you think about adding more highway cameras in Saskatchewan? Pick up a copy of Verb to get in on the conversation:

page, #69 (March 15, 2013)

– It’s embarasing prison is the way it is, n we claim to take care of our own

– To the txtrs who were ripping into flight of fancy. Clearly lucid doesn’t

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

7 Mar 28 – Apr 4 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

news + opinion

q+a

Ever After

Photos: courtesy of 604 records

Josh Ramsay on Marianas Trench’s biggest gamble

by Alex J MacPherson

J

osh Ramsay is a few years away from his thirtieth birthday, but he has already ascended to the summit of Canadian rock and roll. His band, the splendidly-named Marianas Trench, recently released their third album, a sprawling collection of catchy pop songs presented as an unbroken symphony of crunchy guitars and soaring vocals, and picked up three Juno Award nominations for their trouble. Ever After, which combines infectious pop and a dreamlike fairytale narrative, is by far the most ambitious project Ramsay and his bandmates have ever tackled. I caught up with Ramsay, who was also nominated for best producer for his work on Carly Rae Jepsen’s titanic hit “Call Me Maybe,” to talk about making the record, breaking into the United States, and taking risks.

Alex J MacPherson: The first thing most people will notice about Ever After is that there are no breaks, that it’s one long song. Did you have any idea how it would turn out when you sat down to write?

Josh Ramsay: I had the idea of doing a whole album with no stops when I was, like, 13, and I just had to wait until I was

JR: When I was growing up, I used to only attempt to write these really artistic, crazy sorts of songs, and I was like, ‘Screw pop music.’

Then I started to learn about some of the guys who I view as real pop geniuses. There’s a guy named Max Martin, who has written pretty much the biggest song of the year for the last 15 years. I looked into what he did and was like, ‘There’s a real craft to that, too.’ You need those songs to get on the radio, and you need to be on the radio to get fans and to sell records and make a career, but in doing so that can afford you the space to do all the

a good enough writer to be able to even attempt such a ridiculous idea.

Before we started seriously doing the album, in a couple of interviews I said, ‘Yeah, it’s kind of like a symphony. The whole thing’s just going to be one long song.’ I said that before I’d actually written anything, because I knew it would force me to follow through.

AJM: Ever After was unquestionably a huge risk. Did you approach it like that, or worry about it?

JR: To me, the people that I look up to musically were all huge risk-takers, so I’ve never even considered being

try and write the best song you can.

Especially because stuff like awards shows can never be what drives you. That’s cool, but at the end of the day it’s like trying to compare colours. How can you compare different creative things by different people? It’s like being, ‘Red is better than green.’

…the people that I look up to musically were all huge risk-takers…

Josh Ramsay

artistic songs you want to do. Ever After was me being like, ‘Why can’t you just do both?’

anything other than someone who is willing to take some pretty big risks also. It’s like wanting to make your heroes proud, even though you’re probably never going to meet them.

AJM: I should ask about the Junos.

Was there a moment when you realized Ever After was going to do really well?

AJM: Your band is well-known for writing sharp, concise, catchy pop songs. Did you find it difficult to balance that against this sprawling narrative arc?

JR: Never. You can’t look at it that way; you have to just sit down and

AJM: You just signed a deal in the States. Is starting over with Ever After nerve-wracking, especially after it’s done so well here?

JR: I’m not apprehensive. I think if people like it, they like it, and if they don’t, they don’t. I’m proud of that record. After I’ve written it and recorded it, it’s kind of out of my

hands, you know what I mean?

It’s the best I could do at the time, and that’s the way it is. But we worked our way up in Canada, and I don’t see why we can’t do that in another country.

Marianas Trench April 10 @ Mosaic Place (Moose Jaw) $46+ @ Mosaic Place Box Office / mosaicplace.ca

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com

8 Mar 28 – Apr 4 culture

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

arts

Man in the middle

Anami Vice’s strange hybrid of rap and pop

A

nami Vice is a man in the middle. His music exists somewhere between the glittering ramparts of slick commercial pop and the self-reflexive obsessiveness of contemporary hip hop. Even his rapping is disjointed. Vice, whose real name is Anami Vakil, produces prodigious quantities of languid barbs, pithy observations, and hackneyed bro-isms. He struggles to describe his sound, and often speaks in generalizations, but he knows what he wants to achieve.

“I want my songs to be anthemic,” he muses. “There are these big songs, and it doesn’t matter if they were done in the ‘90s or the 2000s, that when you put them on in the club, everybody knows them and starts to sing along. Biggie’s “Juicy” is a great example of that. I want people, when the song comes in, to stop and start rapping along with it.”

