Verb Issue R60 (Jan. 11-17, 2013)

Issue #60 – January 11 to January 17

Photo: courtesy of mark cohene

a freshstartwith hannah georgas

behind the scenes the making of a Blades documentary

marriage of figaro opera like you’ve never heard it before

gangster squad + citadel films reviewed

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2JaN 11 – JaN 17

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VerbNews.com@verBregIna faceBook.com/verBregIna

editorialPublisher / ParIty PuBlIshIngeditor iN chief / ryan allanmaNagiNg editor / JessIca Patruccostaff writers / adam hawBoldt + alex J macPhersoncoNtributiNg writer / JessIca BIckford

art & ProductiondesigN lead / roBerta BarrIngtondesigN & ProductioN / BrIttney grahamcoNtributiNg PhotograPhers / tamara kleIn, danIelle tocker, adam hawBoldt + alex J macPherson

business & oPerationsoffice maNager / stePhanIe lIPsItmarketiNg maNager / vogeson PaleyfiNaNcial maNager / cody lang

contactcommeNts / [email protected] / 881 8372adVertise / [email protected] / 979 2253desigN / [email protected] / 979 8474geNeral / [email protected] / 979 2253

culture eNtertaiNmeNtNews + oPiNioN

the wrong thing at the right timeJason Hattie’s biggest gamble. 3 / local

behind the scenesAn intimate look at the making of a Blades’ documentary. 4 / local

dearly deParting Our thoughts on moving urban cem-eteries. 6 / editorial

commentsHere’s what you had to say about the war on Christmas. 7 / commeNts

q + a with valerie PearsonDirector talks new Globe play. 8 / q + a

nightlife Photos We visit The Pump. 15 / Nightlife

live music listingsLocal music listings for January 11 through January 19. 14 / listiNgs

gangster squad + citadel We review the latest movies. 16 / film

on the bus Weekly original comic illustrations by Elaine M. Will. 18 / comics

marriage of figaroPlaying opera like you’ve never heard it before. 9 / arts

uP and awayUplands Pizza offers home-cooked favourites. 12 / food + driNk

musicHigh Hopes, A Series of Tubes +Electric Six. 13 / music

the synthetic ageMacKenzie exhibit explores the fu-sion of art and community. 9 / arts

game + horoscoPesCanadian criss-cross puzzle, weekly horoscopes and Sudoku. 19 / timeout

on the cover: hannahgeorgasA new album, a new beginning. 10 /

coVer

Photo: courtesy of trIstan casey

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local

J ason Hattie is really good at doing the wrong thing. When his friends were

going to lame high school par-ties, he was figuring out how to survive as a touring musician. He immersed himself in dance music when dance music was profoundly uncool. He joined a German techno band when he was supposed to be studying jazz — and when no one wanted to hear German techno bands. Fortunately for Hattie, he always seems to do the wrong thing at exactly the right time.

“I hate being told what to do,” Hat-tie sighs, leaning back and running a hand through his long blondish hair. It’s a Friday afternoon. A few hours from now, he will be onstage wearing leop-ard print pants and absurd sunglasses while hundreds of people writhe on the dance floor; right now, he just looks tired. “I’m good at rebelling from what I’m meant to do, especially in an academic situation. I just kind of fell in love with dance music because it was the anti-jazz. Then I fell so in love with its simplicity and its hooks and its catchiness. The more I got into it, the more I got into all the other elements of it. Stuff beyond music.”

He couldn’t have known it five years ago, but his infatuation with elec-tronic dance music would give rise to the project that could define his career. Or bring it tumbling down.

Hattie’s project, Hairdu Records, is a la-bel dedicated to releasing and promot-ing dance music from across western

Canada. A record label is a concept, an idea. Big ones have office buildings and thousands of employees, but their mandate is identical to the countless labels headquartered in basements and kept afloat by sheer stubbornness: release good music and share it with as many people as possible. The idea is simple. People who like one artist will probably like others on the same label. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement, one Hattie thinks is long overdue in Saskatchewan.

“There was a need within my group of peers and friends,” he says. “There was that spot to be filled that hadn’t been filled.” But taking up space is just the beginning. To be successful, every record label needs three things: a vi-able market, employees with a broad set of skills, and a group of like-minded artists willing to trade control for the promise of a long-term benefit.

Hattie discovered the market when his band, 911 Turbo, began to find success. At the time, live dance music was deeply unpopular. “I think a lot of musicians have it in their heads that it’s some big evil or sellout, something they don’t want to do,” he says. “They think they’re sacrificing something about their heritage.” He pauses for a moment before adding, “And so over the last four years I’ve just been getting more and more and more and more into it.” An epic show in Vancouver showed Hattie that the idea was viable and convinced him to keep 911 Turbo alive, even though he was also work-ing in a band called Mobadass (now The Steadies). “Vancouver was going off about 911 Turbo,” he laughs. “It was

f*cked. We were like, ‘Okay, we should probably keep doing this.’”

He learned how to run a business after many false starts and even more wrong turns. Hattie, who is 25, has been playing and recording music for more than a decade; he learned years ago that success is more than just a good song. “A lot of people that grew up in the eighties and nineties started learning music, started getting this dream in their heads that music was just this thing where it’s like, ‘I’ll make good music and that’s all it takes,’” he scoffs. “People tell you that to this day — and I just want to hit them in the nose.” Success in the music business, he explains, requires good music, hard work, infinite perseverance — and maybe a stroke of luck.

Although he enjoys success today, Hattie has struggled in the past. At one point, he found himself sitting in his grandparents’ basement with no money and no work. Rather than give up, Hattie doubled down. He wrote a batch of songs and booked acoustic shows at coffee shops. “The one thing I’ve learned lately is that there aren’t many people out there that are going to do any of the work for you,” he says. “You have to figure out how to do it yourself. It’s not that you have to do it yourself: you have to figure out how to do it yourself.”

Hattie’s first experiences in 911 Turbo introduced him to other people obsessed with making the same kind of music. To date, he has agreed to work with artists like Ricky Rock, Bitchface, Secret Squares, Rave Wind, and PartyWolf. Hairdu will also handle

releases by 911 Turbo, Von Trask, and Hattie’s own project, GoldHeart. “It’s not trying to be big business,” he says. “It’s trying to build something that will help promote a group of us more ef-ficiently.” Safety comes with numbers, but Hairdu Records also promises to give fans a place to hear old favourites and make new friends, a central hub of western Canadian dance music.

Hairdu Records is not a collective, which means Hattie will do most of the work himself. “It’s a control thing,” he laughs. “And it’s not uncommon either.” When he isn’t updating the website or putting the finishing touch-es on Speed Dating, a mixtape teaser scheduled for release January 15, he is

emailing artists, trying to organize their work under one umbrella and sched-ule releases well into the future.

It may be an impossible challenge, but Hattie couldn’t be more excited. “I’m going into this with the full intent of it being something I want to keep doing for 10 years, 20 years,” he says. “Hopefully.” Then again, Hattie has a track record when it comes to doing things nobody expects, doing the wrong thing. It always seems to be the right time.

@macPhersona

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feedback? text it! (306) 881 8372

the wrong thing at the right time

Jason hattie’s biggest gamble By alex J macPherson

Photo: courtesy of alex J macPherson / verB

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Continued on next page »

he Credit Union Centre is silent, save for the sound of AC/DC’s

“Thunderstruck” blaring from deep within the arena’s bowels.

