We’ve all done things we aren’t proud of. Sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat of regret over all that money I took from that plane a couple decades ago. But what about the stuff you didn’t do? The things out of your control that don’t exist in the material world yet nonetheless are used to demonize and condemn you. That was the idea behind Kristoffer Borgli’s 2023 film Dream Scenario, an awkwardly funny dark comedy about the modern realm of fame and cancel culture, but it appears Borgli still has more to say with this kind concept. 

Which brings us to 2026’s The Drama, a follow up that, despite having a similar crux to Dream Scenario, doesn’t feel like it’s returning over trampled ground. It does return to the concept of people’s lives getting ruined not by what they’ve done, but the idea of them doing something bad. Dream Scenario used this idea to tackle the parasocial relationships and unrealistic expectations we form for people we hardly know, and now The Drama uses that idea in a way that hits a bit closer to home with how we’re perceived by others by actions we didn’t actually do. And it’s one of those films that’s gonna make you laugh as much as it makes you squirm.

Borgli continues his trend of dissecting the uncomfortable conversations of the modern era in stellar form with perhaps his most poignant film yet. The Drama is one of those films that holds a mirror up to you in real time as you watch, forcing you to make your assumptions and construct your feelings about the characters as they learn new information at the same time as you. It’s uncomfortable not just because of the subject matter, but because we’re almost living the discomfort alongside the characters. And luckily we have two of the best actors working today in Zendaya and Robert Pattinson leading the charge through these emotions while also pulling a lot of laughs out as well. Mix that with Borgli’s signature style of distorting reality and getting playful with the edit, and you’ve got a hell of a first date movie that’s sure to ruin things in record time.

The film follows couple Charlie and Emma just less than a week away from their wedding. Things seem all happy and whatnot until a fateful night of drunken oversharing with friends stands to ruin everything. They go in a circle, revealing the worst thing they’ve ever done, with Emma’s being the most shocking. With this newfound info about his bride-to-be, Charlie begins to second guess their upcoming wedding, but is he overreacting or are his feelings justified. And what did Emma do? Well…

A24 did a stellar job with the marketing for this film, because you don’t know what it is Emma did going in. But, based on the reactions from her friends in the trailer, it kinda makes you want to see the movie. This doesn’t have to do with the movie itself, I just thought it was great to have a film advertised in such a way where you get a good grasp on what it’s about, but not the why. And luckily, the film doesn’t dance around the secret either. You learn it very early on, which better helps you sympathize with all characters involved and allows you to slowly develop your feelings about the whole situation. It really is interactive in a way where you feel like you’re part of the story, because it’s not about the secret, it’s how people digest. I won’t spoil what it is, but it does make for some compelling reflections on the length of people’s forgiveness and understanding, even if it’s just over a thought rather than an act.

Robert Pattinson’s Charlie is the one who really takes the brunt of this info dump, becoming nervous, erratic and on the verge of a complete breakdown. But there’s layers to his feelings; layers that help you see where he’s coming from and layers that make you think he’s going about this all wrong. He gets so wrapped up in the concept of the secret that it completely inhibits his ability to see Emma as anyone but the person she was years ago. Pattinson is excellent in a role where you can both root for him and also want to slap him upside the head. Truly one of the best around.

And while Zendaya’s Emma and her unearthed past are the lightning rod for “the drama”, the focus is way more about Charlie’s reaction to the info. This does put Emma in a pretty sympathetic role, one that doesn’t even seem to toy with the idea of her being a different person than she was years ago. It kind of limits Zendaya’s potential here, but it does work in service of what the film is trying to accomplish. After all, she’s a victim of the crime of thought, not action, but she’s still being treated as if she’s the latter. This makes the character incredibly interesting on its own, even if it doesn’t give Zendaya as much to do as Pattinson here, yet this is in no way a terrible performance.

A performance I actually didn’t think I would praise as much is Alana Haim’s Rachel, Emma’s maid of honor. I’m not the biggest fan of Haim’s acting credentials as of yet, but I couldn’t help but feel she nailed the most relatable character in the film. Not relatable in the sense that I identify with her, but relatable because I know people like her. She’s an instigator that’s quick to harp on others but deflects any and all blame that comes her way. She is infuriating in this film, and I do think it takes some talent to pull that off, so I gotta give her props for that.

Borgli once again puts a lot of emphasis on the edit here, utilizing cuts to play with reality and visually reflects the anxiety the characters are feeling. It’s all very intentional, really amplifying the mental panic the characters are going through quick cuts and emphasis on moments and ideas that aren’t real, but are manifestations of their fears and psyche. There’s a moment where Charlie is going around the city with the teenage version of Emma, and even though the sight of it is pretty fun, the whole intention behind it is rather sweet. The editing is also a big tool for delivering on the comedy as well, particularly in the sound design. There’s several sound effects given an extra audio boost for emphasis, which is used to build anxiety in both a stressful and funny way.

Big props to the film, because the subject matter it decides to tackle is certainly heavy, but it represents a greater picture that certainly needs to be discussed. Some people might point out that it’s a film devoid of answers to said problem, but I don’t think it is. Because above all, the film is about compassion, understanding and forgiveness. Are people capable of change, and can we actually accept that they have changed? We live in a world where becoming empathetic and informed are encouraged, but only if we let you. Like Dream Scenario, this film reflects the modern age of understanding, which more often than not, becomes a game of moral superiority if left unchecked.

I love a film that isn’t afraid to be prickly about its subject matter, and I think The Drama definitely delivers. Its bold topic and the way it frames it teeters the line of distasteful, but it’s an honest reflection of the modern age in more ways than one. It completely unravels in a darkly funny and kinda sweet way that makes you wonder if there are things we can truly come back from. Of course, Pattinson and Zendaya are in top form, and I can’t emphasize enough how entertaining and engaging the editing is. If only real weddings were this drama filled. If I don’t experience a wedding where someone shouts “I object” before I die, I’m gonna be pissed.

RATING

RUMOR HAS IT

What is it about wine that gets people revealing their darkest secrets? Beer would never do that to you. Beer keeps your secrets locked up tight in exchange for ballooning your waistline. But a little rose is the catalyst for the entire downfall of our characters, so we’re gonna be making a cocktail with it. This is gonna be a simply structured yet complex tasting cocktail that combines rosé wine, amaretto and Campari into a bittersweet love letter to gossip. And for added curb appeal, we’re gonna also add a large ice cube with a rose frozen on top of it. Did you know roses were edible? You learn something new every day, and sometimes that thing you learn ruins your view of someone forever.

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5oz rosé wine
• 1oz campari
• 1/2oz amaretto
• Garnish: rose bud frozen in large whiskey cube

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add ingredients to a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill.
2. Strain into rocks glass.
3. Add ice cube with rose bud.

PakarPBN

A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.

In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.

The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.

