The Trump administration has rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer schools or leave the country if their colleges hold classes entirely online this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the decision as a court hearing was getting underway on a challenge to the rule by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

One week ago, the Trump administration announced it would ban international students from attending U.S. colleges in the fall if they only take online classes. Now hundreds of colleges and universities, dozens of cities, and some of the country's biggest tech companies are pushing back. In several court filings Friday and Monday, the groups stand with the international students. They argue providing remote education is crucial given how contagious COVID-19 is — and they say they crafted policies for the fall by depending on earlier assurances from the federal government that international students would be able to attend class remotely "for the duration of the emergency" while still retaining their F-1 or M-1 visa status. They're supporting an initial legal challenge by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the first to sue the administration over its new policy. Existing law had prohibited international students from taking all their courses online, but the

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit NOEL KING, HOST: There's a hearing today that is crucial for hundreds of thousands of international students. It's about a rule that ICE announced. If a college is doing online learning only in the fall, international students will have their visas revoked. ICE says if you're doing school online, you don't need to be in the U.S. to do it. So now, some schools are suing ICE over this rule. NPR education reporter Elissa Nadworny is covering this. Good morning, Elissa. ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: Good morning, Noel. KING: So explain what's happening here. What did ICE do and say, exactly? NADWORNY: So last week, ICE issued guidance that said if schools were all online because of the pandemic, their students couldn't stay in the U.S. You know, this has actually always been the case. There's always an in-person requirement in order to get a visa to come to the U.S. But last spring, when pretty much every school went virtual, ICE had allowed for

Updated at 8:39 p.m. ET Tuesday The Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled the death of actor Naya Rivera to be an accidental drowning. She had disappeared on July 8 while boating with her 4-year-old son, and her body was recovered from a Southern California lake on Monday. Best known for her starring role on the Fox show Glee , Rivera was 33 years old. Sheriff William "Bill" Ayub said Monday Rivera's remains were found in Lake Piru in the Los Padres National Forest, not far from Los Angeles. For six seasons, from 2009 to 2015, Rivera played the role of an unexpectedly popular television antihero. Glee 's Santana Lopez was a cynical, initially closeted high school cheerleader with charisma to burn and an ax to grind. "The only straight I am is straight-up bitch," Santana announced in Season 2. But the character's bullying eventually yielded to team spirit and a tender romance with another cheerleader, the sweet natured but dim Brittany. Glee fans pushed for the storyline,

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: A famous paper, a few months ago, described fighting the pandemic as the hammer and the dance. Officials would put down the hammer, shutting down businesses to slow the disease, and then try various maneuvers to dance back toward normal life. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: California lowered the hammer last spring. Then came the dance. It's been gradually reopening businesses and beaches over the past couple months. But now Governor Gavin Newsom says he's got to go back to the hammer because COVID is spreading again. (SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE) GAVIN NEWSOM: A week or so ago, I was reporting just six lives lost. And then a few days later, well in excess of a hundred lives lost. And so this continues to be a deadly disease. MARTIN: It's not just businesses closing. The two biggest school districts in California say they won't have kids back in the classrooms for the foreseeable future. INSKEEP: Which is what we're going to discuss

The Trump administration has proposed a new rule governing the wages of tipped employees, after an earlier effort sparked a backlash from waitstaff, bartenders and other workers. The proposed rule from the Labor Department would allow employers to require more widespread sharing of tips with "back of the house" coworkers, such as cooks and dishwashers. The rule makes clear, however, that employers cannot pocket those tips or use them to reward managers and supervisors. The rule would also give employers more flexibility in assigning non-tipped tasks to workers who rely on gratuities for a big part of their income. The proposal was cheered by the restaurant industry. But workers' advocates and some lawmakers say they still have some concerns. "This rule establishes once and for all an appropriate balance, and ends arbitrary and capricious regulations," said Angelo Amador, regulatory counsel for the National Restaurant Association. "We commend the U.S. Department of Labor for providing

In switching from makingthenoise.com to floader.org, I’ve had to deal with the mess of creating new online identities on Vimeo, Soundcloud, and Bandcamp.  Most of these types of services only allow one unique email address per account which causes a dilema – do I create a new gmail account for every additional service? Meltmail.com solves […]

A new photo ID requirement is the latest in a Republican-controlled state. The law also does away with the state’s presidential primaries in favor of a series of caucuses.

Expertos y candidatos resaltaron los desafíos y las dificultades para desarrollar la campaña en medio del conflicto y la nula financiación.

El senador Ariel Ávila aclaró que en estos días se presentará en el Congreso la ley de acogimiento a la justicia.

El compositor colombiano, Alejandro Zuleta, estrenará próximamente su obra musical ‘Oratorio Panhispánico’ en la ciudad de Nueva York.

Erasmo Zuleta, gobernador de Córdoba, habla de las apuestas y los retos que tiene para su departamento.