Vice, who represents a handful of artists responsible for obscuring the line between hip hop and mainstream cultures, released his first record late last year. Are You Serious

by alex J MacPherson

feels experimental, more like an attempt to establish a consistent sound and less like the scattered musings of a young artist, and while there are missteps, it also shows off Vice’s talent for crafting beer- and weedfueled party rock.

He is at his best on tracks like “This Ain’t A Party” and “Make Me Wanna Drink,” simple yet energetic songs featuring thundering drumbeats and thick layers of synthesizers and fuzzed-out guitars. “I listened back to the record, and it sounded like a party record to me,” he says. “That wasn’t necessarily intentional, but I definitely want people to feel that.”

“A lot of my songs,” he adds, “are drinking songs.”

Vice, who is currently preparing for a tour across Canada with Marianas Trench and Down With Webster, has embraced the aesthetics of commercially viable pop — slick production values, extreme volume –—without turning his back on the mixtape culture that has positioned hip hop at the forefront of a changing industry. His laptop is a fountain of new music.

Photo: courtesy of 604 Records

“From my perspective, I still really want to hear a cool album,” he says. “I think what’ll happen is you’ll still have projects like albums that get put out at the same rate. The albums is really the quality project that everybody is looking forward to, but in the meantime you’ve got to keep people interested.”

Anami Vice April 10 @ Mosaic Place (Moose Jaw) $46+ @ Mosaic Place Box Office / mosaicplace.ca

Gender Failure

Ivan Coyote and Rae Spoon debunk myths and tell stories

T

he press notes for Gender Failure, a collaboration between storyteller Ivan Coyote and pop musician Rae Spoon, notes that “the gender binary fails us all.”

Struck by the stark simplicity of this idea, I asked Coyote, who has performed her spoken word poems and stories around the world, how that idea was transformed into a poignant and funny stage show.

“I think forcing the entire world into choosing one of two rigid gender boxes hurts us all,” Coyote wrote in an e-mail. “The consequences of not conforming are social isolation, being relegated to minority status, and everything that comes with that.

Even violence and death. These are

by alex J MacPherson

the places we want people to explore when on the Gender Failure journey with us. What has your gender box cost you?”

Transgender is a term used to describe people who subscribe to a different view of conventional gender roles. Coyote identifies as a woman and uses the pronoun “she”; Spoon prefers the ambiguous “they.” Like all transgender people, Coyote and Spoon have countless stories to tell.

Their performance, which blends words and music with a liberal dose of humour, is their attempt to share those stories — and emphasize a broadly humanistic view of the world.

“I think storytelling and music are both very direct ways [for] the

listener to recognize the speaker or singer or songwriter as their own,” Coyote wrote, noting that Gender Failure pushed her into the musical realm and Spoon toward straightforward storytelling. “They might not have an exactly shared experience, but they have a story that looks or sounds like, in some way, the one they are witnessing.”

Coyote and Spoon often use humour to illuminate their stories, a recognition that laughter is a powerful ally in difficult conversations.

“You can feel it from the stage,” Coyote writes. “If you can make someone laugh, they are instantly more open to anything else you might have to say.”

And Gender Failure deals with a difficult subject: the queer voice in society, and the promotion of an idea that runs counter to centuries of what Coyote calls “straight” thinking.

But it raises an important question, she explains: “Who would you be right now if your gender didn’t dictate so many of your perceived choices for you?”

Gender Failure April 5 @ Artesian on 13th $35 @ picatic.com

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com

9 Mar 28 – Apr 4 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

culture

cover

Ancient Mars

Photo: courtesy of kirsten Berlie

The Zolas explore time, memory on one of the best records of the year by Alex J MacPherson

É

mile Zola was a French novelist and political activist. He is best known for a sprawling series of twenty novels published in the last decades of the 19th century, and for writing “J’Accuse,” a fiery denunciation of the government and the bellwether of the movement to exonerate Alfred Dreyfus, who had been falsely accused of treason. When Vancouver musicians Zachary Gray and Tom Dobrzanski set out to start a new band, they knew little about Zola. But they needed a name.

“We recorded our first album just for the fun of it,” Gray writes in an e-mail, referring to Tic Toc Tic, which was released in 2009, “before the Zolas even existed and we still couldn’t agree on a name or an album title or album art. Tom and I never agree on anything.

Eventually our indecision was actually holding back the release date of the album.” To settle the matter, he and Dobrzanski went to an all-you-can-eat Indian restaurant. “We had a summit,” he recalls, “and drafted the no-compromise compromise. I named the band and Tom named the album and chose the artwork. Ironically, we both ended up liking the other’s choices.”

