Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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This stop-motion animation, written and produced by Guillermo del Toro, is not for the youngest kids. It is dark and has much more in common with "Pans Labyrinth" than Disney's classic. Pinocchio is a spiky, tree-limbed, knotty, and naughty boy. He is sweet but feckless, a challenge to keep on the right track. The Blue Fairy gave that job to Sebastion J. Cricket, who lives in the trunk of the tree that became the trunk of Pinocchio. The story takes place in Italy; however, it is Benito...
This week I went to Walla Walla to see Wes Anderson's new movie The French Dispatch. The film was entertaining and one of Anderson's best. In each production, he brings back members from his eccentric troupe of actors, this time including Bill Murray, Adrian Brody, Tilda Swinton and Edward Norton. He also surprises us with some new faces, Benicio Del Toro and Timothee Chalamet. There is also an army of extras, with many cameos from Hollywood. The story is close to my heart, it focuses on a...
A former soldier turned high school teacher, Dan Forester just wanted to watch a soccer game after receiving less-than-pleasant news in the year 2022. With his young daughter, Muri, snuggled closely, Dan is shocked as he watches armed soldiers appear out of a wormhole, onto the field. "We are you, thirty years in the future. We are fighting a war, our enemy is not human, and we are losing in eleven months time." Global leaders initiate the first-ever worldwide draft, sending civilians into the f...
Recently, we stepped into a movie house for the first time in over a year to watch A Quiet Place II. I had seen the first film, A Quiet Place, at the cinema in 2019. The sequel had been scheduled for box office release in the Spring of 2020. The director of both movies, John Krasinski, who stars in the film, was adamant that the sequel not be released to streaming during the pandemic but wait until cinema opened again. Krasinski introduced the film thanking the audience for coming out to the...
METLAKATLA, Alaska-A documentary set to premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in April follows a familiar face throughout Southeast Alaska, documenting a glowing basketball team and the ups and downs of rural island life. Alaskan Nets focuses on former Waitsburg-Prescott basketball coach TJ Scott and the Metlakatla Chiefs basketball team. Metlakatla, located on Annette Island, is the only Native Reserve in the State of Alaska. Located 20 miles south of Ketchikan, the...
The African Doctor (Bienvenue à Marly-Gomont, 2016) Inspired by true events, The African Doctor is about a doctor from Zaire, who moves with his family to a small provincial village in France, in the mid-1970s. For Seyolo Zantoko, serving the villagers as their doctor provides an avenue to gain French nationality, and better opportunities for his family. The story was written by Zantoko’s son, the Hip Hop artist Kamini. It is about how the family overcame obstacles to being accepted by the villa...
Christmas Chronicles 2 2020 Netflix Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn are back in another North Pole adventure. This time, true believer Kate (Darby Camp), rebelling against her mother's new boyfriend, runs away to the North Pole but is followed by exiled elf, Belsnickel (Julian Dennison). This film is fun and also brings up some good points about the naming of Santa's village. Will the name change permanently in favor of Mrs. Claus or the elves who built it? That may be a tale for another...
WORLD WIDE WEB—Recently I watched The Social Dilemma, a documentary-drama directed by Jeff Orlowski, currently available on Netflix. The movie presents a series of interviews with Silicon Valley engineers and tech experts discussing the science behind technology addiction, surveillance capitalism, and other dangers embedded in popular social media platforms. There is also an acted and scripted story interspersed between interviews, illustrating how a family faces the effects of their social media use. The interviews are harrowing; they cover wh...
I am not a big fan of nature documentaries. Being an animal lover, I cringe at the depiction of the food chain in cinematic realness. Like the unnamed Star Trek crewmembers chosen to beam to a planet, my favorite characters are always first to be killed off. It takes a lot for me to make an exception. Based on the recommendation of my brother-in-law, an avid snorkeler, I gave this movie a chance. I am so glad I did. Not that it doesn’t have sharks and all that that implies. There is a real t...
Writer/Director Greta Gerwig’s (Lady Bird) new adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel Little Women was a marvelous Christmas gift for this viewer on that day. With a runtime of 135 minutes, the Civil War era domestic drama offered a plethora of viewing pleasures; a lively cast, beautiful outdoor settings, and delightful costuming among them. Although familiar with the basic story line, it had been awhile since I had read the novel, and I never got around to seeing the 1994 version sta...
Over the last few years I have not only learned an appreciation for short films, but I have come to love them. I am now a fan of Vimeo, a short film presentation venue (look it up!). I am constantly amazed at the ingenuity, creativity and risk involved in being able to tell a story in 10-20 minutes. Some great things come in very small packages. The Manhattan Short Film Festival is something folks have come to expect and anticipate at the Liberty Theater each year. This is an artistic showcase...
