Dramedy Mile End Kicks captures 20-something angst, confusion

Canadian writer-director Chandler Levack is becoming an auteur of spiky, self-aware, semi-autobiographical nostalgia.

Her 2022 feature debut I Like Movies related the awkward coming-of-age story of a teenage video store clerk in Burlington, Ont., in 2003.

In this deliberately loose dramedy, which debuted at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Levack sets her wayback machine to the summer of 2011 in Montreal. Grace (Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira), a 24-year-old music critic, has just got off the bus, determined to do important work, have sex and possibly learn French.

Low rents on cool apartments in the neighbourhood of Mile End are drawing young artists, writers and musicians from all over Canada, Grace explains in an article she’s writing about the city’s indie music scene.

Pew research

There’s been lots of media attention recently about the idea of youth religious revival — that young people, especially those from Gen Z, are flocking to church.

It all started in April last year, when the Bible Society in the United Kingdom shared the results of a poll it commissioned from YouGov, a prominent online marketing organization. That poll showed a 16 per cent increase in church attendance in the U.K. by young people ages 18-24.

This was, the Bible Society contended, “dramatic” proof of a “quiet revival” among youth in that country.

Skeptics quickly pushed back. The reason it was “quiet,” they said, was because there was no other poll, including those done by the U.K. Anglican and Catholic churches themselves, that had found anything like the Bible Society’s results. Not only that, they pointed out that anyone who visited most any church on a Sunday morning could see for themselves how few young people were in attendance.

Iconic Thunderbird restaurant set to take flight once more

The famous restaurant at 1970 McPhillips St. announced its return in a series of social media posts earlier this month, promising the same food and atmosphere it became known for after it opened its doors in 1961.

Wealth of musical talent providing the sounds of silents

The score will be settled in real time on Saturday at the inaugural Winnipeg Silent Movie Festival, with local musicians set to provide live, improvised soundtracks to 10 films released between 1912 and 1929.

Raptors turn to neoclassical sound for playoff hype videos, tapping pianist Tony Ann

The Toronto Raptors are back in the playoffs, and their hype videos are doing things a little differently this time.

There's no thumping bass or blaring beats in the promotional reels on social media. Instead, a more emotional, piano-driven score accompanies Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett dunking and hitting fadeaways.

The man behind that sound is Toronto composer Tony Ann, whose pop-leaning neoclassical style is quickly winning over the city’s sports teams.

“I tell so many people my biggest inspirations and heroes are athletes. I grew up watching Vince Carter with the Raptors and Michael Jordan with the Wizards — I know that wasn’t his prime anymore, but it was still pretty cool,” says the 32-year-old, speaking from Antwerp, Belgium.

Natalie Portman is pregnant with her third child, her first with Tanguy Destable

Natalie Portman is expecting her third child at age 44.

The actor told Harper’s Bazaar she is “very grateful” to be welcoming a child with partner Tanguy Destable, 45, a French electronic music producer known by his stage name, Tepr.

“Tanguy and I are very excited,” she told the outlet. “I’m just very grateful. I know it’s such a privilege and a miracle.”

The actor shares two older children, son Aleph, 14, and daughter Amalia, 9, with ex-husband Benjamin Millepied. Portman and Millepied divorced in 2024.

Rapper Tory Lanez sues California prison system for $100 million over stabbing by inmate

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rapper Tory Lanez has sued the California prison system, saying he never should have been housed with a fellow inmate who stabbed him 16 times last year.

Lanez, 33, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, filed the federal lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages on Tuesday against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the warden and guards at the prison in Tehachapi where he was being held.

The suit says he was stabbed 16 times in the back, torso, head and face in an “unprovoked life-threatening attack” by inmate Santino Casio, who used a homemade “shank.” Lanez had a collapsed lung and had to be airlifted to a hospital, it says.

Lanez is serving a 10-year sentence for shooting hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in the feet after a dramatic and high-profile 2022 trial in Los Angeles.

MCO’s new season sure to delight

Had the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra trotted out that classic cliché of marketing speak — “a season full of surprises!” — about its upcoming lineup, it would have rung true.

The MCO’s 2026-27 season takes a cinematic turn, with works by such Hollywood film-score heavy hitters as Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt and even Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. It’s a treat whenever we hear Winnipeg’s cosy churches resonate with the best of these composers.

Though this isn’t really the surprising thing. The MCO has always been one of the Prairies’ leading champions of contemporary Canadian classical, and the upcoming season is especially adventurous in this respect.

In three concert programs, guest performers are also composers — acclaimed contralto Rose Naggar-Tremblay on Sept. 23, Florian Hoefner Jazz Quartet on Nov. 4 and flutist and hoop dancer V. J. Sparvier-Wells on March 17 — breaking down one of classical music’s traditional divisions.

‘Mile End Kicks’ star Barbie Ferreira says she supports ‘Euphoria’ cast, is ‘totally cool’ with not being eligible for Canadian Screen Award

TORONTO -  

 Barbie Ferreira has put her "Euphoria" days behind her. 

The actress played Kat for two seasons on the hit HBO drama, which returned with Season 3 last week.

"It's not that I don't care about it, it's just been four years since I've been on it. So for me, I have moved on with my career," Ferreira said in a video interview Tuesday from Los Angeles.