Although he claims they never agree, Gray and Dobrzanski have been friends for years. They met on a choir tour of the Netherlands. “Tom and I met when we were 14,” Gray writes.

“Then by fluke our voices broke at the same time and we suddenly couldn’t sing anymore. We bonded over mutual puberty.” Dobrzanski was a talented piano player, and Gray taught himself a handful of guitar chords. They spent hours recording themselves on Gray’s father’s tape recorder.

even mention Nirvana because that suggests some amount of edge. We’ve never had any edge.”

Gray and Dobrzanski eventually formed a band called Lotus Child, which later collapsed only to be reborn in a cheap Indian restaurant.

According to the band’s website, the basic premise of the Zolas involves writing classic pop songs and then f**king them up, until

I think about heydays a lot. How short they are … Entire worlds spark and evaporate every day. zachary gray

“This sounds a lot cooler than it was,” Gray admits. “I only had an acoustic guitar so we were playing folky songs with cabaret-feeling piano and Nirvana-like chord structures. I can’t think of a more unappetizing description for music and I hesitate to

the hooks have to fight to get out.

“When we get together we naturally make pop rock music,” Gray writes, “but pop rock has been done to death so you have to mutate it with other kinds of music you like.

The best pop songs always manage Continued on next page »

10 Mar 28 – Apr 4 culture

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

to trick you into thinking you’re hearing something new.”

Ancient Mars, which Gray and Dobrzanski released in October, sounds not unlike a pop rock record. The instrumentation and song structures will be familiar to even the most musically illiterate listeners. Gray’s guitar licks are simple and pleasing; Dobrzanski’s piano lines rise and fall like a heaving chest. But it isn’t exactly a pop record.

Ancient Mars is engaging because it is packed with surprises. Its straightforward pop songs are wreathed in unconventional sonics and subtle textures. From the cacophonous, vaguely detuned coda to “In Heaven” and the distorted vocals in “Knot In My Heart” to the Stevie Ray Vaughan-style guitar lick that kicks off “Strange Girl” and the theatrical chorus of “Observatory,” the songs on Ancient Mars are familiar enough to draw in listeners, and interesting enough to make them want to stay.

Gray and Dobrzanski wrote the songs, but neither had any idea how the album would sound. “Once Tom and I had put together enough songs for an album we looked around at all our friends and just asked our favourite drummer and bassist if they were free,” Gray explains. Ancient Mars features Michael Jordan of Royal Canoe on bass, and drumming

by Johnny Walsh, who contributes to several bands. Gray and Dobrzanski also asked Chuck Brody to produce the album, and he traveled to Vancouver for the sessions. “We all got together and started arranging the songs,” Gray recalls. “For us, the most exciting way to make an album

Photo: courtesy of kirsten Berlie

is to work with our favourite people at each instrument and not try to micromanage anyone. You don’t know exactly what it’ll sound like, but it’s a lot more fun.”

Ancient Mars is a record about time. Gray and Dobrzanski have a

flair for the dramatic, and their songs weave common experience (“I bet she’s rail-thin like a heron / over the phone she talks and I just listen in”) and sweeping metaphor (“We’ll never meet until it’s just too late for us / you’re the Euphrates and I’m the Tigris”) into evocative yet relatable stories. This fusion of raw emotion and epic myth reveals not only the band’s talent for capturing the stark contrast between abject isolation and faint hope, but also their fascination with the subtle dissonance produced by the collision of time and memory.

“I think about heydays a lot,” Gray writes, referring to the album’s lyrical content. “How short they are. How we don’t realize we’re having one until it’s on the decline, or until years later. How a group of people can mean everything to you, and then two years later you run into each other at a grocery store and have nothing in common anymore. How friends you think will be in love forever still sometimes break up. Entire worlds spark and evaporate every day.”

Their references are never obvious, and it’s not clear whether the songs on Ancient Mars are drawn from experience or the darkest recesses of Gray’s mind. But the grand theme of the record is impossible to ignore. Gray and Dobrzanski are getting older, and their awareness of time and its passing becomes more acute each day. Ancient Mars is their attempt to extract meaning from the short sweep of the clock.

They acknowledge the scope of history (“Several billion golden years ago / I lost a planet that I loved to the cold”) without clinging to its lifeless reaches.

Instead of descending into nihilistic torpor, the Zolas use time to remind us that the moment is what matters (“Civilization blooms and then it erodes. And that’s it / Oh my ancient Mars”).

