Category Archives: Reviews

Read along as we seek out the best of what the British Columbia coast (and beyond) has to offer.

11.29.14
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Must See Movies For Nov 28 – Dec 4, 2014

MommyArtSpring of Salt Spring Island will be hosting a re-broadcast in HD of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Carmen. The broadcast is scheduled for Sunday, November 30th at 10 am.

Richard Eyre’s mesmerizing production of Bizet’s steamy melodrama returns with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili singing her signature role of the ill-fated gypsy temptress. Aleksandrs Antonenko plays her desperate lover, the soldier Don José, and Ildar Abdrazakov is the swaggering bullfighter, Escamillo, who comes between them. Pablo Heras-Casado conducts the irresistible score, which features one beloved and instantly recognizable melody after another.

For more information on ticket prices, you can visit ArtSpring’s official website.

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11.25.14
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The Vancouver Island Holiday Events Guide

Christmas Hammy 4Christmas is coming,
the Blokes are getting fat
please do put some money
in the food bank’s hat
if you haven’t got some money,
a food donation will do
if you haven’t got a food donation
than God bless you!

It’s not the exact lyrics to “Christmas Is Coming,” an American Christmas carol, but I thought I would give it a West Coast Canadian twist instead. The holidays are fast approaching (although some may dread it), but do keep in mind that the holidays shouldn’t be about commercialism. What truly matters is to spend this time of year with your family, your friends, and to have enough food on the table to share it with them.

If you believe in exchanging gifts, I would say keeping it simple is the best way to go about it. Avoid maxing out your credit card, pay cash for simple gifts. And if you can’t afford something, then price isn’t the be all and end all, it is the thought that counts. When buying a gift, I try to make my purchases at locally owned shops. This means buying from an independent store and not from a corporate owned or franchise. Doing so ensures your money stays on the West Coast rather than being sent to a company in a Eastern capital city or the United States.

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11.21.14
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Must See Movies For Nov 21 – 27, 2014

MockingjayNext week the Archie Browning Sports Centre is hosting something a little special for you movie-goers. Bring your car and perhaps some blankets on the night of Friday, November 28th because you’ll be treated to a trip back in time with a holiday drive-in movie.

The film to be presented will be Tim Burton’s family classic The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

Jack Skellington, king of Halloweentown, discovers Christmas Town, and tries his best to get the residents of his town to forsake Halloween in the name of this bright holiday. But Jack and the residents of Hallowentown don’t quite understand the holiday’s concept or its true meaning.

Starring the voices of Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens, and Greg Proops.

This film is rated PG in Canada, the USA, and the UK.

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11.14.14
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Must See Movies for Nov 14 – 20, 2014

EternityTheMovieCinecenta is hosting their annual ‘Mystery Movie’. What is so mysterious about it is that it is a film that has yet to be released in Victoria. You pay for the ticket, enter the theatre, and find out what the surprise will be. The film could be a drama, comedy or documentary. It could be in English or in another language with subtitles.

The fun of Mystery Movie is in the not knowing and perhaps you’ll watch a new film you’ll come to love.

Pender Islands ‘Mother Bear’ Community Hall of Bedwell Harbour will be hosting a movie night Saturday, Nov 15th. The film that night will be Calvary starring Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, and Game of Throne’s Aidan Gillen.

Father James is a good priest who is faced with sinister and troubling circumstances brought about by a mysterious member of his parish. Although he continues to comfort his own fragile daughter and reach out to help members of his church with their various scurrilous moral- and often- comic problems, he feels sinister and troubling forces closing in, and begins to wonder if he will have the courage to face his own personal Calvary.

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11.14.14
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Shopping and Dining over at Mattick’s Farm

 

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Adrienne’s Restaurant and Tea Garden
5325 Cordova Bay Road
Saanich, BC
(250) 658-1535

A visit to the area known as Mattick’s Farm can only mean one of four things — you’re there to golf at the nearby Cordova Bay Golf Course, eat at Adrienne’s Restaurant and Tea Garden, shop in one of the many boutiques in the strip mall or buy food at Red Barn Market. I was there for half of a briskly cold day to warm the cockles of my stomach. I’ve heard Red Barn has some of the best and thickest sliced bacon on the island (from Metchosin Farm in what I found) and that I must test and have a snack at the diner. It’s small cozy atmosphere was just right on a busy day. The smell of Christmas was in the air at the nearby shops and although it’s not a place I’d get sundries from, I’m sure what’s offered is as great as stocking stuffers and tokens to visitors who are not from Victoria.

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11.11.14
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An Afterwards in an Afterlife (of) the Musical, A Review

Afterlife

Continues November 14-16
Edward Milne Community School
6218 Sooke Road
Sooke, BC

Community theatre is one great way for new performers to earn their wings. In Afterlife: the Musical, youth and adults alike can take part in an ambitious new product by playwright Thom Southwood. His family are active members of the Sooke Harbour Players and for Thom, it’s his works in advertising campaigns for television throughout the 80’s, independent artists and labels in Nashville, Vancouver and LA, and previous contributions to this theatre group (Jesus Christ Super Star (2006), Die Claudius (2008) and GodSpell (2014)) that earn him considerable notice. Unlike earlier years where this group have done adaptations of popular musicals and plays, this latest production is perhaps Southwood’s second most original product to come out of the sleepy community west of lower Vancouver Island. Last year’s show was Howl The Musical, A Not So Classic Werewolf Tale (2009)

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