IncluCity fest returns to Toronto, bigger than ever
by Allan TongThe ICFF is back, or shall I say the Lavazza IncluCity Festival, organized by the ICFF? Once Toronto's Italian film fest, IncluCity has rebranded in recent years into a multicultural (and...
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film review: Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)
Directed by Anton Corbijn ChinoKino score: AReview by Allan TongAtom Heart Mother, Band on the Run, Peter Gabriel 2, Houses of the Holy, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Dark Side of the Moon. Those...
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Polaris Prize unveils 40 nominees from Feist to Aysanabee
Story and photos by Allan TongThe Polaris Prize, honouring Canada's best recorded music, announced this year's long list of 40 nominees last Tuesday evening. Sonic Boom, Toronto biggest record store,...
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film review: Carlos
Directed by Rudy ValdezChinoKino score: B-Review by Allan TongThough directed by Rudy Valdez, Carlos is really Carlos Santana's film. The legendary Mexican-American guitarist authorized this...
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CD review: Good Day Good Night by David Deacon
Local blues veteran, David Deacon, unveiled his latest album at the fabled Rivoli Toronto last week. He previewed a handful of songs from Good Day Good Night, his fifth studio album and second this...
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book review: Dressing The Beatles
Virtually everything has been written about The Beatles by now, but their impact on fashion has been largely overlooked. Renown Toronto arts journalist and Beatlesfreak, Deirdre Kelly, has taken a...
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fashion review: Dressed To Impress at the Bata Shoe Museum
Review & photos by Allan TongChinoKino score: A-I grew up in the eighties and have been trying to forget them ever since. Yuppies, pastels, shoulder pads, Reagan, Thatcher, AIDS, the nuclear race,...
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Now and Then - the last Beatles single and the start of AI
Beatle fans around the world released their collective breath this morning at 10:00 am EST to hear the new--and last--Beatles single, Now and Then. They were not disappointed.John's vocal is clear and...
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book review: Triggers: A Life in Music by Glen Matlock
review by Allan TongChinoKino score: A- In 2023, a first-pressing of the Sex Pistols' one-and-only studio album, Never Mind The Bollocks, in VG condition commands $500 in Toronto shops. In...
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record review: 1962-66 and 1967-70 (remixed)
The Red and Blue albums (officially 1962-66 and 1967-70) are out...again. These were the Beatles' first official greatest hits compilations (released in 1973) and introduced the second generation of...
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film review: The Stones and Brian Jones
Directed by Nick BroomfieldChinoKino score: AReview by Allan TongMick Jagger and Keith Richards are household names in 2023, but not Brian Jones. Only longtime Rolling Stones fans will know Brian...
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book review: Popartery by Andy Patridge
Illustrated by Andy Partridge (Published by Ape House)review by Allan TongChinoKino score: ASimply put, this large hardcover collects the 56 individual covers of a previous (but extremely limited) tome...
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Winners & Losers is a slam-dunk history of Toronto sports
Toronto is officially the most sport-crazed city in Canada, boasting big-league franchises in hockey, basketball, baseball and football (both kinds). Championships and chokes (see below) are embedded...
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film review: Immediate Family
Directed by Danny TedescoChinoKino rating: B+Review by Allan TongThis music doc is the logical and spiritual sequel to Danny Tedesco's impressive The Wrecking Crew from 2008. Both films profile groups...
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film review: Anselm (3D)
Directed by Wim WendersChinoKino score: B+Review by Allan TongWim Wenders returns to the 3D documentary form with a portrait of German painter/sculptor, Anselm Kiefer. Few will know his name outside...
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IDS kicks off design weekend in Toronto
ARD OutdoorStory and photos by Allan TongThe Interior Design Show opened last night with a party to interrupt the cold snap gripping Toronto. Occupying the northern end of the massive Metro Toronto...
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film review: Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer
Directed and written by Thomas von SteinaeckerChinoKino score: A-Review by Allan TongWith Werner Herzog, warns German filmmaker Wim Wenders, "you can't be sure of anything. It's all unpredictable. You...
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film review: They Shot The Piano Player
Directed by Fernando Trueba and Javier MariscalWritten by Fernando TruebaReview by Allan TongChinoKino score: B+This is a stunning, but flawed animated docu-drama about legendary Brazilian jazz...
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film review: Wicked Little Letters
Directed by Thea SharrockWritten by Jonny SweetChinoKino review: CReviewed by Allan TongIn 1919, in the English seaside town of Littlehampton, two neighbours, Edith Swann and Rose Gooding, ceased...
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festival spotlight on IncluCity
The Italians do it in style, and that extends to their film festivals. At least in Toronto. The ICFF, once the Italian Contemporary and since morphed into the multicult IncluCity, has weathered the...
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film review: Russians at War
Directed by Anastasia TrofimovaWritten by Anastasia Trofimova & Roland SchlimmeChinoKino review: AReviewed by Allan Tong First of all, Russians at War is an anti-war documentary,not propaganda....
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fashion & art review: Art/Wear: Sneakers x Artists
Are sneakers art?That's the question the Bata Shoe Museum of Toronto poses in its new show, Art/Wear: Sneakers x Artists, opening October 3 and running through March 2023, 2026. On view are vintage...
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film review: The Apprentice
Directed by Ali AbbasiWritten by Gabriel ShermanChinoKino review: A-Reviewed by Allan TongDonald Trump doesn't want you to see this movie.Pulling no punches, The Apprentice traces his relationship...
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IDS 2025: brass, salmon and wood
Toronto's hip and beautiful braved the polar vortex last night to party at IDS, the annual Interior Design Show, which showcases the world of furnishings and anything pretty that belongs in a home....
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film review: Becoming Led Zeppelin
Directed by Bernard MacMahonChinoKino review: A- (in IMAX)Reviewed by Allan TongFirst of all, this movie rocks on a giant screen. True, some footage is grainy on an IMAX screen, and the sound is...
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