I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first installment of director Denis Villeneuve’s take on the Frank Herbert sci-fi classic “Dune” back in 2021. The sounds and visuals were great, and I understood why it won so many technical Oscars that year, but I couldn’t get invested in the characters or story, so I didn’t […]

Imagine you are browsing through a family photo album. Oh look, there is great aunt Matilda. And there’s dad when he was a little boy. And there’s . . . uh, someone. Who is that? It’s an old black-and-white photo. Is it of a relative? Or a family friend? When was it taken, and where? […]

In 2006, I wrote a column about a book, Forensic Genealogy by Colleen Fitzpatrick, which includes techniques for discovering the who, what, when, and where of unlabeled family photos. In 2011, Fitzpatrick started a business called Identifinders that specializes in Forensic Genetic Genealogy. The firm uses advanced DNA procedures to help law enforcement solve cold […]

NOTE: This Japanese film is available in both “subbed” and “dubbed” versions. This review is based on the “subbed” version – Japanese spoken with English subtitles. Before “Hashira Training,” my exposure to the “Demon Slayer” anime series was limited to the 2020 film “Mugen Train.” Well, that and all the cosplayers I see every day […]

I enjoy Herald Tribune crosswords. They are difficult, and I often wished there was a way to check an entry without accidentally seeing nearby answers. (Don’t judge me.) For example, maybe I wrote cape, but realized it could also be cane. One day, I made a surprising discovery. If I stare at the design of […]

It was a good idea for “Bob Marley: One Love” to open on Valentine’s Day. Not just because there hadn’t been a decent box office performer in weeks (and even ‘Mean Girls’ and ‘The Beekeeper’ were only mild hits) and the market was ripe for a takeover. Not just because the holiday weekend needed a […]

I was looking at a picture of the Canadian flag, which has a large, red maple leaf on it. At the same time, I was listening to my favorite Dixieland band, Tuba Skinny, who happened to be playing Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag. This unplanned juxtaposition gave me ideas for three columns: how to make […]

I had high hopes for “Lisa Frankenstein,” whose trailers promised a lead performance from Kathryn Newton (of the gleefully twisted body-switch horror-comedy “Freaky”) and a sick sense of humor that might actually be jarring in a fun way. Then I learned the truth: the movie still stars Kathryn Newton, but it’s rated PG-13. Ugh, what’s […]