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FF2 Shows Up for Kelly Reichardt’s SHOWING UP

Showing Up is a witty and insightful character study of a sculptor who navigates the mundane but unavoidable interruptions of everyday life in the week leading up to the opening of her new show. Directed and co-written by Kelly Reichardt, this 2022 Palm d’Or nominee is Kelly’s eighth feature and her fourth collaboration with Oscar-nominated actress Michelle Williams.… read more.

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Despite Clear Feminist Intentions, “Mafia Mamma” Never Quite Gels

“Watching women take on a male dominated genre is greatly satisfying, but, unfortunately, the script itself is one hundred percent Hollywood formula.

Guest Post by Angela Stern

Toni Collette can do anything. If that wasn’t official before, it certainly is now with the release of the new Cornerstone Film’s comedy Mafia Mamma.read more.

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Playfulness & Pretend Light the Dark in ‘Our Dark Academia’ Poems

Chess pieces, a white queen and a white knight, in front of a sunset

Adrienne Raphel’s new poetry collection, Our Dark Academia, deftly blurs the lines between performance, play, and identity. Seemingly autobiographical and written throughout the “Pandemic years” (2020-?), the poems in this collection are delicately and surprisingly interwoven.

Motifs like an upcoming birthday, a lost piece of jewelry (a family heirloom), and an addiction to online shopping spiral throughout the poems.… read more.

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Camille Dungy’s Urgent Ecopoetry from the Sixth Extinction

Camille T. Dungy was born in Denver but moved often. It is no surprise, then, that the poetry in her collection Trophic Cascade is filled with motion and displacement. Sometimes the displacement is due to travel and adventure, sometimes flight. Even what might seem stable or rooted, like an overflowing collection of Sports Illustrated magazines in the poem ‘Still life,’ is painted as precarious or fleeting.… read more.

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The Collaborative Effort Inherent in George Balanchine’s ‘Serenade‘

Serenade is Toni Bentley’s intelligent, expansive, and beautiful exploration of George Balanchine’s signature ballet.

FF2 Guest Post by Martha Anne Toll

I have been a balletomane since childhood and have read what I can on the subject. My debut novel, Three Muses, forthcoming in September, features a prima ballerina, Katya, as a main character.… read more.

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‘Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls’ Asks Even Bigger Questions

“It’s about damn time.”

That’s the first thought that came to mind after I watched the first episode of Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls on Amazon Prime. This binge-worthy reality series—which has been nominated for numerous Emmy nominations including in the Outstanding Competition Show category—follows a group of 13 aspiring plus-size dancers.… read more.

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