Don’t run away from tough themes in ‘Flee’

February 26, 2022

Every once in a while a movie comes along that is so unique yet relatable, so heartbreaking yet joyful, loathsome yet generous, that you are compelled to make certain that everyone you have ever met watches it. For me, director Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s documentary “Flee” is one of those films. This movie documents the life of Amin, a refugee who fled Afghanistan in the mid-80s, as a result of the civil war. After his father is taken away, never to be seen again, and one of his brothers is drafted into the Afghani military, Amin and his family try to escape to Russia. Because ...

MTC brings ‘The Music Man’ to the Met — after COVID stifled its tune for years

February 24, 2022

MORGANTOWN — A production two years in the making, the Morgantown Theater Company’s performance of "The Music Man" is coming to the historic Metropolitan Theater this weekend. Typically, it takes about four months of rehearsal before the play is performed in front of an audience, ...

Illinois artist selected for Westover bridge pier mural

February 22, 2022

An artist has been selected to design and complete a new mural in town. Rafael Blanco will create the mural on the Westover bridge pier located near Hazel Ruby McQuain Park and the Walnut Street Landing. The mural will feature a man playing a saxophone and a woman biking. Blanco said ...

‘The Sky is Everywhere’ shows another way death affects people

February 19, 2022

BY ALISE CHAFFINS The subject of grief seems to be permeating pop culture right now. Not simply death and sadness, which have always been a staple of movies and television, but a closer examination of how we behave in the midst of profound loss. AppleTV+ recently released “The Sky is Everywhere,” which is yet another look at the way death affects those it touches. The story opens on Lennie (Grace Kaufman), a promising young musician who lost her sister Bailey (Havana Rose Hiu) to a heart condition. Despite her dreams to attend Julliard, she is struggling to play the clarinet ...

‘Kimi’ shows the darker side of science fiction

February 12, 2022

BY ALISE CHAFFINS Science fiction has been asking us to look at the dark side of artificial intelligence for a long time. Isaac Asimov gave us “The Three Laws,” and those have been used by filmmakers to ask questions about how AI might impact our daily lives. As devices like Alexa and Siri become more commonplace, we are seeing more movies that look at how they might be abused by bad faith actors. Steven Soderbergh’s latest movie “Kimi,” streaming on HBO Max tackles this issue. Angela Childs (Zoe Kravitz) is an agoraphobic whose disorder is amplified by the COVID-19 ...

‘A Hero’ film offers an unflinching look at truth

February 5, 2022

BY ALISE CHAFFINS When we think of heroism, what often comes to mind are the big acts where countless lives are saved. In Asghar Farhadi’s latest film, “A Hero,” currently streaming on Amazon Prime, the hero is birthed, ruined, and born again from a number of seemingly small acts. Through the film, we follow Rahim Soltani (Amir Jadidi), a man imprisoned for failing to pay back a debt after his partner absconded with the money. He is out on a two-day leave and the woman he hopes to marry, Farkhondeh (Sahar Goldoust), comes to him with a handbag containing 17 gold coins that ...