It’s 3pm on New Year’s Day, and in dressing room #3 Jeff Newman is preparing to give his team a pep talk. But this isn’t the kind of team you’d normally find in a hockey dressing room. No, Newman’s team — comprised of a handful of cam-eramen, a sound guy named Lanny and Newman himself, the writer/director — is in Saskatoon, making a documentary called On the Edge, which airs on SportsNet.

The subject?An intimate, eight-part look

at the Saskatoon Blades and their march to the Memorial Cup. Today they’ll be shooting footage of the Blades’ game against the Medicine Hat Tigers. The music in the dress-ing room is turned off as Newman begins his speech.

“Alright,” says Newman to his team, who are huddled around him, listening to him as though he’s a coach or something. “Tonight I want you all to shoot in the moment. Really commit to it. Stick with it. Try not to just follow the puck, even though I know it goes against all your instincts.”

And Newman is right. His team consists of veteran sports camera-men whose natural tendency is to follow the play in order to capture the flow of the game. But what Newman is after isn’t flow, it’s the essence of the game. “Always pay attention, always be listening,

always be on the lookout for those little moments that will help make this thing unique,” advises New-man. “Don’t be afraid to take risks. Stay focused on a player after the whistle, on a goalie throwing a water bottle after a goal, on a ref. Whatever you think will work.”

One of the cameramen to New-man’s left pipes up and says, “How about the fans? Last game against PA there were those three fans who were in front of me, jumping up and down, always moving. What do we do about that?”

“That,” responds Newman, “is great. If you get a silhouette of fans, stay with it. We want that stuff. We want the dirty glass, we want to see the dividers. We’re not just film-ing an ordinary hockey game here, fellas. We’re trying to give our view-ers a new, fresh perspective.”

One of the keys to gaining this fresh perspective is a tall, slender cameraman named Mark Utley. Fifteen minutes after the pep talk,

Utley is in the Blades’ dressing room. He moves freely through a place that is normally off-limits to outsiders. On

the far end of the room, Utley reaches into leading scorer Josh Nicholl’s stall and grabs a pair of shoulder pads. He takes them to the trainer’s station, lays the shoulder pads down, and places a microphone on them.

“This is the front, right?” he kids, then pulls a long stick of black hockey tape from a roll and begins securing the microphone to the pads.

Utley is nearly finished attach-ing the mic when the team’s trainer, Steve “Hilty” Hildebrand, approaches. “What are you doing touching my equipment?” he asks. Hildebrand’s

tone is serious, but you can instantly tell he’s joking. Utley cracks wise back, then the two get into a short conversa-tion about pressure points, pain and the Blades’ recent Christmas party.

And while this may seem like a normal interaction to most, here’s the thing: very few people on Utley’s side of the camera have ever had the kind of access to a WHL team that he does.

For all intents and purposes, he’s the eyes and ears of the entire On the Edge operation. He travels with the Blades on the team bus, he stays at the hotel with them, he films road games and all the behind-the-scenes action that takes place — good and

local

behind the scenes

tthe making of a Blades documentary By adam hawBoldt

i’m going to have to be the bad guy every now and then. that’s the only way i can tell a balanced, true story here.

Jeff newman

@VerbregiNa News + oPiNioN

5JaN 11 – JaN 17


@adamhawboldt

[email protected]

bad — while the Blades are away from Saskatoon.

At home, things are a bit differ-ent. Before games, Utley is in the dressing room filming coach Lorne Molleken’s pep talks. In between periods, he’s back in the dressing room filming. And while games in the Credit Union Centre are being played, Utley films from the ominously named “suicide box” — an area next to the Blades’ bench with no protective glass, from which he takes action shots of the bench.

“Simply put, Mark is essential to this whole operation,” says Newman, “He knows everything there is to know about the team. He brings us fantastic insider story ideas, does all the road games, is really entrenched in the team … without him, this wouldn’t be the show it is.”

So what kind of documentary is Over the Edge?

Well, according to Newman, it’s kind of like HBO’s 24/7 series, which follows two professional hockey teams in the weeks leading up to the annual Winter Classic. The thing is, though, Newman is in the process of making a show with a much differ-ent look and feel than 24/7.

“This is grittier,” he explains, as the puck drops to start the Blades vs. Medicine Hat game. “We have differ-ent access than HBO does with that series. Maybe better access. So we want to give people a warts-and-all look at this team. It’s like a family with these guys. There are highs and lows,

laughs and fights. And we want to show all of that.”

Which means, from time to time, Newman may not be the Blades’ favourite person.

“Oh, after the first episode aired, some people weren’t overly happy with me,” he says. “But I’m going to have to be the bad guy every now and then. That’s the only way I can tell a balanced, true story here. So not being everyone’s favourite all the time is just something you have to get used to.”

Another thing Newman has to get used to is a hands-off approach to directing. Admittedly, in the past, he’s had a more hands-on, micro-managing style. So much so that, on another documentary project, he once grabbed a camera off a guy’s shoulder and started shooting himself. But with five cameras set up around the rink for the game against Medicine Hat, Newman knows he’ll end up with a better finished product if he just lets his camera team do its own thing — with minimal supervision.

“It’s all about the letting go,” he explains, as he flits about the Credit Union Centre, going from camera to camera to ensure everything is running smoothly. “I trust my team, I trust them to get the footage we need. So I don’t get too hands-on dur-ing the game unless something out of the ordinary comes up.”

Something out of the ordinary like what happened against Medi-cine Hat. The Blades were comfort-ably ahead (they would go on to win 7-3) late in the game, when one of the Saskatoon players got drilled into the boards from behind.

He lay there on the ice, not mov-ing. Skirmishes ensued. And before you could say “holy crap, that was a cheap shot,” Jeff Newman was up, running down stairs, turning corners at break-neck speed, head-ing to the dressing room to film that unique moment that happens after a

player has just been hurt and taken off the ice. The moment viewers rarely get to see.

Lucky for him, Utley, his ace in the hole, had already leapt out of the suicide box and had the camera trained on the young hockey player as he told the trainer that

he was “okay, just got real shook up for a bit.”

Photo: courtesy of steve hIscock

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editorial

@verbregina

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feedback? text it! (306) 881 8372s Saskatchewan grows our cities will continue to expand, and if we

want to avoid endless urban sprawl we’re going to have to make bet-ter use of the city land that we’ve already got staked out

In the past we’ve written about a few ways we can grow our city more efficiently, and we’ve got another idea that’s often overlooked: moving urban cemeteries outside the city limits. Doing so would free up some extra, in-demand land for urban develop-ment, land that is currently tied down housing the dearly departed of our fair province. Now we understand our proposal is an emotionally charged one. Often, the physical surroundings of one’s passed-on friends and rela-tives become just as meaningful as the person buried. Complexities also arise when considering that some people purchase their plots ahead of time, with a cemetery’s specific location in mind. But there are a good many reasons to consider this proposal, too, and moving a grave can be accom-plished in a sensitive and respectful manner that works for everyone.

The first thing you have to realize is that in the early days cemeteries tended to be placed at the edge of communities, but because of urban growth they have since been swallowed by cities. So, instead of having a place

where mourners are able to visit the deceased in peace, away from the tumult of the urban landscape, people now have cemeteries smack dab in the middle of their com-munities, as they try to pay their respects over the sounds of jack-hammers and car horns.

