MONDOmagazine

By: Caesar Martini, Rachel West, Sean Kelly and Isaac Mills

The crew is back at it with the welcome first appearance of comics-section heavyweight Isaac Mills. The gang punches in on The Last Airbender, Predators, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and piles more. Check in shortly for more expert speculation and conflict galore when we size up the releases of latter July.
Read the rest of this entry »

Ecology.Design.Synergy: Green Architecture & New Ideas from Germany
Behnisch Architekten + Transsolar KlimaEngineering
June 23 – July 11 @ MaRS Centre Atrium

Text and photos by Tina Chu

Brigitte Shim’s video interview for Ecology.Design.Synergy, perfectly sums up my experience of the exhibit.

As Shim describes it, Ecology.Design.Synergy is an untraditional architecture exhibit because as opposed to focusing on either an architectural or engineering firm, it chooses instead to center on the integrated design processes of Behnisch Arkitekten + Transsolar KlimaEngineering.

The spotlight on Behnisch and Transsolar’s interdisciplinary design strategies is attributed to the larger theme of sustainability presented in the approaches of both practices. In the past, where boundaries have been drawn between disciplines, they have now been dismantled, rendered obsolete in the larger context and challenge of building sustainably. Read the rest of this entry »

The Tempest
Directed by Des McAnuff
Starring Christopher Plummer
June 11- September 12 – Opens June 25 @ Festival Theatre

By Jeff Maus

Depending on the quality of a production, Shakespeare’s reputation is usually necessary to carry his plays to varying degrees. Even if a version is light, it always has the words to give it some weight.

The Bard was given the night off during a Saturday preview, his script and ideas in very good hands. Des McAnuff, Christopher Plummer, and company, owned the play. Read the rest of this entry »

The Book of Eli
Directed by The Hughes Brothers
Warner Brothers, 2010

By Miles Baker

The future is sad because it’s grey and brown, but — if it’s any consolation — it’s also really well lit.

The nukes have landed and society has gone to shit. Gangs roam ruined highways, preying on passersby; others have sought shelter in the bombed out remains of small towns; food and water are scarce. But, worst of all for people like myself who work in publishing, books are rare and there are only a few people left who can read. In roams Denzel Washington, a post-apocalypic samurai who caries the most rare book of all, a King James Bible.

Enter slumlord Gary Oldman, who seeks the unifying/controlling power of the sacred text; and cue fight scenes. Mila Kunis and Ray Stevenson round out the cast (with a super sweet cameo from Tom Waits). Read the rest of this entry »

Amazing Spider-Man #635
Joe Kelly, J.M. DeMatteis, Stan Lee (w), Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano, Max Fiumara, Marcos Martin, Matt Southworth (a), Matt Hollingsworth, Fabio D’Auria (c). Marvel Comics.

Spoilers at the end, you’ve been warned. As much as I don’t like references to the Straczynski-era of Spider-Man stories, the use of the Ezekiel character (or at least his history) was very satisfying. In fact, while I’m talking about satisfying, how about the part where Spider-Man flying tackles Araña out of the way, calling her Spider-Girl because he doesn’t have the time (or, I suspect, the patience) to care about what she wants to be called. I’m biased though; I don’t particularly care for Araña. It’s pretty funny though. What isn’t satisfying is the degree of difficulty all the “Spyder” people are having fighting the Kraven group. It’s one thing to have Spider-Man be really sick and tired, not at the top of his game, but he’s teamed up with three other super powered spider people. I mean, during the one fight scene team Spider even outnumbers team Kraven! There’s a character death that was excellently done, assuming it’s Kaine who dies. If it was actually Spider-Man in that Spider-Man costume that was killed and he’s going to have to come back to life in some fashion next issue… well, that would suck. The book would have been better without the two back up stories: Max Fiumara’s art is too angular and rough, and the Stan Lee back up runs right up to my suspension of disbelief and spits in its eye. — Isaac Mills

Isaac’s rating: 4 out of 5

American Vampire #4
Scott Snyder & Stephen King (w), Rafael Albuquerque (a), Dave McCaig (c). Vertigo.

