This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Two hundred years ago, on November 17, Connecticut ship captain Nathaniel Palmer spotted the Antarctic continent, one of three parties to do so in 1820. Unlike explorers Edward Bransfield and Fabian von Bellingshausen, Palmer was a sealer who quickly saw economic opportunity in…
The lonely limestone mountain of Mount Soratte looms on the horizon north of Rome. Although its height is modest, its peculiar isolation and history enhance its mysterious aura. Goethe in his Italian Journey, described the mountain in these terms: “Soracte stands out by itself in magnificent solitude. Probably this mountain is made of limestone and…
One of the earliest films of 2020 to ride a wave of critical acclaim through the festival circuit is Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland.” Frances McDormand stars as Fran, a hard-working woman who loses her job and everything else in the Great Recession of 2008. Her entire town has gone deserted and, after working a few dead-end…
The Song of Roland is one of the most significant romances in medieval literature, often compared to the legend of King Arthur. During the Renaissance, it was transformed by Italian poets into a two-part epic called Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso, which contained elements of fantasy and even science fiction. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonOne of…
Created and serviced by railroad enthusiasts, the Apple Valley Model Railroad Club operates a free museum of miniature scenes. In 1992, the club received permission from the city to move the organization into the building. The club renovated the structure and incorporated various model trains and railroad artifacts. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong…
The inaugural New Works Virtual Festival, founded by actors Kevin Pollack with Bart Shatto and Jim Auld, kicked off on December 5th and is now running through Christmas Day. It features twenty plays performed online by acclaimed performers and artists. All of the festival’s proceeds will go to The Actors Fund, the 501 (c)(3) charitable organization supporting performers and behind-the-scenes workers…
The Itria Valley in Puglia, Italy, is pockmarked by conical, stone structures, many of them fitting naturally into the fields where farmers built them centuries ago. Near the picturesque village of Locorotondo, one of these trulli stands out for its thick walls and the date of 1559 imprinted near the entrance. Believed to be its date of…
Brokeback Mountain is not a landscape film. Rather, it’s a film that begins in the great outdoors, specifically the beautiful, idyllic mountains of Wyoming, but does everything it can to warn the viewer that it is not, in fact, your typical romantic, grandiose landscape film. Instead of being shot as a classical landscape, these western…
This month, Gastro Obscura is sharing the recipes and stories behind amazing holiday dishes and drinks from around the world in the ongoing series “Home-Cooked Holidays.” On chilly nights during World War II, a potent elixir known as Moose Milk filled the stomachs and soothed the souls of Canadian soldiers. This rich batch cocktail usually…
★★★★ Directed by: King Louie Palomo Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by: King Louie Palomo Starring: Flora Gasser, Mercedes Cabral, Azmyth Jake Tanabe Hernandez Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’,,Film Review by: ,,Jason Knight A mother and her child are visiting grandma. Nene (Gasser)…
Director Vladislav Kozlov’s new film, Immortalist, tackles nothing short of the universal dread of mortality. The legendary Franco Nero plays Paolo, who is dying of terminal cancer. His grandson Max (Jeff DuJardin), an anti-aging company attorney, is determined to save his beloved “Papa” by means of cryonics—the low-temperature freezing of corpses in special canisters in…
“As you see now there’s nothin here any more.” Did you know there is a historic horse culture in Dublin, Ireland? This acclaimed short doc film Saoirse is about “some of the men who genuinely care about their horses as they struggle to keep the remnants of the culture alive.” Better description from Nowness: “Award-winning…
On a tiny atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a remarkable rehabilitation project is playing out. Palmyra Atoll—used as a U.S. military base during World War II—has no permanent human residents, so its exceptionally fertile environment has become an ideal laboratory for understanding how tropical ecosystems are impacted by invasive species: in this…
Latina filmmaker, Stella Hopkins, from Colombia, embarked on the creative experience of a lifetime when helming her directorial debut, “Elyse,” a new psychological thriller co-starring her husband, Oscar-winner Sir Anthony Hopkins. Lisa Pepper stars in the titular role of a troubled woman whose memories and hallucinations become indiscernible from one another, as her life gradually unravels….
Crossing the Streams is our monthly look at all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month, and this time we’re checking out the new Shudder arrivals for December 2020. This month’s titles include A Good Woman is Hard to Find, Luz: The Flower of Evil, a bevy of giallos, and more! The list…
Sports at the center of a film or show have never really caught my attention. If you never have been in that specific athletic world, it’s quite hard to relate to the character’s drive to just win and become the best. It all comes off a bit shallow in my eyes, especially from a storytelling…
“You can never make a good instrument from bad wood,” says Nazih Ghadban, an oud maker in Ras Baalbek, a small town in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. “But you can make a bad instrument from good wood.” Ghadban reaches for one of the instruments hanging on the wall in his workshop, which is not far from…
Cancel Culture earned its toxic nickname. Celebrities and average citizens alike suffer at its hands, even if the latter doesn’t often generate headlines. That reality makes news outlets who preface the phrase with “alleged” or “so-called” guilty of propaganda. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonCancel Culture exists. It’s real. It hurts plenty…
When thinking of the holiday season, thoughts of eggnog, mistletoe, and presents are nestled below the tree, wrapped in the imagination and spirit of Christmas. For many, it is the chance to see the ones they love, while for others it is the chance to bring good will to all. For the youngest of citizens,…
Don’t head all the way out to Newgrange, Co. Meath without taking Knowth into account. Both these Neolithic passage tombs are located in the Boyne Valley, and comprise part of the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site. Constructed by local farmers in 3,200 BCE, the introduction of agriculture meant they could live at a location…
Dun Dornaigil, which is sometimes referred to as Dun Dornadilla, are the impressive remains of a drystone roundhouse known as a broch. The structure sits just above the Strathmore River. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonBroches can only be found in Scotland and usually date back more than 2,000 years. Many researchers believe these…