For reasons, it's important for me to track my beats-per-minute and sleep. To date, I've done that by using an Oura Ring to monitor sleep and a Fitbit for BPM. The Oura ring just bit the dust and rather than replace it, I'd rather buy one device- ring or watch- that does both well. Any suggestions?

Things I value or need include:

- Fast and accurate BPM tracking. Doesn't need to be perfect. The fitbit's level of accuracy and speed was fine. But with the Oura ring I needed to stay still and wait several minutes to get a value and those values felt hinky.

- Sleep data that is fairly accurate around night wakings, fall-asleep time, deep sleep/REM/Light sleep, and resting heart rate overnight. The Oura Ring is amazing at this.

-I don't care if I have to use an app for the sleep info but the BPM needs to be visually available.

-I don't care about steps or other fitness indicators but they aren't a problem.

- I'm happy with a ring, watch, or something else as long as it can do both. Does such a thing exist?

El gobernador de Córdoba, Erasmo Zuleta, propone un diálogo de paz territorial con el Clan del Golfo. Esta iniciativa busca generar beneficios tangibles para las comunidades afectadas por el conflicto, promoviendo la reconciliación y la estabilidad en la región.

A genuine joy to listen to… Well, for a couple of weeks at least.

 The United States invented the Rule of Law through the fragmentation of sovereignty among 51 sovereign authorities each with three branches of government. It further protects individual rights from state and federal infringement. This effectively created a legal system that could all state actors to account before law. While still imperfect in many important ways, Donald Trump took a sledgehammer to the Rule of Law particularly since January 6, 2021.

Today in America the rule of law faces severe challenges and may well face a total sunset. If so, the Supreme Court of the United States played a central role as accomplice. Most notably, today granted review (certiorari) on the following question: Whether and if so to what extent does a former President enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office. That question in the abstract may hold academic interest, but the answer lies in many disputes in the future over decades or even centuries. 

Prof. Laurence Tribe, a legendary Constitutional Law scholar, explains the effect of this action:

The Supreme Court effectively gives Trump the potential to now escape any accountability for his role in the insurrection of January 6, 2021. This order puts partisan politics above the Rule of Law. A very dark day for America.

Today, the United States Supreme Court obliterated the Fourteenth Amendment, section 3, in Trump v. Anderson. The language of this section appears simple enough:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

The Court held that: "the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3." More specifically, the Court held that only Congress may enforce the disqualification of section 3 and that states could only enforce the provision against state candidates for office and state officeholders. Otherwise the nation would face a risk of a patchwork of state outcomes. This, despite the fact that in 1868, shortly after the provision became law, the Governor of the State of Georgia disqualified a federal candidate for office. (See fn 3).

Further, if "only" Congress holds power to enforce section 3 then why did the drafters of the Amendment just insert an "only" in the section granting Congress power. The Court needs that "only" and it simply does not exist. Rather than apply the plain meaning the Court instead pretends there is an only when there is no such word. Section 5 plainly states: "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article." The Court did violence to the statute to protect Donald Trump.

Former Fourth Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig, a prominent conservative jurist explains:

The Supreme Court did leave one last avenue for accountability under law that the Biden Administration or DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith could use to disqualify Trump. 18 U.S.C. section 2383 provides:

Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

The Court cited this section with approval. It would provide a uniform federal solution. And, it arises from an exercise of Congressional power. Even this Court (which works overtime to protect Trump) would uphold such an action. 

Why did Jack Smith (or Attorney General Merrick Garland before him) fail to use this section against the obvious insurrectionist Donald Trump? Or, alternatively, why not bring such an action tomorrow morning? Colorado would provide a form indictment and a trial map, complete with comprehensive evidence?

So, the Court today shifted the spotlight to DOJ with today's SCOTUS ruling. Agreement or disagreement with the Court's opinion no longer matters. Many excellent arguments support the use of section 3 in precisely the manner of Colorado. All moot.

Why did DOJ fail (and continue to fail) to seek disqualification through a criminal action a criminal action? 

The most disturbing and vivid reality of all of this: law failed to hold Trump to account as an oath breaking insurrectionist despite many available pathways.

 

 

Currently, the nation and perhaps the world struggles with the recent jury verdict against Donald Trump finding him guilty of 34 felony counts. Trump claims that the verdict proves Joe Biden uses the criminal justice system as a political tool intended to defeat his political opponents, in this case him. On the other hand, many take the position that the case demonstrates the triumph of the rule of law because it proves that even the most privileged and powerful of citizens must ultimately reckon with legal accountability. I opt for the conclusion that the case exemplifies a healthy rule of law operating to impose reasonable and predictable accountability and consequences for even the most powerful governing elites in American today for the following six reasons.

