Author and essayist Joan Didion was first introduced to writing through her mother, who presented her with a notebook and told her to write as a means of amusing herself. That childhood amusement translated into Didion becoming the voice of…
Movie Review: School Life
As we are reminded in far too many saccharine Hollywood tales like Stand and Deliver and Freedom Writers, teachers are capable of being extremely impactful to the impressionable youngsters in their care. When they excel at their craft, educators often…
Movie Review: Step
To the “lethal ladies” of the Baltimore Young Women’s Leadership School “step is life.” The dance’s rhythmic series of chants, claps, and stomps helps channel aggression in a city ripped by turmoil or it can be a positive outlet for…
Interview: Amanda Lipitz and the Ladies of ‘Step’
The fierce women both in front and behind camera of the documentary Step are aware of how special their movie is. Watching the finished product of a film made by women about women is something inspiring to see, and everyone…
Movie Review: Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk
“It’s a conversation with society, and often, it’s an argument,” declares narrator Iggy Pop in a statement providing context for punk rock in the opening of Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk, and it doesn’t take long…
Movie Review: Chasing Coral
Many people, regardless of where they stand on the issue, are apt to roll their eyes a bit when they hear a new global warming documentary is set to be released. The public opinion has shifted significantly since 2006’s An…
Movie Review: Blood Road
Blood Road is the first feature to be written, produced, edited, and directed in-house by the U.S. Team of Red Bull Media House. The documentary is described as an “epic demonstration of human potential,” focusing on a woman who goes…