GRUB | Takeout Meal Kit x Livia Bakery x Commercial Drive

"A small bakery, filled with joy and carbs."

Commercial Drive—(April 1, 2020) Due to the closure of dine-in restaurants and most non-essential businesses over the public health concerns around the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID–19) in British Columbia, many Vancouver eateries have been forced to switch to takeout and delivery only service in order to stay open safely.

SCREEN | Never Say 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always'

"Don't you ever just wish you were a dude?"

Focus Features / BBC Films

Indie filmmaker Eliza Hittman's third directorial effort Never Rarely Sometimes Always is such a powerful drama about the bureaucratic process around getting an abortion in small-town America. In the film, a pair of rural Pennsylvania teens must travel to New York City to seek out medical advice after an unplanned pregnancy leaves them desperate with few options or resources.

CABLE | Meet 'Dave' – Lil Dicky Chases His Rap Dreams on FXX

"I'm actually one of the best rappers alive."

FX Productions

FXX's simply titled Dave, an autobiographical sitcom about the fictionalized life of comedian Dave Burd (aka YouTube rapper Lil Dicky), feels surprisingly fresher and much more amusing than the well-worn basic concept of trying to "make it big" has any right to be. This is mostly thanks to Burd's jovial everyman energy as an unlikely vessel for someone looking to break into the rap game and music business from the fringes of viral internet fame.

GENRE | 'Swallow'–ing Compulsions of Domestic Control

"Do I make you happy?"

IFC Films

First-time filmmaker Carlo Mirabella-Davis crafts a truly arresting picture starring the absolutely captivating Haley Bennett as a troubled, domesticated '50s-type kept housewife who cannot stop swallowing small household objects in the provocative feminist drama. Swallow is a gorgeously rendered yet haunting portrait of regaining power through compulsion.

IMBIBE | Vancouver International Wine Festival 2020

Waterfront—(February 27 and 29, 2020) The 42nd annual Vancouver International Wine Festival wrapped up not too long ago to much of the usual fanfare and enjoyment. As always every year, VIWF wined and dined thousands of attendees at its various tastings, pairing meals, and signature events across the city.

SCREEN | Pete Davidson Charms 'Big Time Adolescence'

"We don't cry in this house. We do drugs in this house."

Neon / LD Entertainment

Infamous Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson brings an abundance of low-key charm to the small-time fun of his slacker loser character Zeke in Big Time Adolescence. Essentially the cool guy stoner from high school who never really grew up, Davidson forms a sweet brotherly bond to his ex-girlfriend's sixteen-year-old little brother, the likeable Griffin Gluck as Mo, for good and (mostly) ill.

SCREEN | Anna Akana Travels to 'Go Back to China'

"It was always my dream to have all my children under one roof."

Gravitas Ventures

YouTube star Anna Akana tackles her first feature lead role in the cross-cultural Chinese-American family comedy Go Back to China. Filmmaker Emily Ting balances her dysfunctional multi-generational relationships with common Asian themes of obligation or providing and individual creative pursuits.

SOUND | Best Coast x 'Always Tomorrow' x Venue Nightclub

Granville—(March 3, 2020) California indie rock duo Best Coast, made of up of the unlikely but endearing pairing of members Bethany Costenino and Bobb Bruno, came back to town after a five-year headling absence—Costenino noted on stage they'd returned to Vancouver in between to open for both The Pixies and The Go-Go's—to play Venue Nightclub touring in support of their brand new fourth album (and first in five years), the dreamy and self-referential Always Tomorrow.

CINEMA | Ben Affleck Finds 'The Way Back' to Redemption

"The players decide the game."

Warner Bros. Pictures

Director Gavin O'Connor and star Ben Affleck reteam for a very familiar inspirational underdog sports drama about redemption. Hueing closely to elements of Affleck's own personal life and history of addiction on a more working-class level, The Way Back (aka Finding the Way Back) is a thoroughly engrossing character study using coaching and high school basketball as a greater metaphor for the struggles of alcoholism.