I think I’ll be dropping this book after this opening arc. And it’s hard to say why exactly. I’m just not digging it but it’s not a bad comic. It’s pretty good, I just don’t feel it’s as special as the rest of Vertigo’s line (well, what I buy of the line). I also want it to be more brutal — more violence, more nudity, more horror. The best thing about it is the art, and it looks a bit like Albuquerque is rushing in this issue. Now, let this be clear, rushed Albuquerque is better than most professional artists. But I still think he’s trimming corners in backgrounds and a few other places. I’ll get the next one. See what happens after. — Miles Baker

Miles’s rating: 3.5 out of 5 Read the rest of this entry »

Sex and the City 2
Directed by Michael Patrick King
New Line Films, 2010

By Leo K. Moncel

Now, I am not the intended audience for this film. I didn’t see the first film and I’ve watched all of one episode of the series. I’d heard this one was a letdown even to fans and I went in with very low expectations, but nothing could have prepared me for this absolutely God awful movie.

I won’t criticize this film for it’s kitschy glam aesthetic, the target is too obvious and this stuff is for the most part well-executed. Where this film fails is in it’s near total lack of a story. This is not an accusation I often hurl. When a film critic says they found something story-less, it is often that they didn’t like the story. When I accuse Sex and the City 2 of being story-less, I mean that I found scarce little conflict start to finish. What’s on screen then, is almost two and a half hours of mainly set-pieces and banter.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cube
Directed by Vincenzo Natali
Alliance Atlantis, 1997

By Sean Kelly

With the release of his latest film, Splice, I thought I would go back and take a look at Cube – Vincenzo Natali’s first and most well-known film, and  something of a cult classic. The story is simple: a group of strangers find themselves in a maze of cubical rooms. Some of these rooms feature deadly traps and the group scrambles to find an exit.

This is essentially a one-set film, and it would have been impossible to pull off if it wasn’t for the quality of the character development. There are six main characters: Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint) – a cop, Holloway (Nicky Guadagni) – a doctor, Leaven (Nicole de Boer) – a student, Worth (David Hewlett) – an architect, Rennes (Wayne Robson) – an escape artist, and Kazan (Andrew Miller) – an autistic man. Each of these characters seem to represent a certain archetype, but as the film progresses their true roles are revealed.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Kerry Freek

Rufus Wainwright: All Days are Nights / Songs for Lulu
June 15 and 17 @ Elgin Theatre

Act One:

The sombre face in the picture above should give you a pretty fair indication of how the first act of Wainwright’s one-man show went down. Before the curtain opened, an unidentified man came out, greeted us on Rufus’ behalf, and brought tidings of Wainwright’s requests of us for the next half-hour or so, which included refraining from applause until his imminent “song cycle” had come to a complete end. We’d even have to wait until Wainwright left the stage entirely, as we were told even his exit would be “part of the performance.” Read the rest of this entry »

Amazing Spider-Man #633
Zeb Wells (w), Chris Bachalo, Emma Rios (p), Emma Rios, Townsend, Mendoza, Olazaba, Irwin, Bachalo (i), Antonio Fabela (c). Marvel Comics.

Big time Spidey week folks — so how’d it go? Well, the two-week break between issues of the “Shed” story arc isn’t doing this issue any favours. After a certain amount of time you want to be on to the next thing, which they sort of did by shipping Amazing Spider-Man #634 this week, but it really further undercuts the impact of 633. It’s no surprise that Spidey will make it through the issue, but they kind of beat us over the head with the fact by having two books right away. A very clever trick had the Lizard look at the world with eyes that could see beyond animalistic savagery, leading to a great quiet moment when he looks up at a plane and says “That… that is not a bird.” It’s a very different end to a Lizard story, but I am let down that crazy serums were involved to get that new world view. — Isaac Mills

Isaac’s rating: 3 out of 5

Amazing Spider-Man #634
Joe Kelly, J.M. DeMatteis, Stan Lee (w), Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano, Max Fiumara, Marcos Martin (a), Matt Hollingsworth, Fabio D’Auria (c). DC Comics.