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Other guests include Cory Michael Smith, Edd Benda, Stephen Helstad, Zach Schnitzer, and Nate Simon. New films starring Seth Rogen, Willem Dafoe, John Early, Samara Weaving, Paul Rudd, Dustin Hoffman, and Cooper Hoffman will premiere, along with two shorts programs, five documentaries, and three timely anniversary titles: Steven Spielberg’s “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence,” David Cronenberg’s “The Fly,” and Jonathan Demme’s “Something Wild,” all presented on 35mm. Watch this space for more information but get your tickets now while you can.

Friday, May 1st

6:30pm “The Invite” (on 35mm w/Q&A with director/star Olivia Wilde)

9:30pm “The Fly” (40th anniversary on 35mm)

11:59pm “Decorado”

Saturday, May 2nd

11:30am “Shorts Program 1” (w/directors Q&A)

2pm “Tuner”

4:30pm “Carolina Caroline”

7:15pm “Power Ballad”

9:45pm “I Want Your Sex”

11:59pm “Leviticus”

Sunday, May 3rd

11:30am “You Had to Be There”

1:45pm “Shorts Program 2” (w/directors Q&A)

4:15pm “Maddie’s Secret”

6:30pm “Late Fame”

8:45pm “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence” (25th anniversary)

Monday, May 4th

4:15pm “The Last One for the Road”

6:30pm “When a Witness Recants” (w/Q&A with director Dawn Porter)

9:30pm “Time and Water”

Tuesday, May 5th

4:30pm “If I Go Will They Miss Me”

7pm “Chili Finger” (w/Q&A with writer/directors Edd Benda & Stephen Helstad)

9:45pm “Black Zombie”

Wednesday, May 6th

4:15pm “Romeria”

7pm “Loafers” (w/Q&A with writer/director/star Zach Schnitzer and producer Nate Simon)

9:30pm “Something Wild” (40th anniversary on 35mm)

Thursday, May 7th

5pm “Broken English”

7:30pm “The Sun Never Sets” (w/Q&A with writer/director Joe Swanberg and star Cory Michael Smith)

PakarPBN

A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.

In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.

The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.

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I think there’s a bit of a universal shared fantasy about getting stranded on a desert island with someone you’re attracted to. Sure, it seems dire at first, but after you manage to make shelter, find food and create a nice little life on the isle, you slowly start to fall in love and black out the fact neither of you have showered in weeks. But there’s a bit of a subgenre to that fantasy that involves you and your boss, where you just skip all that other shit and immediately go to beating their head in with a rock. 

Director Sam Raimi has created a mix of those two fantasies with Send Help, the director’s first original project since 2009’s Drag Me to Hell. I’ve been a big fan of Raimi’s for years, but due to timing in and a shocking lack of showtimes in my area, I missed this film when it first hit theaters. But now the film has hit digital platforms and I only wish I would have gotten the chance to catch this in theaters. But I decided to make up for lost time, and if you’re in a similar boat, I definitely think you should too.

Send Help is a pretty entertaining blend of both Raimi’s more grounded films and his inclination for going absolutely insane. While it’s not as horror leaning as I expected, it’s still nevertheless entertaining thanks to Raimi’s trademark sense of humor and two highly enjoyable performances from Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brian. Admittedly, it’s that meeting in the middle that kind of holds this back a bit for me. While thoroughly engaging, it certainly isn’t as much of a madhouse as something like the Evil Dead films or the aforementioned Drag Me to Hell. The insanity is much more spread out, and while the rest of the film is anchored by those two great performances, there aren’t too many interesting dynamics at play here you couldn’t find in other films like Triangle of Sadness. Even still, I’m very happy to have Raimi back, because there’s very few directors that truly understand camp and genre movies like he does.

Linda Liddle is an awkward corporate strategist who is destined for a big promotion at her work. That is until her boss dies, leaving his immature and fratty Bradley son in charge, who doesn’t feel too inclined to deliver on Linda’s promotion. But power dynamics get thrown out the window when a plane crash leaves the two stranded on a deserted island. Thankfully, Linda is well versed in survival skills and manages to care for herself and Bradley, but as tensions begin to rise and loyalty starts to be tested, it becomes very clear that one of them may not be leaving the island alive. 

Rachel McAdams is absolutely perfect for this role; managing to be goofy, endearingly depressing yet ever so slightly unhinged. It’s actually pretty impressive that in her darker moments, you still find yourself rooting for her and might even think she isn’t going far enough. She ends up holding all the power alongside the incapable and spoiled Bradley, and yet she doesn’t always let the mountain of abuse and embarrassment she experienced shift her into the realm of cruelty. You may be disappointed to find this is not a mad with power story, but it honestly makes her character super interesting while defying some of the narrative beats you’d expect in this story.

And I gotta say, I was very entertained by Dylan O’Brian’s Bradley as well. I haven’t been too dialed into his career in a post-Maze Runner world, but I thought he absolutely nailed it. O’Brian is very good at being cruel, but in a way that almost makes you think there’s still some humanity inside of him. He tests that belief again and again, but the film occasionally has its moments where you think he’s really learned his lesson. But he easily suffers the most in this film, and he does a great job in selling that agony in a way that’s believable and comedic. From stumbling around on one leg to squealing like a little bitch, O’Brian did everything he needed to do to make this character both detestable and entertaining.

It was also very nice to see this thing take place on a real beach. I was a bit skeptical at first, because there were times it did look like volume slop straight out of the live action Moana trailer, but this was actually filmed on a Thai coconut farm. Which makes me hate this modern age of digital cinematography, because this shouldn’t look like it was shot on a sound stage, but sometimes it does. So the believability in the setting is mostly there, but I also loved the set design this film incorporated. Linda is a Survivor superfan, so she knows how to construct practically anything with just a few leaves and bamboo chutes. From huts to hammocks to sunhats, this was a really cool and fun touch to a pretty predictable genre. Sure, it’s not exactly super realistic to see Linda with a fully weaved backpack that looks like something Anthropologie would sell for $300, but it’s just part of the silly charm Raimi is known for.

And the bits of Raimi-isms that get injected into this are such a delight. From the intense closeups to the predatory POV camera to Raimi’s obsession with puke getting in other people’s mouths, this feels wholly authentic to the director. It’s these directorial touches that got the most laughs out of me, as the script was kinda just okay. The comedy isn’t always the strongest and some interactions and bits are drawn out just a bit too long, but the style makes these pretty forgivable. I do think the script could have used a bit of retooling at times. This is far more of a dark comedy than you might have expected, and I would have liked the more horror-adjacent moments to be more frequent and pack a bit more punch. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the wild boar scene, but it doesn’t really set a precedent for the rest of the film. So temper your expectations there, as this doesn’t get as balls to the wall as you may have expected from Raimi. And then there’s that ending. I won’t spoil it, but there’s an element to it that’s supposed to be a big reveal that just wasn’t needed in my opinion. The film ends pretty much the way you would expect, which is a shame because I was hoping for something that would elevate the material a bit more and give me something new.