Gray is less philosophical. “I just write about what grabs me at the time and hope it makes sense when it’s all out together in an album,” he writes. “Usually it does. I think about the same things everyone else around my age thinks about, so it usually comes across like a good cross-section of life.”

In the years since the summit that birthed the band, Gray has read several works by Émile Zola. “Out

of due diligence,” he writes. “I liked them, but not tremendously. [Zola] was this classic turn-of the-century artist, living with no money with other artists (Cézanne was his roommate) in sh**ty coldwater apartments in Paris. He was doing something a bit revolutionary, though: writing stories about lowclass people — prostitutes, grimy mining towns, etc. — and selling them to the upper classes. His books were considered pulpy and salacious and rich people scoffed at them publicly while secretly devouring a copy of Nana every

night before bed. It was like the Teen Mom of the era.”

The public eventually discovered him. Today, his novels — and especially “J’Accuse” — are common in homes and on campuses across the world.

Gray yearns for this kind of success.

“Actually,” he admits, “we kind of expected to be this successful years ago.

It’s taken forever.” But everything takes time, and Ancient Mars is a quantum leap forward. It is a rallying cry, a call to abandon the normal and embrace the interesting, the offbeat, and the downright risky. To take classic pop songs and f**k them up until the hooks

have to fight to get out. “I think the secret is to just stop caring and focus on the music,” Gray writes. “That’s pretty much all people care about in the end anyway. Just make a sound that the world needs to hear right now.”

The Zolas April 11 @ The Artful Dodger $10 @ ticketedge.ca Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com

11 Mar 28 – Apr 4 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

culture

food + drink

Balance Photos courtesy of Danielle Tocker

Siam blends harmonious Thai flavours in authentic dishes by jessica bickford

T

hai food is one of those hard to describe cuisines that is all at once incredibly simple and indescribably complex. It hinges on the use of the flavour bases — sour, salty, sweet, bitter, and spicy — and attempts to integrate all of these disparate elements into one harmonious and well-balanced dish. Siam is not only doing this incredibly well, but their menu is one of the most diverse and authentic that I’ve seen.

I started with two appetizers that I’d never tried before, with the larb sticks coming out first. These long, crispy straws of deep fried wheat paper were filled with a small amount of ground pork, red and green onion, cilantro, lime juice and chillies. These had a wonderful crunch and a big hit of citrus, cilantro, and spice up front,

Tom yum koong, hot and sour shrimp soup, was next, and wow: if you have a cold, this delicious, spicy, fragrant soup will fix you right up. The fat pink shrimp and button mushrooms were swimming in a creamy, shrimpy broth flavoured with lemongrass, chillies, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and

with the pork and wrapper mellowing things out a bit.

The other appetizer was called mieng kum, or leaf wraps featuring bok choy leaves filled with shredded coconut, ginger, red onion, thai chili, lime, a cashew and a small, dried shrimp. These were like Thai food in

[The] pineapple fried rice, came served in an entire pineapple. jessica Bickford

lime juice. The complex flavours and abundant chillies (I asked for medium spicy) made this incredibly delicious and highly addictive.

The beautifully presented khao ob sub-pa-rod, or pineapple fried rice, came served in an entire pineapple!

The aroma of the grilled pineapple was wonderful, and the rice itself had some curry spice, pork sausage, cashews, crispy stir-fried chicken, green onions, and bits of the serving pineapple mixed into it. Sweet, savoury and filling, but you had best come prepared to share.

Lastly I tried the poo nim pad pong kha-ri or stir-fried soft shell crab with yellow curry powder. This had a great yellow colour and a soft eggy texture, except for the nuggets of crispy fried crab that were meaty, crunchy, and oh so delicious.

Siam has a great menu with pictures on their website so that

a bite! The citrusy lime, sweet coconut and cashew, spicy chilli, and bitter leaves were well balanced, and the chewy, crunchy, crisp texture combo was very appetizing.

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide Tom Yam Siam

Ingredients

Thai food is sweet and spicy, so why not make yourself a cocktail to match. With full-on flavours and a kick of heat, this cocktail might even make you forget all that springtime snow outside.

2 oz. vodka 1 oz. coconut rum 3/4 oz. the syrup the lychee come in squeeze of lime juice 3 pieces of lychee in syrup 1 piece lemongrass 1 kaffir lime leaf 3 thin slices red chili

Directions

In a tumbler full of ice mix the vodka, coconut rum, lychee syrup, and lime juice together. Skewer your lychees on the lemongrass as a tasty stir-stick, and garnish with the kaffir lime leaf and super spicy chili slices.

you can have a look at anything you might be unfamiliar with. You can also choose your spice level on most of their dishes, too, so don’t worry about things being too hot to handle. Grab a few friends and try a few new things at Siam; you won’t be disappointed.

