Play me that song: The art of being a great cover band

Our conversation got me thinking. Not only how it would be nice to write about music that people whose social lives don’t revolve around the Plateau might have actually heard about for a change, but also before that night I’d never really thought about just how hard it is to be a cover band. When I think cover band, my mind immediately goes to sketchy/bored looking musicians at a wedding or some seedy dive bar on a Tuesday night…

CinemaSpace: A haven for Montreal cinephiles

Running from January until May, CinemaSpace is a screening venue dedicated to showcasing independent film and video. Co-directed by Daichi Saito and Malena Szlam, the emphasis of the programming at CinemaSpace is experimental and avant-guard in an intimate theatre at the SegalCenter. By listening to them eagerly share the 2012 CinemaSpace line up, experimental film is clearly a deep passion for both Saito and Szlam…

There’s nothing common about this show: Common Space at Bouge d’ici

Thankfully, living in Montreal means there’s always interesting opportunities to expand your horizons. Beginning as a way for dancers to connect and evolving into a full blown festival, Bouge d’ici is now in its third year. The festival not only serves as a way for new and established Montreal dancers and choreographers to collaborate and showcase their work, but allows newcomers like this arts writer a fun and accessible way to learn about the world of dance…

Just Dance! Confabulation at Bouge d’ici

What is Confabulation you ask? Created and hosted by Uncalled For’s Matt Goldberg, it’s a monthly event (inspired by New York City’s The Moth) in which storytellers share true life stories without the help of any props. Even with Matt off in Toronto and a snow storm raging outside, folks gathered at the Mainline to hear stories from an all female lineup that included former tango dancer Lucianna Gravotta, Dance Animal founder/choreographer Robin Henderson and Montreal Fringe Festival director Amy Blackmore…

2011 Year in Review: Arts

From infringing on corporate culture in Montreal and Buffalo, venue hoping in Toronto during Canadian Music Week, catching experimental music in Brooklyn and hanging with bonafide rock stars at Osheaga, 2011 proved to be yet another exciting year for the arts section at Forget the Box…

Cults, death and poop jokes: 2011 in Film

Recently I had dinner with my friend Alex and as we were enjoying some Korean BBQ the conversation turned, as it often does with Alex and I, to film.

“So, you gonna do a best of the year review for your column?” Alex asked.

“I always do,” I replied, watching with childish glee as my salmon cooked on the grill in front of me.

“So what’s on your best of list for 2011?” Alex responded in between bites of his bibm bahb…

There’s nothing sexier than rock ‘n roll: The Triple Gangers, Hut and Moves at The Bovine Sex Club

When The Triple Gangers asked me to cover their show at The Bovine Sex Club on December 15th along with fellow Toronto bands Hut and Moves, I had two words in response: Hell! Yeah! I …

Reality Bites? More like Reality Rocks

As I get older, certain films remain just as meaningful to me as when I first saw them. Others, well, not so much. I always find it fascinating…

Depictions of Marilyn

Watch out Forget the Box because I’m about to reveal something shocking: I’m a white girl, and I like Marilyn Monroe. Ok, so MAYBE I’m not totally original in my favorite star of yesteryear… but in a world where trashy movie stars come and go, there’s a reason why us cinephiles worship those who manage to transcend time and continue to live onscreen long past their expiration date. Was Marilyn Monroe the world’s greatest actress…

Why it’s worth saving this Community

Because I watch it at home, curled up on the couch in my ugliest t-shirts and mismatching socks, television and I have a bond that film will never understand. Sure film may have flashy moments up on a big screen and we’ll occasionally meet up at my place, but television is…

Viva La Femme Fatale

This week Friday Film Review explores one of the most interesting female archetypes in the history of cinema; the sexual and mysterious Femme Fatale. Seemingly out of nowhere she appears, standing seductively in the doorway. Sometimes she has a veil, always she has a cigarette. As the cigarette either hovers close to or dangles from her lips, she entrances the hero with her story of woe. You want to believe she’s telling a straight story, but then again what kind of fun would that be? Who is this beautiful, dangerous woman of mystery…

Choose Life, Choose Trainspotting

Hello, my name is Steph and I am a junkie… a film junkie. While I may not go head first into the worst toilet in Scotland to watch a film, I have most definitely devoted an unhealthy amount of hours to staring at screens in darkened rooms, wrapped up in a fantasy world I will never be part of. This is the brilliance of director Danny Boyle’s (127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire) second-ever feature; while any reasonable person would never watch Trainspotting and say to themselves “Hey! Let’s all go do some heroin!” it’s damn near impossible not to be affected by this story of a gang of junkies in 90′s Edinburgh…

Tales from the G20: A Few Questions for Justin Saunders and Joseph Cami

It’s been over a year and people are still talking about the mass mobilization of protest and the repressive tactics used by authorities at the Toronto G20 Summit. Justin Saunders was there with a film crew and his documentary Tales from the G20 screens tonight in Montreal at Cinema Politica at Concordia. FTB’s Stephanie Laughlin interviewed Saunders about the film, what happened at the G20, what it means for the future of activism, the Occupy movement and upcoming projects….

Welcome to Grey Gardens

Grey Gardens, voted number 9# on the list of best documentaries of all time by the International Documentary Association, came about by accident. The original project was a documentary about Lee Radziwill and her sister, a lady you might know from the history books as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. But as the filmmakers began working on the project they realized a much more interesting film lay in the lives of Jackie’s aunt and first cousin, “Little” and “Big” Edith Beale. The Beale’s enjoyed an extremely priviledged and lavish early life…

A Frightfully Good Time: The 9th Annual Toronto Zombie Walk

“Do you have the bag of sores?” one of my roommates said cheerfully as bacon sizzled in the background. “It’s right here! Where’s the jugs of blood?” the other responded lazily, putting on the coffee machine. Pulling myself from bed, I discovered that my roommates were going to spend the day working on a zombie themed music video…

Fear and Loathing on the Blog Writing Trail: Why Depp is King

In the battle of which actor plays a better Hunter S. Thompson, aka America’s doctor of gonzo journalism, I’d long thought the answer was obvious. I’d seen Bill Murray in Where the Buffalo Roam once many years ago, and underwhelmed with the film never picked it up again. I’ve watched Johnny Depp play in Fear in Loathing in Las Vegas meanwhile countless times, and am still always ready and willing to go back for more. But when I actually sat down to write this article I realized; comparing the work of Bill Murray and Johnny Depp and arguing why one is better is not an easy task…