Inexplicable though it may seem, Mohamedou Ould Slahi spent nearly 15 years imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay without being charged for a crime. Attending the wedding of a friend in his native Mauritania on the coast of North Africa only months after the fall of the Twin Towers, Slahi was approached by police officers who told…
Near the summit of Mount Chelmos along the Peloponnese lies a mythical secret to immortality. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonChelmos mountain is situated a few miles from the neighboring city of Kalavryta, known for its ski resort, the oldest monastery in Greece, and the impressive Cave of the Lakes. Also perched atop this…
One evening in 1983, a pair of local police officers in the German city of Siegburg stopped by an old butcher shop to investigate reports of suspicious activity. Inside, they found three slightly scruffy twentysomethings with kilos of contraband. Bernd Drosihn, the ringleader, tried to object, but the officers confiscated the offending substances. After a…
Just south of Coffee Bay, a tiny resort town along South Africa’s Wild Coast, a massive rocky sentinel sits astride the surf, as if guarding the mouth of the Mpako River. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe well over 200 foot (80 meters) high, 1 000 foot (300 meters) long shore-side cliff…
It’s a good time to be the Netflix algorithm. With everyone sitting home, watching episode after episode of true crime docuseries and comfort food comedies, every day must be a veritable feast of data. From precisely whence “Ginny & Georgia” springs, this writer cannot say—it was created by newcomer Sarah Lampert, the showrunner is “Criminal…
This memorial is dedicated to the Sinti and Roma victims of Nazi Germany. It’s estimated that around 220,000 to 500,000 people were killed during the Porajmos, better known as the Romani Genocide. This mass murder was not recognized as genocide by the German government until 1982. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe memorial was…
It’s time to rip out some spines with Mortal Kombat, the feature debut of director Simon McQuoid. Yep, they’re taking another shot at adapting the infamous video game series to the big screen, and hey, at least it can’t be as bad as Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, right? Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonIf you’re…
On the island of Saaremaa, just off the west coast of continental Estonia, stands a white church that is well-known for its distinctive features. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonNot only does the Karja parish church boast some of the richest stone decorations of any Baltic rural church, but the ceiling also…
“But there’s just one thing… No one can find out.” Disney has revealed a teaser trailer for Pixar’s next new original movie titled Luca, the feature directorial debut of Italian storyboard artist Enrico Casarosa (who directed the Pixar short La Luna as well). Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, the film…
Gành Đá Dĩa translates to “The Sea Cliff of Stone Plates.” This beach contains basalt rock formations similar to those seen at Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThese rocks were formed the same way as their Irish twins. A volcanic eruption met the sea and the lava cooled in…
Who’s the big bad of WandaVision? Where is the series taking us in the grand scheme of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? What plot twists will be revealed next week? These are all valid questions for viewers of the Disney+ show, particularly those who are primarily interested and invested in the program as content to be…
Around International Film Awards is a network-based film collective built around the ideas of community, creativity, and support for independent cinema which is celebrating its 8th anniversary in 2021, and has just wrapped up its 2020 edition. The festival, which started off online and has continued with in-person events for a few years, has decided…
For Peter Glazebrook, there was one bright spot to 2020. A leek he entered into last year’s Mansfield Grow Show, which judges declared to be a monstrous four feet long, won him a new world record. “That makes 16 world records I’ve held over the years,” Glazebrook wrote to me recently, via email. “However, it’s…
The current asking price for a Ruby in Paradise DVD on Amazon sits well over $1,000. Its director, Floridian filmmaker Victor Nunez, has three copies sitting on his shelf – three times as many as the Internet may lead you to believe even exist. Despite its accolades (a glowing Roger Ebert review and a Grand Jury Prize win…
The Walt Disney Company has a history of making great films about animals, nature and the harsh realities of living in the wild. Near the top of that list is Randal Kleiser’s 1991 “White Fang,” a mid-sized hit in theaters that is probably best remembered as an early vehicle for its star, Ethan Hawke. The…
After her iconic turn as Amy Dunne in 2014’s Gone Girl, any movie starring Rosamund Pike as a badass yet sociopathic woman was sure to turn heads. Pike taps into some of that Amazing Amy energy for I Care A Lot, a dark comedy thriller about a legal guardian who profits off her elderly clients. Things turn dangerous when she…
Ajay Giri juggles an eight-foot king cobra in one hand and a snake hook in the other. The cobra’s forked tongue flicks. Its tail, coiled around Giri’s left arm, twitches restlessly. Hay, huts, fields, and farmers are all scorched under the afternoon sun at Heggodu, an agricultural village bordering the Agumbe Reserve Forest. Here, deep…
Werner Härtl’s works have the warm tones of Renaissance-era sepia drawings, the monochromatic beauty of early photographs, and a richness of detail that recalls prints by Albrecht Dürer. His preferred medium offers myriad expressive possibilities, is environmentally friendly, costs him nothing, and is abundantly available in the Alpine foothills the artist calls home. Härtl is…
According to legends, a bat-winged, scaley dragon terrorized the villagers who lived near the region of Wantley (modern-day Wharncliffe Crags). The beast was massive and could swallow trees and buildings. The dragon was nearly invincible to any weapons, save for one rather sensitive spot. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonA knight by…
Horror films for decades, and arguably since their induction, have found inspiration from real-life horrors that have surrounded their creators – and real life in general. It is these horror films, born out of reality, that scare us the most; the thread of real-life woven into jump scares, gore and hauntings. The Vigil, from writer…
Nestled among the multifold memorials of Mount View Cemetery in historic Galt, now part of Cambridge in southern Ontario, the tombstone of Millicent Milroy stands out. It’s not for its imposing size or defining black granite construction. Rather, it is because Milroy was the onetime partner of Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, more…