All Culture
In these dark times, Hallmark Channel's golden glow beckonsFor those weary of crises and violence in the news and on television, more people are turning to the Hallmark Channel's predictably happy endings.
Lives of a black and a white family intertwine post-WWII in 鈥楳udbound鈥�The film, which is directed and co-written by Dee Rees, is admirable in its ambitions, but less so in its execution.
Top Picks: 'Gregory Porter: Nat 鈥楰ing鈥� Cole & Me,' 'Survival in the Skies,' and moreThe podcast 'Ben Franklin's World' has explored topics relating to the 18th century, from British soldiers who fought in the Revolution to the Nat Turner revolt,聽CBS is honoring the legacy of 'The Carol Burnett Show,' and more top picks.
Meanwhile... the first international cricket match in eight years took place in PakistanAnd in Kenya,聽the country鈥檚聽new ban on plastic bags聽is聽an economic opportunity for women, while in Peru,聽American trekker Nick Stanziano is urging people to聽walk the historical Great Inca Trail.聽
A broken circle, and an unbroken oneI had a flat and few Spanish words. Would they help me?
Docs in Progress gives documentaries a boostThe organization, based in Silver Spring, Md., offers screenings and courses on the nuts and bolts of filming, editing, and production. 'I think that documentaries do have a potential to really have a huge impact,' says聽executive director聽Erica Ginsberg.
Frances McDormand is too spartan and sealed off in 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'The most interesting character in the movie is Sheriff Bill Willoughby, and that鈥檚 largely because actor Woody Harrelson is so moving in the part.
Top Picks: 'Maximum Volume,' by Kenneth Womack, the Timepage app, and moreActress Sally Hawkins stars as artist Maud Lewis in the biopic 'Maudie,' Fathom Events is bringing 'Casablanca' to theaters across the United States, and more top picks.
Meanwhile... in La Paz, Bolivia, zebras dance among the carsAnd in聽Singapore,聽an airline is working to bring new cachet to its in-flight meals, while in Iraq, high-profile Syrian soccer players like Nadim Sabagh and Hussein Jawid are now playing on Iraqi teams.
We should really check the guttersThe seasonal rain has begun. This year, we intend to be proactive.
You鈥檙e invited to musicians鈥� recording sessionsWith projects by three high-profile artists, music fans have been able to look into the creative process as new projects were being created.
'Lady Bird' is frisky and oddball, which is sometimes annoying and more often ingratiatingThe adolescent coming-of-age pangs experienced by Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan), to which we can all relate in some measure, are timeless and the movie is best when it undercuts its own seriousness
Rigorously conventional 鈥楲ast Flag Flying鈥� has few surprisesThere is a pleasingness to the predictability of the film, which stars Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, and Laurence Fishburne as Vietnam veterans.
Top Picks: Music group Tank & the Bangas, the Smartify app, and moreIn addition to labeling stars and planets, the聽Night Sky聽app also offers a tour of the sky, director Bill Morrison鈥檚 documentary 'Dawson City: Frozen Time' uses silent movies and newsreels discovered in the Canadian city in 1978 to depict the history of the area, and more top picks.
Meanwhile... in Suriname, the all-volunteer Green Heritage Fund Suriname is devoting itself to the rescue of three-toed slothsAnd in Gemert, Netherlands, what is believed to be the first concrete bridge in the world to be made by a 3-D printer was opened to the public, while in Guinea-Bissau, farmers are rejoicing over the soaring worldwide appetite for their No. 1 crop: cashews.
Charities begin at my mailbox, it appearsWhen I got a request to help horse breeders, though, I thought that was a little much.聽
With festivals and tastings, opera companies seek ways to retain audience interestPhiladelphia鈥檚 Opera 2017 festival took a 'Netflix-binge' approach in efforts to attract new audiences: More than 25 opera performances were offered across the city over a span of 12 days.
'Suburbicon' is an uneasy mixture of noir and socially conscious filmThe movie compares poorly to the recent movie 鈥楪et Out.鈥�
Todd Haynes's direction in 'Wonderstruck' keeps plot at emotional removeThe film follows聽a 12-year-old boy (Oakes Fegley) and a 12-year-old girl (Millicent Simmonds) whose stories are told contrapuntally 50 years apart, his in the vibrantly colored New York City of 1977, hers in the black-and-white New York of 1927.
Top Picks: The Shelters' debut album, the Netflix documentary 'Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold,' and more top picksGet a refresher on the time when Constantinople was the flagship city of the Roman Empire with the podcast聽The History of Byzantium, desserts become true works of art on the Instagram account of Karin Pfeiff Boschek, and more top picks.