The term “elegant” isn’t one often used to describe summer movies, but it’s the word that comes to mind the quickest when I think of Brian De Palma’s “Mission: Impossible.” The first in a long franchise (with the seventh and eighth installments scheduled to open this year and the next), De Palma’s film was a…
In December, HBO dropped one of the best single episodes of television in 2020 in “Euphoria Part 1: Rue,” a standalone chapter forced into existence by the pandemic that caught viewers up with the fallout after the end of the first season of the Emmy-winning drama. The yin to its yang premieres this weekend in…
★ Directed by: #SudiptoNag Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonStarring: #AmitavaNag, #PratimaManna, #SayanKar Short Film Review by Taryll Baker Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’I’m not really sure what the intention was with this short film from Sudipto Nag. Just Like Another Day is, well,…
What do Star Wars, the Last Airbender, and Super Mario have in common? According to Varta Melon, they all belong on tahdig. Melon is a Chicago-based baker and blogger. But what started as a food blog to introduce followers to Persian cuisine has transformed into an Instagram account that documents just how innovation and artistic…
“Have you ever felt something for an object?” Dark Star Pictures has released an official US trailer for the French indie Jumbo, which originally premiered at last year’s Sundance & Berlin Film Festivals. Finally! I’ve been waiting for this to get released, because it’s an underrated, kinky, quirky gem that deserves to be seen. Jeanne,…
When Jackson Hudecki walks through Woodland Cemetery on a cold December morning, the place is almost empty, save for a few people visiting a gravestone, a woman walking her dog, and a small group of birders armed with binoculars and scopes. The century-old cemetery sits atop a bluff overlooking Hamilton Harbour on the west tip…
For more than two centuries, the White House has stood as a symbol of democracy and resilience in the face of change—a symbolism that carries particular poignance following the turmoil of the 2020 election and its aftermath. The stories embedded in its decor, artwork, hallways, and chambers capture colorful moments and occasional upheavals in American…
“The best music and the best whiskey come from the same part of the country.” Gather ’round and revisit this classic country music documentary film Heartworn Highways. Rarely screened, the beloved 1976 documentary portrait of the outlaw country movement will be re-released nationwide in virtual cinemas on February 5th this winter. In the mid-’70s, filmmaker…
This newest incarnation of Saved by the Bell developed by Tracey Wigfield–creator of the undervalued comedy Great News–expertly blends its nostalgia with quick-paced comedy and an update of the original show for a modern teen audience. Genre and Classroom Blending Saved by the Bell is a heartfelt, satirical, and hilarious update of a classic, and often-revisited…
“Breaking Fast” is a sweet romantic comedy that shows how it’s possible to observe nearly every convention of the mainstream romantic comedy yet still deliver something that feels new. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten and directed by Mike Mosallam, the movie follows the romantic adventures of Mo (Haaz Sleiman, “The Visitor”), a…
Chris Marker is the best example of a self-made and self-styled auteur whose sole vision is entirely of his own making. Even his best-known works, the time-traveling photo-film short La Jette, or the free-flowing travelogue, part essay documentary Sans Soliel defy categorization or simplistic explanation. Marker‘s ethereal presence permeates his work (and even his enigmatic…
One journey, full of hope, turns into the start of an aching search for answers in Fernanda Valadez’s “Identifying Features.” This artful Mexican drama begins when Jesús (Juan Jesús Varela) tells his mother Magdalena (Mercedes Hernández) that he is going north to the United States with a friend for a job opportunity. But months pass,…
Condercum, or Benwell as it’s now called, was one of 13 permanent forts along Hadrian’s Wall. The fort itself can no longer be visited, as it’s covered on the north side by a Victorian reservoir and to the south by 1930s housing. However, this housing estate does hide a few surprises. Read moreA Guide to The…
The Cemetery Dieweg was constructed after a cholera epidemic ravaged Belgium in 1866. As the population grew and other cemeteries closed, Dieweg became overcrowded and the cemetery was abandoned in 1958. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonA few decades later during the 1980s, the cemetery fell into a state of decay. Its…
Near the end of the “Wrong Turn” reboot the main characters drop a boulder-sized Easter Egg. The aside, which won’t be revealed here, shrugs at how the film jettisoned the key element from the previous “Wrong Turn” features. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonBig mistake. Not only does the new “Wrong Turn”…
In my experience, musicals are polarizing. Part character study, part spectacle, not always much in the way of plot — it takes a certain type. Movie adaptations of musicals are even more extreme. They bring the show to a larger audience in a more accessible format but often do so in a way that positively…
When it comes to the SR-71 and the stories surrounding the Lockheed’s Skunk Works program that created it, the mystique is undeniable. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonOnly 32 SR-71 aircraft were constructed, and 29 of those were SR-71A models. Two trainers, designated SR-71B, were also created. The last SR-71, the SR-71C,…
This unassuming, but attractive brick building happens to be the birthplace of several devices and technologies that changed the world. In 1869, the first monkey wrench was crafted inside this building. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThis was also the same location that Thomas A. Watson answered the first phone call made…
★★★★ Directed by #RaminBahrani Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by #RaminBahrani Starring #AdarshGourav Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’Film Review by Hope Madden Rarely do we root for the social climber. Certainly not the social climber who intentionally harms others of his station, unabashedly…
“Being in the public with a camera was no different to being in public with a weapon because of how much it could affect reality.” This outstanding short documentary film takes us to the Balkan country of Kosovo, into the town of Ferizaj (Google Maps), a small city desolated by war located in the south…
This white, gabled KFC could be mistaken for a particularly good-looking roadside fast-food restaurant, were it not for the fact that it’s on the National Register of Historic Places. This building was the first place to sell what would become known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, and a yellow neon sign with the restaurant’s original name,…