Contemporary pop singer Yola makes a return visit to the Saturday sessions. The singer first began performing in Britain’s underground music scene and achieved great success with the release of her debut album. She made her American television debut on Saturday Sessions and received four Grammy Award nominations, including a nomination for Best New Artist. … Read more
With a title like “Fatal,” it’s no surprise that Greece’s nomination is headed to the International Oscars category. The third adaptation of Alexandros Papadiamantis’s acclaimed novel follows the slow psychological collapse of an elderly midwife as she struggles with the deteriorating patriarchal society she helps. Although director Eva Nathena and screenwriter Katrina Bai attempt to … Read more
Joan Didion’s oft-quoted quote about how we tell ourselves stories for a living presupposes that you can and will use the tools to tell yourself that very story. But what happens when language fails you? What happens when fractures risk preventing you from speaking what could help you live? Writer-director Anna Baumgarten’s film Fluency addresses … Read more
In his book Wish You Were Here, author Rene Carlino offers a blueprint for a romantic drama that can easily be misconstrued as disingenuous or saccharine. Her novel features a star-crossed love affair, a devastating terminal illness, and a young woman who finds herself at a crossroads in her life. But instead of crafting these … Read more
Following films like “Mia and the White Lion” and “The Wolf and the Lion,” director Gilles de Maistre’s “The Black Autumn and the Jaguar” reinforces the French director’s dedication to making superficial, family-friendly films with environmentalism at its core. But as his latest offering shows, the noble principles of protecting wildlife and animals don’t automatically … Read more
Some of music’s biggest stars, including Los Angeles native Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, will headline the FireAid charity concert to help Southern California recover from devastating wildfires. The Intuit Dome and Kia Forum will host the one-night-only concert at 6pm on Thursday, January 30. Along with Billie Eilish and Finneas, 18 other artists … Read more
There are some types of screen narratives that probably shouldn’t be attempted with limited means, and “international spy thriller” might be one of them. This idea is illustrated by “Alarum,” which stars Scott Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald as “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” former spies united in an under-the-radar home life interrupted by gun-toting reminders of … Read more
Wilderado was formed in 2015, when band leader Max Reiner and guitarist Taylor Wimpey met at Baylor University. In the decade that followed, the band recorded two albums and five records, and toured the world. This fall, they released “Talker,” their second full-length studio collection, to critical acclaim. Now, from their latest album “Talker,” here … Read more
It has been said that all monster movies fall into at least one of three categories. Werewolf movies play on the idea that inside every man lives a monster waiting to be unleashed. Vampire movies exploit our collective fear of the unknown, which can include everything from the threat of disease to the perception of … Read more
One of Them Days, starring Keke Palmer and SZA as fast-talking Los Angeles roommates with nine hours to collect rent money, is a successful throwback to the day-in-the-life genre. The comedies they used to make in the ’90s — movies like “Friday” (1995) and “The Players Club” (1998), which squeezed enough texture between the laughs … Read more