Heartbeat Hotel and its cohorts are no strangers to Dork Shelf. We’ve listened to their sound grow over the last year from the late-night basement ponderings of Fetus Dreams to the hazy glow of waking realizations found on their latest piece of work, a six song-long album titled Intae Woe, which was released at the end of November. By doing such, this Toronto four-piece has led 2011 into a blissfully sweet ending.
When the air gets crisp, when the leaves turn colours and start to fall, the atmosphere noticeably changes. Generally around this time, I find people like to make a bit of a switch in the kind of music they listen to. Gone are the poppy summer hits and in come the warm and majestic folk-rock tunes. If you find that you're one of these people, then Toronto’s Parks & Rec will snuggle right in.
From under the table a small green flipper came up as Kermit propped himself onto the chair in front of his microphone. “Hi everybody!” OH MY GOD KERMIT’S HERE.
When discussing indie rock bands in Toronto and which ones have been waiting real hard for their dues, the name The Darcys probably comes up pretty often. For years, the band has been saying that their next album was forthcoming, but we can finally say that on October 25 that product of labour and love will be in our hands and ears and in front of our eyes. Their self-titled second album, The Darcys, will be released later this month by Canadian indie powerhouse label Arts & Crafts.
A couple of weeks ago Walt Disney Studios, Touchstone Pictures, and Dreamworks had the Canadian premiere of their latest film Real Steel at the Scotiabank Theatre in Toronto. The event was attended by Canadian actors Kevin Durand (from Thunder Bay) and Dakota Goyo (from Newmarket) and the film's Canadian director Shawn Levy (from Montreal). It was also attended by a guy best known for playing a really pissed off Canadian (despite being Australian): Hugh Jackman.
Writer and actor Vinay Virmani wasn’t nervous at all during the filming of his feature debut Breakaway a film based around a stand-up act from comedian Russell Peters about an all-Sikh ice hockey team trying to make a name for themselves. Despite the presence of some heavy hitting Hollywood and Bollywood regulars on set, Virmani said he didn't have time to be nervous.
Actor Michael K Williams was in Toronto this week - and we were lucky enough to sit down with him to talk about Boardwalk Empire, his upcoming role on NBC's Community, and his love for Game of Thrones.
At the recent Gears of War 3 press event in Toronto we had a chance to sit down with Jeff Rivait, Product Manager – Xbox Games and Accessories, and ask him a few questions about the development, gameplay, and features of Gears of War 3.
Welcome to the first edition of a new column featuring a Toronto band for every month. We’re pleased to start it off with Army Girls, a two-piece who will release their first EP, Close to the Bone, on September 13 through the Blocks Recording Club.
Michael DeForge is a busy dude. At the Toronto Comic Arts Festival this weekend, DeForge will debut two comic books, an art book, a porn-anthology that he co-edited, and he's featured as an artist in a third anthology. DeForge has also emerged as one of Canada's most celebrated young comic book artists. He kindly agreed to chat with us this week about his new comics, TCAF, immature Hotmail addresses, cable television and Toronto's best ethnic food.
Last month the Dork Shelf crew had a chance to invade Wizard World Toronto and a fun time was had by all. I got to interview some lovely people, including Andy Belanger from Kill Shakespeare, as well as as Mike Stoklasa from Red Letter Media (largely famous as the voice of Harry Plinkett the film critic).
Today we were lucky enough to speak with actor Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow in HBO's epic fantasy series Game of Thrones. We discussed the audition process for the show, his character Jon Snow, the sprawling and illustrious cast, Thrones fan sites, and what he keeps on his dork shelf.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with the creative team behind the original Saw, director James Wan and writer/actor Leigh Whannell. We discussed their new film Insidious, the horror genre, their film inspirations and influences, their favourite Toronto haunts and the dark secrets that their respective dork shelves undoubtedly hold.
This weekend sees the release of Hall Pass, the latest movie from the Farrelly brothers (There’s Something About Mary, Dumb & Dumber, Stuck On You). We’ll have our review of the film up soon, but in the meantime director/writer Bobby Farrelly and co-writer Kevin Barnett sat down for a roundtable interview here in Toronto, and Dork Shelf’s own Ian MacIntyre was invited to join in. Bobby and Kevin discussed Hall Pass, how comedy has changed, marriage, and crazy Three Stooges casting rumors.
One November night, fans gathered at the ex-Hummingbird, now Sony Centre, simply to share in the presence of Nobuo Uematsu. Titled Distant Worlds: The Music of Final Fantasy, a full orchestra presented material by the legendary Uematsu, conducted by Grammy winner Arnie Roth.
