In November 2020, Adam Penford and his cast were doing in-person technical rehearsals for Cinderella, Nottingham Playhouse’s annual pantomime show, when he heard the news that the theater wouldn’t be allowed to open as planned at the beginning of December. It wasn’t entirely unexpected—the show’s opening had already been pushed back a week because of…

This article is part of our 2020 Rewind. Follow along as we explore the best and most interesting movies, shows, performances, and more from this very strange year. In this entry, we scramble and search for the best action movies of 2020. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonIt’s admittedly far down the list of 2020’s…

Sometimes a horror film flashes its excellence in the first act, or even the opening scene. “Get Out” began with such a bold and brilliant sequence horror fans knew they were in for a treat. The more recent “Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight” uncorked a similarly strong opening. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect…

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 December 22nd, 2020! This week’s…

Whether or not the soul really truly exists, as we humans perceive it, doesn’t really matter. Pixar’s Soul is a profound and moving experience and one of their best movies in years. It is a spiritual sequel to Inside Out, but only in concept, in that it visualizes and rationalizes the irrational concept of a…

The con artist archetype is heightened to a new level of depravity in the Canadian produced drama White Lie. Wide-eyed college student, Katie, is a promising young dancer at her college. She has an amazing girlfriend named Jennifer, the lead in a dance showcase, a chance at a scholarship, and a slew of social media…

“I like to provoke. Otherwise, nothing happens.” So sums up the “cri de cœur” of the post-war reconstruction of culture, the regeneration of a New German Cinema, in particular the singular artistry behind Rainer Werner Fassbinder, one of the few filmmakers — alongside Jean-Luc Godard, Brian De Palma, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Nagisa Ōshima, Lars von…

It’s said that Miantonomo, chief of the Narraganset people, fled on foot from his enemies during a conflict that eventually turned into a war between the Narraganset and Mohegans. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonIn his attempt to escape, it’s rumored that he was cornered at the top of a cliff by…

★★★★ Written and Directed by: #MatthewSawyer Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonStarring: #EmilyRoseHolt and #JackMcGarry Short film review by: Brian Penn Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’Of all the ways to test a relationship there can be nothing more destructive or explosive than children. The…

This article is part of our 2020 Rewind. Follow along as we explore the best and most interesting movies, shows, performances, and more from this very strange year. In this entry, we explore the best movie trailers of 2020. If you’re reading this, you don’t need me to tell you that this year was a doozy. Just about…

Once a booming mining town in the late 1800s, Hachita, New Mexico is now relegated to a “Census Designated Place” with between 25 and 50 residents.  Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe post office is all that keeps this nearly abandoned town from falling off the map. There are no gas stations…

In Slovenian, ajd literally means “heathen.” The rock formation of “Ajdovska Deklica” is usually known as the “Heathen Maiden” in English. Traditionally, it also denotes a supernatural quality. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonAccording to folklore, the maiden was a good-hearted villager who often guided travelers through snowstorms. In some renditions, she is described as…

Continuing with my coverage of the great films I saw at 2020’s International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA), this article will cover the festival’s big winner Radiograph of a Family plus reviews of 100UP, A Thousand Cuts, and We Are The Thousand. Radiograph of a Family (Firouzeh Khosrovani) Radiograph of a Family may be the best…

With approximately 11,000 square feet of exhibit space, the new Istanbul Airport Museum offers an alternative to shopping and airport lounges for travelers with a long layover. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonFirst opened in July, 2020, the museum brings together hundreds of objects from museums across Turkey. It’s designed to help globetrotters…

The city of Comacchio is located on a branch of the Po river. Inhabited since ancient times, this town has always been one of the major cultural centers in the region. Contested by many local powers for centuries, Comacchio was governed by the Papal States in the 16th-century. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong…

This store is more than a shopping experience as it also showcases the history of country stores. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe Old Country Store and Museum in Moultonboro, New Hampshire is the epitome of a classic country store. Inside is filled with penny candy, locally made jams, maple syrup, and…

This article is part of our 2020 Rewind. Follow along as we explore the best and most interesting movies, shows, performances, and more released in this very strange year. In this entry, we explore the best frames and shots of 2020. Chopping the year into twenty Perfect Shots is a stressful endeavor and leaves the…

This month, Gastro Obscura is sharing the recipes and stories behind amazing holiday dishes and drinks from around the world in the ongoing series “Home-Cooked Holidays.” In Mexico, ponche Navideño—or Christmas punch—is a holiday classic, served up at parties and posadas, neighborhood-wide re-enactments of Mary and Joseph seeking shelter for the birth of Jesus. “Christmas…

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the second stage play from August Wilson and, coincidentally, the second of which Denzel Washington has helped bring to the big screen, has now released on Netflix. Featuring the final performance from the late Chadwick Boseman and having made it to the top of President Barack Obama’s list of 2020 films, the production appears to be…

For more than two decades, Hervé Durand has been offering visitors the opportunity to travel back in time some 2,000 years. Not by operating a time machine. Instead, he hands out glasses of wine. Each year, on the second Sunday in September, Durand leads an “experimental archaeological adventure” at his Mas des Tourelles vineyard in…

Located in a partially excavated and reconstructed Gallo-Roman villa, Mas des Tourelles offers the chance to sip a glass of wine that recreates the taste of ancient Greece or Rome. Although the winery also produces Syrah and other modern wines, its most interesting offerings are made by following the detailed notes and records of Pliny the…