Pike River movie undermined by glaring omissions
The film concerns New Zealand’s worst industrial accident—the gas explosions at the Pike River coal mine that killed 29 miners in November 2010.
Richard Phillips•
Sly Stone (1943–2025), a funk pioneer who rejected musical and racial boundaries
Famous for his hits with Sly and the Family Stone, the abundantly talented musician created infectious and enduring music in the 1960s and 1970s.
Erik Schreiber•
Grenfell Uncovered: A moving cry for justice for the mass murder committed by a money-mad ruling class
Grenfell Tower—which had been a safe concrete structure for the previous five decades—was turned into a death trap as a result of corporate profiteering.
Robert Stevens•
Andor: Encouraging and reflecting anti-establishment, anti-authoritarian sentiment
Andor speaks to the brutality of modern capitalist society, reflecting the real-world descent into dictatorship, war and global crisis.
Jane Wise•
Stefan Steinberg•
Kipchumba Ochieng•
Ed Hightower•
Fred Mazelis•
James Brewer•
Andor: Encouraging and reflecting anti-establishment, anti-authoritarian sentiment
Andor speaks to the brutality of modern capitalist society, reflecting the real-world descent into dictatorship, war and global crisis.
Jane Wise•
The Eternaut: A Netflix miniseries inspired by the fight against Argentina’s dictatorships
The Netflix miniseries is based on a classic of Argentine science fiction, whose writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld was a leftist intellectual killed by the military dictatorship.
Francis Portocarrero•
The White Lotus Season 3: A good deal goes on, but what does it add up to?
Here again, a small group of guests arrives at a lavish location for a week of relaxation, daily “wellness treatments,” gourmet meals and live entertainment.
Ed Hightower•
The Pitt—Taking the side of science and healthcare workers
One of the five most-watched debuts on HBO Max, The Pitt has already been renewed for a second season and widely discussed on TikTok and other social media.
Isabel Roy•
Paul Bond•
Paul Mitchell•
Hong Jian, David Walsh•
Thomas Scripps•
Margot Miller•
Pike River movie undermined by glaring omissions
The film concerns New Zealand’s worst industrial accident—the gas explosions at the Pike River coal mine that killed 29 miners in November 2010.
Richard Phillips•
The Correspondent: The frameup and incarceration of Australian journalist Peter Greste
Kriv Stender’s dramatic feature is limited by its perfunctory examination of the explosive political developments in Egypt that preceded Greste’s incarceration.
Richard Phillips•
2025 San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 3
Only on Earth (Spain), The Wolves Always Come at Night (Mongolia), I Dreamed His Name (Colombia), The Brink of Dreams (Egypt) and Beloved Tropic (Panama): Sincerity and passivity
There are many difficult, urgent social, political and cultural problems at present. And there are numerous filmmakers willing to address them, to one extent or another.
David Walsh•
2025 San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 2
Ricky, Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo) and American social reality, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud and Triumph from Bulgaria
To find in reality the basis for changing the existing state of things, the artist has to approach reality with anger and partisanship.
Joanne Laurier•
David Walsh•
Darren Paxton•
Joanne Laurier•
Bernd Reinhardt•
Verena Nees •
Sly Stone (1943–2025), a funk pioneer who rejected musical and racial boundaries
Famous for his hits with Sly and the Family Stone, the abundantly talented musician created infectious and enduring music in the 1960s and 1970s.
Erik Schreiber•
Alfred Brendel, world-famous classical pianist, is dead at 94
The Czech-born, Austrian pianist had wide interests and an international outlook, and was best known for his dedication to the works of Beethoven and Schubert.
Fred Mazelis•
Brian Wilson (1942-2025) expressed both joy and tragedy through his harmonies
Brian Wilson and the band he founded, the Beach Boys, made an indelible mark on American popular music.
James Brewer•
The death of South African jazz musician Louis Moholo-Moholo, 85: “Music is the healing force of the universe”
On June 13 the sad news arrived that legendary South African drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo had passed away after a long illness.
Gary May•
Jean Shaoul•
Erik Schreiber•
Kevin Reed•
Shannon Jones, Valery Tsekov•
Nick Barrickman•
A Different Kind of Power whitewashes Jacinda Ardern’s right-wing, pro-imperialist government
The much-publicised memoir by New Zealand’s former prime minister uses empty platitudes about the importance of “kindness” and “empathy” to cover up the right-wing record of her Labour Party government from 2017 to 2023.
Tom Peters•
A conversation with Blake Bailey, Philip Roth biographer and author of Canceled Lives: My Father, My Scandal, and Me: “I said ... I’m not going to take this lying down”
Bailey has decided to fight and set the record straight. This is an entirely welcome and healthy development, a contribution to the cleansing of the cultural atmosphere.
David Walsh•
Vincent Delecroix’s Small Boat: Sympathy for migrants spiked by misanthropy
Depicting the November 24, 2021 drowning of 27 migrants in the Channel opens a window onto the crimes committed against migrants all over the world.
Thomas Scripps•
Democracy Reborn: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Equal Rights in Post-Civil War America, by Garrett Epps
The Fourteenth Amendment was the product of a democratic revolutionary change that sought to put the Constitution on a genuine egalitarian footing.
Eric London•
James McDonald•
David Walsh•
David Walsh•
Thomas Scripps•
Andrea Peters•
Film director Prasanna Vithanage discusses Paradise with the WSWS
The mass anti-government agitation in Sri Lanka “was the result of real class differences in our society, the divisions between the haves and the have nots” – Prasanna Vithanage
Richard Phillips•
Interview with Hany Abu-Assad, Palestinian filmmaker (Paradise Now, Omar): “Gaza is the Bastille of our day … a lot is going to change”
One of his most accomplished works is Omar, a 2013 film about a young Palestinian baker (Adam Bakri) who becomes involved in complex political and moral matters.
David Walsh•
Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage denounces Israeli genocide in Gaza
“I strongly denounce state-sponsored witch-hunt and prosecution against artists and activists who have come forward against Israel’s genocide.”
Wasantha Rupasinghe•
Roger Stahl discusses Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA Took Hollywood with WSWS
Department of Defense interventions into American entertainment media is to “get people acclimated to the presence of military personnel, military bases, military operations, and weapons… normalizing the presence of the military in almost every aspect of life.”
Richard Phillips•
David Walsh•
David Walsh•
Vimukthi Vidarshana and Shree Haran•
Richard Phillips•
David Walsh•
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