The other thing to consider is that, historically, cemetery reloca-tion is a pretty normal procedure for growing cities. 18th century Paris moved all their cemeteries at once, relocating the remains of six mil-lion people into the city’s old stone mines and creating the now famous Catacombs of Paris. In the late ’50s, when the Eisenhower Expressway was being built, about 1,500 graves were moved from Concordia Ceme-tery in Illinois. In 2001, The Elmbank Cemetery in Toronto was relocated to make room for a new runway at Pearson International Airport. You get the idea.

So if we know cemeteries take up prime city space and have to be moved eventually, why not be proactive here and move Regina’s cemeteries outside our city limits, allowing us (the living) to make more productive use of the space right now? Doing so would free up sought-after land, while also providing those who visit the graves of their family and friends with more peaceful surroundings

to do so. Now, we’re not suggesting moving the cemetery so far out that it would take too long to get there, just far enough that foreseeable expansion of the city won’t reach it.

And not just anybody would be able to undertake this job. The moving of human remains would have to be overseen by an individual or group well-versed in the sensitive treatment of dead bodies, likely ar-chaeologists (such as those employed in the Elmbank Cemetery move).

And once the bodies are exhumed with dignity and trans-ported with care, we propose that they all be shipped to the same place. To a super cemetery, if you will. And we’re not just talking about a big, boring, run-of-the-mill cemetery in the middle of an old wheat field here. We’re talking something spectacular. Something beautiful. Think the Père Lachaise in Paris, La Recoleta in Buenos Aries, Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C — just with more peaceful surroundings.

We propose the construction of cemeteries that will not only be a quiet and respectful space for family and friends to pay their respects to their dearly departed, but will also draw other people to them from nearby cit-ies, and beyond.

A sensitive solution to a pressing problem — to us, relocating cemeter-ies just makes sense.

These editorials are left unsigned because they represent the opinions of Verb magazine, not those of the individual writers.

a

the dearly dePartingmoving urban cemeteries to free up in-demand land just makes sense

cemetery trivia

• The word cemetery comes from the Greek words koimeterion (which means sleeping place) and koiman (to put to sleep).

• La Recoleta, located in Buenos Aires is the resting place of Eva Perón

• Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in France is arguably the most famous cemetery in the world, in part because of its beauty, in part because it’s the final resting place of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Frédéric Chopin, and Gertrude Stein.

• Quick, what’s the difference between a coffin, a casket and a sarcophagus? The shape.

• One theory as to how tombstones came to be used goes back to the idea that ghosts could be weighed down.

• In many cemeteries bodies are laid to rest with their heads to the west and feet to the east.

• In early England, the Saxons would cut off the feet of the deceased so their spirits would be unable to get up and walk.

• On certain Hawaiian islands, corpses are traditionally tied in the fetal position and buried in caves.

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7JaN 11 – JaN 17

commeNts

text your thoughts to881 verb

8372

on toPic: last issue we asked what you thought about the alleged war on christmas. here's what you had to say:

– A good way to get rid of the argu-ment (at least when it comes to buses) is to have the destination signs flash “Merry Christmas” … <destination. … “Happy Hanuk-kah” … <destination> … “Joyous Kwanzaa” … <destination> … “Happy Holidays” … <destina-tion> as well as any other holiday greetings. I plan on getting a peti-tion together at some point next year. Let’s make it happen! -Scott.

– Totally agree. Not religious myself, but doesn’t bother me if someone wishes me a merry Christmas or anything else. I just take it with the spirit of kindness it was intended. Merry Christmas everyone!

– Way to sit on the fence Verb. Instead of picking a side you say those offended by Merry Christ-mas and those who say it both need to calm down. So no one says anything to anyone? that’s just a Tuesday.

– I disagree with your editorial on the war on Christmas. The holiday began as a celebration of the birth of our Saviour. What corruption it has evolved to over time needs to be overcome, and that is why it’s so important to push pass all this nonsense and wish people a Merry Christmas (NOT xmas), to remind them of the real reason for this joyous time of year. Peace be with all of you!

– The war on Christmas, as you call it, is such a tiresome and infuriat-ing sham. There are actual issues in this world, and people overre-acting to a casual greeting need to

yank their heads out of their asses and get on with their lives. Can’t believe this. There is no war on Christmas, so relax. You’re all free to celebrate it however you want.

off toPic

– So when guys have just seen some strippers and are heading out on their way home, girls on the streets might be harassed. It could be putting their safety at risk. It’s not just about watching a strip-per show, it’s about how will the guys watching it fulfill themselves afterward. I just don’t want to hear of women getting raped because of this sexual influence. It is some-thing to think about.

In response to “Close, But Not Enough,”

Editorial page, #58 (December

14, 2012)

– U r right it is high time SK al-lowed sex slavery & organized crime to expand & those who r opposed r archaic & puritanical



14, 2012)

– It seems like a double standard in saskatchewan gambling at Casi-nos horse racing bingo VLTs are ok. but strip joints is not ok.



14, 2012)

sound off

– Adults with pets LOSERS! Pathet-ic need for lesser creature in their thrall. Can’t relate to people. Can’t clean after the pet. Hair and stink up their home so bad you don’t

want to visit. Can’t train pet. Pee and poop all over neighbor’s yards. Child in adult body. Everybody sees everybody knows!

– Maybe u have advice 2 give on how 2b insensitive. You wrote the tune! JAN A

– What a Fkn Fantasy a billionaire Industrialist International Rescue! Thunder birds are GO more like GTFO!!

– The NRA has spoken but instead of getting rid of assualt rifles they want to arm teachers whats next arm 6 & 7 year olds God help us all.

– The NRA advocates for arming teachers? Remember that school

that did have armed gaurds? It was called COLUMBINE

– “Let’s give teachers guns” The NRA: remaining steadfastly out of touch, no matter how hard you try

– If someone has made your job or life easier, say thank you. Two small words but when said can mean a lot!

– Get rich or die mayan

– Jesus Christ was born of a virgin birth. that’s what makes his birth so special and heavenly. He was sent by God to live among mankind for a time. Dec 25 isn’t necessarily the exact day but a day that has been set aside to celebrate his birth.

– Transit does a wonderful job and I respect what they do. I wish council would allocate more money to transit so that a new ter-minal could be made so that riders could warm up in winter. I don’t care what anyone says, transit tries hard and deserves a big pat on the back!

– I’m texty and I know it.

next issue: what do you think about moving urban cemeteries? Pick up a copy of Verb to get in on the conversation:

We print your texts verbatim each week. Text in your thoughts and reactions to our stories and content, or anything else on your mind.

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q + a

n 2008, the Globe Theatre produced a place called Sexy Laundry, the hilari-

ous story of a middle-aged couple who attempt to reinvigorate their sex life by checking into a swanky hotel, armed with a copy of Sex For Dummies. Now, Henry and Al-ice are back. Henry and Alice: Into The Wild focuses not on sex, but on careers and on family. After Henry loses his job, he and Alice embark on a camping trip. Things go awry when Diana, Alice’s free-spirited sister, shows up to wreak havoc and force the unhappy couple to examine their lives and ask themselves what really matters. I tracked down director Valerie Pearson to learn about the difficulties of staging a sequel — and much more.

Alex J MacPherson: There are only three characters in this play. What’s it like directing a very small cast?

Valerie Pearson: It’s very different, a lot more collaborative. In a big show it’s collab-orative, but not nearly

so much as in a small cast show. We can have discussions about the issues, and about what each character’s back-story is, and the depths of their feel-ings. I think you can get a lot deeper into a play with three characters than you can in a musical with 50.

AJM: This is a sequel, which means audiences that saw Sexy Laundry will have certain expectations. Is that a challenge for a director?

