In my review, I have expressed how the Sundance 2021 short Doublespeak affected me as a viewer. It’s a devastating and sadly common subject matter, carried to the screen with beautiful and nuanced direction and performances. Even with a nine-minute runtime, the film leaves an impact just as powerful as a full-length feature film would….
At first glance, an horno does not make much of an impression. Spanish for “oven,” it looks like little more than mounds of mud: Imagine a giant avocado pit halved and placed flat-side down with a window cut out of it. And yet, award-winning designer Ronald Rael wants to build hundreds of these centuries-old furnaces….
Too often, sexual harassment is framed as an isolated incident between the abuser and the abused. Though we are starting to see days of reckoning for prominent men in power, there are still countless other stories and experiences that go unnoticed, and they will remain unnoticed until we – women and men – actively change…
A Glitch in the Matrix is very much in the tradition of Rodney Ascher‘s shrewd, media-savvy filmic compositions, and yet, its inspired construction and ambitious mission statement propel it to the top tiers of an already distinctive filmography. There’s a lot to unpack with this movie. From the outset, the very title, “A Glitch in…
Baby Done, directed by Curtis Vowell and written by Sophie Henderson, is a New Zealand comedy exploring the impacts a pregnancy has on a couple. Zoe (Rose Matafeo) and Tim (Matthew Lewis) react differently to the news. Zoe and Tim both worry about doing everything before the baby comes, but for Zoe, this means going…
On April 26, 1777, a messenger arrived at the home of Henry Ludington, a farmer and militia leader living in Danbury, Connecticut. He brought word that troops from the colony’s British governor were attacking the town to root out revolutionaries. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe militiamen had all dispersed to their…
To describe the Flume Trail as breathtaking is more than hyperbole. At over 8,100 feet at its highest point, this 14-mile route can overwhelm the lungs and senses. Perched 1,600 feet above Lake Tahoe’s eastern shore, the views are like no other in the region. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe sheer…
Rising 112 feet above the city’s historic quarter, construction on this lighthouse began in 1845. Designed by soldiers, the project was placed on-hold due to the outbreak of civil war. Work wasn’t officially completed until 1857. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonBuilt-in 1690, the Convent of San Francisco Javier was close to…
The prince returns in Coming 2 America, the latest from director Craig Brewer. 32 years after Eddie Murphy introduced us to his African prince in search of a wife, he brings the character back for another round of fish out of water hilarity. This time, though, he comes to America in search of his long-lost son, and instead…
This story is excerpted and adapted from Annalee Newitz’s Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, published in February 2021 by W. W. Norton. When I arrived in Phnom Penh during Cambodia’s dry season in January, I stumbled through the streets in a jet-lagged daze, barely seeing the dense city around me….
Director Kevin Macdonald has transformed the inhumanity of America’s Guantanamo Bay camp into a motion picture banked solely on its antithesis. The Mauritanian, the two-time Golden Globe-nominated film (with nominations in performances for stars Jodie Foster and Tahar Rahim) follows the legal journey of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Muslim man suspected of aiding the 9/11 terrorist attacks who was…
Coming down from the high that was last week’s explosive Untucked episode, where Tamisha Iman and Kandy Muse entertained the masses with their bickering and fighting, this week’s episode is a bit of a breather. But man, what it lacks in bombastic drama, it more than makes up for with some of the most blatant editing…
★★★ Writer & Directed by: #JamesDavis Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonStarring: #LowriJenkins, #RichardNichols, #CharlieThould Short Film Review by Taryll Baker Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’A fairytale crazed boy battles between fantasy and reality when coming to terms with his fathers death in the…
On March 11, 2017, Graeme Brown brought a GoPro on a journey through time. It was a short walk, about a third of a mile, but encapsulated nearly 150 years of history. Starting from Hampden Park, the current home of Queen’s Park Football Club and the Scottish national soccer team, Brown headed to Cathkin Park,…
Adam Stovall’s A Ghost Waits is a low-budget rom-com with a ghastly twist. While most ghost stories exploit the haunted house formula for gore and horror, A Ghost Waits takes a more darkly funny and understatedly dour approach that deals with the futility of existence and the need for connection. Jack (MacLeod Andrews) is employed…
Since it was torn down on November 9, 1989, segments of the Berlin Wall have made their way all over the globe, from Singapore to New York, Reykjavik, Culver City, Las Vegas, Seattle, and, though few seem to be aware of it, St. Petersburg, Florida. These slabs, which come from the eastern side of the…
“Raya – this isn’t the world I want you to live in.” Disney has debuted another new full international trailer for Disney Animation’s Raya and the Last Dragon, their exciting new adventure comedy arriving on Disney+ and in theaters this March. We just featured the Super Bowl spot over the weekend, and they’re finally showing…
The discovery of gold at Ballarat in 1851 sparked Victoria’s famous gold rush of the 1850s. This led to the most significant event in the evolution of the state of Victoria, the mass migration of people from across the globe to the region hoping to strike it rich. It’s believed that at the height of…
For years whenever China told Hollywood to jump, the industry had but one answer … how high? Studios drooled over China’s vast theatrical marketplace, with millions of movie goers eager to watch American popcorn franchises like “Fast & Furious.” And they did just that while filmmakers followed the country’s strict rules at every step. Adding…
To visitors walking uphill within Tsarevets Fortress to Ascension Cathedral, the structure looks like any medieval church, following a Byzantine design and topped with crosses. But the interior is unlike that of any other Christian building. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonIn the fifth century, the hilltop was already the site of…
A man tells a story like his life depends on it (because it does) in Night of the Kings, the latest from director Philippe Lacôte. The young man wasn’t sure what to expect from La Maca, but he sure wasn’t expecting storytime. The isolated prison is run by the prisoners themselves, so when he arrived…