First, and foremost, the guilty verdict reflects the unanimous conclusion of 12 jurors, after careful deliberation and judicial instruction, empaneled pursuant to pre-announced New York Law. Donald Trump, like all criminal defendants, held the power to refuse a limited number of jurors without cause and to move to strike jurors for cause. The jurors hailed from Trump's former home state and the headquarters of the Trump Organization—New York. It is noteworthy that not a single juror dissented from the verdict and that they reached the verdict without any judicial cajoling through, for example, an Allen charge. The jury questioned the evidence and the instructions to assure they acted properly. They deliberated about 12 hours after spending five weeks listening to witness testimony and reviewing other evidence including extensive documents. Trump's high-powered legal team exercised their right to cross-examine witnesses, explain away evidence and submit their own exculpatory evidence. Despite these rights, the best legal team money could buy failed to raise any reasonable doubt with even one juror, on even one count, regarding Trump’s guilt.

Second, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg holds a well-earned reputation as a professional prosecutor who gets the job done and gets it done professionally. Recall that Bragg endured severe criticism for declining to prosecute Trump for tax fraud in 2022, prompting two prosecutors to resign. Bragg apparently found the case against Trump too risky to warrant pursuit. Instead, he meticulously built this case which proved bullet-proof. Bragg won his office through an election of local voters and does not work for Joe Biden or even the federal government. The man holds total legal independence from the Biden Administration and proved himself as a non-partisan prosecutor by letting Trump walk on other fraud charges in 2022. The fact that he sought a Grand Jury indictment against Trump on this case suggests that there was probable cause that Trump committed the crimes—a fact that the jury's verdict fully vindicates.

Third, Justice Juan Merchan presided over the entire Trump matter with appropriate judicial restraint. Given Trump’s contemptuous misconduct and constant threats of violence against the judge, his family, his staff and the jury, Merchan certainly held the power to imprison Trump for contempt. He held his fire and allowed the jury to do its job. Despite Fox “News” reports to the contrary, the evidence suggests the Judge ruled on objections and other procedural matters with judicious wisdom. He righteously rejected Trump’s efforts to dismiss the charges, as proven by the unanimous jury verdict on all counts. Again, Merchan, a New York state judge, holds total legal independence from the Biden Administration and, Trump and his team produced zero evidence that Biden even attempted to influence Merchan.

Fourth, Trump himself knew he faced an uphill battle once he decided not to testify and take the stand to declare his innocence. Due to Trump’s decision the jury never heard Trump deny the charges, claim innocence or explain the mountain of evidence against him in the form of witnesses, key documents, or the tape-recording directing Cohen to pay Daniels by check. In fact, there was no defense theory of the case. Trump would not exude credibility as a witness due to his history of fraud, and he would risk a finding of perjury if he claimed innocence under oath or if he simply made-up stories on the stand. In any event, many defendants face challenges testifying on their own behalf, but Trump made that call, not Joe Biden.

Fifth, after reviewing the jury instructions, I saw no error, in that the instructions fairly reflect governing law in New York. While some complain reasonably that the jury was not required to identify the precise crime that transforms misdemeanor falsification of records into a felony, there is Supreme Court authority in support of this. Juries typically do not need to identify with particularity (nor even agree upon a particular predicate crime) a predicate crime to a felony charge; here the crime Trump intended to further with false business records. The US Supreme Court might well make up some means of saving Donald Trump (see Trump v. United States and Trump v. Anderson). Justice Merchan, however, cannot read the minds of the conservative Court majority and it is not his job to predict ways the Supreme Court can throw lifelines to former President Trump. Merchan’s instructions reflect the law today and that is the goal of jury instructions, not to craft new innovations to save Trump.

Sixth, all the cries of conspiracy theory and a rigged justice system from Trump and his minions lack any evidentiary foundation. They produced zero evidence that Joe Biden masterminded this entire prosecution. The claim is facially absurd. Biden did not set up Trumps illicit and adulterous liaisons, Trump did. Biden did not meet with David Pecker to set up a scheme to hide Trump’s prior bad acts in the run-up to election 2016. Trump signed the checks reimbursing Cohen the hush money paid to Trump’s co-adulterers. Trump can only blame Trump for his 34 felony convictions.

In light of the above, I conclude that Donald Trump enjoyed all the due process the US Constitution accords criminal defendants. Of course, with his billions, Trump can afford the very best lawyers which most defendants cannot. As former President, Trump enjoys the right to argue before many justices he appointed which most defendants do not. From a rule of law perspective the case proves that even the richest and most politically powerful must answer for their crimes.

Grammy-winning guitarist and songwriter Jack White has announced a surprise concert at Denver's Bluebird Theater, and tickets are on sale this afternoon.

Denver International Airport officials are preparing to close the A-Bridge linking DIA's main terminal to concourses as part of a re-configuration and expansion of security screening checkpoints.

Sex expert Shannon T. Boodram explains open relationships.

The hottest hip hop sites on the 'net.

A Georgia judge made the decision Friday (Oct. 1).

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He received improper benefits while in school.

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She was pulled off air after testing positive for COVID.

