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Film Review: BRUTE 1976 (Directed by Marcel Walz)
SAVAGE BY NAME, FAMILIAR BY NATURE Marcel Walz’s desert nightmare wears its heart on its blood-soaked sleeve ★★½☆☆ I have a soft spot for filmmakers who are honest about what they love. Marcel Walz does not pretend that Brute 1976 came from nowhere. He said outright that it is a love letter to The Texas…
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Film Review: GUNFIGHTER PARADISE (Written and Directed by Jethro Waters)
SOUTHERN GOTHIC, STRANGE AND STICKY A surreal indie that doesn’t quite hold together—but lingers anyway ★★½☆☆ Gunfighter Paradise, the narrative feature debut of Jethro Waters, is a surreal little film, strangely beguiling almost in spite of itself. Waters, who won a regional Emmy for his documentary F11 and Be There, has crafted a sort of…
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4 SIMPLE WAYS TO IMPROVE MOVIEGOER EXPERIENCES
4 Simple Ways To Make Moviegoers Stay The four simple ways to make moviegoers stay and return include implementing smart lobby wayfinding, designing digital programs with donor recognition, streamlining membership event check-ins, and offering interactive educational exhibits. These thoughtfully integrated operational details shape the emotional tone of a night at the theater before the curtain…
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WHY I LOVED WATCHING “MR NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN”
The first minutes of Mr Nobody Against Putin immediately establish that the story will not follow the usual structure of a political film. Instead of starting with dramatic speeches or historical narration, the documentary begins with small details of everyday life. A teacher stands in a classroom. Students talk about ordinary subjects. The environment appears…
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Film Review: LOONEY TUNES: THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP (Directed by Peter Browngardt)
DUCK, COVER, AND TRY NOT TO THINK TOO HARD A loving homage to Bob Clampett that never quite matches the originals When I first heard about Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up, my immediate reaction was, “Oh no, why would they make a Porky and Daffy feature for today’s audiences? There is no…
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Film Commentary: THE PARTICIPANTS (Directed by Ray Munro)
PARTICIPATING WITH THE PANDEMIC Creating a work of theatre and film during the height of COVID-19 A true artist possesses not only the ability to meaningfully create, but the deep need and desire to make something, even — and especially — through difficult times. Kudos to the dedicated artists who continued in earnest their various…
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Obituary: CATHERINE O’HARA (1954-2026)
THE ACTRESS WHO MADE THE RIDICULOUS PROFOUND Catherine O’Hara, who has died aged 71, could make you laugh and break your heart in the same scene. Most performers pick a lane; she moved between them without visible effort. Born in Toronto on March 4, 1954, O’Hara was the sixth of seven children in an Irish…
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ROUNDERS AND THE ART OF LOSING SLEEP
Rounders feels familiar because it understands a common modern problem: the night begins as “one quick stop” and ends with a plan for money that doesn’t exist yet. The film lives in underground poker rooms around New York, where bright lights and quiet confidence hide the same pressures – pride, loyalty, and the temptation to…
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Film Review: SNOW BEAR (Aaron Blaise, Director)
A HAND-DRAWN MIRACLE IN ELEVEN MINUTES Aaron Blaise’s polar bear short is funny, heartbreaking, and impossibly beautiful I have a gift for you today: an animated short called Snow Bear. And I have to tell you, this is something pretty special. I’d call it… WOW!!! You will laugh. I did. You will cry. I did…
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MADDEN: MORE THAN A LEGEND
Madden: Than a Legend presents the upcoming Madden movie as something far more expansive than a conventional sports biopic. Rather than isolating John Madden’s life into a checklist of wins, losses, and career milestones, the film frames him as a cultural architect who reshaped how football is coached, watched, explained, marketed, and emotionally experienced. The…
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BREAKING LANGUAGE BARRIERS IN FILM: HOW AI TRANSLATION IS RESHAPING INDEPENDENT CINEMA DISTRIBUTION
Here’s something that doesn’t get discussed enough at film festivals: while everyone’s debating camera movements and narrative structure, there’s a practical barrier stopping thousands of films from reaching international audiences. Not lack of talent. Not poor storytelling. The inability to afford professional subtitles. I’ve watched this scenario unfold repeatedly over the past few years. A…
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TOP 10 SHORT FILMS TO WATCH FROM 2025
2025’s short film scene lit up fast—wild ideas, real-deal characters, and stories you can’t shake. Festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, and Locarno, and then Berlinale, poured out bold new talent. While some chase thrills on online slots, others hunt for tiny cinematic gems packing big feels. These brief flicks show depth isn’t about minutes—it’s soul…
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Film Review: MORE THAN SANTA BABY (Directed by Tamar Springer)
MORE THAN A REVIEW FOR WHAT IS MORE THAN A DOCUMENTARY Each year at this time, the world becomes a bit merrier thanks to two older, lovable, admirable men with white hair, twinkling eyes, and joie de vivre – jolly souls associated with Christmas gifts. One is a certain Mr. Claus who lives at the…
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Film Review: THIS ORDINARY THING (Directed by Nick Davis)
LIGHT IN A WORLD GONE DARK This Ordinary Thing — a documentary that doesn’t feel like one ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ “Whoever saves one life, saves the entire world.” This quote from the Talmud — the book of Jewish wisdom — underpins This Ordinary Thing. Going in, I knew…
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Theater Obituary: TOM STOPPARD (1937–2025)
THE PLAYWRIGHT WHO CHOSE RADIO OVER JAWS Steven Spielberg had asked Tom Stoppard to write the screenplay for Jaws, and Tom said he couldn’t as he was writing a play for the BBC. Spielberg said, “I’m offering you a fortune to collaborate with me on a Hollywood blockbuster, and you turn me down to write…
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Film Review: SERIOUS PEOPLE (directed by Pasqual Gutierrez & Ben Mullinkosson)
A FILM ABOUT MAKING A VIDEO–ARE THEY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS??!?!!? Depending on your level of patience and maturity, you may or may not have serious problems with Serious People. It’s probably best not to take it seriously. The concept has potential for comedy and some payoff—eventually. But it takes a long time to get there;…
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Documentary Film Review: S.O.S. / STATE OF SECURITY (directed by Michèle Ohayon)
PUBLIC RELATIONS OR DOCUMENTARY? Richard Clarke may not be a household name, but his testimony before the 9/11 Commission in March 2004 was monumental: after serving under four Presidents as a security advisor, Clarke — whose warnings of possible attacks by Al Qaeda went dismissed — sat before America and said, “Your government failed you,…
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Film Review: SAUNA (Directed by Mathias Broe)
A “STEAMY” LOVE STORY The Danish drama Sauna explores identity, discomfort, and an unexpected bond Not everybody likes surprises, and life throws enough curveballs that sometimes it’s nice to know what you’re getting into — especially when the information is readily available. In the film Sauna, a cis gay guy named Johan opens his humble…
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HORROR MOVIE RECOMMENDATION: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
Movies without some horror feel like Christmas without lights. You can watch each and every genre. But the night doesn’t kick in until a scary film plays on the screen. And if I had to pick one film for that eerie build-up – it would be A Nightmare on Elm Street. Wes Craven’s 1984 classic…
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Feature Story: RAYMOND MUNRO (On Adapting Works by Raymond Carver into Story Theatre on Film)
Raymond Munro (photo by Stephen DiRado) TWO RAYS UNITE IN A JOURNEY OF STORY THEATRE Theatre, by its nature, is ephemeral. That is part of its allure, and part of what we love about it. It forces us into the here and now- ever changing and ever present. We are also keenly aware of the…
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