This is the start of the much-hyped, long-awaited “Grim Hunt” story. First off, the main story looks gorgeous. The opening has a stylish cinematic feel before leading into the prose introduction to the story, an introduction eschewing the “Bugle Girl” blog style trappings that I’m pretty sure we’ve all grown tired of. The story was okay, but it didn’t stand out as anything amazing. Opening up with a bloodied Kaine at Peter Parkers doorstep would have been cool, except for the time Venom did the same thing (of course that’s a complaint from someone who enjoys that Peter is suffering from a cold because of it being a familiar Spidey hurdle…) and most of the narration was supplied by a typically cryptic Madame Web. The back up stories were not worth the extra dollar price increase, though I will enjoy seeing where Stan Lee goes with his in next weeks installment, his intro just didn’t leave any impression. — Isaac Mills

Isaac’s rating: 3 out of 5 Read the rest of this entry »

Via luminato.com

The Infernal Comedy
Written and directed by Michael Sturminger
Featuring John Malkovich
June 11-12 @ Massey Hall

By Daina Valiulis

“The first thing I learned was to lie — or, to be economical with the truth.”

One of the first confessions of the notorious Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger, played by John Malkovich, reveals both his charm and duplicity. A bloodthirsty wolf in sheep’s clothing, Unterweger carried out a prison sentence of fifteen years for murder in 1976, Read the rest of this entry »

Avengers Academy #1
Christos Gage (w), Mike McKone (a), Jeremy Cox (c), Marvel Comics.

This issue has a lot in common with Avengers: Initiative. That’s a good thing. After all, the first issue of Avengers: Initiative got me very excited for the second and the same thing happens here. There’s a cool batch of new characters and a great twist at the end. In fact, the only thing that bugged me was the main character frequently commenting on how small her breasts were when McKone drew her with average-sized breasts (although I guess they are small by comic-book standards…). I totally dug this book and can’t wait for issue two. — Owen Craig

Owen’s rating: 4 out of 5

Batman #700
Grant Morrison (w), Tony Daniel, Frank Quitely, Scott Kolins, Andy Kubert, David Finch, Richard Friend (a), Ian Hannin, Alex Sinclair, Tony Avina, Brad Anderson, Peter Steigerwald (c). DC Comics.

Morrison continually impresses me with his legitimizing of the campy history of Batman — additionally it’s hard not to love the commentary divided between the three/four main Batman stories: the cheesy action packed science fiction of the fifty’s and sixties, the relatively “realistic” era of the 70’s and 80’s with Batman and Robin fighting against common criminals and uncommon intellectual challenges (with a great reference to the Dark Knight Returns using a gang of “mutants”, and a quick visual gag consisting of Batman shaving away his stubble on a roof top), the third story is a ruthless Damian Wayne Batman an easy reference to the antihero days of the 90s (and often contemporary era) as well as hinting to the very origins of “The Bat-Man” character, and finally the section denoting the possible futures for the legacy of the Batman mythos wherever it may turn. Ultimately, it is very clearly a Morrison work, so maybe it’s not your cup of tea, but if you’re an old school Batman fan, not just in it for the occasional movie (great as they are) but have read a Showcase Batman book or two, then you will want this book. — Isaac Mills

Isaac’s rating: 4.5 out of 5 Read the rest of this entry »

Splice
Directed by Vincenzo Natali
Warner Bros./Dark Castle Entertainment, 2010

By Sean Kelly

You know, this film could have been absolutely terrible and it would have still been a film industry miracle. That this Canadian production was picked up by Warner Bros. for a wide release still amazes me. This fact alone told me that Splice was going to be something special. I was not disappointed.

Most would know director Vincenzo Natali from his 1997 cult sci-fi film Cube. Splice recycles the age-old morality tale about the dangers of playing God. However, in a world where there are news reports about the creation of artificial organisms, this type of story seems to be becoming closer to science fact than science fiction.

Read the rest of this entry »