The Plague Cast is upon us! Or that’s what I’m calling this week’s episode as it comes at the tail end of me and my family fighting off a vicious flu! I emerge on the other side to give you my fierce thoughts on the new Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks collaboration that I felt done with after ten minutes. I also have two fantastic must-see documentaries and a horror film that every aficionado needs to see before the end of the year. I give a look at two classics from very different eras, now available on Blu-ray and more on this all-new episode! Mask up and dig in!
Chloe is back this week and so are all the production bells and whistles after the last episode’s fun little crash course. This week’s movie has me going outside of my comfort zone into the romantic dramas with We Live In Time but it’s with good company, being two of the best currently working in film today, Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. I try to coin the genre name for Liam Neeson as he has a new action film out as well as writer, director and creature guy Steven Kostanski’s follow-up to Psycho Goreman. All this plus we both relive some interesting 2024 cinematic moments in this week’s reminders.
Manning the desk solo again this week with a twist: I’m also editing too so don’t expect any flash stuff! That’s Chloe’s department! This week I give my thoughts on the ending of the Venom trilogy, Venom: The Last Dance, a symbiotic bromance for the ages! I also dug out two of our VIFF films, Conclave and Seeds, for their theatrical releases and finally got to give the well earned praise to Will Ferrell’s new documentary on Netflix. All of this plus I finally finished one of the best shows to stream in the last decade, albeit a few years too late.
Flying without a co-pilot this week as Chloe takes a break and will return next week. I faced my fears on this new episode and took in Parker Finn’s diabolical sequel to his debut film, Smile. I also got a look at Michael Keaton hanging out in his comfortable sweet spot in Goodrich and welcome back the housemates of What We Do In The Shadows for the first three episodes of their final season. All of this plus a few cool additions to my library!
I’m very excited about this week’s episodes as Chloe and I get to bring two Vancouver International Film Festival movies back for full reviews as this year’s best film and the Palme d’Or winner at Cannes, Sean Baker’s Anora, makes its debut in theaters over the next three weeks across Canada! We also get to dig into one of the weirder festival films, Guy Maddin’s political satire, Rumours, a movie that both of us are still trying to make sense of. We give our thoughts on Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw The TV Glow, I had some fun with the new animated prequel Transformers One as well as some new documentaries on Disney+. All this and more, right here!
After an amazing week at the Vancouver International Film Festival, Chloe and I are a little burnt out but ready to give you all the new films we took in, off the festival path. We get to unleash on the Joker sequel, a film that we opted for over an apparently incredible VIFF film and I finally get to gush over my favorite film of 2024 so far, The Substance. I try to make sense of Francis Ford Coppola’s very self indulgent passion project and Sebastian Stan has two new films this week and one of them Chloe and I just saw at the festival. All this and more as we play catch up on a brand new episode!
The Vancouver International Film Festival, this being the 43rd annual, is always my favorite time of the year and has been for the last eight years of my life, especially the majority of them that I was able to attend in person. This year marked a new evolution in the journey as my daughter Chloe joined the show and we got to experience the festival as both her first time and the first in a video coverage sense. Presented here is our breakdown of eighteen of the many films from across the globe that we took in, including possible Oscar contenders in Conclave, Flow and Anora.
This playlist ends the weekend before a big moment for my oldest daughter and me as we head down to the Vancouver International Film Festival for a bunch of movies. That said, this marks the first break I’ve taken since bringing this new blog of daily song selections and I have to say, I went a little bit mellower. Sure, we start with Deftones but it is one of their swankier songs and I’ve got turn-of-the-millennium nu-metalers Cold here but this was a radio song as well. Also mixed in here I have the Canadian selections of one of the greatest ever, I Mother Earth, Brave Shores and even, the Victoria queen on the verge of a comeback, Nelly Furtado to bring the list to a close. I should mention that I’ve peppered in some classics here with a 90s Ice Cube anthem and a couple from some childhood favorites. Rock along to the list and I’ll update you with more in a couple weeks!
