O Captain, My Captain! A Captain America Review

Just when we thought this summer couldn't get any hotter, the first avenger and his glorious abs make their official debut in Captain America: The First Avenger and we couldn’t wait to witness the Captain in all his patriotic glory.






It is 1942, America has entered World War II and sickly but determined Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is frustrated at being rejected yet again for military service. Everything changes when Dr. Erksine (Stanley Tucci) recruits him for the secret Project Rebirth.



Proving his extraordinary courage, wits and conscience, Rogers undergoes the experiment and his weak body is suddenly enhanced into the maximum human potential – with lots of abs.



When Dr. Erksine is assassinated by an agent working for the head of Nazi Germany's secret HYDRA research department, Johann Schmidt aka the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), Rogers is left as a unique man who is initially misused as a propaganda mascot in a series of ridiculous motivational performances that eventually lead him into the field where he is told that his best friend from home (Sebastian Stan) is missing and most likely dead.

With the help of his love interest Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and business man Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), Rogers attempts a fearless rescue mission which ultimately gains him respect from Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and truly makes him Captain America, launching a personal vendetta against the evil Schmidt.

Unlike some of the other big comic blockbusters of the summer, Captain America proved to be an ongoing action packed battle from start to finish. It wasn’t overloaded with too much information, yet you didn’t feel left in the dark if you didn’t know the story behind the character, the love story with Peggy Carter didn’t overshadow the priority mission and the army of heavy weight actors leading the brigade made it easy to see how the whole thing came together so perfectly.

Chris Evans, of course, was a perfect fit for Captain America. Though it was kind of creepy seeing him so weak and tiny during the first part of the movie, Evans is a natural at balancing that cocky confidence with humility and proved that he really does embody every aspect of the Captain. Not to mention how well he fills out that uniform.

We would loyally follow him into battle any day.

Images from Google Images.

Billy Elliot is not my lover; he’s just a boy who says that he wants to DANCE! – A Billy Elliott review

It’s been a while since we’ve taken in a stage show, having missed The Lion King when it was here for a short stint while Ashley was in Europe. So when we were given a chance to see Billy Elliot last night at the Canon Theatre, we were quite eager to get back at it. And thanks to Veronica’s awful cold (really, who gets sick in the summer?) and antibiotics preventing us from grabbing a pre-show drink, we were actually early for a show for probably the first time ever!

Based on the internationally acclaimed film, Billy Elliot follows Billy as he stumbles out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class, discovering a surprising talent for dance that inspires his family and his whole small English community and changes his life forever.

Brought to life by a phenomenal cast of forty five performers, half of who were kids barely even into their teens, Billy Elliot is quick to step up with fancy footwork that doesn’t stop until the end. Having absolutely no dance talent ourselves, it’s incredible to see children of such a young age possess such immaculate control over their movements and the ability to express themselves on stage without saying a single word.

In last night’s production, eleven year old Billy Elliot was played by Julian Elia and while this tiny boy doesn’t look like much, when he takes that stage and starts dancing, it’s enough to make anyone sit back and give him the spotlight as though he’s been claiming it for years. From ballet to tap to more interpretive dance, this kid could do it all, something he proved with the closing number of the first act appropriately called Angry Dance. That was the point where you know Billy means business.

It wasn’t just Elia up there proving he has what it takes. The young girls in the ballet class moved across that stage with comedic grace, though their ear-piercing girlish screams and sighs bordered on irritating and Dillon Stevens, who played Billy’s cross dressing, tutu loving friend Michael, had enough flare to give Elia a run for his money. Billy’s aloof father (David Keeley) reminded us of a small town, passive Will Ferrell at times, at least from our mid-section seats, and his grandmother (Cindy Benson) was throwing out laughable lines almost as often as she gave someone the middle finger.

Kate Hennig brought Mrs. Wilkinson to life and took an aggressive satisfaction as the person responsible for pushing Billy to accomplish his dreams while having to stand her ground against his hard headed father and a town full of aggressive miners. Girl Power. We can’t forget, of course, Billy’s older brother Tony, played by none other than Degrassi alum Jake Epstein, who did a fantastic job as a passionate miner unwilling to back down from what he believes in, even when it puts him in the line of fire.

