Projections by Bruce Soderholm

Vol. 26, No. 05

Monsieur Lazhar a lesson in fine Canadian film

Sometimes a film is just a film. Sometimes it's a director's vanity project. Sometimes it's a studio's attempt to milk a cash cow. But sometimes, just sometimes, a film opens a window to life, carefully observes the human condition, and gets it just right. Monsieur Lazhar, written and directed by Quebec native Philippe Falardeau, is such a film.

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Projections by Bruce Soderholm

Vol. 26, No. 03

Hugo sparkles with cinematic magic

When an iconic master director, Martin Scorsese, decides to adapt a marvelous story such as The Invention of Hugo Cabret for film, we might well expect there to be some cinematic magic. Hugo does not disappoint. Scorsese, inspired by his wife's challenge to make a film that their 11-year-old daughter could watch, has crafted a film that's been nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

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Musical Routes by Aaron Epp

Vol. 26, No. 02

From the Sky Down provides elevating look at U2

The last time Davis Guggenheim made a documentary involving a member of U2, the result was the lacklustre It Might Get Loud.

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Projections by Bruce Soderholm

Vol. 26, No. 02

In Darkness sheds light on underground war story

Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz) is a man who's not afraid to get down and dirty. In fact he does it every day—literally—in his capacity as a sewer inspector for the Polish city of Lvov. He knows the tunnels beneath the city like the clichéd back of his work-calloused hand. It's 1943, and the sewers are a convenient place to hide some of the minor spoils of war—goods and artifacts pilfered from the homes of local Jews who've been forcibly removed to ghettos—during the Nazi occupation of Poland.

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Musical Routes by Adam Kroeker

Vol. 25, No. 12

Manitoban's Christmas album reveals true Joy

WINNIPEG, MB—Manitoba musician Barbara Joy's new album, A King Has Come, presents a welcome change to the Christmas season's stale cover songs and tired favorites.

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Projections by Bruce Soderholm

Vol. 25, No. 12

Road movie The Way more than a pedestrian affair

Cursing the quest Courting disaster Measureless nights forebode Moments of rest Glimpses of laughter Are treasured along the road. (Dan Fogelberg, "Along the Road")

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Musical Routes by Aaron Epp

Vol. 25, No. 11

Newsboys stand for more than music

In the world of Contemporary Christian Music, there are few bands bigger than Newsboys. Last year - 25 years after forming in Australia - the rock band released Born Again, its most popular album yet.

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Projections by Bruce Soderholm

Vol. 25, No. 10

DVD stores: Rest in peace

Somewhere out there, a desperate man is cruising the backstreets of his hometown desperately looking for a corner store, a grocery store, a Dickie Dee ice cream cart - some place, any place, from which he can rent a DVD for his daughter's sleep-over, but to no avail. A neighbour severed his Internet and cable TV connection while attempting to install an in-lawn sprinkler system and it'll be three days before anyone can fix it.

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Musical Routes by Aaron Epp

Vol. 25, No. 10

Singer-songwriter uses gift of music to address personal suffering

Vancouver singer-songwriter Joel Kroeker has released three albums, filmed music videos, toured throughout Canada, shared the stage with Bruce Cockburn, been nominated for songwriting awards and collaborated with Randy Bachman.

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Musical Routes by Aaron Epp

Vol. 25, No. 08

God is up to something

Just over 10 years ago, a Winnipeg youth pastor named Bryan Moyer Suderman sat down on his living room floor with his then three-year-old son and sang, for the first time, a simple song he had written. The refrain says: "God's love is for everybody, everybody around the world / Me and you and all God's children / From across the street to around the world."

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