News

The CJLO news team brings you the hottest stories in the city! Catch the latest news segments and articles here or view the complete list.


RIDM Celebrates Master Director Chantal Akerman

RIDM is back with its usual programming of eclectic and dynamic documentaries from all around the world. Celebrating its 26th edition, RIDM stands by its mission of creating a platform for underrepresented voices, authentic expression and coming together, hence the origin of their French name “rencontres” or meetings. With such a diverse lineup, every individual is able to curate an experience of their own. Whether it's selecting films that speak directly to their own lived experiences or discovering something completely new to them, RIDM allows attendees to thread their own stories through viewership. 


image+nation Closing Film: A Night of History and Opulence

November 25th was the premiere of Venus Envy: The House of Venus and the closing night of the Image+Nation film festival. Image+Nation is an 11-day festival that includes international short films, documentaries, and feature films about LGBTQ+ topics. The closing night event combined queer culture and history with visual culture. 

The night started with a drag performance. The performer was wearing a retro, 1960s-styled outfit with a bejewelled fascinator with feathers, shaped like a hand. 


The Holdovers: A Poignant Picture Of Personal Growth

This year has been interesting for films in the sense that it has been “the year of the epic” – without exception, the most critically and commercially successful films in 2023 have been grand in every sense of the word. The Holdovers is different. By contrast, it’s a tightly focused and tightly cast film that’s driven by the characters and the exploration of their emotional depths.


Wham! - Behind the Music

The new Netflix documentary Wham! explores every aspect of the pop music duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Whenever I think of the 80s, I think of the quirky, unconventional styles which a lot of people had, I think of the really cool movies that were released, and how can I not think of the great music that was available to us at the time? When of think of music from the 80s, I think of bands such as Hall and Oats, Tears for Fears and of course Wham! I recently stumbled upon the Wham! documentary which is now available on Netflix, and I could not resist taking the time to watch it.


Oppenheimer: A Mammoth Moment In History On 70MM Film

Traditionally, the summer is a season of escapism, blockbusters, and franchises in the movie industry. Oppenheimer, heavy in dialogue, tone, and subject matter is this summer’s exception to the rule. The father of the A-Bomb gets the big-screen treatment in this prestige film about one of the most important events in human history that has taken summer cinema by storm.


Review: Past Lives

Past Lives is the directorial debut feature of Celine Song, and one of the best films of the year. After making its premier at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and garnering positive reviews from critics  it’s now in theaters. Past Lives is a meditative, slow film about first love that has been lost, the immigration experience, and of the nature of relationships.


Beau is Afraid: Not A Mother's Day Movie

Cineplex recently posted some Mother's Day movie suggestions now in theaters, one of them being Beau is Afraid. I couldn't help but feel a certain dread at the idea of Ari Aster's latest film being recommended for mothers and sons. Don’t get me wrong, Beau is Afraid, is a vast spectacle of a film that succeeds as being one of Aster's most complex robust works as a director, almost hitting the three hour mark.


Filmmakers from the Indian Sub-continent Diaspora Shine Bright at the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal

South Asian Film Festival of Montreal (SAFFM) 2023, presented by Kabir Centre for Arts & Culture is back after a year of dormancy. The festival was screened with Bibliothèques de Saguenay and La Cinémathèque québécoise from April 28 to May 10. This year’s films were picked all the way from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, to Canada and the United States; aired in person and online.  Kabir Centre aims to unite communities through thought-provoking films from the Indian Sub-continent empowering the culture and the languages. 


Funding Drive Halfway Point Updates

Since we just passed the halfway mark for Funding Drive, we thought it’s only fair to share the support we’ve been getting from the CJLO fam, with the CJLO fam! You’ve shown up in a big way and got us past several of our set goals to date.

Funding Drive runs until October 31st, so you still have time to keep donating!

 

As promised, here’s a list of show-specific donation incentives. 
Superconnected
DJ: Francella Fiallos
>$30: thank you on-air, song dedication
$50: personal playlist
$100: playlist + hand-sewn pouch
$250: co-host + knitted accessory 


ANDREW DOMINIK’S BLONDE: A CRITICAL REVIEW

CW: This article talks about sexual assault present in the film. 

Existing in the spotlight is very complicated and complex; even now, it is rare to come out unscathed—both in the public’s eye and in your own. This, if nothing else, is clear throughout Andrew Dominik’s Blonde (2022), the newly released Netflix film calling itself a fictional portrait of Marilyn Monroe and “the price she paid for fame.” 


Fantasia Film Festival Week 3: The Final Lap

During the final week of the Fantasia Film Festival, I fortunately got the last two days of the festival off to get in some final film viewings. I also managed to make time to get to a screening of Everything, Everywhere, All at Once and Nope (IMAX); two films that I highly recommend checking out in theaters for the best experience.


