Movies
Clara is the only remaining apartment owner in a beautiful older building targeted for demolition by ruthless luxury high-rise developers. As the builders’ tactics to remove Clara become increasingly hostile, Clara proves to be a force to be reckoned with. Written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho.
Host Henry Louis Gates Jr. takes viewers on a journey through time, focusing on the key events, charismatic figures, political debates, and musical traditions that have shaped, and been shaped by, the Black Church. Directed by Christopher S. Bryson, Shayla Harris and Stacey L. Holman.
Sixty-year-old fisherman Issa is secretly in love with Siham, a woman who works at the market with her daughter Leila. When he discovers an ancient phallic statue of Apollo in his fishing nets, he feels that this discovery will change his life forever. Directed by Arab Nasser and Tarzan Nasser.
Two ex-brothers-in-laws set off to Iceland in an attempt to reclaim their youth nightclubs, trendy spas, and rugged campsites. Written and directed by Martha Stephens & Aaron Katz.
In the heart of Chinatown, New York, an ornery, chain-smoking, newly widowed 80-year-old grandma is eager to live life as an independent woman. When a local fortuneteller predicts a lucky day in her future, Grandma decides to head to the casino, only to land herself on the wrong side of luck. Directed by Sasie Sealy and co-written with Banban Cheng.
Accompanied by his granddaughter and his pet bird, Zhu Zhigen leaves Beijing to return to his native village in this heartwarming family drama, Directed by Philippe Muyl and co-written by Ning Ning.
The "wickedly offbeat" contemporary mystery series follows the adventures of newly promoted Detective Sergeant Matilda Stone and her three crime-writing aunts as they solve murders in the picturesque English region of Wildemarsh. Directed by Ian Emes and Jamie Magnus Stone.
Alvin Straight embarks on a dangerous and emotional journey to make amends with his 75-year-old brother Lyle before his brother dies. Alvin can no longer drive a car because of his eyesight and has to walk with 2 canes, but he climbs aboard his 1966 John Deere lawnmower and drives the 260-mile course from Laurens, Iowa to Mt. Zion, Wisconsin. Directed by David Lynch.
Baker Sentaro's business enjoys new success when his new 76-year-old assistant Tokue shares her recipe for the sweet red bean paste used in the bakery's dorayaki pancakes, but another of Tokue's secrets may bring their happy work life to an early end. Written and directed by Naomi Kawase.
Cheyenne, a retired rock star living off his royalties in Dublin, returns to New York City to find the Nazi responsible for humiliating his recently deceased father during WWII. Directed by Paolo Sorrentino and co-written with Umberto Contarello.
Music
In 2021 Swedish dance pop group ABBA released Voyager, their first new album in 40 years. The album began in a roundabout way. In 2016, the group started working on ABBAtars, a virtual concert based on the band's blockbuster 1979 tour and featuring 3D renditions of the group members. Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus decided they should write a couple of new songs for ABBAtars, soon these turned into three, then into the ten songs that comprise the album. Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad joined in to record and Voyage was born.
Bob Dylan is an accomplished author, visual artist, and an exceptionally gifted songwriter. Dylan first rose to prominence during the 1960s folk revival. Throughout his career he has redefined himself and his art repeatedly, constantly challenging himself and his audience. He is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, receiving numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, ten Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, an Academy Award, and the Nobel Prize in Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” He is currently on tour promoting his latest album, Rough and Rowdy Ways.
Buddy Guy is a blues icon and a significant influence on countless guitarists, including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Guy has won seven Grammy awards, a Lifetime Achievement Grammy, 37 Blues Music Awards, the Billboard Magazine Century Award for distinguished artistic achievement, a Kennedy Center Honor, and the Presidential National Medal of Arts. He is currently touring in support of his seventh #1 charting album, The Blues Don’t Lie. While you’re waiting for his latest, check out his back catalog, like the excellent, The Blues Is Alive and Well.
Elton John is a British singer, pianist and composer. He is one of the most successful musical artists of all time, having sold over 300 million records worldwide. His latest album features collaborations with such diverse artists as Eddie Vedder, Rina Sawayama, Miley Cyrus, Brandi Carlile, Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, Stevie Wonder, Nicki Minaj, Young Thug, Stevie Nicks, Glen Campbell, and others. Working with so many different artists reminded John of his roots as a session musician in the 1960s.
