Stay ConnectedBig laughs. Smart takes. Every day. Commotion is where you go for thoughtful and vibrant conversations about all things pop culture. Host Elamin Abdelmahmoud calls on journalists, critics, creators and friends to talk through the biggest arts & entertainment stories of the day, in 30 minutes or less.
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With the Netflix release of the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs docu-series ‘The Reckoning,’ executive produced by 50 Cent - Elamin is joined by entertainment reporter Taryn Finley and New York culture critic Jay Smooth to discuss the series and its approach to the Diddy scandal.
Plus, Canada has a new Heritage Minister – the seventh in fewer than 10 years. The Globe and Mail’s deputy arts and film editor Barry Hertz calls it a revolving door and says it’s bad for Canadian culture workers. He explains why.
Three new movies illuminate what it means to be an absent father: Joachim Trier's movie 'Sentimental Value,' Chloé Zhao’s film 'Hamnet,' and Noah Baumbach’s movie 'Jay Kelly.' The Friday group chat gathers to talk about a new kind of Dad movie.
Zacharias Kunuk’s films are legendary for the way they show the beauty of Canada’s North and the richness of Inuit culture. His latest film 'Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband)' is an epic love story, set four thousand years ago. Two artists from Igloolik, filmmaker Nyla Innuksuk and actor Zorga Qaunaq talk to Elamin Abdelmahmoud about the film and how Zacharias Kunuk’s movies have influenced Inuit storytelling in film.
Theatre critic Glenn Sumi discusses the new pro-shot film version of the Stephen Sondheim musical ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ opening in movie theatres this week, and whether these cinematic versions of Broadway productions are a legitimate substitute for the live theatre experience.
With pioneering MuchMusic program ‘RapCity’ having its 35th anniversary celebrations this year, Elamin is joined by the show's original creator and producer, Michele Geister - to look back on the program’s early rise to prominence.
Imagine this: Two of the best hockey players on the best teams in the NHL are arch-rivals on the rink. Off the ice: they’re lovers. That’s the premise of a new series on Crave called Heated Rivalry – adapted from a popular series of romance novels. Lainey Lui and former pro hockey player Brock McGillis join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about a show that might be the steamiest on TV right now.
Plus, people are talking about Claire Danes’ face in her new Netflix show, 'The Beast in Me.' Amil Niazi joins Elamin to talk about the response, what it reveals about Hollywood, beauty standards, and the world we’re living in today.
Choclair’s first full length album in 20 years - veteran music critic Dalton Higgins and Canadian music industry veteran Craig ‘Big C’ Mannix join Elamin Abdelmahmoud to review the new album and reflect on Choclair’s early rise to prominence. And Guardian columnist Stuart Heritage discusses the upcoming fourth entry in the action-comedy film series Rush Hour, a movie that is reportedly being made at the request of President Donald Trump.
For decades, Thomas King was considered to be one of the most prominent Indigenous authors and creators, so news that he has no Indigenous ancestry came as a shock to many people this week. Jesse Wente is a writer and Storyteller in Residence at Toronto Metropolitan University. Jesse worked closely with Thomas King on the screen adaptation of Thomas King's novel 'The Inconvenient Indian.' Jesse joins Elamin Abdelmahmoud to work through the complicated feelings of this latest news, and how he’s grappling with the fallout.
Jesse's reccos:
books
‘The Knowing’ by Tanya Talaga
‘Bad Indians Book Club’ by Patty Krawec
‘The Idea of an Entire Life’ by Billy Ray Belcourt
‘The Boy From Buzwah: A Life in Indian Education’ by Cecil King
‘Survival Ojibwe’ by Patricia Ningewance
‘Danger Eagle’ written by Jesse Wente and illustrated by Shaikara David
film/tv
‘Saints and Warriors’ (coming soon to Crave)
‘The Knowing’ - documentary series based on Tanya Talaga's book (on CBC Gem)
‘Aki’ by Darlene Naponse
‘Uiksaringitara: Wrong Husband’ by Zacharias Kunuk (in limited release in theatres)
‘Meadowlarks’ by Tasha Hubbard - coming soon to theatres, it’s a drama adaptation of her documentary ‘Birth of a Family’ (available on NFB website)
‘Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man’ by Sinakson Trevor Solway
With the recent passing of reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, Elamin Abdelmahmood is joined by University of West Indies professor Sonja Stanley Niaah and culture critic Danae Peart to look back on the role Cliff played in the genre’s rise to global pop dominance.
'Stranger Things' season five returns to Netflix this week. TV critics Alison Herman and Hoai-Tran Bui join Elamin to talk about how the show became a cultural phenomenon, and why now is the right time to say goodbye.
Cree journalist Michelle Cyca and Anishinaabe/Mohawk writer Kim Wheeler assess the fallout from award-winning author Thomas King’s recent admission that he’s not actually of Cherokee descent, as he has claimed throughout his career.
Plus, this week, the Jim Henson Company, home of Sesame Street and the Muppets, auctioned more than 400 items from its archives, including props and puppets. Min Chen, culture editor at Artnet News, talks with Elamin Abdelmahmoud about how pop culture memorabilia is becoming big business for collectors.
Vanity Fair’s Hollywood issue is always a barometer for the year’s hottest celebrities, especially ahead of Oscar season. Well, this year -- for the first time -- those celebrities are only men. Culture critics Vinson Cunningham and Lainey Lui join Elamin to talk about this new class of leading men and what it says about masculinity and this moment we’re living in.
Tobias Jesso Jr. released a critically acclaimed, Juno/Polaris-nominated debut album in 2015, before stepping out of the spotlight to become a Grammy-winning behind-the-scenes writer for stars like Adele and Dua Lipa. However, this month, he announced the surprise release of s h i n e, his first solo album in 10 years, and music journalist Emile Hanskamp will explain what the record reveals about this enigmatic artist.
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