Will Venice Secede From Italy?
While the world watches the situation unfold in the Ukraine, and pundits argue the legitimacy of Crimea reuniting with Russia, Venice held a historic referendum. On March 21, the province of Veneto...
Category: Europe
A New Cold War? The (Not) Surprising Crimea annexation
Wasting no time – and equally wasting no opportunity when it came to official spectacle – Russia has gone ahead and annexed Crimea and Sevastopol. The trumpets blared, a speech clearly meant to...
Review: HBO’s “Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus”
What are these “Unstable Elements” and why are they lurking in Belarus? Are they housed in nuclear warheads misappropriated after the collapse of the Soviet Union? Is there a race against time to...
Dragons in their lairs: what Yanukovych’s golden paperweights say about Ukraine
Following recent bloodshed, the ouster of President Yanukovych, and new elections set for May, Ukraine is at a crossroads. It will probably remain there for some time, inspiring many overwrought...
Disco and Atomic War: How Dallas and Knight Rider led to the fall of the Iron Curtain
In “Disco and Atomic War” Estonian filmmaker Jaak Kilmi approaches what is a pretty dry, well-tread political topic – the power of media to not only prop up totalitarian regimes but to take...
How Downton Abbey Punishes Women
With almost everything worth watching (with the exception of Brooklyn Nine Nine) on hiatus in the US right now, viewers are even more riveted to Downton Abbey than usual. As Julian Fellowes furthers...
The Return of Sherlock
After considerable delay, Sherlock is back on US airwaves, where it will be running on PBS’ “Masterpiece” over the next few weeks. Most people in the US have already watched it, of course, via...
A Country Divided: The EuroMaidan Protests in Ukraine
Well, the holidays are over, and sure enough, more clashes between protesters and riot police have erupted in Kiev. If you haven’t been paying much attention to what is happening in the Ukrainian...
Bon Voyage: Director Jillian Schlesinger on her “Maidentrip”
While Robert Redford (star of J.C. Chandor’s “All Is Lost”) and Tom Hanks (playing the titular “Captain Phillips” in Paul Greengrass’s latest) are surely setting their compasses in the...
Review: Downton Abbey Season Four
Downton Abbey has returned to the airwaves in the United States at last, much to the delight of the show’s rabid fans from coast to coast. But what does it have to offer with its fourth season?...