By: Rachel Harper
Angels, sex, divided loyalties, war, secrets, betrayal – Dominion has it all. Whether you’re driven by action-based plots and invigorating drama, or heart-wrenchingly impossible romance, this series is bound to have something for everyone to sink their teeth into.
Dominion is an American-made television series that aired in early September, and is loosely based on the 2010 film Legion. With only eight episodes in its first season, it received so much praise and attention from both the American and Canadian public that it was renewed for a second season on Sept. 25, set for release in 2015.
“Twenty-five years ago, God disappeared,” the narrator says at the start of the pilot episode. The angels of the Lord had held humans responsible, and sought to eradicate them. This effort of extermination was led by the archangel Gabriel, who believed the dominion of the Earth should belong to him and his kin. However, Michael – the greatest of all the archangels – decided to protect humanity from his brother Gabriel’s wrath. Rumours began to form around a chosen one who would be the saviour of humankind, a child that Michael had saved. This is when we are introduced to Alex Lannon.
Alex is a good character, as far as heroes go. He’s brave, resilient, self-sacrificing, and humble. Although, the fact that he is a white, presumably heterosexual male is unrefreshing, as these seem to be common traits that a lot of saviours of humanity share. Thankfully, this is partly redeemed by the many powerful female characters in the show. All of the women on the show are interesting and complicated individuals, with different strengths and different weaknesses that help to break the stereotypical mould seen on most shows.
What makes Dominion really stand out from the standard television drama, however, is the moral ambiguity of almost every character. It’s often difficult to pinpoint a character in Dominion as either good or evil, as there are a lot of grey areas. In addition, many social aspects of society are very different in this universe. There are gay and lesbian characters, but a huge fuss isn’t made over their sexual orientation. Their sexuality is not the main topic for their plot line, and is refreshingly only adds depth to their characters.
Between political mind games that are strongly reminiscent of Game of Thrones, exciting action sequences, brilliant CGI wings, and multiple intertwining story lines, Dominion is a must watch for any sci-fi fan.
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By: Michelle Yeung
"We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that’s what I want in life.”
The Opposite of Loneliness is a posthumous collection of stories and essays written by the late Yale University graduate Marina Keegan. Through her work, Keegan showed that there are few things in life more incredible than being young and hopeful and endlessly frustrated.
“We’re so young. We’re so young. We’re twenty-two years old. We have so much time,” she said. Perhaps that’s why her words resonate with me so deeply – like her, the possibility of youth baffles me.
These are stories about falling in love and falling out of love, late-night drinking and early morning hangovers. They are stories about balancing the recklessness of youth with the responsibilities of adulthood, about the moments we realize the mortality of our parents, about the late nights spent wondering whether we love what we do enough to be poor. She perfectly captures what it’s like to be at the cusp of adulthood. This is what makes her work so powerful – it’s incredibly relatable.
But her collection of stories do not stay in the confines of university; it spans the world, from a submarine stuck undersea to a military base in Baghdad to her 1990 Toyota Camry in her driveway back home. In Against the Grain, she discusses living with celiac disease. In Reading Aloud, she dives into the relationship between a blind man and a naked woman. In Why We Care About Whales, she wonders why people are so strange about animals, especially large ones. Each story is about something entirely different, but all are entertaining as they are thought-provoking. It isn’t Keegan’s death that captivates people – it is her charm and raw, indisputable talent. She is young, but not naive. She is ingenious. She is a wordsmith. She can craft a beautiful, poetic sentence just to hit you in the face with a blunt and evocative statement.
The Opposite of Loneliness is an ode to youthful exuberance, a symphony for those who are equal parts fearless and afraid. It is a collection of ballads and rap remixes and alternative rock medleys; there’s something for everyone. Pick it up when you’re feeling a little lonely and you’ll know that there is someone else in this vast, unforgiving world who feels the same. You will be reminded of all that’s out there just waiting for you to grab hold of. Marina Keegan has left behind an anthem of salvaged hope, one that I will put on repeat for a very long time.
By: Nimra Khan
Taylor Swift has released her new album 1989 on October 27th into the much-anticipated hands (or iTunes libraries) of “Swifties” everywhere. Just two years since the release of her album Red, 1989 marks a complete crossover into pop music, with no sight of the country-loving girl we once knew.
I've been a Taylor Swift fan from the beginning, but I had started to lose interest since the release of Red. I found myself growing tired of the repetitive slow, sad, and broken-hearted songs that she was producing, and wanted something more. It seems 1989 was just what I needed, as it has blown me away with how catchy its songs are.
While still belting about her love life, Swift has crafted a completely new way to express her feelings through her music. Much like her single "Shake It Off," the album starts and ends as upbeat and exciting. Beginning with a dark verse before slamming into an uplifting chorus, the darkest song on this album, "I Know Places," has to be my favourite. It felt like a very personal song about what a relationship must be like while in the public spotlight.
While many of the songs are upbeat, Taylor has managed to bring back a few of the ballads she is known for. However, unlike her past works, these songs like “This Love” and “You Are In Love” don’t slow down the album, and help to balance the high-energy of all the fast-paced songs on 1989. As a welcome bonus, the album even comes included with three voice memos explaining the song writing process for three of the songs, and a pleasantly surprising set of Polaroids.
My only complaint about 1989 would be that most of the songs still revolve around the same generic love and heartbreak lyrics that Swift is known for. Still, it is honestly refreshing to see a complete change in style from Taylor Swift, as she is doing exactly what every artist shouldn't be afraid of: evolving. Even if you aren't a Taylor Swift fan, this revamped Taylor Swift album is a perfect way to open up to her for any lover of pop music.
Drago Jančar’s The Tree With No Name was published in his native Slovenia in 2008 and only managed to enjoy a release in English this year. It’s a shame that it wasn’t translated sooner.
Always a controversial figure in his homeland, Jančar turns his eyes to the grim past that haunts all former Yugoslav nations, but looks further than most. Instead of dealing with Slovenia’s hand in the dissolution of the Yugoslavian republic, The Tree With No Name splits most of its time between modern Ljubljana and the tail end of the Second World War.
Known for his penchant for modernist techniques, Jančar opens the novel from the middle of the story, with the first chapter readers see being 87. It is there we meet Janez Lipnik, an archivist and possessor of the most quintessential Slovenian name one could think of. Like the reader, Janez is befuddled to find himself on a country road after climbing a tree that bears close resemblance to one in a Slovenian fable that his mother told him as a child.
When he wanders upon a schoolhouse in the woods and somehow compels the pretty teacher there to open the door for him, we aren’t yet sure whether or not Janez is dreaming. When the woman’s lover comes home and is revealed to be Aleksij Grgurevič, a captain of the Slovenian Home Guard, we are further compelled to wonder what circumstances led Janez here.
After a partisan siege that Janez barely survives, the story shifts, and we are thrust into the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana in spring of 2000. A younger Janez is in a bustling shopping mall, a mecca of the post-socialist state. Janez is melancholic, and his thoughts soon shift to how his life and marriage have derailed in three weeks.
As an archivist, Janez has the mundane job of settling old land disputes and other trivial civic matters. His marriage to Marijana, a professor, might not be the most exciting, but memories of happier times exist. It is when Janez is confronted with these memories that he struggles to cope with his current challenges.
After finding the journal of a sex addict from the Second World War, Janez becomes obsessed with uncovering the writer’s identity. He spends weekends at the office to Marijana’s detriment, and increasingly becomes lost in the pages and consequently shoves aside all other work. For a long time, Janez romanticizes his trip with Marijana to an island right before the full onslaught of the Yugoslavian War, but he is crushed to hear that she may have taken the same trip with a sleazy co-worker of his.
Janez’s increasing obsession with the journal renders him a mess. Unable to confront Marijana with his accusation, Janez becomes increasingly passive-aggressive until she cannot bear it and moves back in with her parents. This abrupt change leads Janez to reminisce about his father who, in episodes similar to those that appeared in Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, suffered from PTSD and made Janez get up in the wee hours of the night to sing for his drunken war friends.
With a stunning conclusion that revolves around one of the most horrific war crimes committed in Slovenia at the end of the Second World War, The Tree With No Name is a brave, unflinching look at the past that scorns nationalistic sentimentality in favour of astute reflection.
Listen Up Philip opens with an uncomfortable shot of its titular character walking down a bustling New York City street while an omniscient narrator explains that he is on his way to meet an ex-girlfriend for lunch. The shakiness of the camera makes it hard to track Philip, played by Jason Schwartzman, but his true character is revealed when he snaps at his ex for arriving late a few moments later.
With his second novel set to cement him as a notable figure in the literary scene, Philip Lewis Friedman is both a full-time writer and self-obsessed asshole. He lives with his girlfriend, Ashley Kane (Elizabeth Moss), a photographer whose success he resents even though she has carried them financially for much of their relationship. Although Philip has stifled Ashley when she has had the chance to shoot big campaigns, he jumps at the chance to take a creative opportunity himself.
After befriending Ike Zimmerman (Jonathan Pryce), his literary idol, Philip takes up the older writer’s offer to move to his upstate country house indefinitely to focus on his work. With little regard for Ashley’s feelings on being left alone all summer, Philip promptly packs his bags and is gone. Moss plays Ashley very emotionally, throwing Schwartzman’s own iciness into sharper relief. The tension between the two is often hard to bear, but necessary in better understanding the existential crisis they are both going through.
Ike has been equally fond of burning bridges in his own life as his daughter Melanie (Krysten Ritter) explains, so his cheerful accusation of Philip as “selfish and unsentimental” has more of an approving ring to it than anything else. Having thrived under Ike’s counsel, Philip takes his emulation of Ike to hilarious extents, unbuttoning the collar of his Band of Outsiders oxfords just like Ike does with his own shirts.
Both men delight in buying into the cliché of the self-sufficient writer who doesn’t need company, but if that were the case, why would they feel the need to “rub two sticks together and make a fire”? Melanie, a moody character who Ritter seems to have played countless times, sees right through the bullshit and calls out the circle-jerk for what it really is.
Through his connections, Ike gets Philip a job as a creative writing instructor at a small liberal college. While keen to congratulate Philip on his new post and novel, the faculty quickly turn against him at the prompting of Yvette Dussart (Joséphine de La Baume), an academic who doesn’t find Philip deserving of his new job. Having worked for years to get to where she is, Yvette is loath to see a newcomer waltz into the college’s midst and supplant her as the youngest faculty member. Yvette’s hatred is further compounded by the fact that she recognizes Philip’s talent when reading his novels.
Predictably, the two end up in a tryst. Even more predictably, they soon separate when Yvette finds that Philip is even more insidious than she thought.
Throughout all this, we gain a better sense of what it means to have lived with a destructive artist, as Ashley struggles to pick up the pieces of her life in New York. With Ashley’s compassion towards her new cat seeming to be a more positive emotional outpouring than anything Philip has ever shown, we are truly made aware of how ridiculous he is. It is only a pity that Ashley and Melanie don’t meet to discuss how the men in their lives have hurt them.
One gripe I have is that watching this film wouldn’t encourage anyone to think that New York is the multi-cultural metropolis that it is. In a sea of white, buttoned-up actors, the few inclusions of black characters come as a slap in the face with the model, photographer, and unruly student all rising to question Philip’s authority only to be quickly put in what the film would have us believe is their place.
While taking up familiar settings in New York and a typical college campus respectively, Listen Up Philip marks a big step forward in director Alex Ross Perry’s career. Perry’s third feature film serves to debunk rather than perpetuate the myth that an artist can go through life hurting everyone they meet without facing the consequences. The audience is made to see through a fascinating display of dark misanthropic humour that if we separate the artist from their work (ahem, Woody Allen), we risk giving them free reign to ruin the lives of others.
By: Rachel Harper
Ben Howard continues to rock the indie-folk scene with his second album I Forget Where We Were released on Oct. 21. For fans of Every Kingdom, the familiar sound of the previous album is still an underlying presence, while at the same time propelling itself into a new direction.
Howard, a 27-year-old English singer-songwriter, is quite popular in the U.K., is quickly becoming a rising star in North America. He has a considerable fan base in the Greater Toronto Area, having played at Echo Beach in August 2013.
Howard has been a favourite of mine for a few years, and his new album has only enhanced my love for his music. Part of this is because of his very distinct, pleasant voice – soft, airy, and transforming almost into a rasping growl when he reaches low notes. Many of his new tracks incorporate goose bump-inducing harmonies, similarly to his previous album. The song is either overlapped with Howard’s voice, or with India Bourne, the bassist and cellist within the group.
There’s a healthy mix of acoustic and electric guitar in I Forget Where We Were, which pairs perfectly with the array of fingerpicking techniques Howard employs. “End of the Affair” is one such song, with Howard plucking a soothing rhythm at the intro, and ripping through harmonics with a savage passion near to the end. “In Dreams” displays this talent as well, as notes seem to fly by while the drums plod steadily along in the background. This technique is a staple of Howard’s and while it produces a calming arrangement, it also helps the song build itself up to greater heights.
Howard’s talents are not limited to his technical skills, as he is also a fantastic lyricist. His songs and their meanings give you something to chew on as you’re thrust into feelings of nostalgia and wistfulness. This makes I Forgot Where We Were offer a certain grounding effect that results in wonderful de-stressing music. If you’re in need of some serious relaxation, this is the album for you.
By: Rachel Katz
When The Silhouette interviewed Scott Helman about a month ago, he had officially released three songs. On Oct. 14, he released his first full EP, Augusta.
The seven-track record is impressive. From beginning to end it is 26 minutes, and every second is compelling. From the opening beats of “Bungalow” to the final lines of “Somewhere Sweet,” Helman has established himself as a musical force. From the quiet, intense “Machine” to the wild, meandering “Tikka,” he has proven himself an artist constrained by neither genre nor subject matter.
In many ways, the album is nearly perfect. It has the right mix of catchy beats and mellow sounds, and Helman can definitely write. His lyrics are hilarious, honest, and heartfelt all at once, and they make listening to Augusta an intimate experience. My one problem with the music is the use of an electric drum kit in some songs. No synthesized drums match the power of a real drum kit, and in some cases, it takes away from the music. But that’s a fairly minor problem, especially for a first album.
I fell in love with Augusta for two reasons. My working knowledge of music is slim, but when an artist is so captivating and shows so much promise that even I can tell how much potential he or she has, I take note, and in the time I’ve been listening to him, Helman has always proven himself to be skilled and charismatic.
Once I recovered from the initial “wow” factor of Augusta, I asked myself why I couldn’t stop listening to it. I realized that Helman’s music sounds familiar, not because we are both from Toronto, but because you can actually hear the vibrancy of the city in his music. Happiness, sadness, heartbreak, and anger are artfully arranged together, and maybe it’s just my way of being homesick, but when I listen to Augusta I feel like I’m home.
By: Nimra Khan
With Halloween just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to dive into a creepy murder-and-revenge story like Horns by Joe Hill. Horns tells the story of Ig, a man who wakes up the night after the one year anniversary of the rape and murder of his girlfriend to find horns poking out of his skull. These horns also have a strange effect on people: whenever he talks to someone, they are forced to spill their deepest, darkest secrets and sins to him. Needless to say, Ig is scared, but soon finds information about who might be the real killer of his girlfriend.
It’s hard to describe how this book made me feel. I loved it, but it was a painful read that made me feel a bit drained. I was thoroughly squeamish with some of the grotesque things that happened in this story, but I was still in a rush to know what happened next. Horns is a book that makes the read uncomfortable, and I loved it.
Much like The Lovely Bones, Horns explores the idea of a psychopathic killer that no one would expect; someone among us that you would overlook because of their kindness. Too often the character in this story made me want to run away and hide, and I often had to reassure myself that he wasn’t real. I silently send up a prayer that no one has to ever meet a person like that, proving just how compelling a read Horns was. With plenty of exploration into the bible, God, and the Devil (surprise, surprise), Horns explores the idea of a “devil” in all of us. It challenges what it means to be good or evil, and makes the reader wonder if we really have a choice in the matter. To quote Ig: “maybe all the schemes of the devil were nothing compared to what man could think up.”
I found out about this book after seeing the trailer for the movie adaptation of Horns, starring Daniel Radcliffe as Ig. The movie had its premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, but will be released in theatres for the public on Oct. 31. I’m always one for reading the book before seeing the movie, and after reading Horns I am definitely looking forward to it.
Over the summer Tinashe made a strong bid for song of the summer with “2 On,” which took the club by storm despite being a relatively low key banger. The DJ Mustard track is the most upbeat song on her debut Aquarius, which is a remarkably minimalist affair. Even though her past mixtapes were prime examples of experimental R&B done right, too often major label debuts have diluted an artist’s original style. As an actual cohesive body of work, Aquarius stands as the best debut mainstream album this year.
