Author: Reporter

Alex Garland’s films have vividly conjured a virus-caused pandemic, like 2002’s “28 Days Later,” an uncontrollable artificial intelligence, 2014’s “Ex Machina,” and in his latest, “Civil War,” a near-future America in the throes of all-out warfare. Most filmmakers with such a record might claim some knack for tapping into the zeitgeist. But Garland doesn’t see it that way. He’s dealing, he said, with omnipresent realities that demand no great leaps of vision. He wrote “Civil War” in 2020, when societies around the world were unraveling over COVID-19 and the prospect of societal breakdown was on everyone’s minds. “That was...

Steve Martin has long marveled at the many phases of his life. There was his youth as a Disneyland performer, surrounded by vaudeville performers and magicians. A decade as a stand-up before the sudden onset of stadium-sized popularity. An abrupt shift to movies. Later, a new chapter as a banjo player, a father and, a comedy act once again with Martin Short. It is such a confounding string of chapters that Martin has typically only approached his life piecemeal or schizophrenically. He titled an audiobook “So Many Steves.” His memoir, “Born Standing Up,” covered only his stand-up years. In...

Workers, activists, and others from Milwaukee to capitals across Asia marked May Day with rallies and marches to call for better working conditions and greater labor rights. May Day, which falls on May 1, is observed in many countries as a day to celebrate workers’ rights. May Day events have also given many an opportunity to air general economic grievances or political demands. Wisconsin’s May Day March for 2024 condemns Trump’s message of hate and division. This year marks Voces de la Frontera’s 18th anniversary statewide May Day march, the largest in Wisconsin, held annually and this year in...