That wink. Over six decades in film and television, from her breakout film work playing characters as varied as obsessed stalkers and sharp coeds, to her TV ubiquity on various hour-long procedurals about lawyers and the FBI, to her memeification as two of TV’s most formidable mothers, that wink told you Jessica Walter was willing…
On the western shore of the Chao Phraya river, south of the Wat Arun temple, lies Bangkok’s small Siamese-Portuguese enclave, Kudeejeen. Within its maze of narrow alleyways that weave past aging teakwood houses lies a 250-year-history of cultural commingling. In that time, the neighborhood has been home to Siamese-Portuguese, Thai, and Chinese residents of different…
“Looking for mutual respect, but you got your foot on my neck!” This extraordinary short film has been a decade in the making. Enough (stylized as enough.) is a short music video doc profiling the life of musician / hip-hop artist Nathan Nzanga. “A dream, a nightmare, a musical. Ten years in the making, welcome…
The movie Watchmen, released in 2009, adapts the beloved 80s graphic novel of the same name. The source material is an iconic deconstruction of superhero tropes and a subtle examination of cultural values. It examines ethical and philosophical systems through an immersive and conflicting narrative and was generally a cultural moment. If you don’t know…
“We will reveal a world that has long been hidden from our eyes.” Netflix has released a trailer for a series titled Life in Color with David Attenborough, which is debuting streaming on Earth Day this year. This nature doc is another beautiful exploration of life on Planet Earth, focusing on the many ways animals…
On the night of August 15, 1952, disaster struck the village of Lynmouth in north Devon. Swollen by days of heavy rainfall, the East and West Lyn rivers burst through their walls, sending a torrential flood hurdling through the seaside town. The fast-moving floodwaters carried hundreds of thousands of pounds of rocks and other debris,…
To many people around the world, the all-but-certain prospect of a new volcanic eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula sounded ominous. But in March 2021, when lava rushed out of a fissure in a valley named Geldingadalur—a comfortable six miles away from the nearest town, Grindavík—those in Iceland were nothing but thrilled. The public was exhilarated…
The saturation of mass shootings in America leaves a lot out of the national conversation, especially anything resembling a long-term consequence. What happens in a heartbroken town once the news trucks pack up and head to the next crime scene? This is what Megan Park‘s debut feature as a writer-director – appropriately titled The Fallout –…
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, home of the titular big red desert rock in the middle of Australia, gets about a foot of rain a year. On Sunday, March 22, it got a big chunk of its annual dose in under 24 hours, resulting in spectacular sights around the sandstone behemoth that is Uluru. “While it…
With two high-octane seasons in the kitty, Formula 1: Drive to Survive became one of the most popular docuseries created by Netflix. Fans like me had been eagerly waiting for the third season to drop on 19th March and re-inject the dose of adrenaline rush. So, does the drama in the 2020 season measure up to the…
The empty and uninhabitable land that holds many secrets. The place where time, space and logic doesn’t work the way we all used to, the room that grants any wish to anyone who enters it obviously attracts a lot of broken souls that search for the last solution, curious people and gentlemen of fortune who…
As the story goes, Dr. John Hall Smith, the founder of Middlesex University was traveling through Ireland and saw Lismore Castle. Smith was so impressed with the castle that he asked to bring it back with him. The owners denied his request. Smith then asked for the blueprints, only to be told no again. Not…
★★★ Directed by: Evan Kidd Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by: Evan Kidd Starring: Damien Elliott Bynum, Melissa Cowan Rattray Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’Film Review by: Vikas Yadav Each one of us has our own way of dealing with grief. The pain…
Most people associate the British parliament with the Palace of Westminster, the iconic home of the green benches and Big Ben. While the palace on the Thames has hosted parliaments since the 12th-century, it’s not an exclusive host. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonLong before the United Kingdom existed, medieval England was…
Open for just 11 years, Maine North High School shuttered permanently in 1981 due to low attendance. However, a few years later, it reopened its doors temporarily to a handful of students who collectively became known as The Breakfast Club. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonBecause Maine North’s library was too small…
A smoothie shop employee with butterflies in his stomach and a bleeding right hand sits next to an older gentleman on a bench. “Can I ask you something?” he prefaces. The worker then proceeds to babble about his crush, Maria. Should he follow her to New York City, and leave Florida behind? The older man…
I appreciate a film like The Spine of Night for throwing out storytelling conventions one would expect out of the fantasy genre. At times, it has more similarities with the works of H.P. Lovecraft than that of J.R.R. Tolkien. Meanwhile, the film keeps you constantly aware that it was painstakingly animated via rotoscope animation. The…
Just south of Lake Isabella in Bodfish, California sits a collection of old mining buildings arranged around a large courtyard. These ramshackle structures date as far back as the 1850s. They all hail from an era when gold fever struck the region. The towns all quickly became abandoned as gold deposits dried up. The various…
“Nobody” casts Bob Odenkirk as Hutch Mansell, a family man whose life is a mix of quality family time, working out and routine irritations, like forgetting to take out the trash in time. One night, Hutch finds his home being robbed, an incident that alters how his family views him after he fails to fight…
These 87 rocks, one from each of Minnesota’s counties, all carry an excerpt from a letter either to or from a deployed serviceman. The messages are a mix of sentimental and humorous, but all are a reminder of the importance of the family at home to those deployed on active service. The letters from which…
“Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times!” The fight for democracy captured on camera. Do Not Split 不割席 is an excellent short documentary by filmmaker Anders Hammer, who was on the streets in Hong Kong filming the protests in 2019. After premiering at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, the film earned a Best Documentary Short…