Send Help certainly isn’t going to change the game with its relatively flat narrative, but I can’t deny that I had a good time. It’s great to have a film Raimi could dig his teeth into, even if it’s maybe not one of his most on-brand outings. Still, this is a lot of fun, super gross, and just campy enough of a time to win me over. And yet…there was no Bruce Campbell, aside from a picture. So actually , this movie sucks. Disregard everything I said and throw it in the trash.

RATING

S.O.S.

We’re gonna get tropical and bloody with this rum based riff of a tequila sunrise. There seems to be plenty of mangos lying around on their island, as well as coconuts, so that’s going to be the two focal points of the drink’s flavor. And then, to give it a nice layer of blood, we’re going to employ some creme de cassis, a black currant liqueur that will give the last sips of this drink a nice and desserty finish. And the name S.O.S. could mean a number of things connected to the movie. Silly On Spirits. Skewer Odd Swine. Sever Our Scrotum. I’ll let you choose your favorite.

INGREDIENTS

• 2oz coconut rum
• 2oz mango juice
• 2oz coconut water
• 3/4oz lime juice
• 1 barspoon saline solution (1 part salt + 4 parts water)
• 1oz creme de cassis
• Garnish: mango slice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add all ingredients (except the creme de cassis) to a shaker and shake with ice.
2. Strain into tall glass filled with ice.
3. Slowly pour in creme de cassis to create a layering effect.
4. Garnish with mango slice and cocktail umbrella.

PakarPBN

A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.

In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.

The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.

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★★★★

Given the success of the Paddington films – now three in, not to mention a West End musical – it was only a matter of time before other staples of the British children’s library would wind their way to the big screen. Sure enough, here is Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree, lovingly modernised by Ben Gregor and Simon Farnaby. That the latter co-wrote and conceived the second – and best – Paddington film tells you all you need to know. His are delightfully quirky but ultimately safe pair of hands.

It’s no mean feat, mind, to translate the original Faraway Tree japes to the here and now. Certainly, the twenty-first-century youngster bears scant resemblance to the tykes Blyton wrote about. Where the child of 1939 would take  precious little persuasion to go gadding off into an Enchanted Wood, they of 2026 must first be pulled from YouTube. This is the first contrivance of Farnaby’s script. Our core family must relocate from modern life to the countryside that WiFi forgot. There’s a lesson for all of us in this. Strip away the screens and noise and the world around us might rediscover its colour. That’s not nostalgia – although much of this is – it’s the loss of lived experience. 

Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield are Polly and Tim Thompson, parents to Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy), Fran (Billie Gadsdon) and Joe (Phoenix Laroche). He’s a stay-at-home dad, his head dazzled by the clouds of idealism, she’s an inventor and a rather brilliant one at that. When Polly’s employers deceive her into turning the smart fridge she’s invented into an AI spy, however, she quits her job. Seeing his in, Tim takes this cue to cajole Polly into a fresh start in the wilderness wanderlust of his own childhood. A sun-kissed idyll, in who knows where, with the climate of Northern Italy. Teenage Beth is furious and youngster Joe is perplexed. As for middle child Fran, she hasn’t spoken in some time. It’s almost like she’s forgotten how.

Naturally, then, it is Fran, who first discovers and benefits from the magic of the Faraway Tree, lured into its leaves by a twinkly Nicola Coughlan, who plays the fairy Silky. From here, the remaining folk are introduced in quick succession. Nonso Anozie is endearingly pompous as a veritably regal Moonface, while Dustin Demri-Burns gets all the best lines as the straight talking but hard of hearing Saucepan Man. Up top, Jessica Gunning is pitch perfect as Dame Washalot, dressed almost entirely in rubber gloves, while there’s a small but spikey role for Hiran Abeysekera as Blyton’s Angry Pixie. 

Eccentricity and naivety belie a tinge of the sad in the set. There’s definitely something quietly devastating in the thought of these loveable oddballs sitting patiently over tea and pop cakes for decades, waiting for the next generation to come and play. Making that sing, this really is top tier casting. Credit, too, should be afforded the design team responsible for pulling each from page to screen. Every inch of The Magic Faraway Tree basks in the glow of tremendous production design and a real eye of the genuinely enchanting.

Where Blyton’s books are best known for the magical lands that hover in the skies above, Gregor and Farnaby circumvent any risk of the film feeling episodic by rooting the thrust here to terra firma. There’s fun to be had in the Lands of Goodies, Birthdays and Know-Alls but it’s the family unit themselves, and their quest to make this new rural life work, that pulls the heart. The efforts of the kids’ wealthy German Grandma (Jennifer Saunders) to pull them back to smartphone society are as frightening as anything Rebecca Fergusson’s fearsome Dame Snap can throw at them in her Alcatrazian land.

Know, as we do, that all will work out in the end, there’s a riot to be had in the journey there. The film frequently very funny and will leave you yearning for more (please!) Maybe even a West End musical?

T.S.

PakarPBN

A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.

In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.

The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.

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In the slick, sudsy, and entertaining Apple TV series “Your Friends & Neighbors,” Hamm has one of his best roles yet as the hedge fund manager turned high-end cat burglar Andrew “Coop” Cooper. If you start digging into the plot machinations and the decisions made by the wealthy, status-consumed, and often terrible characters in this series, you’ll be rolling your eyes at the glossy absurdity of it all. From the get-go, I decided to just go with it—and I’ve gobbled up every episode of a series that plays like a spiritual sequel of sorts to the 1968 Burt Lancaster vehicle “The Swimmer”—which was based on a short story by John Cheever, and the works of Cheever and John Updike often come to mind as influences on this material. 

Dark humor and painful melancholy permeate the lives of these affluent, privileged people who almost never appreciate their good fortune, as they’re too busy wallowing in existential crises of their own making. And yes, we feel a sense of schadenfreude watching them turn on one another as if they’re in an upper-class suburban enclave version of “Lord of the Flies.”

Season 2 of “Your Friends & Neighbors” finds Coop exonerated on murder charges and welcomed back into the (fictional) Westmont Village world of country clubs, charity balls, lavish brunches, gossiping by the pool, pulling strings to get your kid into Princeton, and fancy cocktail parties. Still, instead of re-entering the legitimate (at least on the surface) world of investment strategy and risk management, Coop is doubling down on the B&E game, partnering with Aimee Carrero’s savvy and resourceful housekeeper Elena. 

