Saturday Night Live is back, with alumna Maya Rudolph returning to host. Rapper Jack Harlow provides the musical entertainment.
Demi Lovato went from a child performer on Barney & Friends, to Disney Channel starlet to pop icon, but there were more than a few cracks along the way. After a harrowing fall from sobriety and an overdose that nearly took her life, as well as family troubles and mental health struggles, Lovato bares all in a new documentary. The first two instalments of Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil are on YouTube, with two more to come. Episode one is here.
Last weekend to check out Montréal en lumiere's virtual and in-person programming. Online, there are four web series to scarf down with a glass of wine in hand: conversations with artists like Martha Wainwright and Fouki, chefs trying out new kinds of cuisine and foodies like Dyan Solomon (Olive and Gourmando) developing new dishes. Over 30 restaurants including Le Mousso, Foodlab, Signé Toqué and Manitoba have designed exclusive take-out menus. And for a little escape, check out the Quilt & Fine Cuisine deals: stays at fancy hotels paired with menus from local restos.
In person, check out five outdoor illuminated works at Place des festivals (see above!) - though of course, make sure you check the forecast before you head out, as at time of writing, we are expecting rain Friday and Sunday. There is also a Ferris wheel, and the ongoing Luminothérapie - Coeur Battant to dazzle your sense. Until Sunday.
Verdun's spring event Cabane Panache, returns for its '9.5 edition'. There is also a promenade along Wellington, featuring a photobooth, an enormous moose and photographs of the maple syrup industry. Order the gourmet Cabana Panache brunch for delivery this Friday or next (there is a regular and a vegetarian option); it's $99 for two but comes with a lot of food plucked from local restos, including lumberjack empanadas and pudding chomeur. There are individual cocktails for delivery by local bars. Until April 2.
Or, stay home and support a sugar shack and feast on maple treats by ordering a feast in a box through Ma Cabane à la maison, an initiative to support Quebec's sugar shacks.
Indie Montreal's virtual concert series Les Dimanche Couvre-Fun features a Quebec artist or group every Sunday evening. This weekend, check out Titelaine, a Montreal electropop duo live, Sunday at 8pm. (Every weekend until April 4.)
The contemporary jig movement has many adherents in Quebec, with roots stretching back over centuries. Bigico and an artists agency, La Trame resonance, bring four new different dance pieces to at-home audiences. There are four dates where the show will stream, including Friday at 7:30pm. Free, but reserve here.
Montrealer Mira Burt-Wintonick has created a documentary based on her late father's ambition to create his "Utopian film." She leafed through nearly 300 videocassettes from his archives, paused work and later returned to it. The final creation is Wintopia, an adventure about Peter Wintonick as well as the bond between parents and children. It's being released Friday, with a special screening at Cinema du Musée with a q&A with Burt-Wintonick following.
David Bowie's friends pay homage to the late icon in a concert recorded in 2016 at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco. Featuring actor Gary Oldman, David Gyrne, Herbie Hancock, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, plus former Bowie bandmates. Saturday at 3pm.
The International Festival of Films on Art claims the title of first festival in the Americas to pivot online as the pandemic ramped up last year. FIFA's 39th edition is virtual, too, with 249 films from 41 countries available online. The opening film is Beijing Spring, which follows a crucial piece of history from the Tian'anmen Square protests. Visit a Finnish school that trains music conductors in Conductivity. For people in love with Paris: Sauver Notre-Dame documents the race to save the medieval cathedral from fire two years ago, and Le Louvre Déménage depicts a giant plan to move over 200,000 works of art to safety from floodwaters. Until Sunday.
I started watching Little Birds, an adaptation of one of Anais Nin's books, on Prime. A debutante moves to Tangier to marry a British diplomat. We meet all sorts of characters from all stratas of society, with the backdrop of brewing rebellion in Morocco. It's a sexy and funny show, saturated with colour and gorgeous costumes.
And a new documentary promises to change the way you see dogs: Stray is a documentary that brings you down to the level of three stray dogs as they go about their lives in Istanbul. It's a remarkable look at how dogs communicate and organize, even go on adventures.
A quarter of a million Montrealers count themselves as having roots from Italy. Now, Pointe-a-Calliere Museum is profiling the community and how it has shaped the city in a new show called Italian Montréal. Drawing on loaned treasures from local families, the show touches on culinary traditions and how first-generation families fared after arriving in the city. And you can also check out Pointe-a-Calliere's train-themed show, A Railroad to Dreams.
Degrassi fans and the film community are mourning the loss of actor Jahmil French, who passed away at the age of just 28 this week. One of his roles was in the thriller Boost as A-Mac, a teenager who runs afoul of the mob with his best friend, Hakeem. The boys steal a car and recuperate a bundle of cash in the process. leading to a whole whack of trouble. French was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award and Quebec Cinema Award for his work. The team behind the 2017 Quebec film are sharing it for free in his honour. Don't miss this chance to catch an English feature film set in Montreal with a full ensemble black cast. Check it out here on YouTube until March 31.
Consider checking out a museum, now that they are open to the public: you pick your entry time in advance, so visits are socially distanced. Demand is high as well, so you will want to select your date in advance. Visit the McCord for the Dior haute couture show (today is the anniversary of the debut of the New Look!) or the MAC for Des horizons d'attente, its bundle of recently acquired works that address today's sense of malaise. The Museum of Fine Arts presents Riopelle: The Call of Northern Landscapes and other shows.
And if you don't want to leave the house, several museums are still offering virtual shows... including the MAC, which has updated and expanded their sensational exhibit on Leonard Cohen, A Crack in Everything. Cohen gave his bliessing for the show, which features pieces inspired by his life and work, back in 2015, and it went on display around the time of passing in 2017. The show has been enriched for online viewing, available until February 2024.
The Observation Wheel in the Old Port has reopened, open daily 11am to 7pm. (Each carriage is cleaned after use.)