The Department of Marine & Ports Services has released the weekly shipping schedule for ship arrivals commencing on Saturday, November 9th. On Sunday the Insignia cruise ship is expected, on Monday the Oleander container ship and the Zuiderdam cruise ship will arrive, and on Tuesday the Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship is scheduled to arrive. On […]

Bermuda will host the Pan American Field Hockey Challenge at National Sports Center, and a look at the schedule is below. 2024 Women’s Pan American Cup Challenge Schedule Saturday September 21st 1:30 pm Peru vs. Guyana 3:45 pm Paraguay vs. Brazil 6:00 pm Mexico vs. Bermuda Sunday September 22nd 1:30 pm Peru vs. Brazil 3:45 pm Mexico […]

Bermuda has two athletes in action tomorrow [Monday July 29] at the Olympics, with rower Dara Alizadeh competing again and swimmer Emma Harvey set to make her Olympic debut, where she will compete in the 100m backstroke. You can view our full coverage of Bermuda’s athletes at the 2024 games here. Bernews will be providing comprehensive coverage […]

Show Organizers have advised that due to the weather FEI JWC Competition No. 1 — which was scheduled to take place on tomorrow [Saturday] — has been rescheduled to Sunday, 4th February. The horse inspection will take place at 8.30 a.m. with jumping to commence a 9.30 a.m.” Related Stories Equestrian Patrick Nisbett Competes in France […]

Since the commissioning of two of the solar energy systems on Government buildings earlier this year, “it has produced 105,670 kilowatts of power resulting in approximately $42,000 worth of saving in electricity costs,” Minister of Public Works Lt/Col David Burch said, adding that “the overall project is on schedule and is set to be completed […]

“This year’s emancipation commemoration theme is ‘Reimagining Community: Snapshots of Our Past,’ Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Owen Darrell said. Speaking in the Senate, the Minister said, “I stand before you today to recognize one of the most significant milestones in our history – the emancipation of our ancestors from the bonds of enslavement. […]

Apple's camera module supplier for the upcoming iPhone SE 4 is set to begin mass production of the components in December, according to a new report coming out of Korea.


Economic newspaper Ajunews reports that LG Innotek will supply the front camera module for the budget-friendly fourth-generation device. Final tests are now said to be underway, with mass production of the module following next month.

The outlet reports that LG Innotek usually supplies camera modules around three months before the launch of new smartphones, which tallies with rumors of an iPhone SE 4 launch in March or April 2025. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates that Apple suppliers will produce around 8.6 million iPhone SE 4 units through the first quarter of next year.

The sub-$500 device is expected to feature a design similar to the base iPhone 14. Rumored specifications include a 6.1-inch OLED display, Face ID, a newer A-series chip, a USB-C port, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, 8GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence, and Apple's first in-house 5G modem. Apple released the existing iPhone SE in March 2022.

This article, "iPhone SE 4 Camera Modules to Enter Mass Production Next Month" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Darryl Cooper, AKA @MartyrMade, is a podcaster who had a Twitter thread go viral with 13k retweets and 20k likes of the first Tweet alone. This one is 36-Tweets long. It makes very cogent arguments of not only why millions of Trump supporters believe the 2020 election was stolen, but also why we are justified to believe it. Continue reading →

TRUMP TOLD THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THERE ARE THE SECURITY STATE AGENTS WHO THINK THAT THEY RUN THE GOVERNMENT AND HE STOOD UP TO THEM AND CHALLENGED THEIR ORTHODOXIES AND PIETIES AND SHOWED AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY PEOPLE IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ON THE RIGHT, THAT THESE INSTITUTIONS ARE NOT NOBLE OR BENEVOLENT BUT ARE HIGHLY PERNICIOUS. THEY WANT TO INTERFERE IN OUR DOMESTIC POLITICS AND THEY OUGHT TO BE DEEPLY DISTRUSTED. Continue reading →

Just two more sleeps until The Spellshop comes out and book tour begins! Over the next week and a half, I'm headed to Vermont, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Phoenix, Knoxville, and Chapel Hill! I'm so excited I could burst! Please come join me!

http://www.sarahbethdurst.com/appearances.htm

Very excited for San Diego Comic-Con!!! Here's my full schedule. Hope to see you there!

I'm off to Glasgow, Scotland, later this week for Worldcon (the World Science Fiction Convention)! Very excited!!! Here's my full schedule. Hope to see you there! 

Very excited for New York Comic Con!!! I'll be there on Thursday and Sunday. Hope to see you there!

COVID has put the kibosh on much this year, but it can’t stop the capsule TIFF reviews. From the plague-ready, off-model edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, here’s my annual collection of mini-reviews.

The greatly cut-down slate included only slivers of the festival I’d program for myself in a regular year: four to five from international auteurs and a couple examples of global genre cinema. The missing items either are waiting in limbo as sales agents the world over hope that theatrical exhibition will return, or didn’t even get shot.