With Elena parked nearby, posing as a ride-share driver and serving as lookout, Coop sneaks into his neighbors’ homes, pockets obscenely pricey items, and fences them to the hilariously acerbic Lu Varga, played by the great Randy Danson. (Starting in Season 1, we’ve often heard Hamm’s smooth pitchman delivery in voice-over as he describes an item he’s purloining, using descriptive phrasing that sounds like collectible or jewelry-porn, e.g., “The Richard Mille Felipe Massa automatic chronograph with a signature rose gold and titanium skeleton and flyback function goes for upwards of $225,000…”)

Coop’s relationship with ex-wife Mel (Amanda Peet, deftly handling one giant emotional arc after another) remains…complicated. Lena Hall is a standout as Coop’s sister, Ali, a talented singer/guitarist who lives with bipolar disorder. The subplots involving Coop’s children, particularly daughter Tori (a very good Isabel Gravitt), feel like unnecessary diversions – especially when there’s so much juicy stuff going on with the adult characters. Notable returnees include Olivia Munn as Sam, who is now a pariah in the community after trying to frame Coop for murder, and Hoon Lee as Coop’s best pal, Barney Choi, who can’t seem to catch a break.

Just as a pennant-contending ball club strengthens its position in the off-season by acquiring a slugger, “Your Friends…” ups its game with the addition of James Marsden as the brash and manic Owen Ashe, who has more money than even the richest of the rich denizens of Westmont Village. (Marsden seems to be everywhere these days, and isn’t that fantastic?) Ashe introduces himself to the town by throwing a party that Jay Gatsby might have deemed over-the-top, and soon becomes enmeshed in the lives of Coop, Barney, NBA star-turned-TV analyst and gym owner Nick (Mark Tallman), and Sam, among others. 

Getting into bed with Ashe, literally or figuratively, is instantly tempting—but there’s something unnerving about this guy. He’s either going to become the best friend you ever had, or your worst nightmare, or a little of both. Marsden is a force in portraying a dashing, charismatic, powerful, and possibly dangerous man.

One of the things I love about this series is Coop being something of a cinephile. He has framed posters in his home, “Psycho” and “Vertigo”—two Hitchcock films about people who aren’t what they seem to be. (To put it mildly.) Coop goes to revival houses to see the likes of “Night of the Hunter” and “Kiss Me Deadly,” and sinks into his sofa late at night to sip Scotch and watch old films. In Season 2, he opens a boxed edition of a 1970s horror classic, complete with a toy prop; there’s also a nod to a certain Michael Mann film that feels almost too spot-on. This man is the star of the movie of his own life, which veers from thriller to sexy romance to dark comedy. 

The unsubtle yet effective symbolism extends to the visuals; we get a LOT of scenes, some of them dreams, with characters literally under water, and boy does Coop always seem to be under water, in hot water. “Your Friends & Neighbors” works as an upper-class crime story, a biting and insightful satire of the rich and infamous, and a portrait of a man who sometimes narrates his own story, always starting with, “This is what happens…” It’s as if Coop is constantly surprised by how his life has turned out, even though he’s the one at the steering wheel.

PakarPBN

A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.

In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.

The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.

Jasa Backlink

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Space: the final frontier…unless we’re talking movies, in which case the subject matter has had a train ran on it by Hollywood for decades now. But that just reflects the intense fascination the human race has on the great unknown, and we’ve managed to to use it as a lightning rod for a variety of emotions. Fear, loneliness and adventure can all be pulled from the wonders of the universe, but some of my favorite instances use the limitless space to reflect back on the individual and highlight the drive that makes human beings so remarkable. And annoying, but you know, saving the world warrants you to a little silliness.

Project Hail Mary finally gives filmmaking duo Chris Miller and Phil Lord the big budget blockbuster spectacle they were destined to have…like two movies ago. But the duo make the most of the time, driving a charming if not somewhat sickly sweet Ryan Gosling through a visually stunning adventure about human perseverance and having a funny little pet rock. Yeah, it’s cheesy and borderline sugar coated at times, but it still feels like it’s been a while since we’ve gotten a big sci-fi movie that feels so earnest without becoming too overly artificial. It’s been a slow year so far but I do think this is one of those films worth braving the pigsty that is the current movie going experience to see on the biggest screen you can.

The world is dying and humanity is gonna die with it. But enough about current times, a middle school science teacher Ryland Grace is tasked by the government to help fix an extinction-level phenomenon that requires a perilous journey into deep space. Along the way he forms an unlikely friendship with a creature on a similar mission as they race to save their planets and maybe discover a little bit about themselves along the way.

We may never get a The Nice Guys sequel, but I’ll be supporting Ryan Gosling every step of the way regardless. Can’t say the dude doesn’t have range, and in this film, Gosling is tasked with roping in the comedic and dramatic as the character of Ryland Grace carries the somber alienation of being alone in space, but manages to have a silly little time as well. Gosling’s charm is undeniable and he definitely keeps this from growing drab or boring, but the characterization of Grace can admittedly be a bit overbearing at times. This film is all about maintaining hope in the face of insurmountable odds, but does there have to be a joke for every single situation. Lord and Miller are known for their mile a minute joke output, so I wasn’t really mad about that going in, but it does feel like some of Grace’s more dramatic moments are undercut by the need to insert a joke. I get it, comedy is a coping mechanism and all that, but it still feels like the film is struggling to let these moments resonate at times. Gosling is still a delight so it’s not a huge issue, just offputting enough to be likable yet you still totally understand why he’s a got no one in his life.

Turning in the best performance though is Sandra Huller, who plays Eva Stratt, the head of the Hail Mary project and the one who recruits Grace. She’s cold and standoffish, but there’s complexity to her that makes total sense. She, perhaps more than anyone, understands the stakes of what’s to come and approaches the situation with surprisingly more humanity than you’d expect. She isn’t calloused into not caring; she probably cares more than anyone. That’s why when she gets a moment to do some karaoke to Harry Styles Sign of the Times, a surprisingly very apropos song choice, it genuinely shook me more than perhaps any other moment in the movie. She serves as a great foil for the self-conscious and joking Grace, although the film almost hints towards something romantic between them? They don’t pull the trigger on that, which I’m pretty thankful for.

And that’s because Grace already has a soulmate and that’s Rocky, a stone spider type alien he meets on his travels. Rocky’s appearance in the book was a pretty big surprise that wasn’t telegraphed from the get go, but you couldn’t really expect a Hollywood movie to not tell you about its cute little critter. I won’t spoil too much about Rocky’s role in the film, but his relationship with Grace can be quite endearing as they learn more about one another. His Microsoft Sam-esque voice is cute and his butchering of the human language leads to some decent laughs, but it can be a bit much at times. You could tell Rocky was gonna be the merch magnet here, so they really revved him up to be a quirky animal sidekick. It’s fine for what it is, but how can you not at least feel some love for a creature brought to life so effectively.

