Michael Atkinson

Reporter Michael Atkinson reviews film Summering, directed by James Ponsoldt, in his latest piece for the Village Voice. The film centers around four young middle schoolers, whose lives are about to change forever, and their last week of summer.

“A fervent effort to craft a Stand By Me for tween girls—or maybe for Millennials nostalgic for their sixth-grade girlhoods—director James Ponsoldt’s Summering even begins with a slo-mo gallop through a lawn-sprinkler rainbow. Its honorable-yet-mushy intentions couldn’t be clearer, its retrospective emotional palate of semi-preadolescent freedom and friend-bonding already limited,” writes Atkinson. 

Read more on the Village Voice here. 

In this week’s L.A. Weekly Culture Pick, editor Lina Lecaro reviews Lavender Men, a local historical theater piece. Born out of the creative mind of playwright Roger Q. Mason during the height of Covid, the play is an inspired reimagining of the life of President Abraham Lincoln through a LGBTQ+ and BIPOC point of view.

“Led a charismatic queer character named Taffeta (a personality from a short film Mason also made during the lockdown) it juxtaposes modern issues into a period piece exploring racial and sexual exclusion and how Lincoln might have approached these issues,” writes Lecaro.

Lavender Men is being shown in Los Angeles, and is directed by Lovell Holder, featuring Alex Esola as Elmer Ellsworth (a vet of TV and film including The Kennedy Center, The Ahmanson and the recent feature After the Wedding), Pete Ploszek as Abe Lincoln (The Cherry Orchard, Babylon) and Mason themself (who served an associate producer on Discovery+ docuseries Book of Queer) as Taffeta.

Read more on L.A. Weekly here.

Lavender Men Brings New Shades to Historical Theater

A recent piece in Marina Times by reporter Garey De Martini highlights the rollercoaster of the 10 U.S. housing markets. He writes about a recent study published, in which it was found that five of those ten markets have cooled faster than others this year: San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento and Stockton. The U.S. West, it would seem, is the market most affected by cooling.

‘In a mid-July report published by the San Francisco Business Times, Ashley Fahey writes that there are a number of reasons for this, none of which can be equally applied to every metro area on the West Coast,” writes De Martini. “Citing Redfin as her source, she says an exodus out of California is certainly one factor impacting the cities and metro areas. Higher mortgage rates seem to be affecting pricier markets as well.”

Read more on Marina Times here.

Michael Snyder’s, who writes the Coastal Commuter column for Marina Times, has released his latest piece, tackling the subjectively monstrous commute that is the six hour drive on the 101 between Los Angeles and San Francisco. More than you may think take this drive on a weekly basis, as Californians eagerly await the building of the promised bullet train. It’s not an easy route to travel, as evidenced by Snyder’s words below, but he’s come up with some great tips on how to make it palatable.

“I split my time between San Francisco and its frenemy city down south, Los Angeles,” writes Snyder (we won’t take it personally). “And since I need a car in Los Angeles due to the sprawl and went to all the trouble of paying for an annual residential parking permit in San Francisco (despite dwindling unrestricted spaces on the streets of Russian Hill), I drive the 400-plus miles on an all-too-regular basis. I’ve done that for well over a decade. As a result, I have had to confront that age-old conundrum: How do you not go crazy from boredom for roughly six hours of driving the 101?”

The story continues on Marina Times here.

Patty Burness of the Marina Times endeavors to bring the taste of Spain home to readers in her new multi-part series on exploring the country. She and her husband spent a month in the countryside and cities, tasting the best local cuisine and immersing themselves in the wine and food culture that is the envy of so many. Below is Part One of her journey, which dives into the many wines and spirits produced in Spain. Further parts will highlight places of interest, from museums and fountains to churches and palaces.

“We started our tour of several bodegas in La Rioja region in the town of Logroño, often considered Rioja’s capital. Rioja, known for its red wines, is spread out over 75 miles along the Ebro River in the north central part of Spain,” begins a lucky Burness. “The popular subregions are Rioja Oriental (some prefer the original designation of Rioja Baja), Rioja Alta, and Rioja Alavesa.”

The story continues on Marina Times here.

Michael Snyder of the Marina Times reviews filmmaker Jono McLeod’s clever, creative documentary My Old School as it makes its way into select theaters.

“Myriad movies have gained renown and box office success by utilizing high school settings to offer up everything from randy adolescent shenanigans, starry-eyed teen romance, and poignant coming-of-age journeys to class war, juvenile delinquency, and slasher horror,” writes Snyder My Old School manages to reference or poke fun at almost all of those subgenres to tell the strange but true story of a student who attended a secondary school in the Glasgow, Scotland suburb of Bearsden and, in 1995, ignited a television-to-tabloids media furor throughout the United Kingdom.”

Read more on Marina Times here. [spoiler alert]

Reporter Rafael Alvarez reviews artist Ada Calhoun’s ‘Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me’ in his latest piece for the Village Voice, and includes an interview with the author. The book is a biography of beloved poet Frank O’Hara from the viewpoint of what his work meant to Calhoun and her father.

“When the writer—daughter of renowned art critic Peter Schjeldahl—found a stash of cassette tapes, she opened a window to an era,” writes Alvarez.

Read more on the Village Voice here.

Liz Farrell of the Marina Times explores how parents play a key role in helping children thrive in high school. In this latest piece, Farrell uses her own experience as the mother of two high school-bound teens to provide insight and advice on how to help your student successfully navigate a new academic and social world. As the founder of TechTalks, a consulting group to help schools and families have productive conversations around social media and technology, Farrell is uniquely positioned to help families.

“During these years, teens seek more independence, and their activities and friends play a central role, but this isn’t the time for us as parents to check out,” writes Farrell. “They will never admit it, and trust me it doesn’t always feel this way, but they need our presence now more than ever. Let them know we are there if they need us, always providing constant love and support. It can be harder to find time to connect, so try every day to talk to them — not just about classes and grades but friends and activities. They will try to push you away, but showing them that what is going on in their lives is important to you will make the high school transition and years easier for everyone.”

Read more on Marina Times here.

A recent piece in Marina Times by reporter Garey De Martini highlights the rollercoaster of the 10 U.S. housing markets. He writes about a recent study published, in which it was found that five of those ten markets have cooled faster than others this year: San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento and Stockton. The U.S. West, it would seem, is the market most affected by cooling.

‘In a mid-July report published by the San Francisco Business Times, Ashley Fahey writes that there are a number of reasons for this, none of which can be equally applied to every metro area on the West Coast,” writes De Martini. “Citing Redfin as her source, she says an exodus out of California is certainly one factor impacting the cities and metro areas. Higher mortgage rates seem to be affecting pricier markets as well.”

Read more on Marina Times here.