Siam 1946 Hamilton St. | 306 352 8424 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@TheGeekCooks jbickford@verbnews.com

12 Mar 28 – Apr 4 culture

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

music

Next Week

coming up

Coldest Night Billy Bragg of the Year

Big Wreck

@ The Exchange friday, April 5 – $TBD

@ The ORR CEntre Tuesday, April 9 – $TBD

@ mosaic PLace (Moose Jaw) Friday, May 3 – $76.67+

The first thing you’ll notice about Coldest Night of the Year’s Chris Matchett is his size. The dude is built like an offensive lineman. But don’t let his looks fool you — Matchett is a wildly talented musician. Much like the rest of the band, which consists of bassist Jon Wolfond (formerly of This Machine is a Fountain), drummer Garret Matheis (of Geronimo) and Library Voices’ Carl Johnson. Put that all together and what you have is a new band — which came together in October of 2012 — that plays a brand of rock and roll you can’t help but dig. After honing their raw, bluecollar sound on stages around the prairies, this local band went into the studio to record their debut EP. Check them out at The Exchange next week; tickets at the door.

Billy Bragg has led quite the life. Over the years he’s played in ska and punk rock groups, been a busker, posed as a television repair man to get his demo heard, made records with Wilco and campaigned relentlessly as a left-wing activist in his home country of England. Oh, and along the way he’s also made some pretty darn good solo music, too. With songs like “The Warmest Room,” “Love Gets Dangerous” and “Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards,” Bragg has established himself as a first-rate singer/songwriter who deals with themes of politics and romance. His career has spanned 30 years and has taken him to shows around the world. Now, he’s coming to Regina to rock the Orr Centre.

For a while back in the late ‘90s, early 2000s, Big Wreck looked like a band on the verge of a major breakthrough. But in 2002, instead of breaking through, they broke up.

Why? Well, to be honest, nobody in this hard-rock band from Boston knows for sure. All they do know is that eight years later, Ian Thornley (their Toronto-born lead singer) called guitarist Brian Doherty after not talking to him for years, and presto! Big Wreck was back in business. By 2012, the band responsible for hits like “That Song” and “The Oaf (My Luck Is Wasted),” and had released Albatross, its first album in over a decade, which peaked at #5 on Canadian charts. To check out their reunion tour, as an opening act for Mötley CrÜe, go to mosaicplace.ca – By Adam Hawboldt

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

Sask music Preview SaskMusic presents Music, Money and Taxes! — an interactive and practical discussion of tax preparations specifically geared to artists and music professionals. The workshop is free for all SaskMusic members, or $20 for nonmembers. The event kicks off at 7pm on April 3, at The Artful Dodger. Please pre-register by calling 1-800-347-0676, or email info@saskmusic.org

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

13 Mar 28 – Apr 4 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

culture

listings

DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — One of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm

March 28 » April 6

Friday 29

The most complete live music listings for Regina.

S

31

M

1

T

2

W

3

28 29 30 4

5

Thursday 28

Soul Killing Female + more / The Club — Hard and melodic music. 7pm / $10 DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests. 10pm / $5 Yana / Lancaster Taphouse — A singer/ songwriter to see. 9pm / Cover TBD Method 2 Madness / McNally’s Tavern — Great rock n’ roll classics. 10pm / $5 Stephanie Thomson / Pump Roadhouse — A local contemporary/pop singer. 9pm Drewski / Pure Ultra Lounge — Doing what he does best. 10pm / $5 cover Dangerous Cheese / The Sip Nightclub — Playing ‘80s party music. 10pm / Cover TBD Jam Sessions / Smokin’ Okies BBQ — Promoting blues and more. 2pm / No cover Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — A talented country artist. 8pm / $10

6

Portage and Main + more / Artesian on 13 — Folk rock you can’t miss. 8pm / $10+ Brighter Futures / Casino Regina — Featuring Amy Nelson and more. 8pm / $35 Little Big Town / Conexus — A country band on tour. 7:30pm / $39.50+ Queen City Rocks / The Exchange — Come check out this battle of the bands. 7pm Decibel Frequency / Gabbo’s Nightclub — A night of electronic fun. 10pm / $5 PS Fresh / The Hookah Lounge — Featuring DJs Ageless and Drewski. 7pm Open Mic / King’s Head — Come play. 8pm Dan Silljer Band / McNally’s Tavern — A left-handed guitar whiz. 8:30pm / $5 Stephanie Thomson / The Pump — A local contemporary/pop singer. 9pm Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — A talented country artist. 8pm / $5

DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests. 10pm / $5 Soilwork + more / The Cultural Exchange — Heavy metal at its finest.

