5th century Athens was a place filled with all manner of celebrations and mystery cults. Each year, around fall, the women of Athens gathered and celebrated the Thesmophoria, a three day celebration honoring the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone, welcoming a good harvest. The activities of the Thesmophoria remain…
Month: September 2019
The Maccabean Revolt and the Birth of Hanukkah
All we have left of the Maccabees books are Greek translations, the original Hebrew texts from the 2nd Century BC are lost. The books describe, in detail, the restoration of the Jewish nation under the Hasmonean Dynasty, after the Seleucid Empire’s tyrannical rule over Judeah (the Seleucids were an empire that…
The Artist
The Artist (2011) Director: Michel Hazanavicius ★★★★★ The Artist is a French, modern silent film that is an homage to Old Hollywood. It takes place in the late 1920s as an aging silent film star in Hollywood loses his appeal during the advent of “talkies,” while a rising young star…
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 (2010) Director: Lee Unkrich Typically at this point in a film series, the story becomes tired, the characters uninteresting, and the production loses its overall quality. However Toy Story 3 remains a delightful and sentimental film, like its two predecessors. ★★★★★ It tells the story of an older…