We’re not messing around anymore when it comes to the kickoffs of these playlists because I’m coming through with an all time favorite song off of one of my favorite records ever made. The first song I brought to the playlist from the Deftones, one of my top groups ever, was a cover song but now I’m bringing a track that I feel also oozes sex appeal in a genre that would appear to be unable to convey that. Upon further digging into the lyrics, you find that the track is about luring a girl into a bathtub, killing her with an electrical device, and then dressing her back up which makes the song infinitely less sexy but I guess it’s all about the packaging to give it that initial feel. Chino clearly had some dark thoughts and mixed emotions while writing this one.
“You move like I want to To see like your eyes do We are downstairs Where no one can see New life break away”
I remember first hearing this song on the radio and becoming obsessed with it. It was an earworm that wouldn’t go away and I would tape it off the next playings of it, always missing that beginning guitar riff. Then I saw the video, directed by George Vale, the man behind some great Canadian music videos like The Tea Party’s The Bazaar and Our Lady Peace’s Starseed, and I was hooked. I save up my allowance and bought the CD immediately. Coming off the Detroit, Michigan bands second album, this was the first single and what I think was the defining one for their sound. Still to this day, I love this track.
“Angelina, it’ll fix your hunchback Angelina, it’ll help your time pass Angelina, here’s a forecast Angelina, it’s science, we never laugh”
Ever since I was a kid, first enjoying music, I have had a deep love for Foreigner. Stemming from songs like Hot Blooded, Cold As Ice and then to ballads like I Wanna Know What Love Is and Waiting For A Girl Like You, I really found my love for them with the sax solo infused Urgent, a song I kind of became obsessed with. This track in particular was one that picked up in popularity with me as an adult and I turn it up loud every time that it comes on. The pulsing bass and drum that starts the song is truly delicious. That said, I didn’t opt to see them in concert when they passed through a few months ago. I feel like the ship has sailed on enjoying them live.
“Bought a beat up six string, in a secondhand store Didn’t know how to play it, but he knew for sure That one guitar, felt good in his hands Didn’t take long, to understand Just one guitar, slung way down low Was a one way ticket, only one way to go So he started rockin’, ain’t never gonna stop Gotta keep on rockin’, someday gonna make it to the top”
The Hunna returns to the playlist with another song off of their self titled record, an album that I consistently go back to and rock out to. This song is a quick little blip on a track at just over two minutes long but they do a hell of a job being memorable with that short amount of time. The song feels like a ferocious attack on social media trends, vapid attitudes, fleeting fandom and the old adage that you need money to make money and unless you have it, you will never get that radio single you strive for. It’s cynical, yes, but rightfully so and it rocks oh so hard at the same time. I love The Hunna and I hope they see a rise because they deserve it.
“Well, look at me, look at me, I’m the boss I know everybody, I can take you to the top TikTok, TikTok, or else you get dropped I can’t dance to your song, that’s not hot I bet you’ll never hear this on the radio, it’s crazy, though I guess I need to start handin’ out some fellatio Say that, do this, but don’t do that Just don’t be yourself, ’cause that is whack”
The first Canadian content of this playlist and it’s one of the greatest bands to ever release in our beautiful country, along with Our Lady Peace, who have already made an appearance. It should be noted that this is my favorite incarnation of this Toronto, Ontario band, with the original lead singer Edwin, who was like a Canuck music god to me at the time and afterward with his solo record. This song in particular was a MuchMusic favorite of mine and I used to wait so I could tape this song and their other Scenery & Fish single Another Sunday on an old VCR. That brings me back to a lot simpler times for sure because, apparently, I love the year 1996 a lot according to some of these song picks.