Charles Lloyd is an American jazz musician and composer. On his newest release, Trios: Sacred Thread, he is accompanied by guitarist Julian Lage and Indian percussionist/vocalist Zakir Hussain. Lloyd’s primary instruments are tenor saxophone and flute, though he occasionally records on other reed instruments, including the alto sax and the Hungarian tárogató (which can be heard on the track, "Saraswati"). Lloyd's intimate, bluesy phrasing is accentuated by tablas and elegant electric guitar. Lloyd doesn’t play traditional raga forms or scales, instead he fuses American jazz and Indian music with a key commonality, improvisation. The performance heard on this album was live streamed for a virtual audience on September 26, 2020.
Sir Paul McCartney is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained fame as a member of the Beatles. McCartney continues his successful solo career with his latest album, McCartney III Imagined. Here he takes his 2020 original album, McCartney III, and collaborates with a different artist on each track. Beck, Phoebe Bridgers, Khruangbin, Damon Albarn, Josh Holmme, Robert Del Naja, and others remix, cover, and contribute their own unique talents on each pairing, creating a parallel album, anchored by McCartney’s voice and songwriting, but in the process, making something entirely new.
Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist, musician, and peace activist. A classically trained vocalist and pianist, Ono first worked with John Cage and LaMonte Young in the early 1960s before forming the Plastic Ono Band with husband John Lennon. Ono continues to create thoughtful music and art. Yokokimthurston is a collaboration between herself and no wave rockers Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore.
Two time Grammy winner, Gregory Porter is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Known for his warm baritone vocals, Porter rose to acclaim in the 2010s with his earthy, cross-pollinated brand of jazz, soul, and gospel. Influenced by Nat King Cole, Donny Hathaway, and Stevie Wonder, Porter is a gifted singer of standards as well as contemporary soul. His new release, Still Rising, is a two-disc collection, which contains five brand-new tracks, two new arrangements, and nine of Porter's most loved global tracks. The second disc features covers and duets, boasting songs with Moby, Jamie Cullum, Jeff Goldblum, Dianne Reeves, Lalah Hathaway, and many others.
Patti Smith is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, and author. Called the "punk poet laureate," her latest endeavor is, A Book of Days, “a deeply moving and brilliantly idiosyncratic visual book of days by the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids and M Train, featuring more than 365 images and reflections that chart Smith's singular aesthetic—inspired by her wildly popular Instagram.” Over her long career she has also released eleven studio albums, three live albums, two EPs, nineteen singles, three compilation albums, and one box set. Check out her seminal album, Horses, to hear where it all began.
The Temptations are a pioneering American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan. Nineteen of their albums have gone gold or platinum. They’ve released four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and fourteen R&B number-one singles, earning them three Grammys. Billboard magazine recently ranked them #1 on a list of the “Greatest R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of All Time.” The group celebrated their 60th Anniversary in 2022 and are currently touring in support of their newest album, Temptations 60.
Steve Vai is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai began his career transcribing music for Frank Zappa and later played in his band. On Inviolate, his tenth studio album, Vai invented a new guitar, the three-necked “Hydra,” developed a new string bending technique called ‘joint shifting,” and on one track he plays solely with his left hand due to a skiing accident. On Inviolate, Vai demonstrates his continued musical and technical evolution, both amazing in its virtuosity and fun to listen to.
On A Gathering of Friends, composer John Williams and cellist Yo-Yo Ma celebrate their 40-year friendship on this collaboration with the world-renowned New York Philharmonic. Featuring a four-part cello concerto and music from Williams’ film scores including pieces from Schindler’s List, Munich, and Lincoln. The latter showcasing the piece, “With Malice Toward None,” inspired by Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address.
Stevie Wonder is an influential American singer-songwriter and musical pioneer working across a range of genres including rhythm and blues, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of R&B. Wonder has won 25 Grammy Awards and is one of only four artists who have won the Grammy for Album of the Year three times as the main credited artist. He’s been awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the Grammys and the National Civil Rights Museum. He’s been named one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace, and has earned a Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to music, art, and society. Classic albums like “Songs in the Key of Life” address serious racial, social, and spiritual issues as well as heartbreak and romantic uncertainty, all with an underlying sense of hope.