RSS

The Amateur (Currently in wide release in English and French in Quebec) 

Dir James Hawes 

Staring: Rami Malek, Michael Stuhlbarg, Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan

    When the idea of The Amature was pitched in the trailer, as a person hellbent on revenge after terrorists take the life of someone they loved, it made me think of the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Collateral Damage (2002). My one reservation with the film going in was how they were going to portray Rami Malek’s Charles Heller as an action man bent on revenge in the Schwarzenegger fashion of guns going off and action fist fights. I have never seen Malek as an action star, previous works have included the television thriller series Mr Robot and the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. After his acclaim with both projects, Malek has not been seen in a lot of roles, besides a villain in the last James Bond entry for Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die, and a detective in The Little Things. So how does Malek pull off the action in this spy thriller when even his boss tells him “You wouldn’t even win in an arm wrestling match against a 90-year-old nun” or his aversion to using a gun in his early training with Laurence Fishburne’s Henderson? 

    Charles Heller lives the ideal life, with hobbies including rebuilding an airplane and puzzles alongside his wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan). His profession is a decoder and data decrypter for the Central Intelligence Agency. He is currently coming across some critical information that could be damning to the organization. His wife, who leaves for a work trip for a few days, seems routine until his boss calls him down to his office. In the office he reveals that Sarah was taken as a hostage by a terrorist organization as a pawn for the getaway and was killed in the getaway attempt by the group. Heller goes through the grieving process, including the five stages, but seems stuck at anger. After submitting all the evidence to the identities of the terrorists, four of them, his boss and other liaisons seem not to take him seriously to go after the group, so he uses the damning evidence of misconduct as leverage for CIA field training to go after those responsible personally. 

For his training, he meets his handler Henderson, who doesn't have a lot of faith in Heller and arrives late, getting in the back of the car instead of the front “I ain’t no Uber driver”. When it comes to his training, Heller fails at the shooting range, unless his target is up close and personal. He has some success in creating devices for explosions, which Henderson remarks that we finally found something you're good at. The real test, as seen in the trailer, is when  Henderson gives Charlie a gun and wants Charlie to shoot Henderson, which Charlie panics and doesn't want to pull the trigger “Face it Charlie, you are not a killer”. When the tables turn and the CIA gets the upper hand, Charlie escapes and goes on to face his wife’s killers and their accomplices. 

    The globe-trotting adventure picks up with Charlie always trying to be one step ahead of the CIA and Henderson, who are hot on his trail. As Charlie tracks down the four key players, he uses every tool in his arsenal of tactics to take out his opponents, which doesn't rely on hand-to-hand combat or gunplay action. More precisely, these are methods that explore the weakness of his adversaries and use the environment to take down his opponents. There are also some great uses of foot chases between Henderson and Charlie, juxtaposing the neon lights at the bars and the clubs while in France. Back at home, the CIA is trying to clean the house of those who are the traitors from within. 

    The Armateur works not for the Guns or action fights but rather the methodical tools in Charles Heller’s arsenal of knowledge in the execution of his targets, that would make Agent 47 of the hitman series blush. The chase scenes between Heller and Henderson are well executed even before we realise that director James Hawes doesn't have too many action films in his filmography, but possibly the closest would be The 39 Steps (2008). In another way it can be seen as a pro-American, make the CIA great again film, free from scandals. Film composer Volker Bertelmann sets the score for this film. A big reservation comes from the trailer which I feel reveals too much, as trailers these days tend to do, where Charles Heller faces off in his own way against two of his wife’s killers or accomplices.   It’s always great to see Maleck in a new film and my reservations are put aside because he holds his own arsenal of the trades in this action film. 

⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Remi is the host of At The Movies Along regular Co-Host Danny Aubery every Tuesday morning from 8-9 AM only on CJLO 1690 AM. They cover local film festivals, have interviews with directors and actors, and talk about a new film or the classics. As well the iconic sounds of present and past film scores and soundtracks. Fallow Remi on Letterboxd. 

It has been exactly a month since I, along with the CJLO music team, returned from Austin, Texas for SXSW 2025. In that time, I have been trying to form my takeaways from this year’s festival, in a way that is more substantial than ‘Woo! Fun!’ I assume my job there (other than shaking hands with label reps)  is to act as a bit of a trend correspondent. With that, here are some of my music director takeaways from this year’s SXSW. 

SXSW 2025 was Montreal’s year. For a while, I was apprehensive about declaring this outright. I mean, I’m pretty biased right? I know all these names, interviewed some, personally know some more, of course I think these local artists have the best albums. But, on the ground in Austin I can safely say Montreal was on everyone’s lips. On several instances I’d be by myself, standing in line for a taco or a branded tote bag, and I’d overhear some American or British exec-types brandishing their music badges talking about how “you just have to see La Securite” or “the best show I’ve seen all week are these kids Truck Violence.” This is no accident, Mothland Records sent a lot of artists and co-hosted multiple packed showcases. When I ran into labelhead JP Bourgeois on Thursday, he showed me his excel sheet of all their artists’ showcases, tallying several dozens. Lots of Redbull and Vitamin C suppliments, I assume.

Truck Violence threw especially memorable shows, stage diving, screaming, playing with Canadian flags, and more. The band’s mix of hardcore and bluegrass instrumentation, inspired by their Alberta lineages, was a big hit with the Texas crowds. Montreal’s punk scene is chugging up towards a real boom, and bands like Truck Violence and Alix Fernz’ showcases at SXSW showed just that. 

