There's always something refreshing about rock music that comes from the other side of the world. Coldplaya and U2 just to name a few. We take a trip to the other side of the world and introduce you to one of Australia's hidden gems: Children Collide.

The name Quentin Tarantino has quickly become synonomous with blood and the term "cult classic." After his highly praised Kill Bill series, Tarantino returns with his darkly comedic period film slash spaghetti western slash espionage flick Inglorious Basterds. We're tempted to say 'starring Brad Pitt' but that doesn't do Tarantino justice...

After a long hiatus A. Chow returns and she checks out some of the latest music that you will soon have the pleasure of discovering. San Diego rockers Ghostbird debut with a seven track self-titled EP and Chow takes a big bite out of this meaty sandwich!

It's finally here! The Gallery has finally arrived. Check it all out here.

After five days filled with live music and cool flicks, we wrap up North by Northeast for those who missed out. We give you the rundown on what you can do on a budget. And for those with the stamina of a horse, get yourself a wristband and you can bar hop till the break of dawn. Well maybe not dawn literally, but pretty close. Read all of the highlights of the festival here!

Californian band Switchfoot joined the North by Northeast lineup rounding out genres and styles. Also bringing in all the Toronto Switchfoot devotees, NXNE was able to draw in music fans who may not have been so familiar with the festival or the indie scene.

NXNE's film festival showcases the Adrift Clubhouse and the Cancer Bats attachment to its DIY punk attitude in this City Sonic episode. Directed by Bruce McDonald who brought us the cult favourite Hard Core Logo, he pushes the height of the City Sonic series with his distinct directing style.

Writtenhouse took over the Opera House for this year's NXNE showing off their jazz like rhymes and Roots styles.

For those who got the opportunity to check out The Black Lips at this year's North by Northeast you were in for quite a show that didn't cost you a cent. And for those who missed out, well, read it here and make sure you go for 2010.

We continue to explore NXNE's film festival portion and came across this interesting UK doc Depeche Mode: The Posters Came from the Walls, focusing on Depeche Mode fans' obsession and fantasy from around the world. Get it? They came from the walls. Depeche Mode did. Nevermind.

We weren't kidding when we said NXNE had a lot to offer. This unique live mashup of Swami and Fell on Deaf Ears combine pop and Bollywood and rock and Bollywood respectively. You tell us where else we can find something that cool?

NXNE has more than just indie rock and we can prove it. Their hip hop lineup had a lot to offer and plenty of acts to see like the quirky Ghettosocks and the classic stylings of iLLite. So stop making excuses and go to NXNE.

NXNE's film festival component doesn't fall short, bringing us some of the best and coolest flicks on music. Pavane is no expception, being a unique and weighty short film that was filled with all sorts of surprises.

Brooklyn based Ninjasonik continued NXNE's free concert series at Yonge and Dundas Square on the closing day of the festival. But unlike most free events, the kiddies in the audience don't get the opportunity to expand their vocabularly as they did here.

One of our recent Feature's of the Month, In Flight Safety put on an evening show at the NXNE free concert series at Yonge and Dundas Square here in Toronto. Catching the ears of many passers who had yet to discover the work of In Flight Safety, the crowd grew along with IFS' fanbase.

Dutch director David Kleijwegt's Low: You May Need a Murderer is a portrait documentary on Alan Sparhawk, devout Mormon and ever-challenging singer/songwriter. NXNE brings us Kleijwegt's latest to the masses and we have lots to say.

We continue our North by Northeast coverage giving you a taste of some of the acts performing during the five day fest. Fundament and King Jus are just a couple of the acts taking the stage here in Toronto with their rhymes and beats.

We take on Toronto's North by Northeast film and music festival, showcasing some of the best the fest has to offer. We'll be your eyes and ears to the whole experience and we're starting with a short film, following Tyler Stewart of Barenaked Ladies fame as he takes us through the city's landmark hotspots that shaped BNL's music. The City Sonic project debuts at NXNE and we give you the quick rundown.

Spiderman director Sam Raimi returns to his roots that made the Evil Dead series a cult hit. With Drag Me to Hell Sam brings back those lost elements that made Hitchcock Hitchcock.

Despite the ominous skull, Tumbledown is actually in fact a friendly country record that can substitute as your drinking buddy. Don't believe us? Read about the good times Kate had here!

Probably one of the most well-known boxers of all time, the life and career of Mike Tyson is without a doubt both a whirlwind of achievement and very questionable behaviour. The limited release Tyson attempts to give us the benefit of the doubt, but is this documentary really a truthful take on a man that we've all come to know as another celebrity trainwreck?

