A ‘Star Trek' spinoff and outtakes from fabled folk artist Nick Drake: what we're obsessed with this week
I'm as sick of endless IP retreads as the next person, but this is the most worthy of the recent 'Star Trek' spinoffs, and the one that most approximates the 1960s original in its capacity for both fun and substance. Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and the crew of the USS Enterprise returned to Paramount Plus this week to battle the Gorn and other adversaries with generous helpings of humour and heart. Since the series is shot in the GTA, you can entertain yourself by picking out the Canadian co-stars, like Rong Fu and Melanie Scrofano. — Debra Yeo
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Vancouver Sun
5 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Photos: PM Mark Carney at the Vancouver Pride Parade
There was a special guest at the Vancouver Pride Parade on Sunday: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Carney walked part of the route and greeted spectators lining streets downtown. See the photos below. We'll update this story with more photos and news from the Vancouver Pride Parade later today. For more about the Vancouver Pride Parade, click here.
Winnipeg Free Press
14 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘They're real people': Mob focus of JFK assassination flick filmed in Winnipeg
WINNIPEG – Nicholas Celozzi has spent much of his life revisiting the events leading up to the assassination of former U.S. president John F. Kennedy. Hushed stories filled his childhood home. Conversations with his uncle Joseph (Pepe) Giancana, brother to Chicago Mob boss Sam Giancana, later helped shed light on his family's possible involvement in one of the most debated moments in American history. After decades of film and television portrayals of Sam Giancana, Celozzi is reconceptualizing the 1963 shooting of Kennedy with a focus on the major players in the Chicago Outfit, a powerful Italian-American criminal organization. For Celozzi, his latest screenwriting endeavour is about more than telling another assassination story. It's about family. 'My family, my cousins, really got tired of people using our name, monetizing our name and telling a fake story,' Celozzi said in an interview. 'These aren't fictional people … they're real people. They're vulnerable, they have nerves, they make mistakes, they are not quite sure about things.' Sam Giancana, head of the Chicago Outfit in the 1950s and 1960s, was widely known for his ties to the Kennedy family. He was gunned down in his home in 1975, and his killing remains unsolved. Many have speculated the Mob group also played a role in Kennedy's assassination, and this is explored in Celozzi's 'November 1963,' which began filming in Winnipeg this summer. Relying on Pepe Giancana's stories, Celozzi focuses on the 48 hours leading up to the assassination. Giancana, a fill-in driver for his brother, had been a fly on the wall in the days leading up to the assassination, said Celozzi, who is also one of the producers on the independent film. Many conversations led to what Celozzi calls the 'Pepe chronicles,' a series of stories detailing the family's Mob ties. 'I was always aware of who they were. These aren't things that everybody just kind of goes home and talks about. It's an awareness. It's kind of a strange reality that you're born into,' said Celozzi. Pepe Giancana died in the mid-'90s, leaving his stories with Celozzi. The writer said he knew he wanted to do something to honour his family's history without degrading them to caricatures often found in Mob flicks. So he began working with Sam Giancana's daughter Bonnie Giancana to craft the script. Over the course of several years and rewrites, Celozzi said they worked to ensure every detail was accurate. 'I needed to keep that honest with the story Pepe gave me, or why do it at all? If I wasn't going to be truthful to what he gave me, there was no purpose in me doing it,' said Celozzi. He brought veteran Canadian producer Kevin DeWalt of Minds Eye Entertainment on board to produce the movie, which wrapped shooting in Winnipeg last week and goes into post-production in Saskatchewan. 'I don't think the family's proud of what happened … it was important for them to tell the truth before they die,' DeWalt said. The cast includes John Travolta, Dermot Mulroney and Mandy Patinkin and is directed by Academy Award nominated English filmmaker Roland Joffé. When it came time to pick a location that could mimic 1960s Chicago and the landmark Dealey Plaza in Dallas, where Kennedy was killed, producers chose Winnipeg over other major cities such as Atlanta and New Orleans in part because of its Exchange District neighbourhood. Producers decided Winnipeg was a perfect stand-in for the Windy City. Dealey Plaza, and the famous Grassy Knoll, was built from scratch at Birds Hill Provincial Park, northeast of Winnipeg. The film features 1,500 extras and 75 to 80 period cars to accurately portray the time period. DeWalt said he expects viewers will be blown away by the film's ability to bring a new level of authenticity and validity to the moment in history. 'People will walk out of the theatre with their own impressions about what it all means,' he said. 'At the end of the day, at least we've given them the tools for one of these things that's been told, and they can make their own impressions in terms of how they feel about it.' When asked if he thinks the film might ruffle feathers with historians, governments or Mob members, Celozzi said that's not his goal. 'What I'm doing is just putting in that missing piece, not glamorizing, just writing it.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg students hope to develop Canada-EU AI literacy
A duo of local students has won a trip abroad to pitch diplomats on their made-in-Manitoba plan to bolster artificial intelligence literacy in Canada and the European Union. The University of Manitoba's Divya Sharma and Emily Katsman were named winners of the 2025 Schuman Challenge last week. 'It's a little bit surreal. I'm still taking it in,' said Katsman, noting the 20-somethings are the first Manitobans to enter the foreign policy competition put on by the EU Delegation to Canada. 'We are a province that has a lot of talent, but we sometimes get overlooked — especially when it comes to these high-level government and political competitions and policy settings.' The national contest calls on undergraduate students to brainstorm ways to strengthen the relationship between their home country and the EU. AI was the theme of this year's event, the third of its kind, which drew a total of 19 submissions from across the country. Sharma, 20, and Katsman, 21, were recognized for their proposal to create a Canada-EU roadmap for AI literacy in post-secondary education. 'By working together, Canada and the EU can create the shared infrastructure, standards, and trust needed to shape an AI-literate generation. One that will fuel future breakthroughs in health, climate, defence, and the digital economy,' they argued in a nine-page essay. 'From classrooms to NATO command centres, students in Canada and the EU must speak the same digital language.' Their recommendations to make that happen? Launch a joint AI literacy taskforce, standardized educator certification initiative and a research and student exchange program. 'AI is the future. There's no turning back,' Sharma said. Katsman echoed those comments. However, despite Canada's reputation as a world leader in AI research excellence, local universities have shied away from embracing the technology in classrooms due to plagiarism concerns, she noted. Their essay deemed this situation 'Canada's AI paradox,' and argued the lack of AI integration on post-secondary campuses is a major issue for the workforce and innovation at large. Canadian students are not being prepared to use AI tools effectively or responsibly — a stark contrast to what's happening in Estonia, they argued. Estonia's 'AI Leap' pilot aims to equip 20,000 high school students in northern Europe with lessons on how to use AI tools. A total of 3,000 teachers in that country are receiving training to leverage the technology for educational purposes this fall. Policymakers are working with Anthropic and OpenAI, alongside other partners, to create a related curriculum and workshops. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. Sharma and Katsman suggested Canada and the EU learn from Estonia and develop a roadmap accordingly. The U of M students are slated to visit Brussels in the fall to share their ideas with European leaders. Katsman said they are hopeful they will meet Kaja Kallas, who resigned as Estonia's prime minister last year to join the EU government. EU representatives visited Winnipeg in April on a 'Team Europe mission' to the Prairies. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