“Remembering the laughs, the time We got high for seven days down In New Orleans and it seemed like No one else knew we were just The moon and sun in fog before the Heat burned it away and took The sleep from tired heads on Beds of reaching hands, of road trip Breath and long tall freedom”
This is another track that played on our local indie rock station The Peak in Vancouver and it was a song that didn’t really have an affect on me at first but after a bunch of listens, I changed my tune. This Toronto, Ontario pop group adds more Canadian content to this eighteenth playlist and also continues to show off my adoration of bands that only consist of a duo. The main drive of this song is so catchy that I’m surprised it took so long for it to catch one with me. Now that I love it, I know the song is a summer party slam dunk.
“So sorry, I’ve missed you Hair always whipping round So high up, got my chin up I don’t care if I never come down I don’t care if I never come down”
I think my still burning love for turn of the millennium rock and metal is still very obvious because, in the case of this song, this metal band from Jacksonville, Florida didn’t really have the resonance like some of the other bands of the era. That said, I really enjoyed this record a lot and spun it pretty often and this was the first single off of the record. I remember seeing the music video debut on MuchMusic’s Loud and was totally pumped for it as I only knew about them because they opened up for and were affiliated with Limp Bizkit as lead singer Fred Durst appeared on a bonus track from their self titled debut record. Yes, there’s a Limp Bizkit connection here.
“Everyone got twisted up Everyone got behind my back and broke it Cause it’s my world Everyone got twisted up All your friends got behind my back and broke it Cause it’s my world Everyone got twisted up Everyone got behind my back and broke it Cause it’s my world Everyone got twisted up! Everyone got behind my back and broke it! Cause it’s my world!”
This is a song that I have to attribute to my wife’s TikTok feed for getting me on board as it’s one that I kept hearing over and over again as she scrolled through her feed a couple of years ago. Albeit, this is a different version than what appears on her album, hello this is the setlist for my tour, released just last year, but I kind of like the angstier or, in this case, angrier version much more. Hailing from Plano, Texas and at just twenty years old, GAYLE is a rising star who was even featured on the Barbie soundtrack with a cool use of Crazy Town’s Butterflies for her own frenetic version and I think she has a really bright future ahead of her. Plus, this track is the ultimate middle finger song as well and sometimes we all need to feel that.
“A-B-C-D-E, fuck you And your mom and your sister and your job And your craigslist couch and the way your voice sounds Fuck you and your friends that I’ll never see again Everybody but your dog, you can all fuck off”
This is one of those all-time hip-hop tracks and while it feels like it might not fit into this list at all, I believe the vibe at its center really does lend to the same sort of chill style I have going on here. The song has the legendary rapper Ice Cube rolling through what’s in the title, a good day. He lays out the day from the beginning, a pork-free breakfast, Yo MTV Raps!, gambling, a sexual encounter to keep the blood flowing, and, most importantly, no murders in his neighborhood. This feels like a song, when it comes on my randomizer, that is unskippable. It is a piece of serotonin that exists in a genre that focuses a little more on the other side of the coin, especially in the last twenty years, and is a reminder of the hip hop that shaped generations. It also makes your head bop immediately and thats fantastic.
“Went to Short Dog’s house, they was watchin’ Yo! MTV Raps What’s the haps on the craps? Shake ’em up, shake ’em up, shake ’em up, shake ’em”
One of the greatest trios of all time makes a return to the playlist and a track off the same album I brought last time too. This is arguably one of their biggest songs of all time and that bassline that Sting rolls out with that subtle drumming from Stewart Copeland is absolutely delicious. The single ends up winning a Grammy and dives headlong into the themes of being trapped on a deserted island with themes of isolation, loneliness and desperation before ending with the downer note that all of his pleas for help that he sent away came right back to him, unread. It’s dark themes for a song with such a bop at its heart. Keep it up, indeed, eh, Sting? Man, I wish these guys could have gotten along better, they’re so genius. Also, Machinhead’s cover of this song is awesome.