We delve into the heart of independent filmmaking with the tiny yet impressive New York Lately written and directed by NY resident, Gary King. Juggling a handful of storylines and even more characters, Chow breaks it all down for you.

Not to be confused with Andy Samberg's Lonely Island, the Washington foursome The Lonely Forest release their sophmore album We Sing the Body Electric! and Liem breaks down the differences between them and the Samberg factor.

Plucked out of obscurity by Brandon Flowers of the little known band The Killers to open for their 2007 tour, Solarcade, an LA based duo recently released their latest pop-rock EP Songs For the Gathering. Kate sat down and listened with her naked ears and you can check it all out here.

The socially conscious Kingsize are set to release not one, but two EPs this Tuesday, The Good Fight and The Bad Night. Chow got the chance to preview the discs and you can check out her stance right here!

What would you do if you had one week to live? Its a concept that we see frequently in movies but its an idea that we seldom dare think about. And with two things going against One Week - a "cliché" concept and being Canadian - can it rise above kitschy Canadiana and been there, done that storylines?

With the accessability of cameras today, just about anybody can call themselves a filmmaker. So its rare when someone comes along and has the work ethic and attitude of a true artist - getting down and dirty and digging deep into your pockets for the sake of your art. Officially selected for the Big Apple Film Festival, ...Around by true indie filmmaker and graduate of New York's School of Visual Arts, has been gaining speed in the indie film scene and it was a delight for it to cross our path.

Actress Taryn Manning is best known for her work on the big screen starring in films like the Oscar winning Hustle & Flow. But her work as a musician has been taking shape for years and along with brother Kellin the two make up Boomkat, an experimental pop duo releasing their second full length album A Million Trillion Stars on March 10th. Read it here why Kate couldn't keep her butt from dancing.

Forming in 2007, Holy Rolling Empire, made up of former blue collar construction workers and bartenders, release their debut album Gigantis. The ten track disc is filled with fun song titles with a classic vibe. Check out Kate's take on the album here!

The highly anticipated 81st Academy Awards were a huge hit and will be Hollywood talk for weeks to come. With Hugh Jackman hosting and amazing musical highlights, the ceremony was far from stiff, and there were plenty of dresses to take up pages in the fashion magazines. But what about the awards? Check it out here!

Hot on the heels of The Golden Globes, comes the much anticipated Academy Awards among movie (and celebrity) lovers. A-List stars will walk the red carpet on February 22nd, their dresses scrutinized, the jewels bodyguarded, and of course, statues to be handed out. Wait, there are awards at this thing? Read it here to see who JXM picks as the winners.

Liam Neeson stars as the ex-CIA agent who is hellbent on recovering his daughter from sex traffickers in Taken. With a mix of Bourne shutzpah and an unlikely hero, is Taken worth your ten bucks at the cinema? Read it here to find out!

Kate Winslet took the Golden Globe home for her portrayal of a mid century housewife in the highly praised Revolutionary Road. Director Sam Mendes returns to the theme of suburban angst, after the now classic American Beauty. But will it have the same staying power? Read it here to find out.

The dresses glittered, the tuxes pressed and the awards were handed out. So how did JXM do? Check out whether you should be using us a reference for your next award pool here!

The Globes are upon us again and JXM takes a stab at picking the winners. Or least who we think should win. Check it out here!

After a whirlwhind of erratic behaviour and a failed comeback, Britney Spears returns yet again with a new record Circus and a new MTV documentary - Brtiney: For the Record. Kate reviews both the film and the record and gives you her take on the Britney phenomenon. Will she set the record straight about shaving her head? The stint in rehab and her psychiatric hospitalization? Has she truly come back? Read it here to find out.

In the wake of a comatose box office month, Sex Drive opens this weekend among a mass of mediocre films. Halloween month isn't even able to inspire Hollywood to hash out an overload of horror classic remakes. Instead we have another installment of the predictable Saw series and, well there isn't much else. So should you opt out of the Halloween creepy, cheapy flicks for this upbeat teen sex comedy? Check out Kate's review to find out.

After a short hiatus, Liem returns to the scene, and the first thing we threw at him was Down to Earth - the latest record by British songstress Jem. Read Liem's take on the Dido-esque Queen of television soundtracks here.

He's been the manager to a paper supply company, a colourful extra and now he sees dead people. And they annoy him. At least Greg Kinnear does. British (underrated) funnyman Ricky Gervais makes his big screen debut in both a leading role and in the U.S. (took them long enough to catch on) in this unconventional romantic comedy Ghost Town. But do the laughs live up to Gervais' reputation? Jenny took a walk on the dead side to find out.

