GETAWAY | Sea to Sky x Fergie's Cafe x Sunwolf x Squamish

Squamish—Late last summer on a somewhat random but much-needed mid-week break of a day trip, I travelled nearby to enjoy a scenic brunch meal from the popular but secluded Fergie's Cafe (reopened after a devastating fire) located on the Sunwolf Riverside Resort cabin grounds in the neighbouring town of Brackendale.

SCREEN | Sebastian Stan Parties Through 'Monday'

"Thank you for not being an asshole."

IFC Films / Wishmore

Greek filmmaker Argyris Papadimitropoulos channels a pure sense of destructive yet joyful energy in his sexy indie romance. Essentially a loose European party film, Monday chronicles the long-term aftermath of a seemingly random summer weekend of debaucherous partying across various Greek islands.

CABLE | Cristin Milioti Escapes 'Made for Love'

Paramount Television Studios

Author Alissa Nutting adapts her own near-future dark relationship comedy sci-fi novel into a television series alongside fellow novelists Dean Bakopoulos, Patrick Somerville, and showrunner Christina Lee for an odd but endearing semi-satire focused on personal catharsis. Starring an energetic Cristin Milioti as a sort of trophy wife to a maniacal tech CEO and controlling husband (an unhinged Billy Magnussen), Made for Love is filled with interesting ideas about contemporary society at the intersection of intimacy and intelligence.

CINEMA | Lost in Space Odyssey – Lord of the 'Voyagers'

Lionsgate / AGC Studios

Writer/director Neil Burger turns his moody space odyssey Voyagers into the usual Lord of the Flies allegory with its main subjects replaced by overly hormonal (and very good-looking) teenagers. Set in 2063, the dystopian film tries to hammer the familiar sci-fi warnings of environmental harm and tribalist behaviour through a glossy sheen of melodrama.

CINEMA | 93rd Annual Oscars x 2020 Ballot

Picture: Nomadland
Director: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Actor: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Actress: Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-Jung, Minari
Original Screenplay: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Adapted Screenplay: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Animated Feature: Soul

CABLE | 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' Strikes Back

Marvel Studios

Marvel Studios' second streaming series effort in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, starring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan as the eponymous superhero sidekick duo to Captain America, recreates much of the same tried-and-true blockbuster formula transplanted to the episodic television format.

SCREEN | Idris Elba Rides the Pavement – 'Concrete Cowboy'

"Only home I ever known was the back of a horse."

Waxylu Films

Star Idris Elba (also a producer) dives into the Black urban cowboy subculture in Northern Philidelphia inspired by the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club based on the young adult novel Ghetto Cowboy written by author Greg Neri in first-time director Ricky Staub's soulful film adaptation. Co-starring Caleb McLaughlin as the estranged, troubled teenage son (Cole) from Detroit of Elba's Harp who's sent to live with him, Concrete Cowboy tells a familiar father/son tale of African-American parenthood told through a sort of contemporary western lens.

CINEMA | Monster Mashup – 'Godzilla vs. Kong' Lets Them Fight

"Kong bows to no one."

Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures

Indie horror director Adam Wingard makes his big-budget studio blockbuster turn in the MonsterVerse mashup sequel to both Legendary's most recent American Godzilla franchise and their loosely-tied Kong: Skull Island prequel for the battle movie Godzilla vs. Kong. I'll say this about the film… I never knew how much I need to see King Kong chokeslam Godzilla into a skyscraper, but here we are.

SCREEN | Sleeping Around and Sitting 'Shiva Baby'

"Such nice girls."

Utopia / Pacific Northwest Pictures

Jewish-Canadian writer/director Emma Seligman (a Toronto native) makes her feature filmmaking debut with the clever indie comedy, Shiva Baby, adapted from her 2018 short film. Starring Rachel Sennott as an aimless bisexual college senior moonlighting as a sex worker, Danielle, the film quickly becomes a sort of chaotic screwball farce set at a titular Jewish ceremonial family gathering when she runs into her sugar daddy whom she realizes her parents know.