George Ryan's "Lifestyle" on Kim's Convenience
The latest season of Netflix’s hit TV series Kim’s Convenience aired on January 7th, 2020 which featured George Ryan’s single “Lifestyle” from the debut studio project Hall of Mirrors, now available on Shazam and all major music retailers (Spotify, iTunes, etc.). Tune in Tuesdays at 9pm on CBC Gem.
"Lifestyle" by George Ryan Featured in Episode 1, Season 4 of Netflix's Kim's Convenience
The 1st single "Lifestyle" from the debut mixtape Hall of Mirrors by Toronto rapper George Ryan will be featured in CBC's hit TV show Kim's Convenience in Episode 1 of Season 4 premiering January 7th, 2020.
Read moreDope New TV Shows
As TV nerds, we know its hard to find good shows to watch and we wanted to share some of our favourites we've been watching lately. The past few years have been amazing for television. With the Netflix and Hulu revolution to big budget actors taking key TV roles the landscape of a television series has changed drastically. There is seemingly no format these days with shows going 10 episodes and some going into their 20's. It seems like American TV is finally taking some hints from the British TV world by not over extending stories and realizing that sometimes less is more. Shows like Game of Thrones, Vikings and Top Boy were too old to make the list but are definitely worth checking out. Below is our list of the best shows of 2015 & 2016. Leave your comments and tell us what you think.
Narcos
We all know the famous gangster and drug trafficker Pablo Escobar's name but do you know his story? Narcos takes us through the earlier days of Pablo's life and gives us an inside look into his family and business affairs. Wagner Moura (Pablo Escobar) truly embodies this role and takes it to the next level. The one criticism of this show is that they moved so quickly through Pablo's drug trafficking days where they could've spread that out Soprano's-style over at least a season or two.
11/22/63
This Stephen King adaptation of the days preceding the assassination of JFK, filmed right here in Toronto, is one of the best mini-series based on a novel to ever be released. James Franco does an incredible job of portraying a modern man who steps into the past (1960) to try to stop Lee Harvey Oswald - the alleged JFK assassin - from murdering the President of the United States of America.
The People v. OJ Simpson
Everyone knows who OJ Simpson is. The older generations may remember his amazing football talents while younger people only know him for his highly public murder trial. This 10-part series briefly documents the days prior to his trial but mostly focuses on the trial itself and the stories of both the defence and prosecutors. It's packed with stars like Cuba Gooding Jr. (OJ Simpson), John Travolta (Robert Shapiro) and David Schwimmer (Robert Kardashian). Even people familiar with the case can learn a lot about OJ Simpson and the details surrounding the murder.
Making a Murderer
Have you been living under a rock lately? If so, you might not have heard about the gripping documentary series about Steven Avery and the mysterious murder of Autotrader Photographer Theresa Halbach on October 31, 2005. Filmed over a 10-year period, the show follows Steven Avery, a DNA exoneree who was convicted of a crime he didn't commit and spent 10 years in jail as a result. He and his family fought hard to expose the local police corruption that surrounded his case and have his name cleared from the record books. When they finally got their wish 10 years later and Steven Avery returned home, he was charged with a new crime and thrown back in jail almost immediately. This heart wrenching story depicts Steven Avery as an innocent man but takes so many twists and turns along the way that you are forced to come to your own conclusions about him. Do you think he killed Theresa Halbach? We're leaning towards yes for this one, but decide for yourself after watching!
Jessica Jones
Netflix and Marvel team up to provide us with an adaptation story of the Jessica Jones superhero character from several Marvel comic books such as Alias and The Pulse. The series follows the life of a former superhero turned private investigator who is haunted by a powerful man named Kilgrave. As a private investigator she helps people in need with protection and strong arm negotiating tactics while battling her demons and a wicked case of PTSD.
Daredevil
Now in its second airing season Daredevil follows blind attorney Matt Murdoch (Charlie Cox) through Hells Kitchen, New York as he fights vigilantes and crooks. Another Marvel adaptation, Murdoch has superhuman powers that he uses to ward off evil in his home city and showcases martial art skills that Jackie Chan would be jealous of.
Photo Courtesy: www.amc.com
Fear the Walking Dead
Walking Dead (the original TV series) is drawing to an end and will most likely be complete after Season 7 airs sometime in 2017. But how did the zombie apocalypse all start? Where did it start? We look for the answers in the new adaptation series that takes us back to the first days of the outbreak. The beautiful California scenery is the perfect backdrop for the dark storyline. We prefer this series over the original as it is more cinematic and the acting is much better. For some reason, a British guy playing a county police officer with a thick southern american accent seems a little silly and unconvincing. The only beef with both of the Walking Dead shows that we have is that the blood hungry zombies are dumb and very, very slow - two characteristics our intelligent species would overcome very quickly.
