Peerless
Ensemble Theatre Collective's production of Jiehae Park's Peerless is undeniably compelling. There are elements in both the production and the script that don't totally work for me, sure, but as I left...
Oliver Charles Spilsbury
Latest posts
Angeline Era and the Obfuscation of Narrative
The second half of this post contains full narrative spoilers for Angeline Era, a video game from 2025. I’ve been playing Angeline Era on and off for a couple of...
Shrek the Musical
Royal City Musical Theatre's production of Shrek the Musical is about as good of a version of the musical as you can find. While I have some issues with the...
On Native Land
Corey Payette’s new musical On Native Land is ambitious. Of course, every new musical is ambitious — honestly, it’s a miracle that anybody puts on musicals at all, let alone endeavoring to...
High School Musical
Odds are, you know what to expect from High School Musical. This is a stage adaptation of the iconic Disney channel original movie that follows Troy Bolton (Matthew Valinho) as he’s...
“Wake Up, Sleepyhead!”
I’ve been replaying a few Zelda games lately, and it’s been interesting to remember how many of them begin with Link, the player character, waking up. For just a few examples,...
Games of the Year, 2025
Much like 2024, 2025 was a great year for games and a terrible year for the games industry. Great games are coming out constantly, but mass layoffs continue to march along...
Theatre of the Year, 2025
I saw a huge number of shows this year! Between access to Arts Club shows through my partner’s work, shows I saw along with my partner for Jessies award consideration,...
Books of the Year, 2025
We’re back! After a slow year in 2024, 2025 was a return to form for my reading. I read more consistently in a wider variety of genres and did a...
Movies of the Year, 2025
Happy 2026! 2025 was a killer year for movies. I watched enough movies that I loved this year that I could very easily double the length of this list. Big...
Kirby Air Riders’ Bizarre Hype
I’ve been very confused by the anticipatory coverage of the upcoming game Kirby Air Riders. This is a sequel to a 22-year-old video game that was met to middling reviews...
What Are We Reviewing When We Review Live Art?
This year’s Vancouver Fringe Festival came to a close a little over a month ago now, meaning that I watched a ton of theatre for a week and a half...
What is Canada?
It’s been a big couple of years for me seeing more of Canada. Between spending some time in Montreal last June for a conference, visiting family in Alberta last year...
A Quick Recommendation
If you’re reading this, you should do yourself a favor and check out a pair of games: 20 Small Mazes and Strange Jigsaws. They’re both created by FLEB, a solo game...
Midnight Release
Okay, look, I get it, it’s clearly silly to wait in line for hours to pick up a product that you’ve already paid for and reserved just so that you...
Stuart McLean’s Canada
When I read or listen to Stuart McLean’s writing, I’m greeted with a warmth and comfort that surpasses the nostalgia that I would expect. I grew up with his writing,...
The Death of Good Games Media (Long Live Polygon)
Today is May 1, which is International Workers’ Day, and entertainment news site Polygon was sold off to SEO farm Valnet with a large portion of its staff losing their...
The Joy of the Theoretical
My favourite part of playing D&D, I think, happens outside of actual sessions of D&D. The thing about it that I enjoy the most is creating a character and looking...
Fire Emblem: Three Houses and the Narrative Challenge of the Hardcore Audience
I recently finished playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses and I have a mixed opinion about it. You can find a longer review that I wrote on Backloggd here, but the gist of...
A Brief VIFF Double-Review
The other night I went to VIFF for a somewhat impromptu double feature of Universal Language and Grand Theft Hamlet. I went in knowing very little about either movie, and was...
Award Show Anxiety (Perceived Ethos in Media Consumption pt. 3)
I remember being a kid in February of 2011, watching the Oscars on TV with my family. Of the best picture nominees that year (a pretty stacked list, including The...
Games of the Year, 2024
Another great year for games (and a terrible year for the games industry)! Honestly, the overabundance of games coming out every single day makes it feel like there’s kind of...
Theatre of the Year, 2024
Heck of a year for theatre! Starting the year with a trip to New York really kicked things off with a bang, but the year never really slowed down. I’ve...
Books of the Year, 2024
It’s been a bit of a down year for reading for me, sorry to say. 2024 started off strong for me, with a series of books that I thoroughly enjoyed...
Movies of the Year, 2024
What a fun year for movies! I think that I’ve done a pretty solid job of keeping up with new releases (by my standards, anyway), as well as making time...