This list features more Canadian films and documentaries than I’d see at the fest (as opposed to catching them later.) Festivals tend toward the dour and downbeat but that was doubly true this time out. If we’re still trapped in our homes next year, I’ll likely be more vigilant about sorting through the slim pickings, supplementing our streaming experience with titles already available on other platforms.

That said, the overall hit rate was probably as strong as any other recent year. The average score on my numerical ratings would be higher, actually. It’s just that I saw the same festival everyone else did, starting with the film that garnered nearly universal acclaim, nabbed the People’s Choice Award, and will surely be part of the Oscars race—whatever the heck that will look like.

Films are listed in order of preference. Within categories that doesn’t mean much and entails a lot of apples-to-oranges comparisons. A festival near you, or not so near you but within your territory for geolocking purposes, may be virtually screening some of these soon.

The Pinnacle

Nomadland [US, Chloé Zhao, 5] When her town closes down in the wake of its gypsum mine’s closure, a self-reliant widow (Frances McDormand) moves into her van and joins the ranks of the nomad subculture, people who rove the US, taking whatever hard work they can get and living out of their vehicles. Rooted in social realist cinema, marked by a triad of transcendent qualities: poetic visual beauty, an indelible central performance and a deep love for the characters from the writer/director.

Recommended

Another Round [Denmark, Thomas Vinterberg, 4.5] Burned out high school teacher (Mads Mikkelsen) embarks with three colleagues on an experiment to enhance their performance by maintaining a blood alcohol level of 0.5% throughout their days at work. Not only an original booze movie, but a big one, full of turns and ambiguities, and an utterly masterful performance from Mikkelsen.

City Hall [US, Frederick Wiseman, 4] The latest of Wiseman’s distinctive epic-length observational documentaries studies the quotidian, procedural and human moments of human life as seen through the processes of municipal government in Boston, as held together by the thoughtful charisma of Mayor Martin Walsh. Improbably absorbing as always, this institutional cross-section offers a beguiling vision of an oasis of good government in the USA.

True Mothers [Japan, Naomi Kawase, 4.5] Parents of a kindergartner react with dismay when a woman contacts them claiming to be his birth mother. Luminous, delicate drama of shifting perspectives.

Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds [US, Werner Herzog & Clive Oppenheimer] Documentary explores the science and mythology of meteor, from Chicxulub to ʻOumuamua. The intersection between scientific discovery and religious awe, central to all of Herzog’s beautiful and delightful nature docs, rises from subtext to text through the intercession of traditional elders, joyful researchers, and the Jesuit scholar of the Vatican’s heaven stone collection.

David Byrne’s American Utopia [US, Spike Lee, 4] Filmed version of the Broadway version of David Byrne’s recent tour features joyous choreography, simple but arresting stagecraft, and songs from his Talking Heads and solo eras. When you shoot a concert film featuring David Byrne, you have to bring it, and Lee does that ably, finding countlesss different ways to shoot within a proscenium.

The Father [UK, Florian Zeller, 4] Retired engineer (Anthony Hopkins) struggles to piece together the confusing reality of his living circumstances as his daughter (Olivia Colman) copes with his progressing dementia. Impeccably performed stage play adaptation puts the viewer inside the contradictory shifts of the protagonist’s subjective viewpoint.

Night of the Kings [Côte d'Ivoire/France , Philippe Lacôte, 4] When the red moon rises over MACA, the Ivory Coast’s toughest prison, its inmate boss appoints the new arrival as storyteller—a post that results in death if the tale ends before sundown. Prison drama with compelling narrative hook widens out to encompass ancient warfare, contemporary politics, and even a wizard duel.

Summer of 85 [France, Francois Ozon, 4] Love between two young men in a French beach town leads to a bizarre crime. Teen emotions run high in a sunlit melodrama of Eros and Thanatos.

Spring Blossom [France, Suzanne Lindon, 4] Bored with her classmates, an awkward 16 year old (played by the writer-director) pursues her attraction for a ruggedly handsome stage actor (Arnaud Valois.) Character drama sets aside the sexual aspect of this staple French cinema situation to focus on the emotion, periodically breaking from naturalism to have its characters express their feelings through dance.

Get the Hell Out [Taiwan, I-Fan Wang, 4] Taiwan’s notoriously pugilistic parliament tips into arterial spray when the effluent of a controversial chemical plant triggers a zombie epidemic. Zombie comedy features an eye-searing palette and an onslaught of optical overlays, and is paced like a quarter kilo of crushed Adderall.

Preparations to Be Together For an Unknown Period of Time [Hungary, Lili Horvát, 4] Top neurologist questions the accuracy of her recollections when she moves back home from the US to Budapest for a romantic rendezvous, only to find that the object of her affections professes not to remember her. Quietly suspenseful drama of psychological uncertainty.

Shiva Baby [US, Emma Seligman, 4] The ambient social pressures of a post-funeral gathering skyrocket for a directionless college student (Rachel Sennott) when attendees include not only the expected ex-girlfriend (Molly Gordon) but also the sex work client she’s caught feelings for. Knife-edge comedy of emotional suffocation uses a plucky suspense score for that extra frisson of social anxiety.