This thing is really a visual and production marvel, from the puppeteering of Rocky to the rotating sets employed for the spaceship. The big tout that’s been attached to this film is that they used no green screens for this. Of course there are obvious visual effects that can only be generated by a computer, but it’s still astonishing to see some of the visuals they pull off with practicality. Having no green screens means you really have to put some thought into how you’re going to block or light a scene around the environment, and I think that attention to detail really pays off. There’s a groundedness to it that heightens the claustrophobia and the anxiety of being on a ship by yourself, even when the story sometimes to forget about that. 

Now, I haven’t read the book, but my wife has, and a lot of my friends have, so that kinda means I read the book too? Not really, as I can’t really speak too confidently on what the movie gets right and wrong from the book. From what I understand, most of the plot is fairly intact with some specifics either minimized or left out completely. But I want to focus on what it succeeds on as a movie, as well as what it trips up on, removing the book from the equation. Like I said, it’s dazzling to watch while also being humorous and heartfelt, but I can already tell people are gonna have some issues with the comedy. Yeah, it’s a bit cutesy, no doubt in an effort to make this more accessible to younger audiences, but like I kinda mentioned before, it does lead to the movie feeling a bit declawed at times. There’s some real emotional gut punches here that occasionally get hindered by the film being unwilling to drop the humor at times. There’s also some pacing issues here and there that made me dip in and out at times while the film also seemingly struggled to end. There’s like three climactic blowoffs that feel like everything is wrapped up, but then it just keeps going. But overall, these aren’t really huge issues for me, because the team still managed to create a bit of hope-core that does showcase the bravery that lies in all of us that can be brought out due to unfortunate circumstances.

Project Hail Mary is a genuine feel good time at the movies, one that isn’t steeped in irony or pessimism and actually knows how to trigger something deeper in the heart. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s wrapped in visual mastery that only blows you away the more you look at it. I really did enjoy this, but there’s something to it that kept me from outright loving it. Maybe it’s the overly cutesy tone or its narrative dips, but I’m not exactly feeling the urge to rush and see this again. But I definitely think this is 100% worth seeing on the biggest screen you can. It’s been a minute since we’ve gotten something hopeful at this scale, and I think we could all use a little hopium nowadays.

RATING

PETROVA LINE

One of the most stunning visuals in the film involves what’s called astrophages. Basically these microorganisms feed solar energy and form an infrared line from Sun to Venus as they hop across the galaxy. When our hero Grace stands among them, it makes for a really dazzling scene, and I wanted to capture that in a cocktail. So, keeping with the cosmic setting, this is going to be a bit of a cosmopolitan riff, but we’ll be adding some watermelon and gin flavors to the drink, because it is warming up out there and we need a nice drink for summer. The combination of fruit and botanicals make this a sweet, easy to drink cocktail that utilizes a flavor that doesn’t get a ton of play in most cocktails. Additionally, we’ve got a few special ingredients to make it even more cosmic. So I hope you like it, because it’s the only drink we’ve got onboard for the next two decades.

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5oz gin
• 1/2oz lime juice
• 1/2oz cranberry juice
• 1/2oz watermelon liqueur
• 1 dash orange bitters
• Pinch of luster dust (pink preferably but I used purple)
• Garnish: cherry + lime wheel rind

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake with ice.
2. Strain into cocktail glass filled with ice.
3. For the garnish, pierce the rind of a lime wheel with a toothpick with a cherry in the center.

PakarPBN

A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.

In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.

The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.

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Now, in its fifth season, the show’s infamous time jumps have taken us to an alternative 2012 in which Mars has not only been colonized, but might well be on the cusp of asserting its independence from Earth. It’s not quite the near-future fantasism of “The Expanse,” but as the years go by, it’s getting pretty damn close. And, blissfully, it’s carried all of its human heartache, expansive scope, and staggering production values into that great beyond, as mankind reaches further out into the stars than ever before, bringing all of its relatable foibles with it.

After the usual flurry of news headlines that accompanies the start of a new season (including hilarious Easter eggs like a still-alive John Lennon and Jay-Z collaborating on the hit “Grey Album”), “For All Mankind” gets its wheels and asteroids spinning fairly quickly. Years after the Happy Valley colony hijacked the Goldilocks asteroid in Mars’s orbit and defied Earth’s greed, the Martian colonists live in an uneasy peace with their terrestrial neighbors (thanks to a multinational coalition called the M-6 that manages the colony, alongside Costa Ronin’s Russian governor, Leonid Polivanov). And, of course, it’s still 2012, so the kids are still doing flash mobs and “Gangnam Style,” even in space.

Astronaut Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman, rocking some of the show’s signaturely crunchy old-age prosthetics), now in his hobbling eighties, enjoys his final years in exile on the station, as a new crop of Martian kids—including his grandson, Alex (Sean Kaufman)—usher in the first generation of young adults who’ve grown up completely on the Red Planet. Meanwhile, Helios founder Dev Ayesa (Edi Gathegi) advances his plans to turn Mars into a self-sustaining colony, with none of those pesky supply runs from Earth required. On top of that, a small group of political activists, dubbing themselves the Sons and Daughters of Mars, and led by Season 4 man of the people Miles Dale (Toby Kebbell), begins murmurs of their own “Free Mars” independence campaign.

Like so many situations in “For All Mankind,” the colony is a powder keg just waiting for a match, and the first of many arrives in the form of a mysterious dead body found outside the habitat, which is quickly pinned on beloved Martian citizen (and North Korean defector) Lee Jung-Gil (C.S. Lee), who’s arrested by Martian peacekeeping forces (led by Mireille Enos, who gets to reunite with her “Killing” co-star Kinnaman this season). A hasty attempt to bust Lee out of prison sets off a chain of events that tests the Happy Valley colony more than ever before, forcing the hands of both Earth and Mars as the colonists begin a sincere bid to overthrow their Terran masters and strike out on their own.

Meanwhile, the spirit of exploration that dominated previous seasons of “For All Mankind” lingers, as Ed’s daughter, Kelly (Cynthy Wu), and Helios CEO Aleida Rosales (Coral Peña) begin a race to the next frontier: The moon of Titan, which might well be the first step in looking for new life in the universe. For all the domestic and, forgive me, terrestrial concerns that follow the show’s emphasis on Mars this season, it’s this eternal stretch further into the frontier that keeps the show’s bittersweet, humanistic idealism churning.

As always, the show’s far-flung environs manage to stay grounded in the personal and political wrinkles of our age; this season touches on everything from immigration (intergalactic refugees known as “Craters,” so called because they sneak inside supply crates) to the threat of automation to the endless fight for workers’ rights. Corporations fight amongst each other to be the first to reach Titan, all while competing governments squabble for the fate of Mars and the people living on it.

