Around International Film Awards is a network-based film collective built around the ideas of community, creativity, and support for independent cinema which is celebrating its 8th anniversary in 2021, and has just wrapped up its 2020 edition. The festival, which started off online and has continued with in-person events for a few years, has decided…
For Peter Glazebrook, there was one bright spot to 2020. A leek he entered into last year’s Mansfield Grow Show, which judges declared to be a monstrous four feet long, won him a new world record. “That makes 16 world records I’ve held over the years,” Glazebrook wrote to me recently, via email. “However, it’s…
The current asking price for a Ruby in Paradise DVD on Amazon sits well over $1,000. Its director, Floridian filmmaker Victor Nunez, has three copies sitting on his shelf – three times as many as the Internet may lead you to believe even exist. Despite its accolades (a glowing Roger Ebert review and a Grand Jury Prize win…
The Walt Disney Company has a history of making great films about animals, nature and the harsh realities of living in the wild. Near the top of that list is Randal Kleiser’s 1991 “White Fang,” a mid-sized hit in theaters that is probably best remembered as an early vehicle for its star, Ethan Hawke. The…
After her iconic turn as Amy Dunne in 2014’s Gone Girl, any movie starring Rosamund Pike as a badass yet sociopathic woman was sure to turn heads. Pike taps into some of that Amazing Amy energy for I Care A Lot, a dark comedy thriller about a legal guardian who profits off her elderly clients. Things turn dangerous when she…
Ajay Giri juggles an eight-foot king cobra in one hand and a snake hook in the other. The cobra’s forked tongue flicks. Its tail, coiled around Giri’s left arm, twitches restlessly. Hay, huts, fields, and farmers are all scorched under the afternoon sun at Heggodu, an agricultural village bordering the Agumbe Reserve Forest. Here, deep…
Werner Härtl’s works have the warm tones of Renaissance-era sepia drawings, the monochromatic beauty of early photographs, and a richness of detail that recalls prints by Albrecht Dürer. His preferred medium offers myriad expressive possibilities, is environmentally friendly, costs him nothing, and is abundantly available in the Alpine foothills the artist calls home. Härtl is…
According to legends, a bat-winged, scaley dragon terrorized the villagers who lived near the region of Wantley (modern-day Wharncliffe Crags). The beast was massive and could swallow trees and buildings. The dragon was nearly invincible to any weapons, save for one rather sensitive spot. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonA knight by…
Horror films for decades, and arguably since their induction, have found inspiration from real-life horrors that have surrounded their creators – and real life in general. It is these horror films, born out of reality, that scare us the most; the thread of real-life woven into jump scares, gore and hauntings. The Vigil, from writer…
Nestled among the multifold memorials of Mount View Cemetery in historic Galt, now part of Cambridge in southern Ontario, the tombstone of Millicent Milroy stands out. It’s not for its imposing size or defining black granite construction. Rather, it is because Milroy was the onetime partner of Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, more…
Along the Via del Portico d’Ottavia resides a large inscription on a historical building that celebrates the former owner’s love for his city and its glorious classical past. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonLorenzo Manilio, a spice merchant who lived during the second half of the 15th-century, built himself a large mansion…
One of Disney’s greatest baddies gets the live-action treatment in Cruella, the latest from director Craig Gillespie. The daringly fashionable puppy killer from One Hundred and One Dalmatians is an instantly recognizable portrait of evil, so thoroughly bad that I’m not sure anyone has given a second thought to how she got so cruel. Most of us…
Although Hallstatt is the first thing that pops up on maps when viewing the Obertraun in the Austrian Alps, there is much more to the area than a quaint little town. Visitors to the Dachstein Mountains will find a free observation deck that offers astonishing views. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonNamed 5…
The South Korean independent film “Moving On,” which is set in Inchon (a port city near Seoul), mainly revolves around a young adolescent girl named Ok-joo (Choi Jung-woon) and her little younger brother Dong-joo (Park Seung-joo). The opening scene shows them on a bright summer day, moving out from their shabby apartment building along with…
Walking into this pub near the westerly end of Oxford Street, visitors may think that they have time-traveled back to the Victorian period. The bar is indeed from the late 1800s and features historic fixtures like a “snob screen,” a panel of etched glass that swivels, allowing the patrons to have an air of privacy between…
“Just send one of your teeth down the drain…” This is definitely one monster I do not ever want to meet… Milk Teeth is an award-winning 13-minute horror short film from Colombian-American filmmaker Felipe Vargas, who is making his way in the industry establishing himself with excellent shorts. This picked up a few awards at…
In mid-August, 17-year-old Lynette Alvarez and her aunt, Nellie Botello, put on matching camouflage snake guards and steel-toed boots for their work gathering prickly pear cactus fruit. Snake-season is year round in the Arizona desert, and there are baby rattlesnakes in the summer that may not make warning rattles yet. Along with a handful of…
Streaming might be the future, but physical media is still the present. It’s also awesome, depending on the title, the label, and the release, so each week we take a look at the new Blu-rays and DVDs making their way into the world. Welcome to this week in Home Video for February 23rd, 2021! This week’s…
In a cinematic field overflowing with VOD content vying for attention and dollars, it’s an uphill battle to get your content (sorry, Scorsese) noticed today. It’s an even tougher journey to gain the respect of film lovers. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonProducer Dallas Sonnier, however, did exactly that when he scorched…
Page To Screen is a column examining literary adaptations in conversation with their source material. Call up your book club and set out some canapés, we’re talking reading. I have yet to watch Love, Victor, the sequel series to the 2018 gay teen romance film, Love, Simon. But when I do I hope the series treats Victor better…
On the Mongolian steppe, there are predators, there are prey, and there are the bankhar. These large, powerful dogs weigh up to 125 pounds, with shaggy, thick coats that give them a bear-like appearance. For 15,000 years, bankhar dogs have been the guardians of the steppe. In these grasslands, sheep and other livestock kept by…