Under the Open Sky [Japan, Miwa Nishikawa, 4] Out of prison after a long sentence, an aging yakuza (Koji Yakusho) struggles with his volcanic temper as he attempts to go straight. Bittersweet drama anchored by a lead performance from Yakusho, a mainstay of contemporary Japanese cinema.

New Order [Mexico, Michel Franco, 4] A wedding thrown by a wealthy family during a growing insurrection suffers a murderous attack by protestors and the kidnapping of the bride. Wildly disturbing vision of political violence and degradation takes its time unreeling its allegorical purpose.

Limbo [UK, Ben Sharrock, 4] Syrian oud player grapples with guilt over family left behind as he cools his heels with other refugee claimants at a center in the bleak and isolated Outer Hebrides. Moments of deadpan humor and stark landscapes layer this exploration of displacement.

Violation [Canada, Madeleine Sims-Fewer & Dusty Mancinelli, 4] Woman (Madeleine Sims-Fewer) exacts meticulous revenge after her brother-in-law rapes her. Although this jarring, meditative drama includes gruesome imagery and horror-exploitation motifs, it’s closer in spirit to Michael Haneke than Dario Argento or Wes Craven.

Shadow in the Cloud [New Zealand, Roseanne Liang, 4] When an WWII RAF Flight Officer (Chloe Grace Moretz) boards a Samoa-bound cargo plane bearing a mysterious package, a monstrous gremlin on board is just one of the surprises. Enclosed space horror-action thriller tips an 80s-style hat to Carpenter and Cameron.

Beans [Canada, Tracey Deer, 4] As the 1990 Oka standoff envelops her Mohawk community, a shy tween achiever (Kiawentiio) decides to toughen up by ingratiating herself to the tough kids. Mixing the docudrama and coming-of-age structures offsets the inherent trickiness of both, but it wouldn’t work without an appealing and touching performance from its charismatic young lead.

Akilla’s Escape [Canada, Charles Officer, 4] Weed dealer hoping to leave the business (Saul Wiliiams) tries to recover his boss’ ripped-off cash and product without sacrificing a young gang member who reminds him of his younger self. Moody, laconic crime drama contextualized by the political history of Jamaican gangsterism.

Enemies of the State [US, Sonia Kennebeck] Documentary pulls apart a labyrinth of contradictory evidence around Matthew DeHart, an Indiana man who was framed for child pornography by the FBI as part of a Wikleaks espionage case, or created a story of secret files to shield himself either cooked up a Wikileaks-related espionage smokescreen to mask his sex crimes. Invites the viewer to join a filmmaking team as it goes ever deeper down a rabbit hole.

The Inconvenient Indian [Canada, Michelle Latimer, 4] Essay-format documentary examines the Indigenous struggle for sovereignty and cultural reclamation in North America, as hosted by novelist Thomas King and inspired by his nonfiction book of the same name. Makes its case through cinematic language, pushing the archival footage and talking heads format to the background.

Beginning [Georgia, Dea Kulumbegashvili, 4] Depressed wife of a pastor bears the brunt of a persecution campaign from a local man hostile to their minority Baptist faith. The camera acts as a pitiless eye in this harsh, austere drama of pervasive male oppression.

The Truffle Hunters [Italy, Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw, 4] An aging generation of Piedmontese truffle hunters carries on the search for the elusive delicacy, fearing the poison bait left for their beloved dogs by ruthless newcomers to the trade. A documentary balm for lovers of food and canines luxuriates in the presence of sumptuously photographed forest eccentrics and their very, very good dogs.

Lift Like a Girl [Egypt, Mayye Zayed, 4] From ages 13 to 18, under the tutelage of a volcanic, motormouth coach, with a rubble-strewn lot on a busy Alexandria street, weightlifter Zebiba trains to be a champion. Fly-on-the-wall documentary inhabits a hardscrabble community powered by loving verbal abuse.

The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel [Canada, Joel Bakan & Jennifer Abbott, 4] Polemical documentary deploys narration, stock footage and talking heads (some appearing via lockdown video conference) to survey corporate capitalism and the struggle against it from Reaganomics to COVID and the George Floyd protests. Comprehensive primer for the prospective young progressives includes a call to continued electoral action.

40 Years a Prisoner [US, Tommy Oliver, 4] Documentary recounts the 1978 standoff between members of radical Black back-to-nature organization MOVE and Philadelphia police through the efforts of the son of two of the group members to secure their parole. A strong emotional hook greatly assists in telling a tenaciously complicated story.

Good

Pieces of a Woman [US, Kornél Mundruczó, 3.5] Grief tears a couple (Vanessa KIrby, Shia LaBeouf) apart after the death of their baby in childbirth, abetted by the insistence of her domineering mother (Ellen Burstyn) that they pursue legal action against their midwife (Molly Parker.) Wrenching drama marked by deep performances and key long take scenes. An otherwise masterful script reaches for the conventional when it hits its climax.

