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film review: Eternal Spring
Directed by Jason LoftusReview by Allan TongChinoKino score: AYou've seen or heard of the Falun Gong, those folks who stand still on street corners with their hands raised and eyes closed as they...
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film review: REVIVAL69: The Concert That Rocked the World
Directed by Ron Chapman Review by Allan TongChinoKino score: A"It was the end of the Beatles."Documentarian D.A. Pennebaker describes the climax of the set performed by John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the...
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film review: Darryl Jones: In The Blood
Directed by Eric HamburgChinoKino score: CReview by Allan TongSuperman is boring. Superman can soar, twist steel, beat any bad guy into a pulp and save entire planets.Aside from kryptonite, nothing...
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film review: Harvest Time
Directed by Bernard ShakeyChinoKino score: B (for Neil Young fans: A)Review by Allan TongWhen Neil Young released the album Harvest in early 1972, he became as big as Taylor Swift or Drake today....
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IDS returns to Toronto with a bash
Christina SiderisToronto's Interior Design Show returns to January's cultural calendars after a hiatus (for obvious reasons) and following last year's IDS taking place in April right after lockdown. It...
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The Artist Project returns to Toronto
Ross Bonfanti's Concreatures Story & photos by Allan Tong The Artist Project returned to Toronto's CNE Grounds at the Better Living Centre after a long pandemic hiatus. The show, which runs...
View ArticleIncluCity 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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