Great performances are worth seeking out in great movies, obviously, but what about bad ones? Would you watch a lousy movie in order to witness a single, stellar performance? Is it worth our time, for example, to revisit “The Lonely Bones” to see Stanley Tucci’s justifiably Oscar-nominated work in Peter Jackson’s failure of a literary…
The minor debate over First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s title, which came up shortly after her husband’s election, may seem completely ridiculous and insulting, which it is, but it’s also the latest in a line of kerfuffles relating to how people in power in the United States present themselves. The extensive intricacies of British titling,…
Mayday, mayday! It’s time to fight the patriarchy! One of my favorite premieres from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival is this gritty war film Mayday, written & directed by filmmaker Karen Cinorre making her feature directorial debut. There are many, many films being made these days about fighting the patriarchy and the power of modern…
By now, it’s almost a universal sentiment that the world has developed an aversion to the virtual meeting environment. The thought of seeing entertainment through a Zoom or FaceTime screen is sure to trigger a sense of dread, rather than excitement. And this is perhaps what makes These Days, a new series from Adam Brooks,…
With my second report at this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival, I found myself even more impressed than I had been so far. All three of the films resonated in different ways, generally combining awe, curiosity, and a sense of fulfillment. As always, thank you, creators and festival runners, for instilling the power of film….
One of the best films of this year’s Sundance Film Festival was also one of its most controversial, the haunting and powerful “Cusp” from directors Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt, who won an award on Tuesday night from the jury for Emerging Filmmaker. “Cusp” is a tough watch, a film about how difficult it is…
There’s never any shortage of new talent to be discovered at Sundance, and that is certainly the case again for this year’s edition of the festival. In addition to showcasing features from 38 first time directors, the 2021 edition of the Sundance Film Festival continues to rally behind bold and innovative creative choices that push…
The year is 1985, and the rise of video nasties — the bloody and gory low-budget horrors distributed in the form of VHS — has created a moral panic and public hysteria in the UK. The right-wing and parent groups believe that such films (as ridiculous as this sounds) are the main reason why the…
While it’s hard not to miss this bright, golden structure while speeding by on US 50, it’s what visitors don’t see that makes this bridge unique. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonConstructed in 1935, the center section of this bridge lifts 100 feet above the Sacramento River, allowing large watercraft to pass…
Being home to “the “largest” anything in a country can be a great honor for locals and a boom for tourism. The Njupeskär waterfall is one such place and is one of the more popular attractions in the region. Thousands of people visit the falls each year and many trails lead to the top. Its beauty…
It’s a heavyweight title match in Godzilla vs. Kong, the latest in the ever-growing Monsterverse. I think the title covers the plot. It’s Godzilla. Versus Kong. A battle between the giant ape and the sea monster, two icons of the big screen. It’s what Legendary has been building towards since starting this shared universe, and considering…
Often mistaken as a commemorative statue, this sculpture has become a memorial of sorts, honoring the deaths of 23 Chinese cockle pickers who died in Morecambe Bay working for criminal organizations. The sculpture was actually imagined before the tragedy occurred in 2004. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonUnveiled in November 2013 and…
Sunnyvale, a Silicon-Valley city chockablock with tech and aerospace companies, once looked very different. Stone fruit orchards once covered its landscape and employed its citizens, and old-timers still speak fondly of oceans of pink-and-white flowers in the springtime and the summer fruit stands selling sweet apricots and cherries. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong…
What could be mistaken as a lighthouse, the Portland Observatory was built in 1807 by Captain Lemuel Moody to serve as a communication station for Portland Harbor. The Portland Observatory was one of the earliest marine signal stations in the United States and the only one still standing today. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect…
★★★ Directed by #NicholasAsheBateman Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by #NicholasAsheBateman Starring #JordanMonaghan #NicholasAsheBateman Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’Film Review by Hope Madden Light on plot, heavy on atmosphere, Nicholas Ashe Bateman’s feature debut drops us in a distant post-apocalypse. Here, those trapped…
The official awards for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, usually held in Park City, Utah every January, were announced this evening at a fun virtual ceremony live online and hosted by Patton Oswalt. It has been a different year for Sundance-at-home, with plenty of exciting world premieres and a new virtual screening system. But there’s…
A veteran comedy troupe tried the virtue signaling route following the rise of Black Lives Matter. When that failed to solve racism in the Great White North, The Sketchersons took extreme measures. The long-running Canadian group canceled itself before the woke mob could do it for them. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho…
Streaming might be the future, but physical media is still the present. It’s also awesome, depending on the title, the label, and the release, so each week we take a look at the new Blu-rays and DVDs making their way into the world. Welcome to this week in Home Video for February 2nd, 2021! This week’s…
It’s a common sight in tropical places from Nigeria to India to the Philippines. In the mornings, before the harsh sun has burned the mist away, tappers climb the palm trees. Aided with nothing more than wiry muscles and woven rope or cloth, they scale to the top, risking the steep drop to collect palm…
Even watching the trailer for Greenland, it’s easy to get carried away by the ominous comets hurling across space towards the Earth. It’s all too easy to throw yourself in the grips of that crisis, where staring up at the sky and gawking at the incoming inevitable wouldn’t be unfair. But to director Ric Roman Waugh’s credit,…
Sundance is known for its progressive approach to wide entertainment, but it also can be known for loving a crowd-pleaser. It has worked for “Little Miss Sunshine” all the way to 2019’s “Troop Zero,” so why should it stop? Enter writer/director Kate Tsang’s “Marvelous and the Black Hole,” a wholly sincere crowd-pleaser with bursts of inspired…