VP: Absolutely, but familiarity also helps with humour. I think people are familiar now with Alice and Henry. It’s like the old days of watching All In The Family: you get to the point where you really do love those characters. I think people have that opportunity with this new play to come and see characters they’re

already familiar with, and with the things they are weakest in.

AJM: Sexy Laundry was obviously about sex. This one isn’t.

VP: One of the things we explore in Henry and Alice is the whole set of family relationships. I think Sexy Laundry was about a single relation-ship and its sexual side. This one is more about midlife crises, like career and job division and being over-looked, both at home and at work, and losing power. They get involved with Diana, which causes them to

look at the married life rather than the single life at a certain age.

AJM: It’s refreshing to see hilarious middle-aged characters, but does that make it difficult for young people to get onboard?

VP: I think it doesn’t ignore the young audience. It’s hip enough and funny enough that they can look at it and see their parents. And if not their parents, they can see other people’s parents or somebody they know.

That’s the charm of both of these plays: they hit a nerve with most people, but they’re not freaky far-out weirdo characters — they are people that are recognizable.

AJM: That is certainly important, but these characters also force us to think about ourselves and our own lives, even if we’re laughing at poor Henry and Alice.

VP: These three characters, I think they are a universal couple. When we look back at Sexy Laundry, I don’t even know how many times I’ve

heard similar conversations about never having sex anymore, and ‘my husband doesn’t think I’m attractive,’ and the whole thing about ‘how do I look in this dress?’ I think everyone can recognize that. In this one, we recognize the man who at 50 or 55 looks around himself and goes, ‘what have I done with my life?’

Henry & Alice: Into the WildJanuary 23 - february 10 @ globe theatre$29+ @ globe theatre Box office

@macPhersona

[email protected]


into the wild

i

henry and alice are back for a second adventure on the globe stage By alex J macPherson

that’s the charm of [this play: it hits] a nerve with most people…

valerIe Pearson

Photos: courtesy of the gloBe theatre

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9JaN 11 – JaN 17

arts

the synthetic age new exhibition explores fusion of art and community by alex J macPhersoN

w olfgang Amadeus Mozart composed The Mar-

riage of Figaro for almost a dozen soloists and a colossal orches-tra. When performed on a large scale, the 1786 opera buffa is an awesome spectacle, a dramatic conclusion to The Barber of Seville and a showcase for some of Mo-zart’s finest melodies. But large productions require large budgets. Only the biggest companies can summon the resources to produce a major opera. Fortunately, there is another way.

“There are no words, it’s just the arias, the music,” says Jim Fitzpat-rick. Fitzpatrick is the Regina Sym-phony’s principal clarinetist, and the force behind a new production of The Marriage of Figaro, which transforms Mozart’s grandiose opera into a charming and acces-sible piece of chamber music. “I’m not sure it reduces it,” he adds. “It concentrates it on the melody and the music itself.”

Although it seems strange today, arranging operas for small ensem-bles was fairly common in the 18th and 19th centuries. European aristo-crats employed small ensembles to provide light entertainment or even background music. Some compos-ers specialized in arranging for wind octets or other small groups, a daunting task given the scope of any major score.

A wind octet usually consists of two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, and two clarinets. In most cases, the oboes and bassoons assume the duties of the soloists, while the remaining instruments become the orchestra. That this type of arrange-ment works is a testament to Mozart’s sublime ingenuity and exquisite taste for timeless melodies.

“Mozart had a genius for melody and communicating, especially through opera,” Fiztpatrick says. “His symphonies are important, but his operas and his piano concer-tos are probably his main venue.”

Mozart’s operas, notably The Mar-riage of Figaro and Don Giovanni, are among the finest works ever composed. In contrast, Beethoven composed a single opera, Fidelio, which most people have never heard of. “There’s some great music there,” Fitzpatrick says of Mozart. “That was the way he expressed himself for longevity.”

Just as important as the music, however, is the experience. Cham-ber ensembles offer audiences an intimacy that cannot be found in the concert hall. Individual instruments separate into distinct voices, easily heard, and the production is far less intimidating than even the tamest symphony. “We enjoy bringing good music to the people in a close setting like that,” Fitzpatrick says. “It’s a little nerve-wracking at times, [but] it’s always been fun.”

The Marriage of FigaroJanuary 19 + 20 @ government house$20+ @ rso Box office

a

marriage of figaro the rso wind octet play opera like you’ve never heard it before by alex J macPhersoN

Photo: courtesy of roB truszkowskI

@macPhersona

[email protected]


rt is not real life. Art is a representation of real life.

A fusion of ideas driven by the same impulses that fuel innova-tion in science and technology — the desire to realize dreams, to challenge the status quo, to push

the boundaries of the possible. However, these ideas are diffi-cult to recognize and unravel.

The Synthetic Age, an exhibi-tion by the fine arts faculties at the University of Regina and the First Nations University of Canada, is an attempt to draw attention to art in an academic context, and to high-light the many benefits of a vibrant fine arts department.

“The big thing I was hoping to pull from this is an awareness of how diverse the practices are, and how rich the visual arts culture is in the university,” says Jeff Nye, who curated the exhibition. “There’s real diversity, and it’s really interesting to see how these people work together. An energetic art department feeds the culture of the city.”

The Synthetic Age was difficult to curate. Nye had to extract a coherent theme from the work of more than 25 artists. He began by examining the way universities, which are themselves synthetic creations, operate.

“If you think about teaching studio or even an art theory course, you’re teaching the history, the con-ventions, but you’re also encourag-ing innovation at the same time,” he explains “You’re encouraging the students to not be derivative. Part of it is honouring the traditions, and the other part is figuring out where the new direction is.”

In this sense, there is little dif-ference between art and chemistry. Just as developments in science and technology transcend the boundar-

ies of the universities and research institutes, innovations in art cannot be contained by bricks and mortar. Ideas always get through.

On a more basic level, The Syn-thetic Age harnesses the power of art as a tool for questioning the things we take for granted. Sean Whalley and Marsha Kennedy use their practices to examine the lasting effects of our way of life, which is shaped by synthetic creations, on the environment. Da-vid Garneau’s work, on the other hand, addresses cultural synthesis — or lack thereof — in contempo-rary Saskatchewan.

These ideas transcend art and seep into everything, from science and technology to politics and the law. A vibrant society relies on the exchange of information and ideas to drive progress. And that is anything but synthetic.

The Synthetic Age‘til april 14 @ mackenzie art gallery


10JaN 11 – JaN 17

Continued on next page »

coVer

t

I find myself in these situations, where it’s like … i overthink things, and i’m like, ‘why the f*ck am i like this?’

hannah georgas

he choice was obvious. “I toyed with a couple of things,” Hannah

Georgas says of her new record, her voice dusky and ragged after weeks on the road. “At the end of it all, I didn’t feel like they summed everything up. It felt right to self-title it. It felt like it was a good interpretation of where I’m at, musically and cre-atively. It felt right.”

Unless you are a member of the band Weezer, the decision to release an eponymous album should not be taken lightly. A name is an intimate possession. It is the simplest expres-sion of our identity, the tool we use to separate ourselves from others without sacrificing our humanity. Its use implies presence and commit-ment; it guarantees promises and seals agreements. In the same way a signature transforms a worthless piece of paper into a contract, an inviolable agreement between two people, an eponymous album forges a bond between artist and listener. It is a new beginning. A musical rebirth.