And all of these concerns are informed by a rapidly expanding and shifting cast of characters as expansive as they are endearing; this far into the future from the show’s alt-’60s remit, it’s astonishing that Wolpert and Nedivi are able to realistically keep some of its oldest characters around, while introducing new faces each season who fit seamlessly into the show’s ornate fabric. (Alongside Kinnaman, we also see series stalwart Wrenn Schmidt as the now-imprisoned Margo, still dispensing advice to Aleida about her Titan mission.) Enos and Sanchez stand out as some of the best new faces this season, and Ines Asserson excels as a young Earth marine with a chip on her shoulder related to some complicated characters from previous seasons. Even Kebbell’s Miles grows in prominence and passion as an everyday guy thrust into a leadership role by sheer entropy.

For all the elegantly rendered visual effects and meticulous NASA-core production design of the show, what wows most is the incredibly relatable human drama that plays out in between. The show’s third episode is a heartstopper, a moment of transition that feels like the end of an era, not just for the families who’ve poured multiple generations into this story (the Baldwins, the Stevenses, the Dales), but for all of humanity. Love, loss, maturation, all of these things play out in the brittle walls of spaceships and extraterrestrial habitats as strongly as they always have. While this review can’t speak to the final two episodes of the season, the first eight episodes elegantly set up a conclusion that should speak to the show’s interest in human endeavor at both the micro and macro levels.

At the end of the day, “For All Mankind” is a lush testament to humanity’s dogged desire to better itself, whether in individuals and communities finding the strength to build something where they stand, or in braving the unknown. With knowledge that this is the show’s penultimate season, and a Russian-set spinoff, “Star City,” is on its way, it’s tempting to hope that the whole series will stick the landing. No matter where it ends up, it’ll be worth the ride.

First eight episodes screened for review. New episodes air Fridays on Apple TV.

PakarPBN

A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.

In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.

The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.

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You know, I was pulling for this one. I think Maggie Gyllenhaal had shown some competency as a director with The Lost Daughter from a few years back. I’m a big Jessie Buckley fan, a big Christian Bale fan and a big fan of movies that just say f*ck you and go balls to the wall mad. That’s what I anticipated The Bride! to be based on the trailers, and believe it or not, it was one of my most anticipated movies of the year. A Bonnie and Clyde-style story with two of the most famous movie monsters of all time? Right here, please. But this is not that. In fact, I don’t really know what this is. All I know is that it’s bad, and that makes me sad.

The Bride! is a scattershot of ideas and reimaginings that never truly came together to make something truly provocative or, at the very least, entertaining. Terrific actors like Buckley and Bale are forced to combat with a script that acts like it has so much to say but never intends on being totally coherent with its intentions. It’s certainly not boring, thanks in part to an admittedly fun visual style, but I can’t say I was really enjoying my time with it either. And the thing is this had full range to do what it wanted with the established characters and history of the novel, and yet its perceived reflections of Mary Shelly’s work not only feel misused, but just plain wrong. There’s something of substance here, but it gets buried under too many baffling decisions that ultimately drown this film. There might be more to unearth from it, but at this point, you’re better left just leaving it at the altar.

Set in the 1930s, a woman named Ida is killed by the mob when she tries to make the bosses’ crimes known. She ends up being revived by Frankenstein’s monster and a local scientist in order to give the monster the companionship he never had for over a century. Bonded by their undead physiology and their shunning from society, the two embark on a destructive spree across the country, intent on living the life they were never meant to have.

I think the thing about this that hurt the most was seeing Jesse Buckley in a truly bad role. I don’t think Buckley is entirely to blame, as I truly believe she was handed a role that was designed to not work. Buckley actually plays two characters, the titular Bride and the ghost of Mary Shelley. Yes, the spirit of the author of Frankenstein possesses her in order to, in her words, create the sequel to her novel she was never able to make. What that essentially entails is Buckley portraying someone with a split personality, and one of those personalities only wants to speak like they have a case of mid-Atlantic tourettes. When Buckley is allowed to just be The Bride, I actually think her performance is quite good, tapping into the rage of being unheard and being an afterthought. It’s these interjections from Mary Shelley that not only becomes grating on the ears, but her delivery is sometimes borderline incomprehensible. This really muddies what her intentions are, and what I gathered is kinda questionable. Shelley essentially is made out to be this witch that gets a woman killed so she can essentially turn her into a monster. Not only does this just feel like weak characterization, it also acts like it’s giving Shelley agency over the legacy of Frankenstein. I could see that being an interesting idea if it went a certain way, but it just reads like a misunderstanding of Shelley’s work as a whole, but we’ll talk more about that later.

Christian Bale comes out a little cleaner in this, but not by much. No surprise here, but Bale really nails the physicality of a role like this. He’s obviously drawing a lot from Boris Karloff, hell, even a little bit of Peter Boyle. I do feel like we don’t get nearly enough of the inner workings of his intentions. We know he’s lonely and wants a bride, but we don’t really get too much deeper than that. Does he want a bride truly because he’s looking for love, or because he feels he’s entitled to it as many men believed back in that era? These kinds of things would have added a bit more layers to him, but the film struggles to truly characterize him outside of the typical ostracizing you’d expect from a Frankenstein film. He’s lying to Buckley’s character, convincing her she was engaged to him before her death, and the film doesn’t really do enough to villainize him or even generate some moderate sympathy for him. It makes an otherwise complex relationship just feel half-baked at the end of the day. He does nearly die if he doesn’t go to see a movie enough, so I can’t say he’s not relatable. 

And that’s a bit of a trend with this movie; it presents ideas that it only seems to go halfway on. Like I said before, the whole Mary Shelly thing doesn’t really seem to have a lot of depth to it, but it does seem to feed into this feminist, empowering narrative that lurks in the background of this film. There’s a point where this thing legit becomes Joker, as women around the city rise up, painted as the Bride to do…something. This idea gets presented and that has practically no impact on the rest of the story. We don’t see the city change or even really understand what the “movement” means to others. Perhaps the strongest thematic element to this film revolves around Frank who has an obsession with cinema. He uses  it as a guiding light to frame his expectations for life without realizing it’s a romanticized reflection of life itself. A great idea, but one that doesn’t always feel like it’s adding more depth to the character than it thinks. Ironically enough, this thing often feels like a stitched together hodgepodge of ideas, which…I guess makes it authentically Frankenstein.

I will say that this thing is presented in the kind of chaotic, slapshot way that I really appreciate. In a film of big swings, the visuals are perhaps the element that pays off the most. There’s a lot of interesting choices in colors and framing here that’s really splendid, really capturing a gothic noir aesthetic that’s a lot of fun to see at times. It’s aggressive and a bit sloppy at times, but I think it fits right at home with what the film is trying to present. Now, if only the script could have done the same. I’ll give it credit, there are some interesting ideas, concepts and recontextualizations of the original novel that makes this thing far from being pointless or without merit. But intention is not the same thing as execution. The way it approaches some of these themes feels incredibly underdeveloped. The “movement” the Bride ignites amongst scorned women is an afterthought for most of the movie. The side plot revolving around two detectives hunting down the monsters is boring and grinds the film to a halt whenever it cuts to them. This worked best when it was a silly, slightly poignant monster movie romp. The dance number and the citizens of Chicago literally chasing the monsters with pitchforks and torches are goofy, but they might have been what the movie needed more of, especially with how weak this feminist narrative turns out to be.