Wildfire [UK/Ireland, Cathy Brady, 3.5] After going missing for a year, a bipolar woman (Nika McGuigan) drops in on her sister (Nora-Jane Noone), opening the wounds of shared tragedy. Raw, unsubtle family drama against the backdrop of Northern Irish politics as Brexit threatens a fragile peace.

Fauna [Mexico/Canada, Nicolás Pereda, 3.5] Narratives nest within narratives when an actor visits his girlfriend’s family in a sleepy small town. Comic misunderstandings, naturalistic locations and twisting meta-story may remind seasoned festival-goers of the works of Hong Sang-soo, with Coronas instead of soju.

The Water Man [US, David Oyelowo, 3.5] Imaginative kid (Lonnie Chavis) heads into the Northwestern forest in search of a legendary immortal, thinking he holds the secret to curing his mom (Rosario Dawson) of leukemia. One of the more successful of a recent wave of films that put a somber sin on 80s kids adventure, thanks to a well-constructed script and Oyelowo’s sure control of tone.

The Way I See It [US, Dawn Porter, 3.5] Documentary profile of Obama-era Official White House photographer traces his arc from work for the Reagan administration to anti-Trump social media firebrand. Whether American viewers consider this slickly fashioned film heartfelt or sentimental will depend on party registration. It’s certainly explicitly designed to fire up Ds to get out there to de-elect the current president.

Okay

Bandar Band [Iran/Germany, Manijeh Hekmat, 3] A pregnant singer, her husband and their guitarist try to get their van through a floodstruck region to attend a contest gig in Tehran. Neorealist drama where the obstacles in the characters’ path are literal.

Penguin Bloom [Australia, Glendyn Ivin, 3] A former surfer left paralyzed from the chest down by a freak accident reluctantly bonds with a magpie chick named Penguin, which one of her young sons has rescued. Sun-dappled animal-related family drama about the depression and anger that can accompany a life-changing injury.

Falling [US, Viggo Mortensen, 3] Pathologically forbearing airline pilot (Mortensen) attempts to find a new situation for his lifelong miserable prick of a father (Lance Henriksen) as his dementia worsens. With one character incapable of change and another not needing to change, almost all of the scenes repeat the same dynamic.

Gaza Mon Amor [Palestine/France, Tarzan & Arab Nasser, 3] Middle-aged fisherman discovers a Greek statue and courts a wary dress shop clerk. Deliberately paced dramedy of life under oppression.

Concrete Cowboy [US, Ricky Staub, 3] After yet another expulsion from school, a troubled teen (Caleb McLaughlin) gets dumped for the summer with his father (Idris Elba), who belongs to Philadelphia’s threatened culture of inner city horse owners. A rich social milieu is the star of the show in this affirming drama, which could do with a stronger drive to activate its protagonist.

I Care a Lot [UK, J Blakeson, 3] Corrupt legal guardian (Rosamund Pike) who slaps unsuspecting seniors into care facilities to bleed them dry triggers a cat-and-mouse game when her latest prey (Dianne Wiest) turns out to be the mother of a wealthy gangster (Peter Dinklage.) Engaging thriller— until it betrays the contract it has established with the audience.

Not Recommended

Memory House [Brazil, João Paulo Miranda Maria, 1] Racist harassment from German co-workers drives dairy worker to vengeance. Blunts the political anger of its subject matter with enervating pacing.

For years TIFF has been intentionally or otherwise making it incrementally more difficult to do the event diehard style, as we have always done. Often it announces changes that blindside longtime loyalists—sometimes, as this year, after they’ve purchased their expensive memberships and ticket packages. This time around they surprised us by taking a tier of titles that any other year would be available through the package we purchased and moving them into a premium package previously reserved for the most publicized Gala films. For good measure, they threw in a couple of other medium-sized irritants.

To recreate something closer to our usual experience, we programmed another 25 titles already available on streaming platforms. Some actually played TIFF in the past; others were the types of movies that could have played the fest but didn’t.

I’m glad that we did, because the TIFF titles we were allowed to choose from included all of the duds of a normal year and none of the surprise masterpieces. Granted, it was a miracle that any films got made this year, and those that did tended toward the sorts of modest chamber pieces that could be produced under COVID protocol conditions.

This year crystallized a gradually growing realization we’ve been trying to suppress. So much has changed in the world of international cinema, from the festival’s position in their life cycle, to their subsequent availability, and even the style of the movies themselves, has completely changed since we started doing this in the mid 80s.

We have always gone to the fest for great films that we could otherwise never see, and started doing it in the VHS era. We don’t care about seeing things before anyone else does, or seeing the stars wave at us from the stage beforehand, or hearing audience members ask directors rambling questions afterwards. Even the virtues of a big screen experience are blunted by a dirty secret — a packed TIFF venue is not actually an ideal place to see a movie. Talkers and smartphone screens abound in every screening, and the bigger venues they convert into movie theaters for ten days are universally terrible.