Hannah Georgas, which was released late last year, keeps that promise. Georgas wrote the bulk of the album knowing she wanted to try something different. Her previous records made liberal use of electronic

instruments, but were ultimately driven by guitars. Hannah Geor-gas is a departure. Instead of using synthesizers and samplers for depth and colour and texture, Georgas put them out front. But she couldn’t do it alone. To help realize her musical vision, she enlisted Graham Walsh, who plays with Holy F*ck. “I’ve always been really into Holy F*ck, and I heard through the grapevine

that he is a fantastic producer, so I put two and two together,” she says. “I knew that I wanted his influence and electronic style to definitely play a big role on where I was going.”

That direction was outward. Well before she and Walsh convened in Toronto to cut the tracks, Georgas had used her laptop to assemble a framework of ideas, a skeleton ready for layers of muscle and tissue. Mak-ing complicated demos was a new

experience for Georgas. “On my last record, I went into the studio and pressed record and played the song from top to bottom on my guitar,” she explains. “This time I was like, I’d like to do a little more work on my end and give [Walsh] an idea of where I’d like to go.”

The end result pushes the bound-aries of what a singer and songwriter can achieve, and undermines per-

ceptions of Georgas as just another songstress with an effervescent voice. Guitar records occupy a specif-ic sonic space, a range of frequencies is defined by the physical limitations of the instruments. Synthesizers know no such caveat; they can pro-duce any sound that can be imag-ined. Consequently, Hannah Georgas is broader and more expansive than its predecessors, sprawling across the sonic landscape, a series of sweeping

a new album, a new beginning By alex J macPherson

hannah georgas

/VerbregiNa culturecoNteNts local editorial commeNts q + a arts coVer food + driNk music listiNgs Nightlife film comics timeout

11JaN 11 – JaN 17

Photos: courtesy of trIstan casey

@macPhersona

[email protected]


strokes that fill in unexpected places and skirt more familiar ones. “I didn’t want to crowd the production,” Geor-gas says. “I wanted there to be lots of space in the music and just serve the song, what it is, and really have some tasty little production stuff here and there.” Walsh’s wizardry and Geor-gas’ ingenuity combined to produce a record that is heavy without being dense, forceful without being violent.

But Hannah Georgas is more than a sonic spectacle, more than a collection of songs tied together by a synthesizer riff and an ambient pad. It is also the most articulate and thoughtful record Georgas has ever made. She wrote the songs in just five months, forcing herself to work every day. “Some days there was nothing,” she laughs. “Other days, stuff would come.” Because it was written so quickly, and because

it was written during a time of emotional upheaval, the themes and ideas flow together; Hannah Georgas traces the arc of experience, from confusion and anger to understand-ing and acceptance. It is the story of Georgas’ struggle to understand time — to find her place in the world and ask if it is worthwhile.

“Everything I was feeling was just coming out, everything I was going through in my life,” she says. “I guess that was why these themes were coming out, because it was all focused on a concentrated period of time.” Georgas explains the prob-lem on “Elephant,” a sombre song propelled by wavering vocals and the hypnotic pulse of a synthesizer. It is a frank assessment of aging (“As I age it sinks deeper in / This life is temporary, it’s all gonna end / This is all gonna end”) weighted with a pro-found sense of uncertainty: (“I don’t wanna wake up one day thinking where the hell have I been”). “I think with that song I was just realizing I have different priorities as I’ve been getting older,” she reflects. “And I’m realizing that I am getting older.”

If “Elephant” presents a specific problem, “Robotic” attempts to solve it — by dulling the pain with a new kind of anaesthetic (“I wanna be reprogrammed / I wanna be robotic

/ No more blood in these veins / I wanna press reset”). “Robotic” casts a moment of intense vulnerability against a backdrop of bright guitars and swirling keyboards. Its construc-tion echoes the emotional uncertain-ty that permeates every note on the record. But it also leads to a conclu-sion. Only by banishing emotion and recreating herself as a dispassionate automaton can Georgas understand that humanity is defined by feeling: (“If you wanna win / You gotta play”). “I find myself in these situations, where it’s like I’m a sensitive soul or I overthink things, and I’m like, ‘Why the f*ck am I like this?’” she says of “Robotic.” “I just want to brush this off and move on. A lot of the time I find myself battling that.”

“Ode To Mom” and “Waiting Game,” which close the record, take the ideas presented in “Elephant” and “Robotic” to their logical conclu-

sion. Rather than shrink from feeling, Georgas chooses to embrace it. “Ode To Mom” is about the rippling effect of her father’s death. It builds to a towering crescendo before lapsing, exhausted, into a dissonant coda, a moment of understanding. Georgas uses the permanence of death to il-lustrate the idea that each moment is valuable, each feeling worthwhile.

This idea overflows into “Waiting Game,” the moment of acceptance: (“Every conversation is all the same / I’m just a sucker, waiting for your call / I get so hard, I get so hard on myself”). “I think that was just a nice end to sum up the thoughts that are going through my mind,” she says. “And the whole theme of the record, for sure. [“Waiting Game”] feels like the end, and that’s the end of the set we’re doing right now.”

Hannah Georgas is a record about the human condition. It is a deeply

moving example of how a deeply personal journey can resonate with complete strangers. “[It is about] real-izing what are the important things, what I want to do on this planet be-fore I die,” she muses. “And I’m real-izing I’m not this young kid anymore. I am a grown adult.” Georgas calls this realization a “sad clarity.” Life may be dark and stupid and painful, but it is all we have.

Hannah Georgas captures Georgas at her absolute best, artistically and musically. The choice was obvious.

Hannah Georgas January 25 @ the exchange$13 @ ticketedge.ca


food + driNk

12JaN 11 – JaN 17

food + driNk

elcome to the new year everyone! I hope you all had at

least a few days to relax dur-ing the holiday season, but if not, why not treat yourself to some delicious food cooked by someone that isn’t you? Uplands Pizza has just the kind of com-fort food you need after all that shopping, those family visits, and the sorrow that is having to go back to work and school.

Gus and Elizabeth Tomaras have owned and operated Uplands Pizza for its entire 32 years of continual operation out of the same location. That means they must be doing something right, and that something is classic homemade pizzas, pasta, and sandwiches on bread made in-house. The homemade bread (that you can purchase loaves of) is to die for, and makes some of the best garlic toast I’ve ever had.

I started with a Greek salad and some of the said garlic toast, which was thick, buttery, and perfectly

garlicky. The salad was colourful, with tomato wedges, cucumber, red onion, kalamata olives, red and green peppers and feta all atop some crunchy iceberg lettuce. This fresh and crisp salad had a very nice red wine vinegar and oregano

dressing that went beautifully with the salty feta.

Next up were some breaded pork dry ribs, which were lovely little meaty bites with a slightly crisp coating and tender inside. A squeeze of lemon made these a per-fect appetizer and great for sharing.

A cheesy and bubbling baked lasagna was next, and the tender noodles were coated in a savoury

meat sauce flavoured with tomato and just a hint of nutmeg. This was warm and filling home cooking — great comfort food with tons of flavour and lots of cheese.

You can’t go to a place called Uplands Pizza and not try some

pizza, so I dove into a slice of veg-etarian. The soft crust, which was not too thick and not too thin, was topped with a bit of tomato sauce and a unique mix of veggies, includ-ing green olives, pineapple, onions, green pepper, fresh tomato and mushrooms. I was a bit apprehensive about the olive and pineapple com-bo, but the saltiness of the olives and the sweet tartness of the pineapple

actually made a really tasty combi-nation. The ratio of crust to toppings to cheese was just right, too, making this a wonderful slice of pizza.

