Cengiz Özek sits at his desk in the dimly lit back office of his shadow theater near Taksim Square in central Istanbul. The theater is one of the last in operation in the city. He holds a piece of camel leather, a transparent sheet of paper with some sketches on it, and a small cutter….
In the North Devon resort town of Ilfracombe stands an unusual sculpture, created by the often-controversial contemporary artist Damien Hirst. Standing 66.4 feet tall, Verity depicts a naked pregnant woman holding up a sword toward the sky and carrying the scales of justice. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonOn the other side her…
Welcome to Horrorscope, a monthly column keeping horror nerds and initiates up to date on all the genre content coming to and leaving from your favorite streaming services. Here’s a guide to all the essential horror streaming in March 2021. March has got me feeling a certain kind of way. This month marks the one-year…
Farmer Kristyn Leach wants to talk about her delicious harvest from last year. “Progress is good,” she tells me. As it happens, that’s a huge understatement. Kitazawa Seed Company, the retailer that sells Leach’s heirloom seed varieties, reports that sales are up tenfold. “Her seeds are just flying out the door. It’s pretty phenomenal,” says…
One of the first sounds you hear in Jurgis Matuelevičius‘ Isaac is the Wilhelm scream. Over the years, the effect – one of the most overused and saturated in the business – has worn out any dramatic stature it may have once had. It’s a misleading introduction to Isaac. A disorienting one. For what follows is a…
Fans of John Carney‘s work will find much to love in this sweet, poignant tale from Korean director Shim Chang-yang. Like the Irish auteur’s work – specifically Once and Sing Street – Da Capo finds resonance from a bittersweet concept and mines it to full effect, combining gentle comedy with beautiful music and some wistful…
Crossing the Streams is a series of columns spotlighting all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month. This time we’re checking out the new Netflix arrivals for March 2021, including new movies from Jennifer Garner, Olga Kurylenko, and Amy Poehler, a new series featuring Sherlock Holmes, and more! Keep reading to see what’s…
On Washington State’s Protection Island, Marty Bluewater stands alone. A colony of gulls swoop and squawk around the sandy bluffs where he looks out to the sea, watching tufted puffins bob in the water in search of fish to feed their young. His morning music is the sound of waves crashing onto the beach below,…
Although the year 2020 will almost certainly be remembered mostly for the rise of COVID-19 and the subsequent socio-economic ramifications of that, it was also a year in which the role of police was questioned. The death of George Floyd and the rise of Black Lives Matter mean it’s an incredibly relevant topic to address,…
Not even a minute into the new Tom & Jerry movie, I wanted to turn it off. Do not fall for its appearance. It may feature some of the longest lasting icons in all of animation. It may feature my entire childhood writ large on screen, but viewers beware: This is not the William Hanna…
A stone’s throw from the Dickie Bird statue, also crafted by local sculptor Graham Ibbeson, is the tribute to the 1866 Oaks colliery disaster. The incident claimed the lives of 361 miners when firedamp caused huge explosions in the shafts. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe sculpture depicts a woman carrying a…
Welcome to One Perfect Monster — our 2021 One Perfect Shot bracket project. Stay tuned by bookmarking this page or follow along with #OnePerfectMonster on Twitter. Last year, we explored the realm of perfect TV show bingeability with the One Perfect Binge bracket. And while it was fun to watch two shows about small-screen monsters…
Johannes Gutenberg introduced the printing press to Europe after tinkering with the Chinese invention towards the middle of the 15th-century. It would take several more decades before this revolutionary mechanism found its way to the British Isles. It wouldn’t be until the 1500s when the city of York got its first printing press. The street…
Surrounded by crumbling walls and a sprawling English park, the Rusovce Mansion is a decaying example of neoclassical architecture. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThere are records of a castle at this location dating back to 1266, but today visitors to the area will only see this once-glorious white mansion constructed between 1840…
★ Directed by: #SamSeen Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonMusic by: #SamSeen, #4R3X Film review by William Hemingway Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’Soooo…… it’s a head on a table. No wait, hang on, that makes it sound far more interesting and exciting than it…
Just south of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, an impressive structure rises from the shores of the Pasquotank River. The large, silvery dome measures 20 stories tall and nearly a thousand feet wide. While it might look like a futuristic laboratory, this building is actually one of the few remaining structures that were built during World…
It’s time for a dog’s-eye perspective with Stray, the feature debut of director Elizabeth Lo. The streets of Istanbul are filled with dogs thanks to Turkey’s rules regarding the stray population. They live alongside humans but aren’t really domesticated like the canine companions that live in people’s homes, creating an odd dichotomy that plays out…
Olympic Sculpture Park located in Seattle’s Belltown is not far from the famous Space Needle, and a short drive from the famous Pike’s Place Public Market. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonSculpture Park is nine acres filled with monumental artworks, amazing views of Eliot Bay, and a monolithic work entitled “Wake.” Located…
The Atlas Obscura Podcast is finally here! Join me, Dylan Thuras, cofounder of Atlas Obscura, and our incredible team of reporters and editors, on a daily (Monday-Thursday) exploration and celebration of some of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places. With each episode, The Atlas Obscura Podcast is a daily escape, in 15 minutes…
This month’s installment of The Unloved pays long overdue tribute to one of the most fearless filmmakers alive. Bruce LaBruce has been synonymous with boundary pushing and risk-taking for most of my lifetime, and it was high time to pay him tribute. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonHis new film “Saint-Narcisse” is maybe his best…
In 1909, archaeologists excavating the city of Pompeii uncovered a Roman villa that still contained painted frescoes on the walls of one of its rooms. The artwork depicted the mystery rites of a religious cult associated with Dionysus. Images included scenes of women cavorting with fauns and winged figures, and undergoing ritual ecstasies, dancing, and…