Ra Paulette is a self-proclaimed “digger of caves and piler of rocks.” Is it a true statement? Generally speaking, yes -- he does quite literally dig caves and shift around large mounds of rubble, and has been doing...

Film oftentimes offers room for interpretation. That’s the beauty of the medium (and any art form, really). The screen serves as a conduit for both kinetic and static images, which the viewer in turn analyzes...

In many ways, Peter Jackson’s middle chapter in The Hobbit trilogy is its predecessor’s doppelganger. There’s the familiar cast of characters: homebody hobbit Bilbo Baggins, wizard extraordinaire Gandalf the...

I’ll be the first to admit to my meager knowledge of the feminist framework. Indeed, I’d be hard-pressed to name any aside from those most prominent in the domain of women’s liberation — Susan B. Anthony,...

The philosophy behind The Ghosts in Our Machine is simple: Humans are animals; they are as animal in nature as “non-human” animals inhabiting the planet; therefore, non-human animals, possessing a similar sentience...

Rome. It has an undeniable aura of the eternal, its ancient monuments springing from the city’s foundation like headstones trumpeting the glory of a past golden age. It’s a place of historical richness and...

“Making a film is never a picnic for Felix. It’s more like ploughing a field, and then ploughing it all over again, and again — only to end up pulling up the potatoes with your bare hands. In other words,...

The Shinoharas’ relationship is a curious one. Ushio, 80, and Noriko, 59, certainly lend full-fledged credence to the maxim “opposites attract.” While Ushio is showy, Noriko is observant; while he flaunts,...

Ushio Shinohara sure knows how to turn a canvas black and blue. And no, I’m not talking about his preferred color scheme. A Tokyo-born “boxing” painter, Shinohara uses a high-octane technique that sees him...

To the Western eye, Comrade Kim Goes Flying might not seem like much. About a 28-year-old North Korean coal miner from the countryside pursuing her childhood dream to become an acrobat, it’s a simple, unassuming...