Uplands Pizza is a north end in-stitution, and their focus on home-made food with loads of flavour is what has kept people coming for more than three decades.

uplands Pizza475 Broad st. n | 545 3566

uP and away

wPizza, pasta, and home cooked favourites at uplands Pizza By JessIca BIckford

@thegeekcooks

[email protected]


let’s go drinkin’ verb’s mixology guide

michelada

Nothing goes better with pizza than a refreshing beer. But beer can get a little boring some-times, so mix things up with a Mexican-inspired michelada. Think of it as a beer caesar, so spice it how you like.

ingredients

juice of one limedash of Worcestershiredash of soya saucedash of tabasco (or a spicier chili sauce if preferred)pinch of black pepper12 oz beer (a nice pale lager)sea salt

directions

Rim a tall glass with sea salt and mix together the lime juice, sauces, and pepper. Add lots of ice and top up with the beer. You can also add a bit of clam and tomato juice for a twist on this savoury drink.

This was warm and filling home cooking … with tons of flavour and lots of cheese.

JessIca BIckford

Photos courtesy of danielle tocker

@VerbregiNa culturecoNteNts local editorial commeNts q + a arts coVer food + driNk music listiNgs Nightlife film comics timeout

13JaN 11 – JaN 17

music

Photos courtesy of: the artIst / emIly cook PhotograPhy / JIll goodell

Coming upnext Week

high hoPes

If it’s heartfelt pop rock you want, look no further: Saskatoon’s High Hopes has what you’re after. Consisting of Joel Cossette (vocals), Casey Long-Read (guitar/vocals), Andy Coulic (bass) and Ryan Regier (drums), this group plays honest songs with an acoustic/alternative bent. And whether they’re kick-ing it as a two-piece acoustic or the complete quartet, these guys always deliver. Whether singing about Star Wars shirts and Charles Bukowski or redheads and girls who show affection, High Hopes play songs with sincere lyrics that will make you think. From being overweight to breaking up, they deal with real top-ics about real people, and that’s why they’ve slowly amassed such a strong and dedicated following.

@ the exchangesaturday, JaNuary 19 – $8

“A series of tubes” was a phrase coined by U.S. Senator Ted Stevens back in 2006 when he was trying to describe the Internet. And while this talented trio from Toronto most certainly can be found on the Inter-net, they have preciously little else in common with the senator from Alaska. Consisting of three young and exciting musicians (Ian Sinclair, Mark Godfrey, Mackenzie Longpre), this instrumental group has a refresh-ing sound that incorporates splashes of jazz, hip hop, R&B and electronica. Currently on a tour through Alberta and Saskatchewan, A Series of Tubes honed its skills in Toronto on promi-nent stages such as The Rex. They’re recently released their self-titled debut EP, so check ‘em out when they light it up next week.

a series of tubes

Formerly known as the Wild-bunch, this metro Detroit six-piece is what some have called a “genre- blurring” band. And with a sound that incorporates elements of disco, punk, garage, new wave and arena rock (to name just a few), it’s easy to see why. E6’s first album, Fire, went gold; since then, their brand of energetic disco rock, with its brash guitars and funky bass, have won the band — which consists of lads with names like Dick Valentine, Da Ve, Johnny Na$hinal, Smorgasbord, Tait Nucleus? and Percussion World — fans the world over. Now, they’re bringing their most recent album, Absolute Pleasure, to the masses. Don’t miss it when these Motor City musicians roll into town. Tickets available at www.ticketedge.ca

– By adam hawboldt

electric six

@ creatIve cIty centresuNday, JaNuary 20 – $10

@ the exchangemoNday, march 18 – $18

sask music PreviewAttention teachers: do you have students interested in the many different types of jobs available in the music industry, both off and on the stage? Sask-Music can come to your classroom to speak about our industry, and explain the ins and outs of the music business. For more info, please contact us at 347-0767 or 1-800-347-0676.

keep up with saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

VerbNews.comeNtertaiNmeNt coNteNts local editorial commeNts q + a arts coVer food + driNk music listiNgs Nightlife film comics timeout

14JaN 11 – JaN 17

listiNgs

friday 11ramed hafi / The Artful Dodger —

Come out for a Middle Eastern dance

party. 7:30pm / Cover TBD

dJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub —

This DJ loves requests, nothing is off

limits, so come on down and groove to

your favourite tunes. 10pm / $5

Living with Lions / The Exchange —

A punk rock band from B.C. w/ guests

Empire Choir and Elder Abuse. 8pm /

$12 (www.ticketedge.ca)

dJ pat & dJ Kim / Habano’s Martini &

Cocktail Club — Local DJs spin top 40

hits. 9pm / $5 cover

Big ChiLL fridays / Lancaster Taphouse

— Come and chill with DJ Fatbot. 10pm

/ Cover TBD

the steadies / McNally’s Tavern — Get

your reggae fill from this talented band.

10pm / $5

BuCKCherry / Pure Ultra Lounge —

This kickass band will be rocking the

EastRoom. 8pm / Cover TBD

Crosstown / The Sip — Come on

down and rock out. 10pm / Cover TBD

KaL hourd / Whiskey Saloon — Good

ol’ country, coming at you straight from

Saskatoon, so dust off your cowboy

boots and come on down. 8pm / $10

saturday 12rso pops: Canadian Brass / Conexus

Arts Centre — Enthralling sounds from

a brass five-piece; this is sure to thrill.

8pm / $49-85 (www.tickets.reginasym-

phony.com)

ramed hafLa / Creative City Centre

— Come out for a Bollywood-themed

dance party. 5:30pm / $10 (member)

$12 (non-member)


This DJ loves requests. 10pm / Cover $5

prop pLanes / The Exchange — A CD

release party for an up-and-coming lo-

cal band. 8pm / Cover TBD

the down home Boys / Lancaster

Taphouse — Bluegrass music the way it

should be played. 10pm / Cover TBD

the steadies / McNally’s Tavern — Get

your reggae fill from this talented band.

10pm / $5 Drewski / Pure Ultra Lounge

— Doing what he does best. 10pm /

$5 cover

Crosstown / The Sip — Come on


Open Jam Sessions / Smokin’ Okies BBQ

— Drop by for a jam or to listen. 3pm /

No cover

KaL hourd / Whiskey Saloon — Good

ol’ country straight from Saskatoon.

8pm / $10

sunday 13John wort hannam / The Artful

Dodger — A Juno-nominated folk/

roots musician. 8pm / $10(advance),

$15(door)

monday 14open miC night / The Artful Dodger —

Come down and jam! 8pm / No cover

monday night Jazz and BLues / Bushwakker Brewpub — Featuring

Shane Reoch. 8pm / No cover

BLue rodeo / Conexus Arts Centre

— Canada’s iconic country/rock band

will be taking to the stage to knock

your socks off. 8pm / $27-67.50 (www.

conexusartscentre.ca)

greg reKus / Creative City Centre

— Punk rock meets outlaw country.

7:30pm / $10

tuesday 15BeLLe pLaine, Jenny BerKeL / The

Artful Dodger — A double header you

don’t want to miss. 7:30pm / $10(ad-

vance), $15(door)

wednesday 16wednesday night foLK / Bushwak-

ker Brewpub — Featuring The Vudu

Hounds, playing acoustic music. 9pm /

No cover

Jam night and open stage / McNal-

ly’s Tavern — Come on down and enjoy

some local talent. 9pm / No cover

thursday 17Keiffer mCLean / The Artful Dodger

— A local singer/songwriter with soul.

