My general issue with young adult (YA) romance films stems from them typically meshing a coming-of-age storyline with some fantastical premise to make the plot more interesting. I’d rather they pick just one of the two and commit to it. In the coming-of-age camp, I love Lady Bird, The Fault in Our Stars, and Perks…
2020 saw a lot of things. One of the more unexpected movements that came out of the year was the #FreeBritney movement that erupted, as the famed pop singer’s conservatorship for the past 12 years coming under severe scrutiny and cries for her freedom heard throughout the internet and outside courthouses. But what really is…
At well over 20,000 feet, Mt. Aconcagua is the tallest peak in the Americas. Nestled high in the Andes near the border of Argentina and Chile, it’s the highest mountain anywhere outside of Asia. To mountaineers, it’s not a very technical trek, in that it doesn’t require any specialized equipment to reach the summit. However,…
Propped high at the peak of Mount Gamsutlmeer in Dagestan, Russia, this abandoned ancient village is one of the oldest settlements in the region. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonIn the Gunibsky district of Dagestan lies Mount Gamsutlmeer, and at an altitude of roughly 4,600 feet (1,400 meters) above sea level resides…
The Stockholm metro has been a staple of the Swedish capital’s public transportation scene since the 1950s. The stations are also home to the world’s longest art gallery and are the center of several ghost stories such as the Kymlinge Ghost Metro Stop. Now, the new C30 trains contribute to Stockholm’s unique metro culture by means of…
One of the best and most memorable films to come out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival is a documentary called Try Harder! Directed by Debbie Lum, the film follows five students — four seniors and one junior — of Lowell High School as they go through the college admissions frenzy. Though the overall tone…
On July 4, 1848, John Bidwell discovered gold in a canyon of the Feather River. The town of Bidwell’s Bar was soon in business. As one of the first mining camps in California, life was difficult. Settlers relied on a ferry to transport people and supplies across the river. A bridge was erected but was…
It’s time to say goodbye to a beloved institution. By the end of February, all Family Video stores will be closed. The announcement came early last month that they would remain open until February 28th, or when all the stock has been sold off, whichever comes first. Upon hearing this news, for three weekends in…
Although best known for dinner rolls and Boston Cream Pie, the Parker House Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, was also known as the temporary residence of Victorian British author Charles Dickens during his second tour of the United States from 1867-1868. Dickens was already a prominent celebrity at the time. He was booked into the Parker…
We humans are a filthy bunch. We’ve scattered our trash on landscapes the world over, from beaches and deserts to national parks, mountain peaks, and the deepest crannies of the ocean. By and large, our debris is an unwelcome and even dangerous addition to natural environments. In oceans, plastics can smother corals or clog animals’…
In my review, I have expressed how the Sundance 2021 short Doublespeak affected me as a viewer. It’s a devastating and sadly common subject matter, carried to the screen with beautiful and nuanced direction and performances. Even with a nine-minute runtime, the film leaves an impact just as powerful as a full-length feature film would….
At first glance, an horno does not make much of an impression. Spanish for “oven,” it looks like little more than mounds of mud: Imagine a giant avocado pit halved and placed flat-side down with a window cut out of it. And yet, award-winning designer Ronald Rael wants to build hundreds of these centuries-old furnaces….
Too often, sexual harassment is framed as an isolated incident between the abuser and the abused. Though we are starting to see days of reckoning for prominent men in power, there are still countless other stories and experiences that go unnoticed, and they will remain unnoticed until we – women and men – actively change…
A Glitch in the Matrix is very much in the tradition of Rodney Ascher‘s shrewd, media-savvy filmic compositions, and yet, its inspired construction and ambitious mission statement propel it to the top tiers of an already distinctive filmography. There’s a lot to unpack with this movie. From the outset, the very title, “A Glitch in…
Baby Done, directed by Curtis Vowell and written by Sophie Henderson, is a New Zealand comedy exploring the impacts a pregnancy has on a couple. Zoe (Rose Matafeo) and Tim (Matthew Lewis) react differently to the news. Zoe and Tim both worry about doing everything before the baby comes, but for Zoe, this means going…
On April 26, 1777, a messenger arrived at the home of Henry Ludington, a farmer and militia leader living in Danbury, Connecticut. He brought word that troops from the colony’s British governor were attacking the town to root out revolutionaries. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe militiamen had all dispersed to their…
To describe the Flume Trail as breathtaking is more than hyperbole. At over 8,100 feet at its highest point, this 14-mile route can overwhelm the lungs and senses. Perched 1,600 feet above Lake Tahoe’s eastern shore, the views are like no other in the region. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe sheer…
Rising 112 feet above the city’s historic quarter, construction on this lighthouse began in 1845. Designed by soldiers, the project was placed on-hold due to the outbreak of civil war. Work wasn’t officially completed until 1857. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonBuilt-in 1690, the Convent of San Francisco Javier was close to…
The prince returns in Coming 2 America, the latest from director Craig Brewer. 32 years after Eddie Murphy introduced us to his African prince in search of a wife, he brings the character back for another round of fish out of water hilarity. This time, though, he comes to America in search of his long-lost son, and instead…
This story is excerpted and adapted from Annalee Newitz’s Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, published in February 2021 by W. W. Norton. When I arrived in Phnom Penh during Cambodia’s dry season in January, I stumbled through the streets in a jet-lagged daze, barely seeing the dense city around me….
Director Kevin Macdonald has transformed the inhumanity of America’s Guantanamo Bay camp into a motion picture banked solely on its antithesis. The Mauritanian, the two-time Golden Globe-nominated film (with nominations in performances for stars Jodie Foster and Tahar Rahim) follows the legal journey of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Muslim man suspected of aiding the 9/11 terrorist attacks who was…