Japanese Covered Bridge in Thành phố Hội An, Vietnam

Japanese Covered Bridge in Thành phố Hội An, Vietnam

Hoi An is an old port city in central Vietnam that flourished from the 16th to 19th-century, attracting traders from Japan, China, and Europe. Its historic district, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as the Hoi An Ancient Town, was divided between the Chinese and Japanese quarters, connected by a beautiful arched bridge. Read…

Inside Rome’s Secure Vault for Stolen Art

Inside Rome’s Secure Vault for Stolen Art

When a ceramic relief depicting the Madonna with Child was returned to the church of Scansano in Tuscany, Italy, after five decades of absence, the town threw a solemn celebration. The local bishop, priest, prefect, mayor, and law enforcement officials all attended. On a September morning in 2020, a crowd gathered. The torso-sized relief was…

A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A New and Visually Striking Adaptation

A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A New and Visually Striking Adaptation

Although the Virgin birth may be the founding narrative of the Christmas holiday, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is the urtext for how we tell Christmas stories. Ebenezer Scrooge has reached archetypal status as the misanthrope who, through various difficulties in life, becomes tight-fisted, forgets the virtues of caring for others, the pleasure of communing…

Monument to the Fallen of Dogali in Rome, Italy

Monument to the Fallen of Dogali in Rome, Italy

The Monument to the Fallen of Dogali (Monumento ai Caduti di Dogali) is a memorial, located in Rome, dedicated to  the fallen Italian soldiers of the Battle of Dogali. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThis battle was fought in 1887 between Italians and Ethiopia in modern-day Eritrea, during the Italian colonial expansion in…

Carn Laith in Highland, Scotland

Carn Laith in Highland, Scotland

Brochs are tall, round, stone houses that date back to Scotland’s Bronze Age.  Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThey were constructed from two layers of drystone walls which actually supported each other, making it possible to build these tall structures. The tallest known broch is around 42-feet (13-meters) in height. Carn Laith…

St Catherine’s Oratory in Isle of Wight, England

St Catherine’s Oratory in Isle of Wight, England

Also known as the “Pepperpot,”  St Catherine’s Oratory stands at one of the highest points of the Isle of Wight. The 35-foot octagonal tower is Britain’s second oldest lighthouse after Dover’s Roman beacon, and as such, the Pepperpot has overseen much of the island’s history. Its creation, however, tells perhaps its most enlightening tale. Read…

The College of Psychic Studies in London, England

The College of Psychic Studies in London, England

Founded in 1884 by an erudite group of Victorians, The College of Psychic Studies has long championed education and research in consciousness studies, psychic mediumship, and the intuitive arts.  Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe college is located in a beautifully preserved 19th-century home and is a haven for all things esoteric….

Sleepless Beauty

Sleepless Beauty

The Russian torture porn throwback “Sleepless Beauty” is a nasty endurance test, the sort of calling card genre exercise whose relentless extremity—both in terms of its explicit and psychological violence—often seems to be a goal unto itself. In this badly post-dubbed locked room thriller, unsuspecting teacher Mila (Polina Davydova) is kidnapped and broken down in…

Love you Madly: Dave Zoller, 1941-2020

Love you Madly: Dave Zoller, 1941-2020

Pianist, composer and arranger Dave Zoller died at 9:40 a.m. Central time in his home in Dallas, Texas, in a hospital bed in his living room, four feet away from his baby grand piano. His death was attended by his partner of eight years, Liz Sutherland, and his older son, Matt Zoller Seitz. Liz and Matt…

New Extended Preview for ‘Small Axe’ Anthology Arriving This Month

New Extended Preview for ‘Small Axe’ Anthology Arriving This Month

“As individuals, we have an impossible battle. As a collective, we stand a chance.” Amazon has released a final “extended preview” trailer for Steve McQueen’s Small Axe, his thrilling new anthology of five films streaming on Prime Video later this month. A few of them just premiered at the New York & London Film Festivals…

5 Under-The-Radar Films from TIFF to Watch for Independent Film-Lovers

5 Under-The-Radar Films from TIFF to Watch for Independent Film-Lovers

The recently concluded 45th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival was the first to have been stricken by the circumstances that the entire world has been suffering from. Despite the ongoing pandemic, the folks at the Toronto International Film Festival were able to put on an incredible show with an astounding amount of variety…

Zurviving film review

Zurviving film review

★★★★ Directed by: Brian Largo Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by: Brian Largo Starring: Brian Largo Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’,,Film Review by: ,,Jason Knight It’s a zombie apocalypse! In the movie world that usually means viewers are going to see zombies running…

Operation Christmas Drop Netflix Film Review

Operation Christmas Drop Netflix Film Review

★★★ Directed by: Martin Wood Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by: Gregg Rossen, Brian Sawyer Starring: Kat Graham, Alexander Ludwig, Virginia Madsen Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’Netflix Film Review by: ,,Chris Olson Operation Christmas Drop Film Review Kat Graham and Alexander Ludwig star…

How Acupuncture Became a Radical Remedy in the Bronx

How Acupuncture Became a Radical Remedy in the Bronx

In the early 2000s, Juan Cortez was living in New York City and battling a years-long addiction to drugs, when he noticed a crowd of people standing outside a building on East 140th Street in the Bronx. Recognizing the group as fellow users, he approached and asked what was inside the building. Cortez, who was…

John Cusack’s Sad Decline, Explained

John Cusack’s Sad Decline, Explained

Sometimes appearances aren’t deceiving. Take Tom Hanks, an actor many consider the successor to all-American superstar Jimmy Stewart. Hanks routinely plays Everyman heroes, characters who accomplish the incredible without incredible gifts or tricks. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThink “Saving Private Ryan,” “Sully,” “Cast Away” and “Captain Phillips.” Hanks isn’t a superhero…

Traffic Control Tower in Meriden, Connecticut

Traffic Control Tower in Meriden, Connecticut

In the early days of the automobile, before automated streetlights were common, traffic at intersections was directed by an attendant in a control tower. This attendant would manually switch the familiar red, yellow, and green lights in a regulated pattern.  Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonIn 1925, one such tower was installed…

CHICK FIGHT: Fight Club In Mom Jeans

CHICK FIGHT: Fight Club In Mom Jeans

Movies about female empowerment have become big business in our hyper-aware society. The concept of the everywoman stepping up and taking control of her destiny in a patriarchal world is a needed commodity which makes relating Chick Fight to its closest male equivalent film Fight Club so disheartening. Chick Fight, written by Joseph Downey and…

Monteverde Angel in Genova, Italy

Monteverde Angel in Genova, Italy

Guarding the Oneto family’s tomb in the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno is the Monteverde Angel, a masterpiece of neoclassical funerary art. The sculpture is often considered one of the most beautiful and sensual sculptures of the genre. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonAlso known as the “Angel of the Resurrection,” the sculpture was…

Bengtskar Lighthouse in Rosala, Finland

Bengtskar Lighthouse in Rosala, Finland

Countless shipwrecks littered the sea in Finland’s western archipelago during the late 1800s and early 1900s. On New Year’s Day in 1905, a newly constructed steamship became the latest vessel to succumb to the shallow waters. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonIn 1906, construction on a lighthouse to aid travel along the…