See, hear, read: our experts pick the movie, music and book release of the month

They love it. We want it. Three red-hot releases

“In this compelling and intelligent comedy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen play two friends who have to deal with the concept of death after one of them is diagnosed with the big C. Screenwriter Will Reiser’s own battle with the disease grounds the humour. It’s funny, sad, uncomfortable and all over the map—because that’s how life is when someone is dying.”
—Ariel Slootsky Staffer at Film Buff

50/50
directed by Jonathan Levine
(Jan. 24)

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“Since her last album came out four years ago, the Ottawa singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards has divorced her husband and musical collaborator Colin Cripps and entered a new musical and romantic partnership with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. This new album alternates between being a divorce record in the vein of Richard and Linda Thompson’s Shoot out the Lights and an “I’m moving on” record, with songs of closure, change and newfound joy.”
—John Bowker Owner of She Said Boom

Voyageur
Kathleen Edwards
(Jan. 17)

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“This beautifully written first novel tells the story of a Vietnamese family’s journey from an opulent life in pre-war Saigon to a cramped Malaysian refugee camp and, finally, to a more settled existence in Montreal. Kim Thuy has a keen eye and a succinct prose style. Although Ru is full of sorrowful scenes, the story is not melodramatic. If anything, it’s comforting to read about the growing strength of the characters.”
—Sheila Koffman Owner of Another Story

Ru
by Kim Thuy
(Jan. 17)

(Illustrations by Mia Overgaard. Photographs: top courtesy of Summit Entertainment; CD artwork by Jud Haynes; bottom courtesy of Random House of Canada)