AltWeeklies Wire
Bruce McDonald on His Small-Town Ontario Zombie Filmnew

Here's the bit of brilliance that lies at the gut of McDonald's latest movie: Pontypool is truly horrifying for what it doesn't show us.
Montreal Mirror |
Matthew Hays |
03-13-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
The 'It' Factor of the Wong Boysnew

Hailing from the land of Lego and blue cheese, the Wong Boys are a pair of Danish music-scene vets who "talk punk and walk rave," as they put it, which essentially means they bang out obtuse, ass-kick electro-pop that's rank, dank, raunchy and stupid in an exceptionally clever manner.
Montreal Mirror |
Rupert Bottenberg |
03-13-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: electronic music, The Wong Boys
Dave Gossage and the Annual Saint Patrick's Mindwarpnew
Known to local Celtic music buffs as Montreal's most prominent pied piper, and to a recent influx of young Irish pub-goers as "flute guy," Hurley's and Old Dublin mainstay Dave Gossage is one of Montreal's go-to musical performers when it comes to traditional Irish and Scottish reels and jigs.
Montreal Mirror |
Erik Leijon |
03-13-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Transit' Aims for High Intrigue on a Low Budget, With Mixed Resultsnew
Shot on video and with minimal lighting, the film has a cheap aesthetic that it struggles to overcome. The plot doesn’t break out of the genre’s clichés. It’s a common case of a filmmaker’s ambition being greater than his means.
Montreal Mirror |
Malcolm Fraser |
01-30-2009 |
Reviews
Aloha Icebergs: Winter Surfers on the St. Lawrence Go With the Floesnew
Montreal surfboard maker Corran Addison and a small group of truly hardcore surfing junkies have taken to surfing noted local spots on the St. Lawrence River and the Richelieu River in Chambly in the dead of winter — when the only things typically hanging are icicles.
Montreal Mirror |
Erik Leijon |
01-30-2009 |
Sports
Montreal Company Pops the Smoothie Market with Fair Guarananew

What makes Goarana different, says Jerome Pelletier, is that it tries to maintain respectful relations both with the producers and the environment of the Brazilian Amazon, where the plant is grown.
Montreal Mirror |
Matt Jones |
01-30-2009 |
Food+Drink
Lewis Hyde's Classic Manifesto 'The Gift' Gets a Timely Re-Releasenew
What this book conveys more than almost any other book I've read is the sense of abundance artists develop from grounding their sense of self in something other than money or "stuff." At this time, perhaps more than any other, this book will also speak to readers who don't necessarily consider themselves artists.
Montreal Mirror |
Juliet Waters |
12-15-2008 |
Nonfiction
The Black Dahlia Murder Keeps Death Alivenew
Michigan's the Black Dahlia Murder have been trying to shake the metalcore tag ever since they first got started in 2001. A shame, really, because they are about as molten metal as it gets.
Montreal Mirror |
Johnson Cummins |
12-15-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Holidays' is a Tired Collection of Christmas Clichesnew
Despite the flatness of the pic, the cast is a veritable who's-who of prized Latino actors including character-actor-turned-headliner John Leguizamo, leather-faced Luis Guzman and household matriarch Elizabeth Pena.
Montreal Mirror |
Christopher Sykes |
12-15-2008 |
Reviews
'Nobel Son' is Well Cast but Too Fastnew
It's the kind of film that you could praise for being a cut above the usual crap, but it ends up disappointing because it could have been so much better.
Montreal Mirror |
Malcolm Fraser |
12-05-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Randall Miller, Nobel Son
Mercury Rev's Strange Attractionsnew
The New York State band invokes animal spirits and alchemical magic to make two new albums.
Montreal Mirror |
Lorraine Carpenter |
12-05-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Malcolm Gladwell Examines the Secret of Success in 'Outliers'new
Gladwell uses birthdays, tight-knit communities and circumstance to show why some make it and others don't.
Montreal Mirror |
Juliet Waters |
12-05-2008 |
Nonfiction
Teen Phenom Twilight is Tediousnew
Christmas comes early for teens and emos alike with this much-hyped but terrible vampire flick.
Montreal Mirror |
Christopher Sykes |
11-21-2008 |
Reviews
M83's Keen on Teensnew
Saturdays=Youth sonically rehashes Anthony Gonzales' salad days, considering the puppy love and formative discoveries of a Mediterranean teenager in only the most optimistic of terms.
Montreal Mirror |
Jack Oatmon |
11-14-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Howard Zinn Ponders Obama's Positions on Peace and Imperialismnew

The noted historian and activist talks about the war, the end of the Bush era and the future of the American empire.
Montreal Mirror |
Matt Jones |
11-14-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews