We’d like to introduce you to BUDJERAH! The R&B Singer-Songwriter just was named 2021 ARIAs Breakthrough Artist of the Year and he will be supporting Vance Joy in-tour this Summer, including a Toronto date at Budweiser Stage. If he isn’t yet on your radar, he should be. People Magazine named him one of their Spring 2022 Emerging Artists!

Check-out Budjerah‘s track “Get Down”:

(Photo/video credit: Warner Music)

May 20, 2022 will be Asian Gold Ribbon Day and the community will be called upon to demonstrate visible solidarity towards anti-Asian racism.

The campaign kicks off during Asian Heritage Month, May, with a focus on the psychological impact of microaggressions and race-based traumatic stress. Participants are encouraged to join the visibility campaign by posting a selfie and tagging @asiangoldribbon along with using the hashtag #asiangoldribbon while wearing a yellow ribbon. The organization will also be supporting fundraising efforts through various community initiatives and events found on https://asiangoldribbon.com.

The campaign was co-founded by Psychologist Gina Wong who has been vocal in her support for awareness and speaks about the Anti-Asian sentiments she experienced growing-up in Montreal.

On May 20th, Canadian landmarks like Vancouver City Hall, Burrard Bridge, Princes’ Gates at Exhibition Place in Toronto, with more to be confirmed. The AGR gold is used to reclaim the colour yellow that has been used historically to denigrate and disparage the Asian race (“yellow peril”) and in turn become a symbol of celebrating Asian heritage and culture.

How you can get involved:

● Fundraising for Mental Asian Well-being – This year’s fundraising goal is $100k. The Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter (CNCTO) and Project 1907 reports 943 racist incidents across
Canada last year, a 47 per cent increase over 2020. Women make up the highest proportion of reported cases representing 64 per cent of all incidents but reports by children and adolescents increased by 286 per cent. In reality, the numbers are likely much higher when factoring in unreported incidents.

In Canada, 73.22 per cent of those who filed an incident of anti-Asian racism reported mental health distress and emotional harm as a consequence of the attack. This underscores the fundamental need for Asian mental health support services to be available in local communities. A portion of all funds raised will go towards the development of initiatives for mental health support programs and services for Asian wellbeing. Link to donation page here.

● Community Outreach—Asian Gold Ribbon will be offering social justice advocacy, education, and support activities for community residents, schools, and organizations including virtual presentations. There will be two virtual mental health summits following the theme of Bending Not Broken: Stories of Resilience. Click here, a full list of speakers and to register.
○ Asian Youth Mental Health Summit will be held on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, 7:00pm-9:00pm EDT. Join this two-hour community conversation with honoured guests and panel of Asian youth sharing their stories, experiences, and concerns; as well as ideas for needed change at individual, community, educational, and systemic levels.
○ Asian Women Mental Health Summit will be held on Friday, May 20, 2022, 3:00pm-5:00pm EDT. Together with community allies, we will remember Michelle Go and Christina Yuna Lee and hear about the impact of gender-based and race-based racism on Asian women. We will unite and develop Calls to Action for Asian Women’s mental health support in Canada, where bold changes are
needed to end race-based traumatic stress.

● Support Asian Inspired Restaurants— Asian Gold Ribbon recognizes how hard the restaurant industry has been hit by the pandemic and anti-Asian racism. Our aim is to collaborate with restaurants to support and amplify them.
● Initiate a visibility campaign on Friday, May 20 ,2022— Asian Gold Ribbon Day is Friday, May 20, 2022 corresponding with Asian Heritage month. Asian and non-Asian persons will wear gold ribbons or pins to signify hope, unity, and solidarity for a better tomorrow

New stills from Season Three of THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY have finally surfaced! Euphoria fans won’t want to miss this as Javon Walton joins the Cast!

Synopsis:

After putting a stop to 1963’s doomsday, the Umbrella Academy return home to the present, convinced they prevented the initial apocalypse and fixed this godforsaken timeline once and for all. But after a brief moment of celebration, they realize things aren’t exactly (okay, not at all) how they left them. Enter the Sparrow Academy. Smart, stylish, and about as warm as a sea of icebergs, the Sparrows immediately clash with the Umbrellas in a violent face-off that turns out to be the least of everyone’s concerns. Navigating challenges, losses, and surprises of their own – and dealing with an unidentified destructive entity wreaking havoc in the Universe (something they may have caused) — now all they need to do is convince Dad’s new and possibly better family to help them put right what their arrival made wrong. Will they find a way back to their pre-apocalyptic lives? Or is this new world about to reveal more than just a hiccup in the timeline?

Season Three of THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY arrives June 22, 2022 on Netflix.

(Photo credit: Netflix)

Danny Boyle directs and serves as Executive Producer on upcoming Disney+ series PISTOL, based on the Sex Pistols.

Synopsis:

Based on Jones’ 2017 memoir Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol, “Pistol” was created and written by Craig Pearce and will be executive produced by Boyle, Pearce, Tracey Seaward, Gail Lyon, Anita Camarata, Steve Jones, Paul Lee, Hope Hartman and wiip. The series is produced by FX Productions.

“Pistol” is a six-episode limited series about a rock and roll revolution. The furious, raging storm at the center of this revolution are the Sex Pistols- and at the center of this series is Sex Pistols’ founding member and guitarist, Steve Jones. Jones’ hilarious, emotional and at times heart-breaking journey guides us through a kaleidoscopic telling of three of the most epic, chaotic and mucus-spattered years in the history of music. Based on Jones’ memoir Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol, this is the story of a band of spotty, noisy, working-class kids with “no future,” who shook the boring, corrupt Establishment to its core, threatened to bring down the government and changed music and culture forever.

“Pistol” stars Toby Wallace as Steve Jones, Jacob Slater as Paul Cook, Anson Boon as John Lydon, Christian Lees as Glen Matlock, Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious, Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde, Talulah Riley as Vivienne Westwood, Maisie Williams as punk icon Jordan, Emma Appleton as Nancy Spungen and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Malcolm McLaren.

PISTOL arrives Tuesday, May 31, 2022 exclusively on Disney+ in Canada.

(Photo/video credit: Disney)

A new Trailer has arrived for DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS! Check it out!

Synopsis:

In “DC League of Super-Pets,” Krypto the Super-Dog and Superman are inseparable best friends, sharing the same superpowers and fighting crime in Metropolis side by side. When Superman and the rest of the Justice League are kidnapped, Krypto must convince a rag-tag shelter pack—Ace the hound, PB the potbellied pig, Merton the turtle and Chip the squirrel—to master their own newfound powers and help him rescue the superheroes. Stern, a veteran writer/consultant on the “LEGO®” movies, makes his animated feature film directorial debut, directing from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator John Whittington, based on characters from DC, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The film is produced by Patricia Hicks, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia and Jared Stern. The executive producers are John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, Nicholas Stoller, Allison Abbate, Chris Leahy, Sharon Taylor and Courtenay Valenti. Stern’s creative team includes production designer Kim Taylor (“The LEGO® Ninjago Movie”) and editors David Egan (“Game Night,” “Vacation”) and Jhoanne Reyes (“Teen Titans GO!” “Young Justice”). The music is by Steve Jablonsky (the “Transformers” films).

Cast: Kevin Hart (the “Jumanji” and “Secret Life of Pets” films), Kate McKinnon (“Saturday Night Live,” the “Magic School Bus Rides Again” films, “Ferdinand”), John Krasinski (the “Quiet Place” films, “Free Guy”), Vanessa Bayer (“Saturday Night Live,” “Office Christmas Party,” “Trainwreck”), Natasha Lyonne (“Show Dogs,” “Ballmastrz 9009”), Diego Luna (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Maya and the Three”), Marc Maron (“Joker,” “GLOW”), Thomas Middleditch (“Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie”), Ben Schwartz (“Sonic the Hedgehog,” “Duck Tales”), and Keanu Reeves (the “Matrix” and “John Wick” films).

Warner Bros. Pictures Canada release #DCSuperPets July 29, 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Warner Bros..Pictures Canada)

British-Japanese Pop Sensation RINA SAWAYAMA has been raring to go and after several setbacks during the Pandemic, is now in high gear on her Dynasty Tour. The Tour in support of her debut album SAWAYAMA has been selling-out city to city and in many instances requiring venue upgrades.

Sawayama played a 16-song set spanning material from her debut EP, latest Disc and new unreleased material. She even got the Toronto audience to sing her mother in Japan, “Happy Birthday”!

The talented Entertainer spreads a message of self-love and acceptance, especially to those who deal with prejudice on the daily. She sported a rainbow flag during her track “Chosen Family” reaffirming herself proudly pansexual. The Track also has been released as a duet version with Elton John. We were thoroughly impressed how polished a show she put on and the audience couldn’t have had more fun!

After collaborating with Lady Gaga on a Remix of “Free Woman“, Sawayama is rumoured to be joining the icon on her upcoming Chromatica Tour this Summer.

Some snaps from Sawayama’s second ever show in Toronto, and first show at HISTORY. We did meet her quickly earlier in the day although she was in a rush, waving over. One day we’ll get that Selfie!

See Sawayama perform “Happy Birthday” with the audience, and “Cherry“, which she calls her ‘coming out song’.

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Colin Firth stars in OPERATION MINCEMEAT, which will have a theatrical run before arriving on Netflix!

SYNOPSIS:
It’s 1943. The Allies are determined to break Hitler’s grip on occupied Europe, and plan an all-out assault on Sicily; but they face an impossible challenge — how to protect a massive invasion force from potential massacre. It falls to two remarkable intelligence officers, Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen) to dream the most inspired and improbable disinformation strategy of the war — centred on the most unlikely of secret agents: a dead man. Operation Mincemeat is the extraordinary and true story of an idea that hoped to alter the course of the war — defying logic, risking countless thousands of lives, and testing the nerves of its creators to breaking point.

STARRING: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Penelope Wilton, Johnny Flynn, Jason Isaacs, Mark Gatiss, Hattie Morahan, Mark Bonnar, Paul Ritter, Alex Jennings, Simon Russell Beale, James Fleet, Nicholas Rowe, Will Keen, Charlotte Hamblin, Lorne Macfadyen, Rufus Wright, Jonjo O’neill, Ruby Bentall, Ellie Haddington

OPERATION MINCEMEAT arrives in select theatres as below MAY 6, 2022 and on Netflix MAY 11, 2022.

Ontario

• Toronto – Paradise Theatre
• Hamilton – Playhouse Cinema
• London – Hyland Cinema
• Ottawa – ByTowne Cinema
• Kingston – The Screening Room
• Waterloo – Princess Twin Cinemas

Alberta

• Edmonton – Landmark Cinemas 9 Edmonton City Centre

British Columbia

• Victoria – Vic Theatre

By George Kozera

As a child of a parent who was as an Auschwitz survivor, I am constantly drawn to Documentaries about said subject matter as watching narrative features on the topic (Schindler’s List, Son of Saul, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) devastate me emotionally and I can only watch those when the sun shines as that brightness signifies life and hope. Being Catholic and consigned to work in the kitchens, my mother’s experience there may not have been as laborious and dangerous as other survivors, but her daily horrors were parallel to those with numbers tattooed on their arm. Executive produced by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, Writer/Producer/Director Sara Takster’s HOW SABA KEPT SINGING is one of the best Documentaries about the Holocaust that I have seen.