On the surface, the signs of trouble are there if you take a peek at the track list; the hit making team ScHoolboy Q, Future, A$AP Rocky, Cashmere Cat, StarGate, Mike WILL Made It, and more are all here. Tinashe’s style is also equally varied, having been compared to a host of greats like Janet Jackson, Alliyah, and Ciara. While these comparisons are flattering and clear, they do a disservice to Aquarius. Tinahse is versatile enough to evoke the sound of all these artists while simultaneously merging her sound with current trends and managing all the cooks in the kitchen. It’s a thin line, but she walks it with confidence.
Unfortunately, like many albums that intend on evoking a specific atmosphere, some tracks start to blend together. “All Hands on Deck” comes off as a high quality but desperate attempt at replicating “2 On.” Some of the interludes are pretentious and Future almost kills the vibe on the sexy “How Many Times.”
In the end, the blunders can be looked past because there are some real gems in the young starlet’s major label debut. “Feels Like Vegas” may be the best sex song since Beyoncé’s “Rocket” in a genre that has devolved into buff guys singing about how much they’re packing. “Bet” is almost without a chorus but succeeds because Tianshe’s oozing vocals move in and out of the spacey beat with ease. It’s a five-minute sonic experiment that rewards listeners with a euphoric outro by Dev Hynes. On “Cold Sweat,” she shows her range, quickly moving between breathy, rapping, and falsettos.
For such a cohesive work, it is remarkable that after multiple listens, I still can’t pin down Aquarius’ genre. Drawing from pop, hip-hop, traditional and progressive R&B, Tinashe refuses to be pigeonholed – and that’s what makes her truly modern.
After three titles and 15 years of epic gameplay, the Super Smash Brothers series is one that needs no introduction. So, when Nintendo announced that the latest title would be released on the Nintendo 3DS, many fans feared that the series simply wouldn’t translate well to a handheld title. Thankfully, I’m happy to say that these worries are unfounded, as the latest installment proves that Smash is a series that is as flexible as it is fun.
Offering a staggering 51 playable characters, and more modes to choose from than ever before, Super Smash Bros. 3DS undoubtedly lives up to the high standards set by the titles before it. What makes the game so compelling is the clever feedback loop the game employs. The more you play, the more characters you unlock and the more characters you unlock, the more stages and items are made available. This give-and-take system of play keeps players coming back again and again. More so than any other title, Smash 3DS offers the most replayability and variety of any title before it.
This is seen in the many ways Smash 3DS allows you to play. For example, classic mode is back with the added twist of allowing players the ability to choose between several battle options, allowing players enough freedom to make the experience feel fresh. Alongside this, the ability to create custom characters – based on one’s Mii avatar – pushes players to keep playing, as there are a variety of moves and abilities for the player to unlock along the way.
Gameplay wise, the success of Smash 3DS depends on how you are approaching the game. Fans looking for a pick up and play party game will be happy to find that Smash 3DS offers a wide variety of new characters, and items that will make it easy to enjoy each and every match you play. However, if you are a fan of the competitive Smash scene, you might be a little disappointed.
Amongst competitive players Super Smash Bros. Melee is often seen as the kind of gold standard for competitive play. The combination of speed, advanced techniques, and ever-evolving strategy options make Melee nearly unmatched in quality. With this in mind, Smash 3DS simply cannot compete with the high skill ceiling that Melee offers. This isn’t to say that Smash 3DS can’t be played competitively, but various changes to the physics engine still make it the inferior choice.
Still, the game is a huge improvement over the previous title Smash Brawl. By speeding up gameplay and removing the horror that was randomized tripping, Smash 3DS offers a more exciting fighting experience.
Unfortunately, the game makes few unfortunate changes that hinder it from becoming the next best competitive title. Specifically, the decision to remove “edge-hogging” single-handedly wiped out an entire aspect of the game that made Super Smash Bros. so exciting. While some may be happy to see this strategy removed, fans looking for a competitive title will definitely be disappointed.
What holds back Smash 3DS the most is the quality of online play. I can’t explain how frustrating it is to still have issues regarding lag, matchmaking, and other aspects of online play in 2014. Too often I found myself playing against an opponent with unbelievable amounts of latency, making me wonder why I was ever matched with them in the first place. While the system is certainly an improvement over past efforts – particularly in the variety of modes it offers – it’s disappointing to see Nintendo continue to struggle to keep up with a system many consoles perfected age ago.
Despite these flaws, Smash 3DS is still incredibly enjoyable, offering more than enough content to keep a player coming back for more time and time again.