6:30pm / $25 DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s — Local DJs spin top 40 hits. 9pm / $5 cover Big Chill Fridays / Lancaster Taphouse — Featuring DJ Fatbot. 10pm / Cover TBD Method 2 Madness / McNally’s Tavern — Great rock n’ roll classics. 10pm / $5 Stephanie Thomson / Pump Roadhouse — A local contemporary/pop singer. 9pm Albert / Pure Ultra Lounge — Appearing every Friday night. 10pm / $5 cover Dangerous Cheese / The Sip Nightclub — Playing 80’s party music. 10pm / Cover TBD Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — A talented country artist. 8pm / $10 DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — One of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm

Sunday 31

Express & Co / Creative City Centre — Also appearing Brass Buttons. 7:30pm / $10

Monday 1

Open Mic / Artful Dodger — Come out and play! 8pm Monday Night Jazz / Bushwakker — Featuring the UofR jazz band. 8pm / No cover

Saturday 30

Kerri Senkow / Artful Dodger — A local songstress. 2pm / $8 Dr. Bird and Blue Beat / Artful Dodger — A rockin’ CD release party. 8pm / Cover TBD Marchegeddon / Brandt Centre — Featuring Voltbeat and more. 7:30pm / $38.50+

Tuesday 2

Troubadour Tuesdays / Bocados — Live tunes from local talents. 8pm / No cover

Wednesday 3 Wednesday Night Folk / Bushwakker — Redbeard’s Aries Birthday Bash. 9pm July Talk / The Exchange — A Toronto duo playing roots/rock music. 10pm / $10 Jam Night and Open Stage / McNally’s — Come enjoy some local talent. 9pm

Thursday 4

2 Beats & A Hat / Artful Dodger — Presented by DJ Verbal & E-Major. 7pm / $5 Decibel Frequency / Gabbo’s Nightclub — A night of electronic fun. 10pm / Cover $5 PS Fresh / The Hookah Lounge — Featuring DJs Ageless and Drewski. 7pm Open Mic / King’s Head — Come play. 8pm Mindil Beach Markets + more / McNally’s — Reggae and more. 8:30pm / $5 Leanne Pearson / Pump Roadhouse — A talented singer from Manitoba. 9pm DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — One of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm

Friday 5

DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests. 10pm / $5 Coldest Night of the Year + more / The Exchange — Rock and roll. 8pm DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s — Local DJs spin top 40 hits. 9pm / $5 cover Big Chill Fridays / Lancaster — Featuring DJ Fatbot. 10pm / Cover TBD

Slow Motion Walter / McNally’s — A local party band. 10pm / $5 Leanne Pearson / Pump — A talented singer/songwriter. 9pm Albert / Pure — Every Friday. 10pm / $5 DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — One of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm

Saturday 6

Intergalactic Virgin / Artful Dodger — A CD release party. 9pm / $10 Queensryche / Casino Regina — A hard rock group. 8pm / $40+ DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests. 10pm / $5 Room 333 + more / The Exchange — Three sweet bands for a sweet low price. 8pm / $5 Slow Motion Walter / McNally’s Tavern — A local party band. 10pm / $5 Leanne Pearson / Pump Roadhouse — A talented singer/songwriter. 9pm Drewski / Pure — Doing what he does best.

10pm / $5 cover Jam Sessions / Smokin’ Okies BBQ — Promoting blues. 2pm / No cover Random Groove / Smokin’ Okies BBQ — A local band playing blues/rock. 7:30pm / $5

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

14 Mar 28 – Apr 4 entertainment

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

nightlife

friday, march 22 @

McNally’s tavern

McNally’s Tavern 2226 Dewdney Avenue (306) 522 4774

Music vibe / Rock, a bit of

funk, and an eclectic mix from live bands Featured deals / Alexander Keith’s Cascade Hop Ale for $5.75 Drink of Choice / Rye and Coke, Alexander Keith’s, and Guinness top eats / Chicken pizza coming up / Redbeard’s annual birthday fundraiser on April 11 — music starts at 9pm, and net proceeds go to Search and Rescue Regina

Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, April 5.