The best part of SXSW is the ability to jump between shows, all just a few steps from each other. Armed with the SXSW app (even when it would log me out randomly), I would make my itinerary in the morning and try to jam in as many showcases as possible, making sure not to miss any SX artist I planned on seeing. In the span of a bit over an hour, I was able to catch Hiding Places, Golom B, Her New Knife, who all gave great sets. I especially enjoyed Her New Knife, who make really discordent, atonal shoegaze, which is refreshing to see in the over-saturated market of Zoomer gazers, many of the lesser which were also at the festival.

A highlight for me was the Brooklyn Vegan showcase on the Thursday. In the spacious outdoor venue of The Mohawk, bands from New York and beyond played an indie-dominant showcase. The first I caught was Brooklyn-duo fantasy of a broken heart, who were one of my top picks going into the fest. I had seen them a few days prior in the much-too-small Chess Club, but their sound filled the Mohawk outdoor perfectly, showcasing their psychy indie pop. The venue’s layout was perfect. At this point, I had wandered away from fellow CJLOers, and had found myself a nice perch on the railing looking over the side of the stage. It was a balmy 28 degrees, I was in jorts, drinking a lovely beverage, living my Brooklyn Vegan hipster fantasy. Cue “We needed this” gif.  Later, joined back by other CJLOers, I saw Mary in the Junkyard whose ambient, slow shoegaze set a great late-night mood. 

Later, indoors, I caught local Austin slowcore band Shallowater. They were such a hidden little surprise, playing a very lowkey set. Their album There is a Well has been on repeat for me ever since. It is the sort of melodic slow indie that fans of Horse Jumper of Love or Midwife would love. 

SXSW does its planning and logistics right. Short sets in showcases with lots of genre variety, it is impossible to not stumble upon at least a few new bands you love just randomly. With many of these showcases free to the public, the city opens up with industry yuppies (like myself) meshing in with local concert goers to experience some truly unique shows. This model is something our local festivals could take a note from. 

While rumours of plans to cut the music festival at SXSW have recently been squashed, the festival has been getting smaller and smaller with each passing year. As an attendee, the experience still felt very full— there will always be way more showcases than any individual could ever attend. However, with SXSW’s dozens of hefty corporate sponsorships and boats of money highlighting every Silicon Valley bro who wants to be the next Elon Musk, why not focus a bit more of those resources back in the fesitval that made their name in the first place? Though SXSW has changed a lot over the years, and seeing a Rivian ad every ten feet does not really inspire confidence, the music festival portion remains an exciting incubator for great new talent.  

Aviva Majerczyk is the head music director at CJLO 1690AM. She is also the host of The Alley, a folk-rock show airing Fridays at 11:00 AM.

Joni Void’s latest release drops with a wonderful genre blend of lo-fi, avant-pop, downtempo, and ambient, incorporating his home base of Montreal as a recurring character. It offers a warm and peaceful transitional journey throughout its concise 44-minute runtime. Every Light Is A Life is an experimental collage of sounds that invites its listeners to get lost in its extended loops and slow bpm. 

The opening track, “Everyday- A Sequel”,  provides a beautiful, ambient, thematic introduction for the rest of the album. Its slowed-down vocal loop and whirring background sounds carry its listeners along with them, providing a trance-inducing experience, whisking listeners away with the sound of a train heading forward to its destination. He continues this transient theme on “Du Parc,” which loops the iconic sounds of the STM supported by a melodic bassline and ethereal vocals, keeping us in a transitory experience. 

“Time Zone” and “Cloud Level” provide some wonderful moments that sound like they could have been pulled from a late-90s Mob Deep cut. Its backing vocals from Japanese artists Haco and Ytamo, respectively, offer an angelic quality to help levitate the listener. These standout tracks provide an intoxicating, head-bopping groove that cannot help to be felt throughout the body.

Songs like “Muffin - A Song For My Cat” and “Event Flow - A Sequence” are the most lo-fi and minimalist offerings in the track list. Similar to what one may hear during a long study session with the infamous lo-fi girl. The former song is led by a beautiful piano loop, eventually complemented by a slow and reverberating bass loop and the subject of the title sprinkled throughout: his cat. The latter of the two tracks, once again, samples the identifiable STM sound to a very languid bass. While very pretty, this song seems misplaced sitting between songs like “Between Places” with its frenetic ending and the trip-hop inspired “Story Board.” 

“Story Board” is another standout song that wears its trip-hop/alternative hip-hop reminiscent of Busdriver and R.A.P. Ferreira’s (formerly Milo) early work. Rapper Pink Navel drops some wonderfully introspective verses of reflection with crafty wordplay. Following this is another, “Vertigo,” which provides a funky bassline groove and sinewy vocals, and once again, feels like it could come from a Moby B-side. 

The album ends with “Death Is Not The End” and “ Joni Sadler Forever.” The first of the two tracks is a collage of interesting sounds and textures to create a very floaty and hypnotic experience. The final track, “Joni Sadler Forever,” feels like an uplifting and positive endnote to the album. Utilizing an extended synth loop and some energetic drums, the listener is left feeling as if the journey is not over, but rather just beginning.

Overall, Every Life Is a Light is a beautiful exploration of sound, delving into themes of transition: an ending is but a new beginning. It boasts wonderfully hypnotic and entrancing soundscapes. Although some of the songs may be too experimental for some or too lo-fi for others, I encourage everyone to give this a listen, if only to experience the capabilities of what can be achieved through experimentation of sound.

During this episode, the CJLO team and special guest Kodi walk you through everything SXSW. We talk tech billionaires, birds, our festival induced aches and pains, and the best new music coming out of the festivals lineup. 

Originally aired: March 14th, 2025