And that’s what kind of bugged me the most. This film almost kind of frames the story around Frankenstein finally getting a woman’s voice behind it, seemingly forgetting it was written by a woman. The text of the original Frankenstein is incredibly feminist in how it portrays creating and nurturing life, and I don’t think it necessarily needed Mary Shelly returning from the dead to reclaim the narrative. Maybe this was trying to bring those feminist elements of the story back into the forefront, but this just wasn’t the way to do it in my eyes. While The Bride! is bold in execution, the final result ends up being a stylish but rather empty take on the classic monsters. Things like the character of the Bride and the weak, surface-level approaches to female struggles keeps this from being the quirky genre film it was probably meant to be. Never thought I’d be saying these words, but it’s no Lisa Frankenstein. Even still, this is far from the worst thing ever as some people on line have labeled it. Believe it or not, I want more movies like this. I’d rather a bold attempt crash and burn than have a corporately produced piece of content give you everything you think you want. Men make confusing, baffling misfires all the time. It’s only fair that women get in on the fun as well.

RATING

THE RE-INVIGORATOR

Sometimes we need a little jolt to get us up and moving, whether it be because we’re tired or we just had our neck snapped. That was my idea for the Reinvigorator, but I also wanted it to have the aesthetic of the titular bride. So this will be a dark coffee cocktail that we’ll combine with a little fruit and a big head of whip cream to mimic the Bride’s crazy hair. But this is definitely a drink for the living, so mind the Wu-Tang Clan and protect ya neck.

INGREDIENTS

• 2oz dark rum
• 1oz coffee liqueur
• 8-10 blueberries
• 1/2oz lemon juice
• pinch of black sugar
• Top: whipped cream

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add ingredients to a shaker and shake with ice.
2. Double strain into chilled cocktail glass.
3. Top with a swirl of whipped cream.

PakarPBN

A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.

In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.

The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.

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Howdy, folks! Earlier this week, something happened that’s only come around in my writing career a precious few times: I got to see a brand-new exhibit I worked on being enjoyed by the public. Specifically, this was at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, and the new exhibit is Soccer: More Than a Game.

This is, without a doubt, the most complex and in-depth exhibit I’ve ever worked on for the Perot. I started on it several months back. Normally, I write all the copy for something like this at once, but Soccer: More Than a Game was large enough that it had to be split into three parts, each corresponding to one of the sections I’ll outline below.

Before I get started on this, however, let me give a Texas-sized shout-out to the team at the Perot that I worked with to bring this exhibit from imagination to reality. Color me stunned at just how well the concept art and ideas translated to real life.

I also want to say that photos don’t do this exhibit justice. The interactivity, the wonderful bursts of color, and all the minute touches that go through this whole experience are all incredible. If you are in the DFW area, I would highly recommend giving the Perot Museum a visit for this and many other cool exhibits.

Impact of the Game

Once you have your special RFID wristband, you’ll first get your profile together in the locker room. The majority of characters you see listed here above the lockers are ones that I named and even came up with some lore for them. If you get a chance, each locker in this area has a lot of little touches, like a movie set. It’s wonderful.

Once you head down the multicolored tunnel, you’ll find yourself in the Impact of the Game section. From there, you design a stadium out of LEGO bricks, build a mascot or a jersey, and look at a world map that allows you to pick a country and see their soccer jerseys, just to name a few.

There are freestanding displays here and there that scroll various facts about soccer, the careers that are involved, and some of the reasons that soccer is the world’s most popular sport.

C.L.E.A.T.S

In the next section, you’ll find the Coaching Lab for Excellence in Athletics, Technology and Science, or C.L.E.A.T.S. Here, you’ll find several stations that cover quizzes for different soccer balls, past and present, as well as some questions about various types of the eponymous cleats.

There are virtual movement interactive exhibits, photo opportunities, and many more informational displays. One exhibit that I found particularly compelling was the Make the Call station, where you can take the role of a referee and use various camera angles and playback options of a soccer field to call penalties correctly.

The Academy

Beyond C.L.E.A.T.S, you’ll get to The Academy, and this area made my little writer’s heart glow like an ember. There were long lines to several of the bigger interactive exhibits. I left and came back a little while later, and the lines were even longer than before.

This section is where you get a number of interactive games, including a medical care/repair station, an oversized skee-ball court, a robokeeper, the floor is lava, and other activities that are all super fun. The kids are going to love it.

Bonus Round: Minerals of the World Cup

As a tie-in, I also helped to modify the previous topaz exhibit in the gem and mineral hall on the third floor. In this one, you’ll see some of the dazzling mineral diversity of a number of countries competing in the World Cup. This also includes the host countries of Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

On a side note, I am always surprised when I see the vibrance and intensity of the colors on display in these gem and mineral exhibits. It really is a testament to just how beautiful, varied, and sublime our planet is when we stop to look. Stopping to smell the roses is great and all, but stopping to admire the fluorite can be even better.

In closing, Soccer: More Than a Game and Minerals of the World Cup were super fun to work on and see come to life. Once again, my thanks to the Perot team for including me in the fun. Here’s to many more projects like this one in the future!

But seriously, folks, if you’re in the DFW area, definitely check this out. You’ll be glad you did.

Thanks for reading!

__________________________________________________

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PakarPBN

A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.

In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.

The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.

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The documentary films in this dispatch embody this sentiment; where they could have just been sensationalized stories, they are instead projects that present their subjects with grace and understanding. They are radical exercises in empathy for communities that need care and ultimately have to find their own way to save themselves amid a system that has overlooked them. 

Alyse Walsh and Jackie Jesko’s “baby/girls” takes an approach to its subject material that’s simultaneously limiting and delicate. Filmed over two years, the films document the lives of Olivia, Grace, and Ariana, teen moms living in Arkansas who wrestle with the reality of raising children in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision. The girls are based in a Christian maternity home in Arkansas called Compassion House. 

It’s a sobering, heartbreaking story of young motherhood, one that acts as a celebration of its subjects for ways they embody grace under pressure, but it’s also a caustic critique of the failure of systems in place to help people like these girls; it’s far easier to treat what happens with Olivia, Grace, and Ariana as anomalies and there’s less urgency to offer aid or fix a system just for the sake of what happens outside the margins. Hopefully, the reach of “baby/girls” can go far and wide, showcasing that the struggles these girls face need to be addressed urgently for present and future generations. 

