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Dandelion’s Odyssey, at Animation First 2026

“Life finds a way” Dr. Ian Malcolm (a.k.a. Jeff Goldblum) famously said in Jurassic Park. He was talking about sterilized dinosaurs, but it applies to post-apocalyptic dandelions as well. They might be one man’s weeds, or another man’s flowers, but four intrepid seed-bearing pappi will travel the universe in search of a safe place to…

Sundance Film Festival: Chris Pine Shines In Disappointing Drama Carousel

@Courtesy of Sundance Film festival After Sometimes I Think About Dying starring Daisy Ridley, the director Rachel Lambert comes back to the Sundance Film festival with another movie exploring the complexity of human relationships. Carousel tells the story of Noah (Chris Pine), a divorced doctor living in Cleveland, struggling with his job and in particular…

Sundance Film Festival: Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty! Dances Gracefully Through Grief and Renewal

Dancing can have a profoundly inspiring effect on anyone willing to embrace its transformative benefits. That’s certainly the case for the protagonist of Haru, a recent widow who uses the physical movements to come out of mourning, in the new romantic dramedy, Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty! Josef Kubota Wladyka directed and produced, and also co-wrote…

Sundance Film Festival: The Musical Doesn’t Dare to Explore Its Inner Dark Side

@Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival The First feature-film directed by Giselle Bonilla is a dark comedy focused on Doug (Will Brill), a middle-school teacher and wanna-be playwright, that turns into exploring his dark side when he finds out his ex-girlfriend and colleague Abigail (Gillian Jacobs) is dating the school’s principal Brady (Rob Lowe). Which could…

‘Drops of God,’ The Series Typifies How “Wine Is Bottled Poetry”

When the Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson spent a summer honeymoon in the Napa Valley — that is renowned for its winemaking — he expressed that just like a good poem that reveals nuances each time you read it, once you open a good bottle of wine the longer it decants the more its flavor…

You’ll Be ‘Swept Away’ By Raimi’s Survival Thriller ‘Send Help’

The visionary Sam Raimi, acclaimed for his Spider-Man trilogy and many films that possess a dynamic visual style, returns to the screen with the undauntable survival-thriller Send Help. The story shows how Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) — the star employee from a company’s Planning & Strategy Department— and Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien) — the newly…

‘Hamnet’ Shows The Salvific Power Of Theatre When Facing Grief

Chloé Zhao brings to the silver screen Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, that retraces the fate of one of William Shakespeare’s children, that eventually inspired him to write his play Hamlet. In fact, the written prologue states that in Stratford, ‘Hamnet’ and ‘Hamlet’ were considered the same name. Hamnet chronicles the relationship between the Bard (Paul Mescal)…

Sundance Review: Burn is a Visceral Exploration Into Youth Culture

The reckless freedom and quiet desperation that drive the lives of struggling young adults often seem captivating to them. But the dire consequences that arise when those elements collide drive the new visceral coming-of-age film, Burn. Teen characters who are adrift on the margins of society, where belonging is fleeting and survival demands reinvention, give…

‘The Sound of Hope,’ Proves That Music May Contrast Crime

Simon & Garfunkel sung “Hello, darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again, Because a vision softly creeping, Left its seeds while I was sleeping, And the vision that was planted in my brain, Still remains, Within the sound of silence.” This was the first verse of their famous song The Sound…

“Arco” : Oscar Nominated for Best Animated Feature

©Courtesy of Neon  Even in the far future, kids would be much better off minding their parents. The titular Arco learns that the hard way. He wanted to see dinosaurs, which sounds ridiculously irresponsible. Instead, he gets lost in time, crashing into the year 2075. At this point of human development, androids do the work…

‘H is For Hawk’ Conveys The Therapeutic Effects Of Wildlife

There are many films that portray how interacting with animals is a beneficial experience for suffering humans. Many motion pictures have shown this with canines, but there are also those that have portrayed the rapport with marine creatures like the Best Documentary Feature Oscar My Octopus Teacher; with equines such as Steven Spielberg’s War Horse;…