Bloated sci-fi silliness has a certain over-the-top appeal

Bloated sci-fi silliness has a certain over-the-top appeal

While consistently ludicrous, noisy, overproduced and downright campy, Andy and Lana Wachowski's Jupiter Ascending has a certain bad-movie wackiness that makes it entertaining in spite of itself.

It's kind of like all three of the Wachowskis' Matrix movies, with the freaky-cool cachet of the first film and the tiresome bombast of the latter two, all rolled into one.

The Wachowskis cannibalize the concept behind The Matrix, with Mila Kunis cast as their distaff Neo. She is Jupiter Jones, an impoverished illegal alien of Russian heritage who toils cleaning the houses of the wealthy.

At least, that's what she thinks she is. In fact, her lineage connects her to the royal Abrasax family -- who might best be described as Borgias from outer space. Like Neo, she discovers she is someone special. And like Neo, she discovers that all of earthly humanity is a commodity to be exploited like cattle, in this case by a race of spoiled space aristocrats.

Weekender festivities to take over downtown

Come one, come all, to Graham Avenue this weekend.

Organizers of the Weekender hope to welcome thousands of Winnipeggers to the streets and parking lots in and around the Graham Avenue pedestrian mall in what they are billing as “Downtown’s Biggest Street Party.”

Starting Friday evening and running through Sunday, the free festival boasts a plethora of ways by which visitors can enjoy themselves. From food trucks to markets, games to live music, classic cars and free bike repairs, the festival aims to provide a little something for everyone.

“The Weekender is truly about bringing people together, to have fun, to experience all that downtown has to offer,” says Olivia Billson, director of communications and public relations for Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, which is putting on the festival in conjunction with Smith Events and Arch Events.

All quiet on the Hellebuyck front

Pull up a chair, folks, as we address the elephant in the room. Or, to be more precise, the decorated goaltender who is not in the room. Or on the ice. Or even in the city.

Not surprisingly, the Connor Hellebuyck situation took centre stage Tuesday as members of the Winnipeg Jets held their first media session following an informal, pre-training camp skate.

“We’re definitely going to get asked about it. That’s no chirp to anybody. I think that’s just the reality of the situation,” admitted veteran defenceman Dylan DeMelo, who took part in an hour-long practice at Hockey For All Centre that involved nearly every member of the organization.

With one very notable exception, of course.

Councillors say Main Street Project scuttles other agency’s efforts to house homeless

A Winnipeg outreach agency that’s been largely shut out of government funding says it has found housing for more people in the last five months than Manitoba’s homeless strategy that began last year.

Premier tells grieving parents site of fatal collision under review

Premier Wab Kinew promised to pursue safety improvements at an Interlake intersection when he spoke to parents of some of the four teens who died in a crash at the site on the Labour Day weekend.

The collision at Highway 8 and Provincial Road 229, just west of Winnipeg Beach, prompted a review by Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure, which is standard after a fatal crash, while some of the victims’ families and community leaders publicly called for changes.

“When you see the loss of these beautiful young lives, any parent, any Manitoban feels a sense of loss. On behalf of the whole province, I send my condolences to these families,” Kinew said in Winnipeg Wednesday.

“I did so directly earlier today, and I heard some of the parents’ suggestions for how we could make this safer for everybody. I committed to them that we’re going to take those actions — both stuff we can do relatively quickly and some longer-term fixes, as well.”