June 6, 2023

CINEMA | 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' Maximizes Action

"There is more to them than meets the eye."
Peter Cullen Steven Caple Jr. | Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Paramount Pictures / Skydance
Director Steven Caple Jr. capably extends the Transformers franchise into the '90s after the surprisingly fun 1987 set prequel Bumblebee. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts introduces the popular animal-based robots called "Maximals", first introduced in the Vancouver-produced 1996 animated series Beast Wars, as both a direct sequel and prequel to all six of the previous Hasbro toy-based films.

June 5, 2023

IMBIBE | Crudo Bar x On the Terrace x Acquafarina Restaurant

Acquafarina | Italian Restaurant | Downtown Vancouver

Downtown—(May 17, 2023) Michelin Guide recommended Italian fine-dining restaurant Acquafarina recently installed Chef Jefferson Alvarez as its Culinary Director earlier this year alongside reestablishing his weekly Chef's Lab meals (served on Tuesdays) while making a string of other moves behind the kitchen since then.

June 1, 2023

CINEMA | A Spectacular 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'

"He's barely a villain of the week!"
Shameik Moore Hailee Steinfeld Phil Lord Christopher Miller | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Animation
Acclaimed Oscar-winning co-writers/producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller return to the animated Spider-Verse world for the spectacular multiversal superhero sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. This is a visually wondrous and maximalist adventure jam-packed with heart and tons of emotional resonance.

May 29, 2023

SCREEN | Sydney Sweeney Interrogates 'Reality' on HBO

"I knew it was a secret. But I also knew I pledged service to the American people."
Sydney Sweeney Tina Satter | Reality HBO
HBO Films / Seaview Productions
Playwright Tina Satter adapts her acclaimed off-Broadway stage play Is This A Room, dramatizing the 2017 interrogation of former NSA translator turned whistleblower Reality Winner, for the screen directly based on the 107-minute FBI audio transcript retold verbatim. Reality is a gripping reenactment of these real-life proceedings concerning the leaking of government intelligence confirming Russian interference in U.S. elections.

May 25, 2023

WEEKENDER | Vancouver International Wine Festival 2023

"The wine world is here."
Vancouver International Wine Festival 2023 | Canada Place | Downtown Vancouver Waterfront

Waterfront—(April 28, 2023) The 44th annual Vancouver International Wine Festival returned for eight wine-soaked days of fun. Known as "the largest wine festival in the Americas", VIWF wined and dined thousands of attendees at its various tastings, pairing meals, and signature events across the city.

May 22, 2023

CINEMA | Greta Lee Revisits Her 'Past Lives' x SIFF 2023

"That's just something Koreans say to seduce someone."
Greta Lee John Magaro Celine Song | Past Lives A24
Seattle International Film Festival
Past Lives, Korean-Canadian playwright turned filmmaker Celine Song's transcendent semi-autobiographical debut feature inspired by her own experiences immigrating from Seoul to Toronto before settling in New York City, stars Greta Lee and Teo Yoo as childhood sweethearts, Na Young (Nora) and Hae Sung, who reunite as adults and contemplate their diverging directions in life and love. It's a stunning film about possibilities and reconciling your choices.

May 18, 2023

CINEMA | Julia Louis-Dreyfus Feels Bad – 'You Hurt My Feelings'

"You were lying to be encouraging."
Tobias Menzies Arian Moayed Nicole Holofcener | You Hurt My Feelings A24
A24 / Elevation Pictures
Indie dramatist Nicole Holofcener reteams with her Enough Said star Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the biting marriage comedy You Hurt My Feelings. Ostensibly a relationship story about over-sensitivity, Louis-Dreyfus stars as Beth, a professor and memoirist turned budding novelist, who has a personal and professional crisis when she learns her loving but otherwise milquetoast therapist husband, a witty Tobias Menzies, may have been less than honest about his compliments.

May 15, 2023

CINEMA | Furious Times Ten – 'Fast X' Drives Into Car–nage

"It's like a cult with cars!"
Jason Momoa Louis Leterrier | Fast & Furious 10 | Fast X
Universal Pictures / Original Film
French action filmmaker Louis Leterrier takes over the directorial reigns from longtime Fast & Furious franchise director Justin Lin, who previously helmed five entries and remains credited as co-writer/producer, after abruptly departing the tenth film only a week into production. Fast X (aka Fast & Furious 10) is an ultra-maximalist sequel directly addressing the events of Fast Five. It takes the "family" to unhinged levels of car-based cinematic carnage and mayhem across the globe.

May 11, 2023

SCREEN | Leaving Los Angeles – 'This Time' x LAAPFF 2023

"It forced us to make these very intense relationships so quickly."
Ken Kirby Leila Perry Sebastien Tobler | This Time' x LAAPFF 2023
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
Asian-American writer/director Sebastien Tobler's Los Angeles-set and filmed indie romance, the generically titled This Time, follows (quite literally) grown-up former high school sweethearts turned Indonesian expats who accidentally reunite after twenty-three years apart and spend the afternoon catching up while walking and talking around the streets of Pasadena.