DISAPOINTMENTS
By far the biggest disappointment recently was the HBO series Vinyl which had such high promise with rocker Mick Jagger at the helm. We were excited to hear that a show about the music business would be coming to our TV sets but were really upset with the final result which is boring and uneventful. Although the acting is actually pretty good in all respects, the storyline does itself no justice and sort of just lags on. HBO is known for pushing the envelope and portraying life in a realistic manner and not shying away from things like profanity and nudity which, lets admit, we all want to see somewhere in our shows. The drugs, the partying, the sex are all inevitabilities in the music industry world and we wanted to see what it was like behind closed doors for some of these artists while also learning about the history of one of the biggest record labels of the 90's. Another show we had high hopes for was Hannibal which flopped in many ways (most of which started on set while filming). From the get-go the choice of camera shots was questionable and the depth-of-field in the final product was way off and looked flat. To our approval, NBC finally succumbed to the numbers and finally cancelled the show last year.
V & G's Favourite Movies of 2015
Every blog seems to rush to their year-end lists while we tend to procrastinate. We're not worried about it. We know how hard it is to find good movies these days so we tried to take the leg work out of it for you. After a year of getting high, ordering double pepperoni and cheese pizzas and watching as many movies as we possibly could we've compiled a list of movies for you to peruse and watch. Click the link to watch the trailer and please eave your comments below, we'd love to hear your thoughts on these films.
V & G's FAVOURITE MOVIES OF 2015
The Stanford Prison Experiment - TRAILER
Photo Courtesy: movies.eventful.com
The Stanford Prison Experiment - TRAILER
This one really caught us off guard at how truly amazing it was. Most of us know that the current judicial and prison systems are not working the way we intended and this film helps shed light on that fact. Whether innocent or guilty, the institutionalization of our peers continues unabated and directly interferes with an inmates state of mind which may not be curable. We don't rehabilitate, we segregate. Based on a true story, the film follows an "experiment" created by Psychology Professor Dr. Zimbardo who employs a group of young men to take part in a real-life prison experience which has unexpected, but very real results which causes many to question the professors integrity and goals.
Ex Machina - TRAILER
Photo Courtesy: moviesmug.com
One of our favourite's of 2015 was this thought-provoking look at Artificial Intelligence and our idea of what makes us human. The film plays on current social trends and is similar in scope to the Isaac Asimov inspired film iRobot of 2004. A young programmer from an ominously Google-like company called Bluenote (the biggest online search engine in the world) is hired to take part in a revolutionary study and whisked away from his desk job to a remote location - a Frank Lloyd Wright style residence in the mountains. We quickly find out that he is there to be the human participant in a Turing Test, a test to discover whether an AI can exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from that of a human. If the trailer doesn't motivate you to watch this film we don't know what will.
Photo Courtesy: www.comingsoon.net
Mad Max: Fury Road - TRAILER
This action-packed thriller is entertaining from start to finish and takes place years after civilization has crumbled. It follows a group of rebels through a desert while they are being chased by their former captors who are angry and scary as fuck. The film was directed and produced by George Miller, the creator of the post-apocalyptic genre. When we watched it the first time it reminded us of a Twisted Metal video game come-to-life complete with all the quirky, freaky characters and their equally unique vehicles. Starring Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa and Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky (amongst others).
Photo Courtesy: beacon.nwciowa.edu
Revenant - TRAILER
Although this could technically be considered a 2016 release, it was created in 2015 and premiered in the U.S on December 16th, 2015 which qualifies it for last years list. Here at V & G we believe Leonardo DiCaprio should have won an Oscar for this film after a stellar performance where he apparently learned two native tongues and - although is a vegetarian - forced himself to eat a real liver after realizing the first take with a prop liver wasn't realistic enough. He truly encompasses this role and leads us on an amazing journey through a 19th Century history lesson which follows legendary frontiersman Hugh Glass on a vengeful hunt to return to his distant family while evading trouble along the way. Don't miss the bear attack scene!
Straight Outta Compton - TRAILER
Photo Courtesy: www.comingsoon.net
If you haven't heard of this movie by now it's time to open the blinds and get some fresh air. Based on real-life events relating to the lives of gangster-raps legendary group NWA, we get an inside look into the rise of one of Hip Hops most successful rap groups. Ice Cube's son Oshea Jackson Jr. plays the role of his father while the other characters are played by equally unknown actors who portray their living counterparts convincingly. We get to see Eazy E (Jason Mitchell) come to life and relive his early rap triumphs while also living out his dying days as he succumbed to AIDS as well as the inner beefs within the group. While filming the movie, rap producer Suge Knight ran over a man and killed him which added to the publicity surrounding the biopic. It's pretty well done although some claim a lot was left out.