While “Parasite” winning best picture marked one of the final widely celebrated moments before we all went into lockdown, award season chatter has been (rightfully) overshadowed this year. And with inconsistent theatrical releases, the Oscar nominees announced Monday largely consist of titles that managed to emerge as front-runners from the glut of films on streaming […]
Leslie Bridgers
Columnist
Leslie Bridgers is a columnist for the Portland Press Herald, writing about Maine culture, customs and the things we notice and wonder about in our everyday lives. Originally from Connecticut, Leslie came to Maine by way of Bowdoin College and never left. She joined the Portland Press Herald in 2011 as a reporter and spent seven years as the paper’s features editor, overseeing coverage of arts, entertainment and food.
‘The Father’ is a meticulously constructed story in which very little is what it seems
In the intricate, exquisitely crafted movie “The Father,” Anthony Hopkins plays Anthony, an elderly gentleman living in a well-appointed flat in London, which he’s been sharing with his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) until she informs him that she’s moving to Paris to be with a man she’s recently met. Such is the inciting incident in […]
Society Notebook: Portland Museum of Art holds first virtual fundraiser
The Contemporaries Winter Bash featured artist interviews, a film screening, a music performance and more.
Nico Walker’s life story made for a gripping novel. The movie version is less effective.
Tom Holland goes to impressive lengths to become unrecognizable in “Cherry,” an ambitious adaptation of Nico Walker’s semi-autobiographical novel. In that highly regarded book, the author recounted his descent from middle-class security and a promising education to his service as an Army medic in the Iraq War; when he returned home he was wracked with […]
Indie Film: ‘The Long Coast’ lets the stories of Maine fishermen convey the challenges facing the ocean
Rent the 86-minute documentary through PMA Films.
Art review: Geometry and gestures make up the abstract art of Jaap Helder
Fifteen works by the midcoast painter are on display at Elizabeth Moss Galleries in Falmouth.
Kelly Marie Tran’s journey to becoming a fighting Disney princess: ‘It feels like an absolute miracle’
If the remarkable life and times of Kelly Marie Tran were a Disney movie, the opening scene would not spotlight the young, hungry unknown hustling to yet another post-college audition in her Honda Civic, or the multi-hyphenate talent being plucked from relative obscurity to become the most prominent actress of color in a “Star Wars” […]
Deep Water: ‘Rock Bowl,’ by Jason Grundstrom-Whitney
Maine poems edited and introduced by Megan Grumbling.
Inspired by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, a new play ponders race, gender and inclusion
Images of two duchesses linger in playwright Vivian J.O. Barnes’s mind: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, standing at a lectern, with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II looming behind her. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, looking glamorous soon after giving birth. The appearances by Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton – as the titled women are better known […]
What to expect from the 2021 Grammy Awards
This week marks a year since everything began shutting down because of the pandemic, including concert venues across the country. We’ve made it four full seasons without dancing to blaring music, without swaying alongside a spellbound crowd, without exaggeratedly mouthing beer orders to friends headed for concessions. To those with postponed concert tickets still wasting […]