The camerawork in “baby/girls” is one of the key markers that make this story feel grounded in its subjects’ perspective. It’s a film that never loses sight of the difficulty we’re observing as children learn to raise children, and of the struggle to live a normal teenage life while also bearing the responsibilities of motherhood. It’s gut-wrenching to watch, if only because we feel these girls shouldn’t have to deal with such questions so early on. But they all speak with refreshing candor, a testament to the safe environment the directors cultivated while filming. The girls are willing to joke about their situation and offer asides that frankly, I’m surprised to hear, given how vulnerable such statements are. 

The film is also willing to give kindness when the girls make decisions that seem ethically uncomfortable, such as one who considers giving up their child for adoption because the strain of motherhood is too much. It’s moments like these where “baby/girls” is the strongest; as viewers, we’re invited not to the dogpile in shame but to offer care and to ask about how the system, which already fails women, is responsible for creating environments where moms feel as though they have to deal with issues on their own.

Notably, the main critique that “baby/girls” gives space for is the ways the education system has failed adolescents. “I learned about sex ed when I was seven months pregnant,” one of the girls said. Furthermore, rising daycare costs mean girls aren’t able to pursue their own vocations as they may want to, so they have to rely on family support, some of whom judge them harshly. It’s powerful to witness the girls, despite their hardships, articulating a tangible hope that one doesn’t often think about when choices are limited. Olivia, Grace, and Ariana refuse to believe their stories are written, even if the world around them is all too tempted to. 

There’s a line in Eva Victor’s “Sorry, Baby” that came to mind while watching director Daniel Lombroso’s “Manhood.” In the scene in question, Lydie (Naomi Ackie) and Agnes (Victor) humorously discuss the things men say during sex. “Their dick is their whole self,” Lydie says wryly. 

While I initially felt that line was a well-written joke when I first saw the film, watching “Manhood” has unlocked a whole new layer to those words. It follows multiple stories of men who receive penis enlargement procedures and the emotional and physical lead-up time and fallout of their decision. By shedding light on a taboo subject, Lombroso ensures that we can’t easily write off what transpires in haste; it’s far too easy to either shudder at the horror of procedures gone wrong (viewers be warned that some botched work is quite horrific) or poke fun at the men going through these methods. 

But Lombroso is far too thoughtful of a filmmaker to settle for shock value; he’s interested in the “why,” both for the film’s main subject, Dallas entrepreneur Bill Moore, who is attempting to make these procedures more commonplace, and the men who feel as though an enlarged penis might just be their salvation. It’s in these dovetailing narratives that “Manhood” settles on something much more surprising and tender: a tale of men learning to love themselves and rid themselves of shame. 

Lombroso, to his credit, examines the procedure at multiple levels. There are the messages men receive, from frequent consumption of pornography to targeted advertisements, that tell men that the pinnacle of self-satisfaction they may receive is having an enlarged penis. There are people like Moore, who see insecurity as a potential market and thus offer services. Then there are the men themselves, who decide to spend their money on a procedure simply because it’s available. These all work in tandem. We all wrestle with where to put our rage and shame, and for many, Moore offers a way to offset some of it. It makes one wonder how, in our society, apart from the confession booth, we might create space for people to give voice to their shame and, in doing so, be freed by it. 

I ultimately left “Manhood” with more questions, and I’m grateful for the way it galvanized my imagination. Whenever there are procedures like Moore’s available, I’m always more interested in their popularity than in their prevalence. Say what you will about plastic surgery, GLP-1 drugs, or penis enlargement, people clearly come to these procedures to have some need of theirs met; they find that their insecurities and frustrations can be solved in some part through these actions. Ultimately, “Manhood” is interested not just in the procedures but in the questions and wrestlings that lead people to adopt them in the first place. As a doctor says, “I can fill your penis with filler, but I cannot fill the hole in your heart.” 

On a larger level, what are we doing to help give space and voice to those who feel out of place and believe that undergoing such a procedure is their only option? Lombroso’s documentary is a way to start that conversation. The film articulates, to my mind, a hopeful vision of masculinity, one where we can truly learn what it means to be content with our bodies and selves, even the parts we find shame in. 

Deon Taylor’s “Drift” opens with a bold statement that none of what we see is AI-generated. It’s a grounding way to begin his film, which features stunts and scenarios so breathtaking that it’s hard to believe what we’re seeing. Yet what could have been a highlight reel for its subject, instead dives into exploring deeper questions of the psyche. The subject in focus is Isaac Wright, a photographer and army veteran who gained notoriety for scaling the world’s tallest structures and taking pictures, usually from the POV of his shoes. 

The results feel otherworldly, as we see him dangle his feet from the Empire State Building to the Ambassador Bridge. Tracing Wright’s various excursions, Taylor isn’t content with making the film a montage of the daredevil’s greatest hits; he wants to understand what would compel Wright to risk his life and imprisonment. 

Through interviews and voiceover, Wright sheds his larger-than-life persona to articulate the traumas that have shaped him and pushed him to try to escape the problems below by climbing above. From abuse to family deaths, there’s much for Wright to be mournful about, and it makes sense why he would choose to spend more time above ground than below it. While there is dedicated time for talking-head interviews, much of the film also consists of steadicam footage as we follow Wright on his climb to his next destination. He reveals a bit more of his backstory each time; we quite literally see his justification for each step that he takes. It manifests in one particularly thrilling sequence in which Wright climbs a building in Cincinnati, and Taylor uses a split screen, interweaving Wright’s escape with scenes of the police chasing him. It’s nail-biting to witness them quite literally close the gap. 

It’s also a scathing indictment of the ways this country will continue to fail those who serve in its military. While Wright would have been tried for trespassing regardless, the film mentions how, because of Wright’s military background, he’s viewed as more of a threat and is often pursued and tried as if he were one of America’s most wanted murderers. 

Furthermore, Taylor is sure to highlight how race has played a role in the response to Wright’s escapades. One detective, Ruberg, serves as the primary antagonist for most of the film, as he tries his hardest to get Wright convicted in every state where Wright illegally trespassed. Wright is quick to share how at each building where he evaded capture, he was never violent and never found with a weapon. Ruberg tries hard to release a picture of Wright looking as menacing as possible to turn the tide of public perception against Wright. 

It’s one of the many ways in which Taylor’s film advocates for the importance of storytelling that goes beyond the headlines we see. It’s easy to typecast Wright in one way after hearing what he does, but Taylor’s work is a powerful antidote to the ways we all too easily typecast people based on the little information we know about them. 

“The freedom to express is the greatest freedom that people have.” Above all else, “Drift” is a film that reminds people of that power. We may not express ourselves or deal with our pain through scaling buildings, but there’s something undeniably cathartic and powerful about witnessing someone who feels shackled by life finally get their wings.

PakarPBN

A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.

In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.

The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.

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