Photography by Bebzphoto

facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

15 Mar 28 – Apr 4 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

entertainment

film

In the line of die hard

Photo: Courtesy of Film District

Olympus Has Fallen is reminiscent of past action flicks by adam hawboldt

B

race yourself.

Sixteen-hundred Pennsylvania Avenue (known to us laypeople as the White House) is under attack. No, it’s not aliens, like in Independence Day. This time around, it’s those dastardly North Koreans.

Posing as South Korean diplomats, this cracker jack team of terrorists, led by a sadistic s.o.b. named Kang (Rick Yune), invade the White House, kill everybody they see, and take the President (Aaron Eckhart) and the Secretary of Defense (Melissa Leo) prisoner, holding them hostage in an underground War Room.

To make matters worse — at least for the President— his son is missing, and if the terrorists find the little tyke first they could very well use him as a bargaining chip to get what they want.

The situation seems hopeless. May as well have a glass of wine, watch the country go to hell and give the terrorists what they want, right?

is also the type of guy who likes kicking ass while taking names.

(Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the only reason Banning is working the Treasury Department is because

Wrong.

Because there’s one man still alive inside the White House who can save the day. His name is Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), a

…for people who enjoy movies with wildly high kill rates … Olympus Has Fallen will be thoroughly enjoyable.

Adam Hawboldt

he got demoted after an incident involving the President and the now-deceased First Lady).

Anyway, with Banning on the inside and the White House on lockdown by the terrorists, the scene is set for showdowns, heroism, and a whole heap of violence in an action film called Olympus Has Fallen.

guy who works a desk job at the Treasury Department.

But there’s a catch. Banning isn’t just some average desk jockey.

Hells to the no. He’s an ex-Secret Service agent who not only used to be chummy with the President, who not only was a mentor of sorts to the President’s young son, but who

And if all this sounds remotely familiar, well, that’s probably because it is.

Just think of Olympus Has Fallen as the bastard love-child that would be spawned if Die Hard and In the Line of Fire ever hopped on the good foot and did the naughty thing.

Depending on who you are that’s either a good thing or a bad thing.

If you’re not a fan of generic action movies, this one ain’t for you.

However, for people who enjoy movies with wildly high kill rates, cool explosions, a bit of tension and corny one-liners, Olympus Has Fallen will be thoroughly enjoyable.

No, they didn’t re-invent the action wheel with this one. They just followed a proven formula and hired a top notch cast (Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, Dylan McDermott, Melissa Leo and Cole Hauser are all in it, too).

Oh and they gave it a twist ending, too. Just kidding. Chances are, if

Olympus has Fallen Antoine Fuqua Starring Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo + Ashley Judd Directed by

120 minutes | 14A

you’ve ever seen an action flick you know precisely how this one finishes up. But no matter.

Let’s just be thankful that Gerard Butler has put aside being Mr. RomCom long enough to do what he’s truly good at.

Let’s see how long that’ll last.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

16 Mar 28 – Apr 4 entertainment

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

a for effort

Touching documentary Bully only tells half of the story by adam hawboldt

I

mportant, powerful, yet far from perfect.

That’s that best way to describe director Lee Hirsch’s latest documentary, Bully. The film — which garnered a lot of pre-release buzz because of the MPAA’s preposterous decision to slap it with an R-rating — is filled with emotional, heartbreaking and infuriating scenes that will touch even the hardest of hearts.

It also has to be commended for raising awareness and putting a face on a very serious social problem. Yet for all it does right, for all of its potency, Bully is missing something.

But more on that later; for the moment, let’s look at the film itself.

Shot during the 2009-10 school year, Bully tells the stories of five kids who have been victimized by bullies. You have 17-year-old Tyler and 11-year-old Ty, whose respective sets of parents mourn the bully-induced suicide of their sons.

Then there’s Ja’Maya, a 14-yearold Mississippi girl who was tossed in a juvenile detention centre for pulling a loaded hand gun on a bus after incessant, relentless bullying. The film also follows Kelby, a 16-year-old from

Photo: Courtesy of the Weinstein Company

At school he is pushed around and poked with pencils by bullies, and his bus rides to and from school are absolute hell on the poor kid.

And this is where the R-rating came from: using hidden cameras strategically placed on the bus,

…for a documentary like this, it just feels like something is missing.

Adam Hawboldt

Oklahoma who came out of the closet as a lesbian and was subsequently taunted by teachers and peers.

But of all the people Hirsch follows, it’s the story of a 14-year-old boy named Alex that hits home the hardest.

Born prematurely, this Iowa teen has oversized features and a gawky look. Alex also has zero friends.