“A year has passed since I wrote my note I should have known this right from the start Only hope can keep me together Love can mend your life, but love can break your heart”
There’s something about the chaoticness of The Vines that really spoke to me the first time I heard their debut track, Get Free, and I was kind of hooked into their sound ever since. Released against the backdrop of a throwback rock sound, spearheaded by bands like Sweden’s The Hives, this Aussie rock band really fit in with their own signature sound. More than Get Free, the second single released of the debut record, which I feel is the song people know more, Outtathaway is the single that charted the highest for the band and is their biggest success to date. I still listen to the album regularly and crank the volume when this madness comes on.
“Gotta get outtathaway No time for me to say When I speak out of line I don’t believe in time”
This is what should have been a landmark record that sent this band into super stardom but instead revealed the ego of the lead singer and songwriter and exposed the very real notion that fame and youth can sometimes lead to an artist’s destruction. With singles like Touch, Peel And Stand and Shelf In A Room, Charlestown, Indiana’s own Days Of The New had us eating out of the palm of their hand on MuchMusic and it led to them getting that coveted opener position for Metallica on their latest tour at the time, one I had the privilege of checking out at UBC Thunderbird Stadium. They were captivating and this was my favorite track off the record, The dark melody and Travis Meeks vocals still to this day have me mesmerized and for newer generations, I feel like this song has aged really well and can make new fans all over again, even if the band has imploded time and time again.
“I’m the one receiving the pain from you Break me down, so shove me in a shoe You put it on and walk on me all day Me, it wouldn’t surprise It’s something you would do I watch you”
Another turn of the millennium track finds its way to this playlist but the difference here is I never really even knew who Deadsy was at the time of the release and I’m only just discovering them now, albeit way too late and arguably when the founder of the band is in some mental distress. I feel like maybe Orgy filled this void at the time as the two bands feel very similar in sound but the emo electronic vibe is something that I’ve really picked up on and this and their song The Keys To Grammercy Park have become my obsolete go tos when it comes to this Los Angeles band. The frontman, Elijah Blue Allman, is the son of the legendary Cher and the legal battles between the two have been really heartbreaking to read.
“Now and then it comes to mind I draw upon a long lost time So don’t ask me why the angels won’t cry, ’cause you know what I’ve already told you Memories of Urantia girls, they race around my brain in swirls You never ask me why the change is in the sky bring you up which to the hole that you go through And now you’re off you’ve done the time Prepare for divine invasion As the spirit climbs Morontia minds Ascend to the cosmic nation”
And just before I leave you for a two-week hiatus to cover the Vancouver International Film Festival, I finish this playlist dropping a fantastic single from a Canadian pop queen who is hopefully gearing up for a comeback. Now, admittedly I was not too high on her work with Timbaland as I thought Promiscuous Girl was a departure from her previous image but I have come around on it, mostly because he is such a good producer and a lot of these songs are phenomenal. Yes, my tastes in pop have definitely evolved over the years, thanks to my wife mostly. The beat to this song is great and gets stuck in your head and I really love Nelly’s voice a lot.
“In the day, in the night Say it right, say it all You either got it, or you don’t You either stand, or you fall When your will is broken When it slips from your hand When there’s no time for jokin’ There’s a hole in the plan”
It’s a special episode this week as it is the last one before a little break while Chloe and I attend the Vancouver International Film Festival! On the show, I have thoughts about the remake of the “cinema trauma” known as Speak No Evil and Chloe has some harsh words for the original film as well. I got to check out the first few episodes of the WandaVision follow-up, Agatha All Along, and I dedicated three hours of my life to Kevin Costner’s passion project, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, now available on 4K and Blu-Ray. All this plus a couple of fresh reviews from Chloe to end the episode!
This week we have an episode thirty-six years in the making, twelve years more than Chloe has been alive, as I got my eyeballs on Tim Burton’s long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I also got to take in one of the best indie dramas of the year, His Three Daughters, a week before it lands on Netflix. James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action comedy True Lies got the 4K treatment earlier this year and I watched it for the first time since VHS and I have a whole crazy list of new additions to the library. All this plus two of the best TV shows currently streaming.
Steve Stebbing 