The pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of movie theaters.
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.
Bar Guide: Pair your next book with a Maine author-inspired cocktail
These combos are perfect for your next Zoom book club meeting.
Andra Day astonishes as Billie Holiday in Lee Daniels’s maddeningly uneven biopic
Andra Day delivers an astonishing breakout performance as the complicated subject of “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” in a movie that often feels like it’s unworthy of both the actress and the persona she adopts so seamlessly. From the first moments of this maddeningly uneven film, Day channels her complicated, contradictory protagonist with closely […]
Opioid-epidemic drama ‘Crisis’ misses the mark
“Crisis,” an attempted thriller about the opioid epidemic, unfortunately doesn’t bring the experience home. The movie is a multiple-narrative look at the misuse of the likes of fentanyl, oxycodone and heroin that, according to HHS, afflicted more than 1.6 million Americans in 2019. It’s a raging epidemic exacting a dreadful human toll, but “Crisis” doesn’t […]
Art review: Portland Museum of Art’s 2020 exhibit is probably as good as virtual gets
There are still some things missing from the experience, compared to in-person, but there are others gained from the online presentation of ‘Untitled, 2020.’
‘The Vigil’ a efficiently creepy horror film rooted in Jewish lore
Horror films often offer catharsis, but rarely are they also as deeply sorrowful as Keith Thomas’ “The Vigil,” a horror film based in Jewish faith and culture. Dave Davis stars as Yakov, a young man in Brooklyn struggling to establish a secular life, having left the Orthodox Jewish community after a traumatic experience. One night, […]
Possible result of an upended Oscar season? ‘It might be the purest … and strangest’
A vast sub-industry of activity to influence Academy voters and other award givers has gone as dark as movie theaters during the pandemic, adding even more mystery to which films emerge as contenders.
Here’s the one Oscar nomination these contenders need to win best picture
Oscar voting begins – finally – this week, meaning we are one step closer to spring, one step closer to gaining a bit more clarity about this year’s strange awards season and one step closer to making sure the liquor cabinet is stocked with a bottle or three of good Irish whiskey for a few […]
Deep Water: ‘I feel for the father,’ by Arisa White
Maine poems edited and introduced by Megan Grumbling.
Bar Guide: Despite opening during a pandemic, there have been bright spots for the new Batson River
The Kennebunk brewery and distillery opened a second location in Portland in December.