Though the focus of the play is dance, it’s hard not to notice the accompanying music, especially when it’s done by the legendary Elton John. Catchy, expressive tunes that match the energy of the dance numbers act as the perfect accessory to move the story along and push this play from a dance heavy performance to an actual story driven play. The music is the component that brings the whole thing together.

While the cross dressing scene with the giant dancing dresses was... something, and a close second, our favourite number was performed by Billy’s bitter Grandmother, expressing her dislike of her deceased husband throughout their entire marriage - unless they were dancing. Take a few minutes to read these lyrics and you’ll understand why this song is now our new theme song:

If I'd only known then what I know now I'd've given them all the finger and gone dancing and not give a sh*t and spin around and reel and love each bit. And I'd dance alone and enjoy it. And I'd be me for an entire life instead of somebody's wife and I never would be sober.
And I never would be sober.

The only complaint with the show, other than the poor British accents, was the puppets. Those of you who aren’t aware, Veronica has a very odd fear of puppets, so you can only imagine her state of mind when the second act opened with a Christmas pageant that not only featured a number of hand puppets, but also a giant Margaret Thatcher paper mache-looking marionette that came out of nowhere and snaked its lanky arms out over the stage, determined to claw at Veronica with its long, pointy fingers. Shudder.

Billy Elliot runs until September 3, so you still have time to get your dance on. Buy Tickets.

Images from official website and Google images.

The Streak is Over! Jay’s Win 6-5 after 14 LONG Innings!

For being the passionate sports fan that she is, it’s been a long running joke that Veronica is cursed when it comes to sports. Or at least when it comes to watching sports, for every professional game she attends, the team is almost always destined to lose.

One could argue that it’s not HER, per se, but the talentless hacks she often supports (ahem, the Leafs), but theories aside, when we set out to cheer the Jays as they took on the Seattle Mariners last night at the Skydome (yes, the Skydome!) we weren’t really expecting a big payoff.

We got to the game in good time, grabbed a beer, found our awesome seats... first row of section 210, right along the first base line, just next to the foul pole. The dome was in the process of opening completely and this awful summer heat was somewhat bearable, making for a beautiful night to take in a game!

Our first glasses of beer from the Budweiser booth proved to be quite the challenge. They kept dripping spots of beer onto us; no matter how steady we held the glass or how often we wiped off the condensation. Confused, Veronica inspected the cup, managing to unleash a stream of beer down onto her seat. “Don’t press the bottom of the cup!” she discovered, warning Ashley before she met a similar fate.

Always a sucker to her own curiosity, Ashley ignored the warnings and pressed the bottom of her cup as well, unleashing another stream of beer down onto her own seat. There were holes in the bottom of the cups, covered not so securely by a round stopper on the inside. I understand this is to fill the cups from the bottom, but honestly, WHO PUTS A HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF A CUP? Needless to say, we spent the first few innings with wet beer-soaked bottoms.

Things started off a little slow, a couple runs here, a couple runs there, a few painful strike outs from people who should know better (Travis Snider) and then a string of innings with no runs at all, bringing us into the seventh with Seattle up by one. After Bautista hit the tying run home, it was a lot of waiting and booing and suspense as the game went into five extra innings before Ashley’s boy John McDonald hit a sacrifice fly, sending Rajai Davis home to win the game 6-5. Veronica’s curse is over!

Game highlights:
Adam Lind’s early game homerun up into the second deck in right field came incredibly close to being within reach of our beer-filled hands. Close enough, in fact, that during the televised replay, you can see your two favourite City Girls hanging out just at the edge of the scene.

After a much needed trip to the bathroom, we arrive back to the game just in time to see John McDonald make a nice little play, surprising us both with his unexpected presence. Ashley was definitely happy to see him.

Ashley leaving the game in the 11th inning in a fit of frustration, only to miss the exciting end and Johnny Mac’s stellar performance. Figures.

images (c)citygirlscapes