Fantasia Week 2: Mid-Festival Screenings

*Some of the films featured in this article are contain content such as trauma and sexual misconduct allegations* 

Remi's picks:


Fantasia Week 1: Welcoming Back the Audience

It’s been a good two years since the Fantasia Film Festival had the opportunity to showcase the premier genre film festival to an audience on the big screen, having a limited opportunity last year with the gradual reopening of the theaters. I had some time to catch some theater screenings that played well with the audience, which only proves that the audience is the heart and core of the festival. It was also great to see some familiar faces and audience members who haven’t seen each other in a while due to the pandemic.


Fantasia 2022: Remi & Danny's picks for the grand return to theatres for the premiere-genre film festival

It’s been a good two years since the full return to an in-person experience at the Fantasia Film Festival, with a few in-person events last year. Speaking from the past five years of experience, Fantasia with a full audience is the best possible way to enjoy the festival with everything that makes it special, including CJLO DJ’s and meowing cat noises.


Memoria Review

In an era of streaming infinite content on numerous platforms and being instantaneously entertained with a click of the finger, Memoria is one of those concrete in-movie-theater experiences.


Fringe-For-All Launches the St. Ambroise Fringe Festival in Full Swing This Year

Summer in the city looks like shrubbery coming alive and green, not actually referring to the season as Spring, picking out flowers at the Jean Talon Market, bike rides along the canal, a distinct sunshine illuminating the city at golden hour when locals are seen making their way up Jeanne Mance in Docs with their totebags and picnic blankets, or perhaps more definitively: the St. Ambroise Fringe Fest painting the town in the fanciful colors of theater, dance, musicals, burlesque, storytelling, drag races, and beer for nearly three weeks. 


The Lost City Film Review

Action, adventure, comedy, and a little bit of romance were mixed to create the movie The Lost City. Let’s not forget about the light presence of romance we could feel between the main characters, the novelist Loretta (Sandra Bullock) and her cover model Alan (Channing Tatum).


Ti West’s X: A Critical Review

Warning: this review contains spoilers


There are seldom things more ‘70’s than a group of young friends, clad in cowboy boots and flares, embarking on a road trip seemingly in the middle of nowhere in rural Texas to film an adult movie. Directed, written, and produced by Ti West, X is set in 1979, paying homage to the slasher films of the 1970’s; the decade’s nostalgic charm being admittedly, exactly what prompted me to buy my pass for the movie within minutes of reading about it last week, as well as the fact that slasher movies have become increasingly unpopular and I was eager to see what a modern day interpretation of the classic slasher films would look like. 


Metal My Movie: Annette

Viewer discretion is advised before watching this film. Find out more information here.
 

Metal My Movie: The Velvet Underground

Let me start off with my first experience while listening to The Velvet Underground’s debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico, (a collaboration between The Velvet Underground and German singer Nico) which I discovered during my college days after listening to Lou Reed’s Transformer. The album has the rockabilly aspect for sure and it’s nothing too jarring at first. Skip forward to the song “Heroin” - starts off fine but closes with the most chaotic jarring sounds of Lou Reed’s electric guitar and John Cale’s electric viola.

​Making Films and Making Family: Rhayne Vermette on Ste. Anne

Content Warning: Mentions Indigenous children’s unmarked graves and residential schools

In the opening sequence of Ste. Anne, a lone figure slowly makes her way across a prairie field at dusk. A train whistles in the distance. It’s fall, and foreboding storm clouds have gathered just above the horizon. 

We learn that this is Renée (played by filmmaker Rhayne Vermette herself), a Métis woman whose family hasn’t seen or heard from her in four years, including her young daughter Athene (Isabelle d’Eschambault). 

Now, without a word of warning or explanation, she has decided to come home.


Metal My Movie: Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

When the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special aired this January, I thought it was a great time to revisit the series as a whole. The first and second film (directed by Chris Columbus, who also directed the first two Home Alone films) saw the series as a fantasy adventure film for the family while staying true to the source material. However, the third instalment of the series shifted to a much darker tone with some of the new characters and the world aesthetics. Director Alfonso Cuarón took the reins from Chris Columbus. In my opinion, his vision created the best gothic lore the film series has to offer and one of the best instalments in the film series overall.

Metal My Movie: Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage

Viewer Discretion is advised before viewing. This documentary deals with assault and violence. Find out more information here.

It is Metal March on CJLO 1690AM. Once again Metal My Movie is back, where we take a look at a movie and give it the metal treatment it deserves.


At The Movies Interview with Quebecois Filmmaker Philippe Grégoire

The Director's Influence presents a conversation with Quebecois filmmaker Philippe Grégoire about his new film Le bruit des moteurs (The Noise of Engines). Among other things, Remi and Grégoire discuss the personal nature of the project and the integral role that sound design plays in the film. Le bruit des moteurs is playing in select cities across Quebec and at Cinema Beaubien as of Feb. 25. Bon cinéma!


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