tradition

Raya and the Last Dragon Finds Magic in Southeast Asian Tradition

Sisu may not be what’s expected by a large portion of the audience that sits down to watch Raya and the Last Dragon next month. A long serpentine creature of watery origin, the dragon in the movie’s title does not breathe fire or lay waste to cities. Rather she’s a protector, a martyr who according to legend saved the mythical land of Kumandra 500 years ago. And when heroic loner Raya resurrects Sisu in the present, the lead character, plus her young fans, will discover greater layers still. By virtue of Sisu’s voice casting alone, parents in the audience will…
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Scary Christmas Stories: A History of the Holiday’s Ghostly Tradition

“It always is Christmas Eve, in a ghost story” – Jerome K. Jerome, 1891 In the English countryside, dinner had ended, and the company retired to the drawing room. They gathered around the fire as the parson, who sat in a high-backed oak chair, proceeded to tell of goblins and ghosts. The squire, not a superstitious man himself, listened intently  as the parson spoke about the crusader who rose from his tomb for a nighttime ride. The old porter’s wife added to the tale with her own of the crusader’s march on Midsummer Eve, when fairies became visible. Such was…
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Star Trek: Lower Decks Continues What Is Becoming a Trek Season Finale Tradition

This article contains MAJOR spoilers for Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Picard. As the enemy starships are closing in, and all hope is lost, our heroes in a battered starship look up, and see that: yes, another ship has just warped in. They’re about to be rescued! Everything is going to be OK!  In Star Trek, we’ve gotten used to this kind of last-minute starship rescue scene, with the most famous example probably being the Enterprise-E coming to the rescue of Worf and the Defiant in Star Trek: First Contact. But, in the Lower Decks Season 1 finale,…
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How Ghost of Tsushima’s Music Combines Japanese Tradition with the Cinematic

Ilan Eshkeri is something of a musical adventurer. He’s an award-winning composer who has scored a wide variety of films including Layer Cake, Stardust, Kick-Ass, Shaun the Sheep Movie, has composed a modern ballet based on Echo & Narcissus, has conducted an orchestra at the Louvre, and has even worked with the European Space Agency (who sent him on a zero-G, parabolic flight). As an artist, he’s always looking to be challenged and inspired in new ways. And his latest project is unlike anything he’s ever done before. “I’ve been saying, ‘Let me do a video game’ for like fifteen…
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