Arts & Culture

Photo courtesy Our City Tonight

Photo courtesy Netflix Canada

Photo courtesy Obscured Releasing

OUR CITY Tonight: Spotlight Offers Autumn Viewing & Sipping

By Richmond Sentinel

Published 4:25 PDT, Wed August 26, 2026

Last Updated: 11:41 PDT, Thu August 27, 2026

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THE VIEW #1 – Mourinho

The World Cup excitement is now a summer memory that we hope created more soccer (or football) fans here in Canada. For us, long-time fans of the English Premier League (aka EPL, and we think the best domestic soccer league on the planet), there was a natural interest in viewing the new limited series called Mourinho. The 3 episodes are all about the self-proclaimed “special one”, coaching legend, Jose Mourinho. There always seemed to be no middle ground with Mourinho - you either love him or despise him (despise was how we often felt early in this century when he was coaching – and often winning - as head coach at Chelsea FC). He was also able to win in most of Europe’s top leagues while coaching Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Porto. From the producers who gave us the limited series, Beckham, this series benefits from 2 years of filming, exclusive access to Jose Mourinho, and observations from legends like Sir Alex Ferguson, John Terry, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Didier Drogba, Marcelo, Samuel Eto'o, Javier Zanetti, Frank Lampard, and Petr Čech. If these names mean anything to you, Mourinho is a series you’ll enjoy. It’s available now on Netflix. www.netflix.com

THE SIP – Fig and the Bear

As the weather begins to cool, we move, for the first time since last April, from summer cocktails to ones that warm you up on an autumn night. With that in mind, we turned to one of our “cocktail experts”, Connor Polishak, bartender at the popular Yaletown restaurant, The Flying Pig. His choice this time for our readers is a cocktail called Fig and the Bear. “This is a fun, Old-Fashioned variation made with a Canadian whiskey called BareFace,” he tells us as we watch him create the cocktails for us, “as well as just a little bit of fig syrup and a few drops of pistachio bitters, which you should be able to find in bartending shops like Modern Bartender.” Connor picked this drink because you get the summer-like taste of figs on their way out seasonally, with the stronger but still fun notes of caramel, and then with the pistachio, just a little bit lighter, a more fun variation on an Old-Fashioned that can be kind of heavy and dark as we move into those heavier or darker months. “The fig syrup might not be the easiest thing to find,” he tells, “but if you're willing to break the Old-Fashioned mould and go outside the box and play around with different syrups and different bitters, you can have a lot of fun, while also finding spirits that work for you, be it mezcal, bourbon, and Canadian ryes and whiskies.” After your whisky is chosen, simply pour a solid 2 oz. of whatever syrup you're using, and then a few dashes of bitters, depending on how strong your bitters are or how much you want those bitter flavours to come through. Stir that for about 20 seconds or until you feel like it's chilled through. You don't want it to dilute too much, and then strain onto either a big ice cube or whatever ice you have around. Our verdict: The Fig and Bear is a cocktail we’ll be enjoying throughout the winter nights. www.theflyingpigvan.com

THE VIEW #2 – Westhampton

We offer another film with a unique story called Westhampton. It introduces us to Tom Bell (Finn Wittrock), a filmmaker who is haunted and tormented by his latest film, which centres around a car crash he (and the lead character in his film) caused years earlier while in high school. Years later, Tom returns to that small town on Long Island to reluctantly confront his past and the people who were affected by that incident long ago. Much of the town looks at Tom as a pariah and, also because of his biographical film, a parasite for exploiting the town and their lives for his film. Where the film’s writer/director Christian Nilsson succeeds is in the writing - blending Tom’s homecoming with the black-and-white film Tom made. We see two stories play out while Tom navigates the pain he’s caused and the guilt and torment he feels. This is really a protagonist “warts and all” portrayal of Tom Bell and his return home and to his past. Finn Wittrock delivers a powerful, vulnerable performance as Bell, with a strong supporting cast including RJ Mitte, Jake Weary and Amy Forsyth. Westhampton is available for home viewing. www.obscuredreleasing.com