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…
The Moine House name derives from the Gaelic word mòine which means “moss” or “peat.” The house sits on the edge of a vast bog that covers much of Sutherland and Caithness, known as Flow Country. The long stretch of bog between the Kyle of Tongue and Loch Hope was often referred to as A’…
★★★★ Directed by #JohannesNyholm Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by #JohannesNyholm Starring #LeifEdlund #YlvaGallon Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’,,Film Review by ,,Matt Weiner What about Groundhog Day, but with unrelenting psychological dread? That’s the premise of Johannes Nyholm’s horror fable Koko-di, Koko-da, and…
Netflix’s hit documentary series Chef’s Table highlights individual chefs from all corners of the world making all kinds of food into an art form. It’s beautifully shot, edited, and narratively moving, as each chef tells their own story of how they made it to greatness. The newest season centers around the overlooked intimacy of barbecue and…
“You don’t even know what’s inside there, do you?!” Hammer Down is an excellent action-heavy 13-min short film made by Simon Hatt and it’s now online. Inspired by his own upbringing with his truck driver father, Simon made an adventure film about a daughter and her truck driving father. Hammer Down tells the “story of…
We let Hollywood down. Americans still don’t know who won the 2020 presidential election, but one thing is clear from La La Land. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe industry is very disappointed Joe Biden isn’t celebrating a landslide victory. Instead, President Donald Trump enjoyed a robust boost in minority support, something…
Seven years ago, Toni Kamau and Peter Murimi started making their documentary I Am Samuel. Today their film is finally out in the world, and so is the story of its subject. Samuel is a gay man from a low-income neighbourhood in Kenya, where homosexuality is criminalised. For Samuel, this stigma brings with it the threat of violence and of…
For two weeks in October 2020, Nigel Larkin’s truck traveled back and forth between the Hull Maritime Museum and his conservation workshop, several hours away, carrying load after load of precious cargo. There was the large tuna skeleton and assorted whale skeletons, among them a narwhal nearly nine feet long and a sperm whale jaw…
I am proud to announce that two documentaries which I champion (and executive produce) are nominees at the 5th annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. Melissa Haizlip’s “Mr. Soul!,” an illuminating profile of the groundbreaking television show hosted by the director’s uncle, Ellis Haizlip, received five nominations including Best Documentary Feature, Best First Documentary Feature, Best Archival Documentary, Best Historical/Biographical…
In 1829, head of state Ioannis Kapodistrias made Nafplio the official capital of the newly independent Greece. After Kapodistrias was assassinated in 1831, many parts of the country fell into anarchy. The nations that assisted Greece in their struggle for independence, Britain, France, and Russia, intervened and held a series of meetings on what was…
Jagshemash! While the legacy of Borat Sagdiyev started, for most, in 2006 at the first glance of neon green swimming apparel and an odd conglomerate accent, legendary comic actor Sacha Baron Cohen actually premiered his other half a decade earlier on Da Ali G Show. While Borat as an entity has been around for two…
The Fontana dell’Acqua Felice or Fountain of Moses is a large monumental fountain in Rome, which marks the end of the Acqua Felice aqueduct. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonCompleted during the 1580s, the inauguration of this aqueduct was a historic event as it was the first new aqueduct constructed in Rome…
Despite not being a single continuous road, the Cedar Avenue of Nikkō is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest tree-lined avenue in the world. It’s also the only cultural property designated by the Japanese government as both a Special Historic Site and a Special Natural Monument. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong…
Named for the pink lawn ornaments that make up the exhibit, the Flamingo House is open to the public and is a continuously rotating outdoor display of flamingos in a suburb of Austin, Texas. The owners invite visitors to wander amongst the various displays located on their front lawn. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect…
Disney’s heroines continue to be their own heroes in Raya and the Last Dragon. The animation king has gotten better about making their female characters proactive in recent years, but their long, storied history gives them plenty of room to backslide. That’s why it’s still refreshing to see them offer up something like Raya, which promises…
Luisenfriedhof II is one of the oldest cemeteries in Berlin and was opened in 1867. It’s known as a cemetery of epidemics and is historically connected with the cholera epidemic that hit Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1831. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe area is based in the middle of urban structures, but still…
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 Amazon Prime arrivals for November 2020. This month’s titles include five new Steve McQueen films, great movies from Charles Bronson and Jack Nicholson, and more! Amazon Prime Pick of…
★★★ Directed by #JoeMarcantonio Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by #JoeMarcantonio #JasonMcColgan Starring #TamaraLawrance #FionaShaw #JackLowden Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’,,Film Review by ,,Hope Madden It’s incredibly hard to make a film that feels fresh. Hell, it’s hard to get a film greenlit…
Director David Lugo has a warning for the mainstream media. Citizen journalists are coming, ready to counter the false narratives peddled by the press. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonIn a way, Lugo is part of that movement. His new film, “Antifa: Rise of the Black Flags,” captures the threats posed by…
Like so many things in life, David Lynch‘s filmography is an acquired taste. He’s written and directed 10 surrealistic features navigating the gamut of genres from sci-fi epic (Dune) to murder mystery (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me) and biopic (The Elephant Man, The Straight Story). However, Lynch is known for more than…
It’s quite fascinating when you realize that Cooper Raiff was just 22 when he directed, wrote, acted in, and co-edited his debut feature Shithouse, a gentle and heartwarming college dramedy which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at this year’s South by Southwest. But to solely focus on his age would actually dismiss…