It’s a truth universally acknowledged that with great artistic and financial success comes lots and lots of ripoffs. The entertainment world is full of these — it’s the reason every action movie looks like John Wick now, and every fantasy TV show feels like Game of Thrones. There is an industry within these industries, however, that experiences the largest volume of copycat culture of all, and that’s animated children’s movies.The term for a movie that is all but a carbon copy of another, more popular movie is “mockbuster,” often seen as a desperate attempt to look and feel like something…
Author: ANGadmin
At this year’s SXSW, I’ve found that it’s easier to spot the thematic throughlines across projects. It’s a testament to the programmers for creating a line-up where the films feel in conversation with each other. Where else do you get films like “Together” and “Friendship,”–both of which explore the physical and mental toll of codependency–have their premieres treated to raucous acclaim at the Paramount? Take also “Hallow Road” and “It Ends,” which offer a dark, existential take on the road trip film genre. Three films in the Narrative Spotlight sections span a host of genres, from crime thriller to folk…
Man, Brian Tyree Henry can do anything. The star of “Atlanta,” “Causeway,” “Widows,” and “The Fire Inside” has become legitimately one of the best actors of his generation, and he furthers that kind of hyperbole with what is arguably his most demanding role to date in Apple’s “Dope Thief,” an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Dennis Tafoya. A likely hit for Apple—people dig twisty shows about criminals caught in violent nightmares—one of the draws of this 8-episode first season is that the premiere was helmed by none other than the legendary Ridley Scott. Finally back in…
Director Mark Anthony Green’s “Opus” is a cautionary tale for an increasingly online world that conflates obsession with genuine connection. The film focuses on a legendary pop star, Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich), who announces to the world that he will release a new album after years of silence. For fans everywhere, this arrival is akin to the second coming of Christ (with much better music than any Biblical trumpet or horns can muster). In anticipation, Moretti invites a few select members of the press to hear his album early at his isolated compound. Ariel Ecton (Ayo Edebiri) is one such…
The Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki has selected Sweden-based sculptor Klara Kristalova, Finnish sculptor Benjamin Orlow, and Norwegian artist Tori Wrånes to represent the Nordic countries at the Venice Biennale 2026. The selection was made in collaboration with Moderna Museet in Stockholm and the Office for Contemporary Art in Oslo. Designed by Norwegian architect Sverre Fehn and completed in 1962, the Nordic pavilion has functioned since then as a collaborative art exhibition space for Finland, Sweden, and Norway, with each country rotating as the principal commissioner. For the 2026 edition, Finnish museum Kiasma is at the helm, with…
CONNERSMITH is presenting an online view of “Gather” by American surrealist Erik Thor Sandberg, who is easily one of my favorite painters on this planet.GATHER by Erik Thor SandbergThis major work features a thoughtful gathering of multiple human figures and a profusion of hybrid animals within a detailed landscape. Though unsettling, and equally grotesque as Hieronymus Bosch’s demons, Sandberg’s fantastical creatures seem vulnerable, perhaps even endearing. “I didn’t want to make them too scary,” the artist elucidates. “I think people conceived of demons as scapegoats for human failings. My creatures aren’t evil; they represent experiences, feelings, motivations – aspects of…
The plot has thickened in a power struggle over Hilma af Klint‘s legacy, with her great-grandnephew, the chair of the late artist’s eponymous foundation, now seeking to keep her paintings in a private temple accessible only to spiritual seekers. Af Klint’s great-grandnephew, Erik af Klint, publicly opposed to an agreement between the Hilma af Klint Foundation and mega-gallerist David Zwirner last year, saying that the deal went against the artist’s own wishes not to commercialize her art. The partnership is currently stalled, and the legal dispute is still ongoing, with Erik filing a new petition with the Stockholm District Court.…
Below you’ll see the Final Jeopardy clue for today, Thursday, March 13. With a victory in Wednesday’s match, nuclear engineer James Corson now has a small two-game winning streak. He hasn’t been the Jeopardy champion for very long, but he still has a strong total so far of $70,800. Tonight’s game will have him fight against screenwriter and director Jack Goldfisher from California and teacher Liz Engelhardt from New Hampshire. Here is the question and answer for Final Jeopardy for 3/13/2025, along with the wages and winner for the game. Final Jeopardy Question for March 13 The Final Jeopardy question…
What if the director of Top Gun: Maverick took all of the incredible photography in that movie and applied that same approach to a racing movie? To me, that’s a pretty compelling sales pitch no matter what else the movie is about or who else is involved.So I’m already intrigued by F1, a new racing film from Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski (and Top Gun: Maverick cinematographer Claudio Miranda). Brad Pitt stars in a storyline that contains plenty of echoes of Maverick, too; in the film he’s an aging hotshot driver (a “maverick,” one might say) who agrees to teach an upstart racing prodigy (Damson Idris) with…
The chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Shelly Lowe, has left her position “at the direction of President Trump”. Agency chairs are appointed for four-year terms. However, the New York Times reported that Michael McDonald, the NEH’s general counsel, was named the agency’s acting chairman on March 12. “I can confirm that, at the direction of President Trump, Shelly Lowe has departed her position as chair of N.E.H.,” a spokesman for the agency, Paula Wasley, said in a statement to the Times. Wasley said McDonald would serve as acting chairman “until such time as the president nominates and…
