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.” On chilly nights during World War II, a potent elixir known as Moose Milk filled the stomachs and soothed the souls of Canadian soldiers. This rich batch cocktail usually…
★★★★ Directed by: King Louie Palomo Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonWritten by: King Louie Palomo Starring: Flora Gasser, Mercedes Cabral, Azmyth Jake Tanabe Hernandez Read moreRobert Stack Finally Solves a Mystery in ‘The Strange and Deadly Occurrence’,,Film Review by: ,,Jason Knight A mother and her child are visiting grandma. Nene (Gasser)…
Director Vladislav Kozlov’s new film, Immortalist, tackles nothing short of the universal dread of mortality. The legendary Franco Nero plays Paolo, who is dying of terminal cancer. His grandson Max (Jeff DuJardin), an anti-aging company attorney, is determined to save his beloved “Papa” by means of cryonics—the low-temperature freezing of corpses in special canisters in…
“As you see now there’s nothin here any more.” Did you know there is a historic horse culture in Dublin, Ireland? This acclaimed short doc film Saoirse is about “some of the men who genuinely care about their horses as they struggle to keep the remnants of the culture alive.” Better description from Nowness: “Award-winning…
On a tiny atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a remarkable rehabilitation project is playing out. Palmyra Atoll—used as a U.S. military base during World War II—has no permanent human residents, so its exceptionally fertile environment has become an ideal laboratory for understanding how tropical ecosystems are impacted by invasive species: in this…
Latina filmmaker, Stella Hopkins, from Colombia, embarked on the creative experience of a lifetime when helming her directorial debut, “Elyse,” a new psychological thriller co-starring her husband, Oscar-winner Sir Anthony Hopkins. Lisa Pepper stars in the titular role of a troubled woman whose memories and hallucinations become indiscernible from one another, as her life gradually unravels….
Crossing the Streams is our monthly look at all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month, and this time we’re checking out the new Shudder arrivals for December 2020. This month’s titles include A Good Woman is Hard to Find, Luz: The Flower of Evil, a bevy of giallos, and more! The list…
Sports at the center of a film or show have never really caught my attention. If you never have been in that specific athletic world, it’s quite hard to relate to the character’s drive to just win and become the best. It all comes off a bit shallow in my eyes, especially from a storytelling…
“You can never make a good instrument from bad wood,” says Nazih Ghadban, an oud maker in Ras Baalbek, a small town in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. “But you can make a bad instrument from good wood.” Ghadban reaches for one of the instruments hanging on the wall in his workshop, which is not far from…
Cancel Culture earned its toxic nickname. Celebrities and average citizens alike suffer at its hands, even if the latter doesn’t often generate headlines. That reality makes news outlets who preface the phrase with “alleged” or “so-called” guilty of propaganda. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonCancel Culture exists. It’s real. It hurts plenty…
When thinking of the holiday season, thoughts of eggnog, mistletoe, and presents are nestled below the tree, wrapped in the imagination and spirit of Christmas. For many, it is the chance to see the ones they love, while for others it is the chance to bring good will to all. For the youngest of citizens,…
Don’t head all the way out to Newgrange, Co. Meath without taking Knowth into account. Both these Neolithic passage tombs are located in the Boyne Valley, and comprise part of the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site. Constructed by local farmers in 3,200 BCE, the introduction of agriculture meant they could live at a location…
Dun Dornaigil, which is sometimes referred to as Dun Dornadilla, are the impressive remains of a drystone roundhouse known as a broch. The structure sits just above the Strathmore River. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonBroches can only be found in Scotland and usually date back more than 2,000 years. Many researchers believe these…
The National Museum of San Matteo (Museo Nazionale di San Matteo) is a hidden-gem that is about a 15-minute walk from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe Museum features a rich collection of works from historic ecclesiastical buildings in the city and Province of Pisa. The works span…
Off the west coast of Florida, the Gulf of Mexico is filled with schools of white mullet, silvery-gray dolphins, and tiny stingrays. Sea birds soar above the water looking for their next catch. And among the lively seascape near the city of New Port Richey, eight wooden structures stand tall above the waves. These unusual…
A couple tries to survive being forgotten in Little Fish, the latest from director Chad Hartigan. Emma and Jude were well on their way to a beautiful life together when a strange virus hit humanity. Once infected, the person loses their memories in bits and pieces, the details of their past falling away. Jude contracts the…
The Gion district of Kyoto is a famed hanamachi—”flower town”—where numerous geisha establishments stand next to one another. Traditionally, the geishas of Kyoto entertain guests through dancing and conversation (or flirtation) at high-end restaurants called o-chaya, or “teahouses.” The most notable in the district may be the Ichiriki, an exclusive, invitation-only club. Read moreA Guide to The…
Many megalithic monuments have been associated with legends of giants, the Dwarfie Stane in Orkney is no exception. Except this megalith is only six feet tall and has a unique moniker. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonCarved out of a block of Devonian Old Red Sandstone, the Dwarfie Stane is a glacial…
The Church of San Domenico Maggiore is one of the largest and most important religious buildings in Naples. While the baroque interior of the church attracts the attention of most tourists, the sacristy hides many secrets. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonInside the sacristy, the balcony is adorned with 42 sepulchers of…
Disney assembled a dream team to protect us from our problematic past. The Mouse House recruited 11 organizations to ensure its back catalogue in no way upsets modern viewers. Think GLAAD, Define American and IllumiNative, among the listed groups on its “stories matter” web site. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonThe effort…
“That’s where we had to take a stand.” Madman Films in Australia has debuted the first official trailer for Girls Can’t Surf (also known as The Side Show), a fantastic surfing documentary from filmmaker / surfer Christopher Nelius (Storm Surfers 3D). It’s the 1980s and the world of professional surfing is a circus of fluro…