Arts & Entertainment

March 3, 2008

Luke Simcoe
arts @theotherpress.ca

 

 

Holy Fuck, they rock

Richard’s on Richards, February 25, 2008

Luke
Simcoe

arts & entertainment editor

   
 

O,. February 25th, Holy Fuck,
Canada’s somewhat profane answer to
bands like Battles and Ratatat, rolled
into town with A Place to Bury Strangers
and The Clips in tow.

The Clips remain one of our
city’s best bands, and their short set

fazed by the young gentleman who spent
the entire set gazing up at vocalist Edo
Van Breemen with a dreamy, perhaps
drug-induced, stare.

A Place to Bury Strangers was
up next, and they were unable to win
over this critic, despite winning over
the ever-expanding crowd. The band is
from Brooklyn, and their sound made
me wonder if one of New York’s coolest
boroughs woke up one morning and
collectively decided that it was 1996
again and that industrial guitar-noise was
the musical flavour of the week. Despite
their appearance, the band reminded
me of that low-point in alternative rock
where everyone (read: Orgy, Filter,
Finger Eleven, Marilyn Manson, etc.)

 

   

had the halfway to capacity crowd at was cribbing from Trent Reznor. All they

Richard’s tentatively

busting a move. Despite “It’s refreshing to
the fact that they have a see an electronic
singer, The Clips are still a

pretty logical pick to open act adhere so

for Holy Fuck—they can strictly to the
best be described as laptop

rock, and their effects- notions of lo-fi
laden songs and catchy production and live

synth breakdowns are the
perfect accompaniment to P erg ormance.

pumped fists and shaken

needed was some make-up
and PVC pants.

Anyway, I compared
Holy Fuck to Battles
and Ratatat for a reason.
I’ve seen both of those
bands at Richard’s in the
past, and both times the
audience went crazy. I
don’t really know what
it is about predominantly
instrumental dance-rock

hips. Accustomed to playing smaller gigs bands, but they get the crowd really
in makeshift venues, the bandhandledthe __ riled up. It’s almost as if the absence of

close their eyes and really open up their
ears, thus losing themselves more fully
in the music.

To their credit, the boys put on
a pretty good visual show; they were
hailed as one of the stand out acts at
Glastonbury, and ‘“frontmen” Brian
Borchedrt and Graham Walsh manage to
thrash around exuberantly while playing
an incredibly intricate series of knobs
and effects pedals. In an era where artists
like Girl Talk simply dance around in
front of a laptop, it’s refreshing to see
an “electronic” act adhere so strictly to
the notions of lo-fi production and live

On record, Holy Fuck recalls
the more electronic breakdowns present
in bands like Metric, Stars and Broken
Social Scene, but live, the band was
far more improvisational and far more
willing to pummel the audience with beats
than captivate them with atmosphere and
soundscapes. Both are good, but one is
clearly made for headphones, and the
other is made for the dance floor.

Sadly, Holy Fuck’s rather
complex set-up led a late start time, and
I had to duck out early in order to catch
the last train. In retrospect, I wish I had
just shelled out for a cab.

larger stage fairly well, and didn’t seem a singer allows concertgoers to sort of performance.

 

Vantage Point misses the point

By Garth McLennan

 

 

 

oe Point, directed by Pete Travis, has all the
makings of a great movie. However, despite an A-list
cast, and an intriguing premise for a thriller, the film
falls flat.
The movie tells the story of eight different
characters, each with their own “vantage point” of an
assassination attempt on the American President. The

shooting is replayed from each of their viewpoints as
the characters try to piece together the truth.

It’s an excellent idea for a movie, and
shockingly contemporary in our increasingly surveilled
world, but there are a few problems. It isn’t hard to spot
the inside conspirator, and at times the rewind scenes
can get a little repetitive. Dennis Quaid has the lead role
in the movie, and while his character is interesting, he

 

also says some of the corniest lines in movie history.

One of the biggest issues I had with Vantage
Point is that the plot is too simple for such a complex
concept. If they makers of the film had been willing
to delve into the details, the movie could have been
fantastic. The characters and their back stories aren’t
properly explained, and the events leading up to the
shooting aren’t developed enough. The story has hints
of being something special, but they just don’t take it
far enough.

Also, some of the characters in the movie
aren’t really needed. The character of Enrique, played
by noted Spanish actor Eduardo Noriega, doesn’t really
serve any purpose in the movie, other than running
around a lot. Sigourney Weaver is also underutilized in
her role as the producer of the news station that covers
the shooting.

On the other hand, much of the acting was
exceptional, which is to be expected from such a high-
profile cast. For the most part, Dennis Quaid does a
good job, while Matthew Fox (Lost, We are Marshall)
is superb. William Hurt does an excellent job as
President Ashton, and Forest Whitaker’s role is one
of the highlights of the film (though it’s a little tough
to believe that he could keep up with several Secret
Service agents in one of the movie’s chase scenes).

Vantage Point is worth catching on the big
screen, and I’ll probably buy it when it comes out on
DVD, but even with its enticing plot, you’ll leave the
theatre feeling like it could have been so much better.

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