With the neverending focus on beauty permeating our culture, and the endless fixation on "glamour," Hollywood youth, and sexation, its about time that someone stand up and make a documentary with a statement. America the Beautiful by Darryl Roberts does just that and Jenny gives you the scoop whether it serves to make a difference.

Movie Madness Month concludes with the musical comedy The Rocker. Starring The Office's Rainn Wilson as a washed up metal drummer returning to stage. Phew, Kate's fingers and eyeballs are tired from all her reviews. She's starting to bite...

We continue with our Movie Madness Month with Kate's latest review on the Ben Stiller directed epic war comedy Tropic Thunder. Chock full of A-list celebs and other tabloid favourite faces, the over-the-top, epic comedy is sure to bring in the bucks and the laughs. Right?

The pants live on in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 a follow up following the four girls on their summer vacations. Sound pretty tame? You'll be thankful for it like Kate is after the load of the waste she watches.

National treasure Guy Maddin returns with My Winnipeg, another oddball, black and white tale delving deep into the memories of Maddin. Jenny concludes her Ode to Winnipeg Trilogy with Maddin's recreation of his memories of 'Winterpeg.'

The Rebel, Jock, Nerd, Heartthrob and Princess. We know them all too well. The Breakfast Club made them a staple in our teenage lives and we've all encountered them in our high school. Ok maybe not Kate but we've seen all the movies. Except this movie is about real people who happen to fit perfectly in that mold of teenage archetypes. Scary eh? Welcome to American teenage culture. Welcome to American Teen.

We don't need to say it. They've said it. The Canadian government is doing what they can to control it. But we can't stop them. Laws can't stop it. Nothing can stop Young People Fucking.

We managed to tear away Liem from his Viva la Vida album long enough to get him to check out hot Australian trio Cut / Copy and their latest album In Ghost Colours. Read it all hear to see if the elctro-pop soundwaves make the grade for your summer roadtrips and BBQs.

Making Jimmy Choo a household name and single life just as satisfying as marital bliss, Carrie Bradshaw and gang return in the big screen version of HBO's Sex and the City. Picking up exactly where the series ended, Jenny with unbiased eyes - ok not true, she's a self proclaimed addict - checks it out and gives you her take on whether the film version can fill those big Choo's...Yeah that was another bad joke. Minor spoilers ahead.

After a fiver year hiatus, Filter returns with Anthems for the Damned, an introspective album on the detoriating state of our world. It's filled with vocalist Richard Patrick's distinctly Filter howls and screams, and a few surprises. Check out if Kate howls back!

The UK dishes out another heartfelt comedy starring little tykes, Bill Milner and Will Poulter. Kate checked out an early screening of Son of Rambow to dish on whether England lives up to its wicked comedy streak.

The hottest thing to hit the turntables graced Toronto with a live performance recently, and Jesse popped into The Sound Emporium to check 'em out. Find out if the French speaking, scratching duo Justice impressed or should hide behind their fortress of amps.

Boys Don't Cry director Kimberly Peirce takes on the underrated issue currently affecting thousands of US soldiers fighting in the Iraq war. Stop-Loss follows Ryan Phillipe as a decorated Sergeant who goes AWOL.

Money, luxury and deceit. The perfect formula for a movie. Or is it? Check out Kate's review on the film about five MIT students who find a way to scam Vegas for millions without doing anything illegal. With Brett Ratner and the ever unlikely intimidating Kevin Spacey behind the card counting 21, find out if it can take the house for millions.

In recent celebration of the University of BC's 100th birthday, alumni filmmaker Mina Shum recently held a conference for her hidden Canadian jewel Double Happiness starring fellow Canadian Sandra Oh. Jenny attended the conference for the decade old film that is is sure to remain a classic in Canadian film history.

Just when you think horror filmmakers couldn't come up with any new ways to scare us, Michael Haneke may have opened up a whole new definition for "disturbed." Serena checked out a screening of the US remake of the 1997 film Funny Games. Read her traumatized thoughts here!

Quirk, humour and off centre are all the rage these days and Jesse got the chance to snag the ever charming and endearing queen of dark humour, Sara St. Onge. The up and coming filmmaker made a splash at this year's Sundance Film Festival with The Funeral and from here on out she's bound to make waves.

In honour of the recently awarded Best Picture at the 2008 Academy Awards, Jenny gives you the rundown on what you've missed out on. Without futher ado: No Country For Old Men.

With the ever growing onslaught of bad horror flicks we face, Serena bravely dives into George A. Romero's latest of his infamous Dead series, Diary of the Dead. Check out if Diary's flesh is fresh!

The Savages captured quite the buzz during its festival rounds, and since its limited release in November. Jenny got a chance to check out a screening hot of the tails of the film's recent Oscar nods for Best Actress in Laura Linney and Best Original Screenplay in writer/director Tamara Jenkins.

