Movie talk

I am proud to announce that two documentaries which I champion (and executive produce) are nominees at the 5th annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. Melissa Haizlip’s “Mr. Soul!,” an illuminating profile of the groundbreaking television show hosted by the director’s uncle, Ellis Haizlip, received five nominations including Best Documentary Feature, Best First Documentary Feature, Best Archival Documentary, Best Historical/Biographical…

In 1829, head of state Ioannis Kapodistrias made Nafplio the official capital of the newly independent Greece. After Kapodistrias was assassinated in 1831, many parts of the country fell into anarchy. The nations that assisted Greece in their struggle for independence, Britain, France, and Russia, intervened and held a series of meetings on what was…

Jagshemash! While the legacy of Borat Sagdiyev started, for most, in 2006 at the first glance of neon green swimming apparel and an odd conglomerate accent, legendary comic actor Sacha Baron Cohen actually premiered his other half a decade earlier on Da Ali G Show. While Borat as an entity has been around for two…

The Fontana dell’Acqua Felice or Fountain of Moses is a large monumental fountain in Rome, which marks the end of the Acqua Felice aqueduct. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonCompleted during the 1580s, the inauguration of this aqueduct was a historic event as it was the first new aqueduct constructed in Rome…

Despite not being a single continuous road, the Cedar Avenue of Nikkō is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest tree-lined avenue in the world. It’s also the only cultural property designated by the Japanese government as both a Special Historic Site and a Special Natural Monument. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong…

Named for the pink lawn ornaments that make up the exhibit, the Flamingo House is open to the public and is a continuously rotating outdoor display of flamingos in a suburb of Austin, Texas. The owners invite visitors to wander amongst the various displays located on their front lawn.  Read moreA Guide to The Perfect…

Disney’s heroines continue to be their own heroes in Raya and the Last Dragon. The animation king has gotten better about making their female characters proactive in recent years, but their long, storied history gives them plenty of room to backslide. That’s why it’s still refreshing to see them offer up something like Raya, which promises…

Luisenfriedhof II is one of the oldest cemeteries in Berlin and was opened in 1867. It’s known as a cemetery of epidemics and is historically connected with the cholera epidemic that hit Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1831. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe area is based in the middle of urban structures, but still…

Crossing the Streams is our monthly look at all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month, and this time we’re checking out the new Amazon Prime arrivals for November 2020. This month’s titles include five new Steve McQueen films, great movies from Charles Bronson and Jack Nicholson, and more!  Amazon Prime Pick of…

★★★ Directed by #JoeMarcantonio Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by #JoeMarcantonio #JasonMcColgan Starring #TamaraLawrance #FionaShaw #JackLowden Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’,,Film Review by ,,Hope Madden It’s incredibly hard to make a film that feels fresh. Hell, it’s hard to get a film greenlit…

Director David Lugo has a warning for the mainstream media. Citizen journalists are coming, ready to counter the false narratives peddled by the press. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonIn a way, Lugo is part of that movement. His new film, “Antifa: Rise of the Black Flags,” captures the threats posed by…

Like so many things in life, David Lynch‘s filmography is an acquired taste. He’s written and directed 10 surrealistic features navigating the gamut of genres from sci-fi epic (Dune) to murder mystery (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me) and biopic (The Elephant Man, The Straight Story). However, Lynch is known for more than…

It’s quite fascinating when you realize that Cooper Raiff was just 22 when he directed, wrote, acted in, and co-edited his debut feature Shithouse, a gentle and heartwarming college dramedy which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at this year’s South by Southwest. But to solely focus on his age would actually dismiss…

“I pointed my camera at people mostly who needed someone to say something for them… They couldn’t speak for themselves.” I love a good short film that makes me audibly gasp “wow” when watching – and this one did. What Gordon Parks Saw is a fascinating look at the photography of legendary artist / novelist…

One of the world’s most unique and historically significant landmarks can be found tucked away in the northeastern region of Louisiana. Poverty Point was settled by indigenous peoples more than 3,000 years ago over a period of 600 years. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonCharacterized by earthen mounds oriented in a concentric…

This year I was fortunate enough to be reached out to cover a film festival that has never been on my radar. The San Diego Asian Film Festival was founded in 2000 and has been operating as a low-key but important venue for featuring many of the year’s overlooked films by Asian filmmakers. When I…

Geology, history, recreation, public art, and natural wonder can all found on an acre of granite and sand known as Sharp’s Island. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe Piedmont meets the Coastal Plain along the James River, with north-south rapids bisecting the island. The area makes for amazing fishing, especially during the…

When the Wainwright State Office Building was completed in 1891, it towered ten floors over the city of St. Louis and won the praise of critics and passersby alike. The exterior of the building is composed of terra cotta. The design was the brainchild of  Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho…

Until 1976, the extent of this Iron Age hill fort at the summit of Sunnyhill near Clun in Shropshire, England was unknown. When a massive storm in 1976 removed many of the trees at the summit, the importance of the site was revealed. Multiple rings of ditches and embankments were revealed and heightened the historic…

Pandemic content is here with Songbird, the latest from co-writer and director Adam Mason. Few people were asking for pandemic content. After the world shut down and we all watched Contagion everyone seemed to drift to more feel-good material, trying to get our minds off the strange world we’ve existed in for much of 2020. But…