Saturday, September 28, 2019

Constance Jablonski


A day in the life, Sep 2


A day in the life, Sep 2, Regensburg by night

Toni Garrn


ph: Yu Tsai

New York


New York, 1970

Sasha Luss


ph: Regan Cameron

First Lines: J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix


The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive.

Elena Serebryakova


A day in the life, Sep 1


A day in the life, Sep 1, the writing on the sidewalk

Cora Emmanuel


ph: Alvaro Beamud Cortes

New Stuff: Chernobyl


Maartje Verhoef


Die Weibchen (1970)


A young woman joins an exclusive women's health clinic only to discover it's run by feminist cannibals.

Quite unusual and mostly tedious movie attempts to be an artsy pseudo-feminist satire, but leans more in the direction of sexploitation with some bits of gore.

Lian Schreuder


New Stuff: High Life


Rocky Barnes


Friday, September 27, 2019

A League of Their Own (1992)


Two sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amidst their own growing rivalry.

Likable and mildly entertaining comedy drama with a slight feminist message is best when more focused on humor and the sport (and sport politics), but doesn't try to avoid sentimentality either; the stars help a lot, though.

Halliwell*: "A comedy that trundles along in a predictable fashion, settling for sentimentality rather than humour."

Maltin***: "Thoroughly entertaining comedy...Davis and Madonna stand out in a first-rate cast, with Hanks giving a terrific performance as the drunken ex-baseball star...Good-natured fiction that sheds light on a neglected chapter of real-life sports history."

Alexa Chung


New Stuff: Margaret Atwood


Who's That Girl?


Art: Samuel Daniell

Karen Elson


ph: Erik Madigan Heck

A day in the life, Aug 31


A day in the life, Aug 31, planes over town

Antonia Haswell


New York


NYC, Photo by Helen Levitt, c. 1940

Debbie Harry


ph: Chris Stein

First Lines: Jonathan Stroud - The Amulet of Samarkand


The temperature of the room dropped fast.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Jessica Alba



ph: Thomas Whiteside

A day in the life, Aug 30


A day in the life, Aug 30, objet trouvé

Julie Hoomans


ph: Victor Demarchelier

New Stuff: Tony Molina



Emilia Clarke


ph: Marcus Ohlsson

Detroit (2017)

Fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots in which a group of rogue police officers respond to a complaint with retribution rather than justice on their minds. 

Harrowing reconstruction of a historical event exposing a shocking racist misuse of police officers' authority; excellently directed and photographed, and very convincingly performed by the cast.

Kristina Mendonca


New Stuff: Lucia Berlin


Kirsty Hume


ph: Vicki King

The Family (2019)


An enigmatic conservative Christian group known as the Family wields enormous influence in Washington, D.C., in pursuit of its global ambitions.

This documentary does fascinatingly shine light on a dubious religious sect trying to manipulate governments to their advantage; however, it does not come up with enough evidence to clarify the magnitude of the influence and thus seems more like a conspiracy theory.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Meghan Roche


ph: Eddie Wrey

New York


3rd Avenue EL (Man at Dentist), Photo by Vivian Cherry, 1955

Shalom Harlow


ph: Luigi & Iango

First Lines: Dennis Lehane - Shutter Island


I haven't laid eyes on the island in several years.

Mayara Rubik Marchi


A day in the life, Aug 28


A day in the life, Aug 28, Regensburg by night

Grace Hartzel


The Lake House (2006)


A lonely doctor, who once occupied an unusual lakeside house, begins exchanging love letters with its former resident, a frustrated architect. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.

Silly and schmaltzy romantic drama doesn't care much to make us believe its far-fetched premise.

Maltin**1/2: "Romantic drama stretches credulity (to put it mildly) but still creates a moodiness that's intriguing...enough to allow a willing viewer to go along for the ride."