With all the hype surrounding the ubiquitous viral marketing campaign behind producer J.J. Abrams' latest flick, Cloverfield, you know we had to check it out for ourselves. The film opened this weekend, banking in a big $41 million. Guess the hype worked. Liem checked out an advanced screening.

Canada's own Jason Reitman (of Thank You for Smoking fame) sees his latest effort, Juno hit theatres everywhere this month just in time for the holidays. Shot in Vancouver, the film is already garnering tons of critical acclaim, Golden Globe nominations, and early Oscar buzz. Liem checked out the flick.

With the upcoming release of the remake of Takashi Miike's "J-Horror" film, One Missed Call, in January 2008, Thomas revisits the original. Was the flick worthy of being done all over again? Well see, that really depends on the way you look at it...

We're all about taking chances at JXM, so we thought why not take a look at Celine Dion's Taking Chances. In her new release, that's exactly what she does, teaming up with the likes of Ne-yo, Ben Moody, and John Shanks. Liem gives the album a spin, which hits stores today!

So you thought the Asian horror craze was over? Looking at the remakes slated for 2008, it seems like the craze has just begun. Before the originals vanish from memory, Thomas thought he'd revisit them for our readers. He looks at A Tale of Two Sisters, just one of the horror remakes set for release. Or should we say "terror"?

Having recently played at this year's Toronto International Film Festival with some positive buzz, Kate managed to catch a screening of Weirdsville, starring Scott Speedman, Wes Bentley, and Taryn Manning, by critically acclaimed director, Allan Moyle. What did Kate think? Brace yo'self!

We talk a lot about books and movies - so why not more music? Iceland's indie darlings, Sigur Ros, returns today, with their new double CD compilation, Hvarf/Heim. Are the newest sounds of Sigur Ros as stunning as their home country? Liem spins the album to find out.

"An Ode to Winnipeg" continues with Bruce McDonald's follow-up to Hard Core Logo (and yes, it's been almost over a decade), which hits select theatres today. Very positive buzz has been surrounding the film, starring up and coming young Canadian actress, Ellen Page, but Jenny gives us her take of The Tracey Fragments.

With all the hype surrounding this year's Toronto International Film Festival, we thought we'd make one of those other great Canadian cities the centerpiece for a change. Jenny writes her own personal love letter to Winnipeg with her three part film review series, "An Ode to Winnipeg". To get the ball rolling, she takes a look at The Stone Angel, starring Ellen Burstyn.

The cult webseries phenom, We Need Girlfriends has been making waves all over... MySpace. Yes, MySpace. You know, that other still-popular social networking site? JXM sat down with the show's creator, Steven Tsapelas.

Recently having won the People's Choice Award at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises hits theatres everywhere today. Jenny checked in to see what all the hype's about.

This Friday marks the Toronto debut of our recent Feature of the Month, Everything's Gone Green. You can read more about it right here!

Thomas Harris' latest installment in the Hannibal series in both book and film form makes its way onto the big screen tomorrow, but will it be cut out to live up to its cult predecessor Silence of the Lambs? JXM got a sneak peak of the newest Hannibal!

Plenty of Canada's up and comers were a part of the lineup for Vapor's Independent Music Showcase all in the name of the Hospital for Sick Children. Major Maker, Shad, Jason Collett, Apostle of Hustle and others lended their talents and tunes to a full house at the El Mocambo in Toronto. Check out how the show went down and what got Melanie thinking "that sh*t is off the hook yo!"

Clint Eastwood's latest Letters from Iwo Jima is the quiet crossover film made almost entirely in Japanese. See if Eastwood has another Million Dollar Baby on his hands or another flick that is sitting on the fences like Flags of Our Fathers. It's all right here!

Emerging Brit rock band IV Thieves made a quick stop at the El Mocambo in Toronto this past weekend. Read here whether they're worth checking out for yourself!

Christian Bale and Eva Longoria hit up Harsh Times in the directorial debut of Training Day writer David Ayer. But does he have what it takes to surpass the success of the 2001 LA corrupt cop drama?

The Film Explorer gives you a trick and treat this Halloween with his take on the original George A. Romero classic and the 2004 Zack Snyder reprise. Read up here to figure which one he finds to be the trick and which to be the treat. Boo.

The latest installment of the Jaded Photography Series continues with photographer Eric Alba and his collection on the Disney Hall. The collection showcases the shadows hidden in the deepest corners of what is often reflecting the brightest.

With the Major League Baseball playoffs coming up, what better film for the Film Explorer to dig up then Major League? Read what's got the V Man singing. Groooovy.