What on earth was Peter Jackson thinking when he made King Kong? And no, I’m not talking about the three-hour runtime, or that we spend a full hour of the movie waiting to see the big monkey. I’m talking about his decision to cast the lean, suave drip king Adrien Brody, a man after my…
Ever since its inception near the mid-2010s, Warner Bros.’ fittingly titled “MonsterVerse” has been one of the studio’s flagship franchises over the course of the past ten years. Their various reimaginings of the classic movie monsters of decades past have served as tremendous accomplishments in visual storytelling, bringing these characters to life in new ways…
In 2016, Sana Javeri Kadri found herself at a crossroads. After moving from her hometown of Mumbai to California, she wanted to learn more about the historical forces shaping her own identity and experience as a queer woman of color in the United States. A food photographer, Javeri Kadri turned to culinary history to better…
The bat swivels around to regard us, eyes wide and confused, wings folded protectively across its salt-and-pepper body. One of its wings is mangled—the result of getting entangled in fruit netting. “Bat wing membranes are like skin, it will heal and grow back,” says Jan Virgo, animal rights activist and founder of the non-profit Colac…
★★★★★ Directed by: #ChristosNikou Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by: #ChristosNikou, #AndrejŠtritof Starring: #ArisServetalis, #SofiaGeorgovassili, #AnnaKalaitzidou Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’,Film Review by: ,Isabelle Ryan After he awakes on a bus apparently unable to remember who or where he is, a man (Aris…
Continuing on from my coverage of documentaries from SXSW 2021, I wrote about a documentary that details the lives of a few European and North American women who live in a Syrian displacement camp after they left their countries to join ISIS and have now had their citizenships revoked, including former East London schoolgirl Shamima Begum,…
In my youth, there was a locally broadcast television show called “Creature Feature,” in which a monster movie would be air every weekend. This was how I first saw the 1963 “King Kong Vs. Godzilla,” which my childhood buddy John and I watched with giddy delight one afternoon. I still recall our post-viewing conversation, an…
This review occupies a somewhat awkward space: my colleague Nick Allen reviewed the original “Mapplethorpe,” a 2018 film released in 2019, and two years later, here’s a review of “Mapplethorpe: The Director’s Cut” by somebody else who liked it a lot more. “Robert Mapplethorpe’s black and white photography was provocative, raw, and unforgettable,” Nick wrote. “But Ondi…
A part of me still cannot believe this documentary was put together. Maybe it’s because we have seen so many films about characters and their loved ones dealing with an illness, so it’s hard to watch one that is completely real. Maybe it’s because most people would not want the world to see them at…
St. Elmo, once known as Forest City, was settled by miners in the 1870s to fill the need for labor in the local mines. Residents of the town were employed by the hundreds, as they extracted millions of dollars worth of gold and silver. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe town grew…
My favorite movie has been the 1997 dark comedy, Grosse Pointe Blank, for three quarters of my life. I even wrote a lengthy piece on the movie for Film Inquiry last year that got recognition from John Cusack, himself. However, back in 2018, I had an idea for a podcast and because I didn’t trust…
Some thirty years after the Great London Exposition took place, Edinburgh hosted its own presentation. Between the months of May and October 1886, The Meadows was home to an exhibit showcasing Scottish advancements in Art, Science, and Industry. This trade fair attracted nearly three million visitors to the capital city. Over 100 years later, there…
On a gray March day, Tracey Jones sits in her shuttered pub, contemplating the last six months and the invisible barrier just outside the door. The pub Jones took over in October, The Bridge Inn, is named for the nearby crossing over the Ceiriog River, which, along this stretch, marks the border between England and…
Audiences might suspect “Roe v. Wade,” which sheds inconvenient truths about the abortion movement, is aimed at a pro-life demographic. You’d be wrong, according to the film’s driving force, Nick Loeb. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonTrotting out a long line of crooked, pro-choice characters would “alienate that audience,” Loeb says. “Most…
During World War II, this platform was built on Lough Neagh, a large lake to the west of Belfast. It allowed for testing the depth and directional accuracy of Mk VIII torpedoes. The torpedoes were built at the nearby torpedo factory on Randlestown Road in Antrim. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonAlong…
In Emma Seligman’s delightfully anxiety-driven comedy “Shiva Baby,” the post-funeral service rites of a Jewish family and friends are interrupted by a chaotic series of one-upmanships and unexpected guests. Based on Seligman’s short of the same name, “Shiva Baby” follows Danielle (Rachel Sennott) on her way to meet her family for the somber occasion after an…
Every Breath You Take is a deep character study in the disconnected yet shared grief of a family as they navigate their lives following a devastating loss. Infused and compounded by mystery, intrigue, and thrills, the film challenges viewers not only on the experience of grief but the path taken to not only overcome but become…
A small protrusion resembling the surrounding burial tumuli protrudes from the ground in a quiet corner of Wolseong Fortress. However, this one in particular had a very different purpose. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonSeokbinggo literally means “stone ice storage.” It is effectively an icebox made of stone and was the secret…
Located 25 minutes west of Tooele, Utah, is the site of a former booming mining town that was full of life and promise. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonA distant memory of the Old West, Mercur became one of Utah’s first mining districts in 1893. At one point, the town was home to…
★★★★★ Directed by: Fabrizio Gammardella Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by: Fabrizio Gammardella Film Review by: Vikas Yadav Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’Fabrizio Gammardella’s A Piglet’s Tale is nothing short of alchemy. Resembling something made from camp Studio Ghibli, this animated short is…
The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA), the world’s largest group of Black film critics, will hold its twelfth annual awards ceremony virtually on Wednesday, April 7th, sponsored by Nissan and Morgan Stanley. “Judas and the Black Messiah” was named the year’s Best Film, in addition to winning Best Supporting Actor for Daniel Kaluuya and Best…