Bringing you the issues since 1986 
BY: IRWIN BLOCK Many of us are obsessed by the Second World War and the unprecedented devastation unleashed by the German killing machine until the great battles that turned the tide. But there is more to the stories of Stalingrad and Kursk, El-Alamein and D-Day than stamina, strategy and over-extended [...]
Iconic performer Harry Belafonte, the king of Calypso, will be honoured by the 8th Montreal International Black Film Festival held September 19-30. The 85-year-old singer, songwriter, actor and social activist will be presented with the 2012 Humanitarian Award on September 19, at the Opening Ceremony and Tribute to Harry Belafonte, [...]
From the first moments in Darrell Wasyk’s The Girl in the White Coat, you feel the bitter taste of poverty. Based on Nikolai Gogol’s timeless short story The Overcoat, but transposed to modern Montreal, the film chronicles the efforts of Elise, played with angelic innocence by Pascal Montpetit, as she tries [...]
BY: IRWIN BLOCK We got to know music journalist Michelle Mercer from her biography of saxophonist Wayne Shorter (Footprints: the Life and Work of Wayne Shorter), a well-crafted account of an enigmatic jazz original. Thanks to a recommendation from Shorter, Mercer got a chance to interview the reclusive Joni Mitchell [...]
BY IRWIN BLOCK Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary, a charter member of the 1960s folk music revival, is alive and well and doing what he has always done—singing about struggles past and campaigning for the underdog today. For about 200 fans who packed his concert at the Georges [...]
BY KRISTINE BERRY In the program book of the 33d edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival, president and founder Alain Simard writes that the festival combines quality with diversity. “From artists who recorded 78s to artists of the mp3 era, they come from every part of the globe to [...]
BY IRWIN BLOCK Jazz fan or not, there is a tremendous range of music in free outdoor venues and paid indoor ones to satisfy most tastes at this year’s Montreal International Jazz Festival. The first of hundreds of daily shows starts Wednesday, June 27, and continue until Sunday, July 7, [...]
BY BYRON TOBEN Wow. The Montreal Fringe Theatre Festival is entering its 22nd year. Who woulda thunk? Now, to the chase. Shrewd gamblers quip, “Don’t bet on the horse, bet on the jockey.” With that in mind, I pick (among English language shows running June 14-24), in alphabetical order: Act [...]
BY BARBARA MOSER This Father’s Day—or any day—there’s nothing quite like eating in the sun or shade of cafés in Westmount Village on Sherbrooke between Victoria and Claremont. Foumagerie, with more tables outside than in, will satisfy your palate with their array of sandwiches and salads, all made fresh and [...]
BY IRWIN BLOCK As surely as lilacs bloom in spring, gas prices in Montreal soared above $1.33 a litre in May, and for economist Jeff Rubin, that may not be all bad. There is little we can do about the growing demand for petroleum, especially in the new consumer economies [...]
What you said