8pm / $10

deCiBeL frequenCy / Gabbo’s Night-

club — A night of electronic fun. 10pm

/ Cover $5

ps fresh / The Hookah Lounge — Fea-

turing DJ Ageless and DJ Drewski. 7pm

/ No cover



/ Cover TBD

what ever / McNally’s — Come out

and support local bands. 8:30pm / $5

Leanne pearson / Pump Roadhouse

— A country singer-songwriter from

Winnipeg. 9pm / Cover TBD

BLaKe BergLund / Whiskey Saloon —

A local country talent to keep an eye on.

8pm / $5

dJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon —

Come down and check out one of

Regina’s most interactive DJs as he does

his spinning thing. 8pm / Cover $5

friday 18way off Broadway CaBaret / Cre-

ative City Centre — Featuring Ariadne

Bissett, Jonathan Seidle, Michael Vance,

Joshua Hendriksen, Lisa Harasen and

Shannon Harasen. 8pm / $10



limits, so come on down and groove to

your favourite tunes. 10pm / $5

dJ pat & dJ Kim / Habano’s — Local DJs

spin top 40 hits. 9pm / $5 cover



/ Cover TBD

Johnny mCCuaig Band / McNally’s

Tavern — This night offers up a little

rock and roll with a bit of bag pipes.

10pm / $5

wyatt / The Pump Roadhouse — This is

one country band you have to see. 9pm

/ Cover TBD

aLBert / Pure Ultra Lounge — Come

listen to Albert every Friday. 10pm /

$5 cover

parLor trixx / The Sip Nightclub —

Come on down and rock out. 10pm /

Cover TBD



8pm / $10

saturday 19miCheaL wood Band / The Artful

Dodger — A hot rock act out of B.C. 8pm

/ Cover TBD

the highwaymen / Casino Regina

— A tribute to the greatest country

music group ever. 8pm / $25-30 (www.

casinoregina.com)

way off Broadway CaBaret / Cre-

ative City Centre — Featuring Ariadne

Bissett, Jonathan Seidle, Michael Vance,

Joshua Hendriksen, Lisa Harasen and

Shannon Harasen. 8pm / $10



limits. 10pm / Cover $5

high hopes, Come heLL or high wa-ter, 10th avenue, 908 / The Exchange

— A night of music you won’t want to

miss: four bands for the price of one!

7pm / $8

dan siLLJer / Lancaster Taphouse — A

left-handed guitar whiz will be taking to

the stage. 10pm / Cover TBD

darCy pLayground / McNally’s Tavern

— Classic rock and pop covers to get

you up on the dance floor. 10pm / $5

drewsKi / Pure Ultra Lounge — Do-

ing what he does best, every Saturday

night. 10pm / $5 cover

Keiffer mCLean / Sawchyn Guitars

— A local singer/songwriter with soul.

8pm / Cover TBD

parLor trixx / The Sip — Come on


open Jam sessions / Smokin’ Okies

BBQ — Drop by for a jam or to listen.

3pm / No cover



8pm / $10

The most complete live music listings for Regina.

January 11 » January 19

11 12

18 1916 1714 1513

s m t w t

Have a live show you'd like to promote? Let us know!

get listed

[email protected]

/VerbregiNa eNtertaiNmeNtcoNteNts local editorial commeNts q + a arts coVer food + driNk music listiNgs Nightlife film comics timeout

15JaN 11 – JaN 17

saturday, January 5 @

thePumPThe Pump Roadhouse641 Victoria Avenue(306) 359 7440

musiC viBe / Alternative, country and top 40drinK of ChoiCe / Jag-bombstop eats / Taco in a bagComing up / The Mahones Anniversary January 23rd, Rival Sons February 8th, and Randy House in March

Nightlife

Photography by Klein Photography


16JaN 11 – JaN 17

film

Photo: courtesy of warner Bros. PIctures

[t]he unoriginality of it all really holds Gangster Squad back.

adam hawBoldt


@adamhawboldt

[email protected]

h ere’s the thing about Ruben Fleischer’s new flick, Gangster Squad:

it’s a good movie, just not as good as you expect/want it to be.

Which is unfortunate, because on the surface the film has so much going for it. Fleischer is a very competent director (best known for Zombieland), the story is a real humdinger, and the cast is terrific. Think about it: a crime flick about infamous LA crime boss Mickey Cohen, starring Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Giovanni Ribisi and Nick Nolte?

If you’re a fan of the gangster genre, one of the first thoughts that flitted through your head when you saw the trailer for Gangster Squad was probably something along the lines of, “Hot damn! Sign me up.”

And when you watch the open-ing scene of the movie, you’ll get the feeling that you’ve signed up for

something visceral, violent and epic. You see, the movie begins with Cohen (played by Penn) standing behind the old Hollywood sign, explaining his uber-violent back story to a Chicago mobster. But this is no friendly expla-nation. See, the mobster is chained to a pair of motors. And to prove just

how violent he really is, Cohen orders for the motors to be revved up and for the mobster to be torn in two while dogs feast on his guts.

Okay. Admittedly, that’s not a scene for everyone. But for anyone who likes their movies to start out

with a bang (or in this case, an evis-ceration), Gangster Squad delivers — in a big way.

The problem is, though, that initial bang soon peters out into a clichéd, derivative whimper.

But more on that in a minute. For now, let’s look at the basic plot of the

film. The year is 1949, in post-war Los Angeles. Cohen, an ex-boxer-turned-crime-kingpin, controls the city’s drug, gun and prostitution rackets with a bloodied iron fist. To ensure he’s safe to shuck and illegally jive as he pleases, Cohen

puts a plethora of police, judges and politicians on the payroll.

But it’s not enough.Police Chief Bill Parker (Nolte)

puts together a small team of LAPD officers to take Cohen down. The squad, led by war hero/super cop John O’Mara (Brolin), consists of wisecracking ladies’ man Jerry Wooters (Gosling), sharpshooter Max Kennard (Robert Patrick), tech expert Conwell Keeler (Ribisi), beat cop Coleman Harris (Anthony Mackie) and rookie tag-along Navi-dad Ramirez (Michael Peña).

As they go about their duties (by any means necessary), you’ll slowly realize this plot is far from original. And at the point of the movie you hear Penn scream “I want them all dead! I want their families dead!” it’ll hit you like a sack of bricks — this movie is so much like Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables it’s almost criminal.

That’s what killed it for me. Perhaps “killed” is too strong of

a word. Because, to be honest, the movie has a lot of good dialogue, good action, and is really eye-catch-ing (in an art-deco-advertising kind of way.)

But the unoriginality of it all really holds Gangster Squad back. Unfortunately.

Gangster Squad might not live up to your expectations By adam hawBoldt

not quite right

gangster squad

directed by Ruben Fleischer

starring Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling,

Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte + Emma Stone

113 minutes | 14a

@VerbregiNa eNtertaiNmeNtcoNteNts local editorial commeNts q + a arts coVer food + driNk music listiNgs Nightlife film comics timeout

17JaN 11 – JaN 17

ave you ever started watching a movie, and for the first half

or so you’re saying to yourself, “Cripes, this is excellent! Why didn’t I watch it sooner?”

Then all of a sudden, out of the damn clear blue, something gets torqued and the entire film flips on its axis. All your thoughts about the film being excellent dissipate, and you’re left scratching your head thinking “WTF?! What just happened here?”

