Yes, Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray is a classic to rewatch every February 2, but there are most recent findings that riff on the ‘same day, every day’ theme:
Netflix’s philosophical Russian Doll series stars Natasha Lyonne as a video game designer who wakes up up every day to her own birthday party, but things are always cut short when she dies in some different way.
In thriller Happy Death Day, college student Tree Gelbman also wakes up on her birthday, but in her classmate’s room. Tree has to solve her own murder in order to break the cycle.
Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt team up to fight scary alien baddies in Edge of Tomorrow. As soldiers in a major war set in the future, they are both capable of returning to the battlefield after every kill.
See You Yesterday (Netlfix) features a teen girl who invents a time machine, then has to resort to using her device to save her brother from a tragic fate. (Spot Michael J. Fox in a cameo)
‘Honouring the past, inspiring the future’ is the theme for Montreal’s 31st annual Black History Month, with a jam-packed schedule with a variety of activities in both languages. On Friday, join in on a virtual panel discussion by Black filmmakers on Health and well-being in Black communities, hosted on the NFB’s YouTube channel. Artists like Tyler Simmonds and Ajahnis Charley are part of the conversation, which begins Friday at noon.
Parc des Faubourgs in Hochelaga hosts a disco skating night, Friday 5 to 8pm.
The Old Port’s skating rink is also open, with tickets available online. Or warm up at nearby Bota Bota floating spa (the water circuit and restaurant are closed, but massage treatments are available).
The SAT is presenting a mix of its recent performances and events in a virtual, immersive space called the Satellite. Once you pick an avatar and a name, you enter through a virtual version of the three-storey building. You have the option to visit through your computer or with a virtual headset, and you can interact with other visitors and special guests. The artists ‘performing’ until Tuesday: Jump Source (by Priori and Patrick Holland) and Iamnotmyhistory with Thomas White and Emissive.
At the Flea market at St-Jean-Berchmans Church, you can browse for bargains amid items both new and used, with food service on site! (For info or to book a table, call Sylvie 514-916-6227.) Saturday and Sunday at 5945 Cartier, near Rosemont Metro.
Exporail, the Canadian train museum in St Constant, has free entry this Sunday. See the current show: Train, a Railroad to Dreams: A World in Miniature. It’s an homage to toy trains… so you start with the smallest of the trains, then pivot to marvel at the 50 life-size vehicles on display in the Grand Gallery.
The Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That just like concluded this week. You can catch up with Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda and their friends, old and new, as well as the a feature behind-the-scenes doc (which poses the question: season two?). On Crave.
The Tinder Swindler is a feature doc about an expert con artist who created a filthy rich persona on the dating app Tinder. But in the vein of West Elm Caleb, the women he met ended up banding together to take him down - and attempt to recoup the millions of dollars he swindled. (It’s from the people who produced Don’t F**k with Cats, the Internet vigilante doc with a Montreal connection.) New to Netflix this week.
Lady Gaga and Adam Driver tackle a real-life assassination shocker in House of Gucci. Revel in the ‘80s costumes, and make up your own mind about Gaga’s interesting Italian accent… she stars as Patrizia, a woman who marries into one of Italy’s most notable couture houses. But when her husband starts to stray, Patrizia concocts a deadly plan. Now available to rent on Amazon Prime.
If you want to fill time or ignore your to-do list, have at new search engine Weird Old Books, where you can plug in any word and pull up an weird, old book that was scanned. I think they call this ‘rewilding’ the Internet. And a student has found a way to archive previous editions of mega popular one-puzzle-a-day Wordle. Start from the beginning here.
Walk or drive through Cavalia’s magical Illumi circuit in Laval. If you caught the show last year, it’s nearly entirely a brand new show, with many new ‘universes’ to discover, like the candy blizzard, giant puppies and kittens, an Aladdin-inspired palace and a ‘submarine tunnel’. Until March 13.
Take in the 12th edition of Luminotherapie now lighting up the Quartier des spectacles with cool installations, like Impulse (the lit-up seesaws) and Mathias Gmachl's giant wooden whale, Echoes - a voice from uncharted waters. Until February 27. In the same area, Cyrielle Tremblay's illustrations 100% Chance of Snow is being projected on the BanQ, UdeM building on President-Kennedy and outside the St Laurent metro station. Look up and delight in the colourful snow plows, hedgehogs and winter walks.
Orchestre Métropolitain's director Yannick Nézet-Séguin performs the piano in Mozart's luminous Concerto No 12. The show also features Brahms' third symphony and opens with Castro D’Addona's Diversity.
The Opéra de Montréal presents two performances available to rent online, Bizet's Carmen and Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel.
Run away to the circus, at least metaphorically, with Pointe-à-Callière It's Circus Time! Over 350 objects will explore the 200-some year history of the art in Quebec, through costumes, props, training equipment and more.
It's free to visit the McCord Museum until Wednesday, where you will want to check out the new show Parachute: Subversive Fashion of the '80s. It's a moody, bold look at the style and messaging of the decade through the stylings of Parachute, a made-in-Montreal label created by a British fashion designer and an American architect. Their concept stores were soon found in New York and Los Angeles, and their creations were in demand from the likes of Madonna, Peter Gabriel and David Bowie! And don't miss the harrowing Indigenous Voices of Today, which highlights the voices of people from different Indigenous communities. The show both reveals the craftsmanship of every day traditional objects like waterproof parkas and sewing tools, then explores the exploitation and oppression of Indigenous families and land, then finishes with realistic questions about reconciliation.
Monet - Dr Mitch-approved! The people who brought you the Van Gogh immersive experience now shift their attention to one of the most iconic of the French Impressionist painters, with Imagine Monet. Now on at Arsenal Gallery in Little Burgundy, it's like taking a bath in works by Claude Monet (1840-1926). The roughly 35-minute show introduces you to his work, and then you are immersed in his iconic water lilies and Japanese footbridge scenes, as well as rich snapshots from nature, beaches and busy French streets and ports. A meditative visit with one of the greatest painters. Until February 27.
Two (or three) things I’m watching right now: the lives of the rich, ambitious and silly in Manhattan. In the 1880s, I’m digging into Julian Fellowes’ The Gilded Age and in the present, I’ve just started Succession (for anyone intrigued by the Rogers or Murdoch family sagas… like, um, me.) Both are on Crave. And then there is Fellowes’ iconic upstairs-downstairs drama, Downton Abbey. A second feature film starring the Crawleys and their people who care for them is due in the spring… so I’m working my way through the sixth and final season… and honestly, I’m finding it super philosophical!