Hirsch shows Alex being subjected some of the foulest, mean-spirited, disgusting threats and name calling you can think of.

Alex’s story is moving, touching and, yes, tear-inducing. But it’s not only Alex’s story that’s sad: they’re all depressing, they all tug at the heart strings and make you feel for the victims.

The Bully Project Lee Hirsch Cinematography Lee Hirsch Directed by

99 minutes | PG

And therein lies the main problem with Bully, the main reason it falls short of being a truly amazing documentary — it only focuses on victims.

Yes, their stories will hold your attention and suck you into the movie, but for a documentary like this it just feels like something is missing.

Not once does Hirsch highlight those who do the bullying. Yes, we get a glimpse of Alex’s bullies getting slaps on their wrists for their actions, but we don’t learn anything about them. The spotlight is never turned on them. We never find out what drives them to do what they do. There’s no attempt to explain their cruel behaviour or investigate its causes.

And while what Hirsch does focus on is gripping, and giving voice to the

victims is important, not examining what causes these poor kids to end up in their terrible situations leaves the documentary feeling unbalanced.

Hirsch really could’ve hit a homerun with this movie. Instead, by shying away from the bullies he ends up with a base-clearing double. Maybe even a triple.

Which is still pretty darn good.

Just not great.

Bully will open at the Regina Public Library on April 4th; see reginalibrary.ca for show times.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

17 Mar 28 – Apr 4 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

entertainment

comics

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

18 Mar 28 – Apr 4 entertainment

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

ACROSS 1. Communicate by telephone 5. Hospital division 9. Pass on 10. Be in store for 12. Descend to a lower level 13. Taste and touch, for two 15. Fail to include 16. Bird watcher 18. Adjust, as a radio 19. Comfortable room 20. Cricket sound 22. Daughter’s opposite 23. Like poorly baked bread 25. Final course 27. As a consequence

29. Potassium hydroxide, e.g.

30. Personal papers 34. Do not continue 38. No longer fashionable 39. Don’t go together 41. Accelerate, for short 42. Chew, like a beaver 44. Compass heading 45. Cover with asphalt 46. Handwriting 48. More in need 50. Suggestive of the supernatural 51. Of birds 52. Changes colours 53. Have staying power

DOWN 1. Giving up 2. ‘Thanks ___!’

3. Attorney’s profession 4. ‘The Elephant Man’ director 5. Spendthrift 6. Fearful reverence 7. Long, angry complaint 8. Neglect 9. Juliet’s beloved 11. General tendency 12. Mount Olympus dwellers 14. Dispatched 17. Band-___ 20. Doubting Thomas 21. Mentally prepare

24. Accelerator pedal A 26. Date regularly 28. Takes out 30. Bow-wows 31. About 28 grams 32. Looked impolitely 33. Took off 35. Landing place of Noah’s Ark B 36. Number of deadly sins 37. At a time 40. Calyx part 43. Lean and sinewy 45. Pea in French 47. Bakery offering 49. Eggs

sudoku answer key

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

crossword canadian criss-cross

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

timeout

© walter D. Feener 2012

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

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

Remember when the Scorpions sung about the wind of change, Aries? Well, one is going to be blowing for you this week.

Leo, you have so many hidden talents that even you don’t know about. So do yourself a favor and try uncovering some of them this week.

Your life is about to take a turn for the better, Sagittarius. Possibilities and opportunities will pop up everywhere. Make the most of them.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

It’s a big world out there, Taurus.

Why don’t you do yourself a favour and make plans to see some of it.

You know, broaden your horizons.

When’s the last time you visited a museum, Virgo? If it’s been a while (or even if it hasn’t) why not go out and get cultured this week.

Dare to be different this week, Capricorn. No need marching to another drummer’s beat. Instead, grab the drumstick and bang out your own song.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

A serious sense of urgency may strike you later in the week, Gemini.

If you feel it, don’t hesitate. Do whatever it is you have to do, and do it quickly.

Home will figure prominently in your life this week, Libra. Stick close to family and the homefront. It will be rewarding.

The past may rear its ugly head this week, Aquarius. Be patient and accepting. Whatever it is will pass, er, again.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

Try sharing one of your deepest, longest-held secrets with someone this week, Cancer. But make sure you trust them, or else you’re in for trouble.

Have you ever volunteered, Scorpio? If not, helping others could reap you untold rewards this week.

It might be worth a try.

You may dream about zombies this week, Pisces. But instead of running from them, you’ll be kissing them. Embrace the unexpected.

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

crossword answer key

A

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

B

19 Mar 28 – Apr 4 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

cover

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

entertainment