Well, for movie viewers of a certain bent, Citadel turns out to be one of those film.

Written and directed by Irish-man Ciaran Foy, Citadel begins on a sweet and tender note. Tommy (played by Aneurin Barnard) kisses his pregnant wife Joanne, then hops in the elevator in their apart-ment complex to take her luggage out to a taxi.

Their destination?The hospital, so Tommy’s beloved

can have their baby. But then some-thing happens. A really big something.

When Tommy returns to get his wife and help her to the taxi, his elevator gets stuck and he’s forced to watch, helplessly, as three hooded youths viciously attack Joanne.

In a panic, Tommy tries to his damnedest to pry the door open.

It doesn’t work.Instead, the elevator returns him

to the lobby. Tommy races up flight after flight of stairs only to find his wife alone, unconscious, with a needle stuck in her.

She’s teetering on death’s door. Naturally, Tommy rushes her to the hospital, but she only lives long enough to give birth to their baby.

After his wife’s death, Tommy becomes a head case. Over-whelmed by agoraphobia, he is physically unable to leave his apartment. He also sees the three thugs who attacked Joanne every-where, and is sure they’re coming after his newborn son.

This paranoia and fear sets the mood for the first half of the movie, a mood that is as bleak and forbid-ding as the crumbling city in which the film is set.

The first half also says a lot about contemporary society: the fear of random violence, the feeling of

helplessness, and the prevalence of moral and physical urban decay.

And you know what? The first half of this movie really works. It’s raw and grim and utterly captivating.

Then, all of a sudden, Tommy hooks up with a foul-mouthed, potentially bonkers priest (James

Cosmo) and finds out that his wife’s attackers aren’t what they seem.

This is when the train starts to come off the tracks.

One minute Citadel is a gritty, thriller about paranoia and society, the next everything goes all horror flick on you, and it’s hard to take the movie as seriously as you did in the beginning.

But as far as small-scale thrillers go, it was still pretty good. Aneurin Barnard brings real gravity to his role as a haunted man forced to face his fears. And there are a couple of genuinely heart-pounding, jump-out-of-your-seat moments.

Too bad Foy couldn’t manage to carry that intensity through.

Citadel will be screened at Regina Public Library starting on January 17.

Photo: courtesy of sIgma fIlms

citadel

directed by Ciaran Foy

starring Aneurin Barnard, James

Cosmo, Wunmi Mosaku + Amy Shiels

84 minutes | n/a

oh, so close ...new thriller/horror flick, Citadel, had loads of potentialBy adam hawBoldt

hh


@adamhawboldt

[email protected]

aneurin barnard brings real gravity to his role as a haunted man forced to face his fears.

adam hawBoldt


comics

18JaN 11 – JaN 17

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19JaN 11 – JaN 17

horoscoPes January 11 – January 17

© walter d. feener 2012

sudoku crossword answer key

a b

sudoku answer key

a

b

6 1 8 3 9 4 7 2 59 2 7 5 8 6 3 4 14 5 3 2 1 7 8 6 95 7 6 4 3 1 2 9 82 8 9 6 7 5 1 3 41 3 4 9 2 8 5 7 63 9 1 8 4 2 6 5 78 6 2 7 5 9 4 1 37 4 5 1 6 3 9 8 2

6 3 1 9 7 5 2 4 88 7 5 1 2 4 6 9 39 4 2 8 3 6 1 5 72 5 9 6 1 7 8 3 43 6 4 2 8 9 5 7 11 8 7 4 5 3 9 2 65 2 8 7 4 1 3 6 97 9 3 5 6 8 4 1 24 1 6 3 9 2 7 8 5

6 3 9 7 4 7 2 2 8 1 5 72 5 6 1 8 3 4 1 7 5 3 9 5 4 6 9 9 6 8 24 1 3 8

crossword Canadian Criss-Cross

timeout

across1. Not attractive

5. Area farthest from the front

9. Flora and fauna of a region

10. Wading bird

12. Go sightseeing

13. Beckham’s game

15. Assistant

16. Take small tastes of

18. Make more acute, as

one’s skills

19. Suffix with hero

20. Eucharist plate

22. Canada’s neighbour: abbr.

23. Animal resembling a

monkey

25. Knife used in an operat

ing room

27. Make a long tear in

29. Make fast

30. Unidentified man

34. Scenic wide view

38. “___ on a Grecian Urn”

39. Clear a chalkboard

41. Barley bristle

42. Auction cry

44. Do your best

45. Move lightly and swiftly

46. Lying face upward

48. Act as a go-between

50. Program you’ve

seen before

51. Word processing

command

52. Tear apart

53. Roll call reply

down1. Crown worn as a sign of

sovereignty

2. Travel constantly

3. Broke a fast

4. Model airplane wood

5. Look up to

6. Self-esteem

7. Curved entranceway

8. Win back

9. Pickling solution

11. Verb form

12. Comet part

14. Not pretended

17. Part of TGIF

20. Group of lions

21. Easily taken advantage of

24. Big coffeepot

26. Floral necklace

28. Be a sign of

30. Chinese figure of a god

31. Aroma

32. Assistant

33. Spike of corn

35. Intravenous solution

36. Unforeseen development

37. Poker stake

40. Slender woman

43. Desperately urgent

45. Treating people equally

47. One who has taken vows

49. Anger

aries march 21–april 19

You have a strong creative com-

ponent to your personality, Aries.

That’s no secret. So why don’t you tap into

that side of you this week?

taurus april 20–may 20

Sensitive much, Taurus? If so, you

might want to work on toughen-

ing up in the coming days. You’re going to

need a bit of a thick skin to get through.

gemini may 21–June 20

Things could be getting hectic,

Gemini, so when you get the

chance take some time, kick your feet up

and relax — if only for a few minutes.

cancer June 21–July 22

You have a lot to offer, Cancer.

But sometimes you forget that.

This week make sure you show the world

what you have. It may surprise people.

leo July 23–august 22

It’s a jungle out there, dear Leo.

Lucky for you, you’re the king of

that sucker. So stomp the terra this week

like you own it.

virgo august 23–september 22

Ideas are going to come at you

this week like snowflakes in a

blizzard. Don’t let the mess of ‘em confuse

you. Pick out a few, and grab on.

libra september 23–october 23

Things will be happening on the

home front this week, Libra —

some good, some bad. Make sure you

keep on top of it all.

scorPio october 24–november 22

A chance for you to make a major

commitment to something looms

on the horizon, Scorpio. Look, think and

ponder before you leap.

sagittarius november 23–december 21

No rest for the wicked, Sagittarius. If

that old cliché holds true, then you

must’ve been quite bad, because you’re go-

ing to be busy, busy, busy this week.

caPricorn december 22–January 19

It’s important to give, Capricorn,

but if you hit a wall and find you

have nothing left, don’t fret. Just take some

down time and recharge your battery.

aquarius January 20–february 19

Good things come to those who

wait, they say. But what they

neglect to tell you is that if you wait too

long, you’ll miss your opportunity

Pisces february 20–march 20

Don’t be a drama queen this week,

Pisces. If things seem like they’re

spinning out of control, don’t lose your

head. Take a deep breath and be rational.

6 2 2 8 3 4 4 5 2 1 7 9 7 3 1 9 8 9 5 1 1 3 8 6 9 8 4 6 5 6 7 5 37 4 2

Documents

Verb Issue R60 (Jan. 11-17, 2013)