It may seem hyperbolic, but to even attempt at delineating Jacques Rivette’s 1974 masterpiece Céline and Julie Go Boating is an inevitably futile excursion. Rivette’s sprawling epic is an explosive, dizzyingly delightful adventure that remains one of the most ambitious artistic undertakings of the 20th century, placing its two leads within the unrestrictive confines of…
In Egypt, a decade of excavations at the ancient Red Sea port of Berenice (Berenike) has revealed what some researchers are calling the world’s oldest pet cemetery. Nearly 600 animals, mostly cats, but also dogs and imported monkeys, have been found buried just beyond the walls of what was, almost 2,000 years ago, a bustling…
This story is excerpted and adapted from Brandy Schillace’s Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher: A Monkey’s Head, the Pope’s Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul, published in March 2021 by Simon & Schuster. A grainy black-and-white film shuddered across television screens in the last days of May 1958. A man in a long…
I would never have expected that Bumblebee would be my first movie review on this site. I’ve never been a big fan of the Transformers franchise. Probably because I don’t really care about transforming cars. The idea of cars turning into robots never really interested me. Against all odds, I still decided to watch this…
★ Directed by: Sylvain White Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by: Lois Duncan, Michael D. Weiss Starring: Brooke Nevin, Ben Easter, Torrey DeVitto and David Paetkau Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’Throwback Film Review by: Rachel Pullen I’ll Always Know What You Did Last…
A high-octane riff on Groundhog Day that crisscrosses cyclical design with director Joe Carnahan’s avid addiction to high falls and fireballs, Boss Level doesn’t so much reinvent the timeless concept as much as it blends a few genres together to give it a point of difference. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Following a…
In a small park just off the promenade of the seaside town of Portobello stands a plinth inscribed with the words: Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho Marathon“This fountain has been erected in remembrance of Dr Hugh Dewar, Portobello, by his grateful patients and numerous friends, who deplore the loss in the prime…
Craig Brewer began his career with a $20,000 movie, The Poor & The Hungry. He wrote the original story while still managing a Barnes & Noble store. Set in Memphis, where Brewer still resides, his directorial debut is a down and dirty, black-and-white indie that, in 2000, laid the groundwork for his subsequent films. From…
Of course, we have all heard the expression, “Fit for a king.” Well, in the capital city of Scotland, there is a thoroughfare that was solely constructed for a touring member of royalty. This might be a bit of an exaggeration, but nonetheless, in 1819 a road was christened by Leopold I of Belgium. Read moreA…
When the Providence Children’s Museum moved from their original location in Pawtucket, Rhode Island to the big city, they fortuitously acquired a dragon who was in need of a home. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe year was 1997. Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts was closing an exhibit on Chinese paintings, and…
The aliens are coming in Cosmic Sin, the latest from co-writer/director Edward Drake. When the first contact with an unknown species doesn’t go well, humanity is put in an awkward position. The aliens likely think we’re hostile, and instead of waiting around to see if an interplanetary war can be averted, a group of soldiers decides…
Located in Northwest China, Xi’an is one of the oldest cities in the country. It has played a central role in the region’s culture and politics since the 11th century B.C. Of the many features that make Xi’an stand out, the fortified city walls may be the most apparent to visitors. Read moreA Guide to The…
The Awakening is an aluminum statue depicting a giant man desperately struggling to emerge from the earth. Made up of five parts, the giant’s outstretched right arm towers 17 feet above the ground and his bent left leg and knee rise above the earth, while is left hand and right foot just break the surface….
May Ryer (Brea Grant) is a self-help author whose book Go It Alone preaches self-reliance for women. Her mostly female fanbase ask her at book signings when they can expect a follow-up, but something’s not right. May can’t get started on her new book. This feeling of something being “off” is made perfectly clear when one night…
Crossing the Streams is our look at all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month, and this time we’re checking out the new Hulu arrivals for March 2021, including a Mel Brooks masterpiece, the season end of Into the Dark, and more! Hulu Pick of the Month for March 2021 Read moreA Guide…
Welcome to World Builders, our ongoing series of conversations with the most productive and thoughtful behind-the-scenes craftspeople in the industry. In this entry, we chat with Jess Hall about WandaVision’s cinematography. How do you do this? The question fired through Jess Hall‘s brain like a bullet. On his desk, there were nine scripts and seven…
“Are you afraid there’s a killer… out there?” Shudder has unveiled a super bloody trailer for the Canadian horror comedy film titled Slaxx, about a possessed pair of jeans. This premiered at last year’s Fantasia Film Festival, and we featured a promo trailer back then. “From the producers of Turbo Kid comes a new type…
Recently documentarian, film preservationist, and independent film producer Martin Scorsese faced a backlash over an essay celebrating the work of one of the 20th century’s most gifted artists, Federico Fellini. Scorsese writes of the enormous power of art and its redemptive properties, its ability to reshape society, its ability to inspire individuals thousands of miles…
Ghost and pain from the past resurface to the present in Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige‘s moving multigenerational drama Memory Box. Loosely based on the former’s story of coming of age in Beirut in the 80s, and inspired by photographs taken by the latter, Memory Box elevates a generic memoir drama into an affecting portrait of…
At first, Clarinda Ramos didn’t think it would be a good idea to open Biatüwi, the restaurant she now runs with her husband. Since she left her village on the banks of the Andirá River to study and work in Manaus, a city that serves as the main gateway to Brazilian Amazon, she has learned…
My five-year-old daughter loves dragons, especially those hailing from the quasi-Scottish village of Berk and have names like Toothless and Storm Fly. For her, “How to Train Your Dragon” is what a great dragon movie is, though it’s more than that, as she’s constantly asking me when and where we can get a dragon, in…