Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Critic's picks: Dune screening, art exhibition, film festival

Denis Arcand epic film Dune gets another screening at the University of Victoria's Cinecenta
web1_dune
Timothée Chalamet stars in Dune, the Denis Villeneuve epic screening at Cinecenta tonight through Saturday. Credit: Legendary Pictures

ON SCREEN: Dune

Where: Cinecenta, 3800 Finnerty Rd., University of Victoria

When: Jan. 27-28, 4:45 p.m. and 7:40 p.m.; Jan. 29, 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Tickets: $8.50 ($6.50 for students, seniors, and children)

Why: Sure, you could watch Dune any number of other ways, including from the comfort of your abode. But haven’t we all spent enough time inside lately? With social distancing in effect, Cinecenta is offering another venue in which to watch Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 epic of sci-fi splendour — all two hours and 35 glorious minutes of it.

Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, and Javier Bardem headline the all-star cast, some of whom are due back for the anticipated second instalment due in 2023.

Note: Tickets are only available in-person at the box office, which opens 40 minutes prior to the screening.

AT THE GALLERY: Bombhead

Where: Nanaimo Art Gallery, 150 Commercial St.

When: Jan. 29-March 27

Tickets: $5 suggested donation

Why: The Vancouver Art Gallery has shepherded this exhibit by guest curator John O’Brian to the Nanaimo Art Gallery for what will surely be a much-discussed two-month run.

Covering everything from the life-altering bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown at Fukushima in 2011, Bombhead is a thematic look at the nuclear age and how it has informed the art of nearly 30 participating artists. Everything from sculpture to photographs and film has been put to use, with stirring results.

ON SCREEN: Honeycomb

Where: Slamdance 2022

When: Jan. 27-Feb. 6

Tickets: $10 from slamdance.com

Why: The feature-length debut from 21-year-old Victoria filmmaker Avalon Fast premières online this week at the 2022 Slamdance Film Festival, a grassroots showcase in Park City, Utah, for innovative new voices. Thanks to the wonders of digital media, local viewers can watch Fast’s sun-drenched, psychedelic vision at any point via the festival’s all-access virtual pass.

Shot on Cortes Island with a cast and crew of close friends, the film looks warily upon adulthood, working its way through themes touched upon in Lord of the Flies, Stand By Me, and The Virgin Suicides — but with ominous intent.