You’d think that programming films from existing streaming platforms eliminates the other key part of fest-going, the surprise from out of nowhere. Except we got more of those with our alternate schedule than we did with the official titles this year.

In other words, after 36 years we are retiring from our vacation. Next year we’ll be doing a fully alternate replica of TIFF as we think of it from the past. The old rodeo is dead. Long live the new rodeo.

Here then is my final set of Toronto International Film Festival capsule reviews.

(Capsules for the 2021 Robin and Valerie International Film Festival will drop over time in Ken and Robin Consume Media.)

Recommended

Murina (Croatia, Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović) Teen (Gracija Filipovic) chafes at the agitated authority of her command-barking father (Leon Lucev) as he hosts a rich, glamorous old friend (Cliff Curtis) to try to sell him on a resort proposal. Taut, superbly acted family drama set against the stunning yet slightly sinister beauty of the rocky Croatian coastline.

Saloum (Senegal, Jean Luc Herbulot) Three gunslingers—the mastermind, the hard case, and the magic user—take an unscheduled pit stop at an eccentric communal resort, which harbors horrible secrets of both the man-made and supernatural varieties. Gorgeously shot, tightly edited contemporary horror western with political resonance and cool monster design.

Compartment No. 6 (Finland, Juho Kuosmanen) Traveling alone on a trip she was supposed to take with her Muscovite professor girlfriend, a Finnish archaeology student finds herself sharing a compartment on the train to Murmansk with a loutish miner. Naturalistic light romantic drama of human connection overcoming barriers of class and personality.

OUT OF SYNC (Spain, Juanjo Giménez Peña) Isolated sound mixer (Marta Nieto) is unnerved to suffer a strange delay in her hearing, which becomes all the more inexplicable as it worsens. Realist weird tale makes smart use of cinema’s relationship between sight and sound. 

Zalava (Iran, Arsalan Amiri) In pre-Revolutionary Iranian Kurdistan, a pig-headed police sergeant interferes with a djinn exorcism, sparking village hysteria. Tale of communal terror and its hazards generates suspense by skillfully modulating its pace.

Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (Indonesia, Edwin) After meeting cute by beating the crap out of each other at a construction site, two lovers navigate the vicissitudes of fidelity, vengeance, and impotence. A martial arts flick that isn’t an action movie, but rather an allegorical romantic drama with elements of satire and magic realism to go with its bruising 70s style fights.

Hold Your Fire (US, Stefan Forbes) Documentary recreates the 1973 robbery-turned-hostage incident in which a group of young black Sunni men hoped to steal guns from a sporting goods shop to protect themselves from the Nation of Islam, in which the beginnings of hostage negotiation techniques were created and implemented on the fly. Archival footage and compelling retrospective interviews illuminate a complicated narrative with resonances into the present day.

A Banquet (UK, Ruth Paxton) After her husband’s death, a brittle woman (Sienna Guillory) struggles with her eldest daughter’s (Jessica Alexander) visionary transformation, which has taken away her need to eat. Slow burn realist cosmic horror filters eating disorders, emotional control and female rage.

Kicking Blood (Canada, Blaine Thurier) Vampire (Alanna Bale) connects with a detoxing alcoholic, prompting her to reconsider preying on humans. Frosty supernatural indie drama extends the vampire-as-addiction metaphor.

Yuni (Indonesia, Kamila Andini) High schooler with a yen for purple chafes at the narrow expectations her religious school, family and village have for her.  Observational social drama enlivened by a vivid color palette.

Good

The Daughter (Spain, Manuel Martín Cuenca) Teacher at a juvenile detention center helps a pregnant 14-year old escape so she can live secretly with him and his wife at their mountain home and give them the baby when it is born. Ultra-restrained domestic thriller could stand a notch or two less restraint.

Dug Dug (India, Ritwik Pareek)  A local saint cult springs up when a motorbike keeps mysteriously returning to the site of its owner’s death. Gentle satire of faith and religious merchandising shows the sort of color and verve that raises hopes for a fresh wave of Indian art cinema.

Tug of War (Tanzania, Amil Shivji) A callow Marxist subversive falls for an Indian girl who has escaped her arranged marriage in British-controlled 1950s Zanzibar. Political romantic drama adopts the language of classic Hollywood glamor, albeit without the magnetic movie star performances the style depends on. Based on a classic Tanzanian novel.

Okay

Earwig (France, Lucile Hadžihalilović) In a creepy manor, an anxious loner (Paul Hilton) looks after a girl with teeth made of ice, at the behest of mysterious masters. The director’s first English language film pushes her dream narratives of childhood transformation into the far fringes of austerity.

Not Recommended

You Are Not My Mother (Ireland, Kate Dolan) A withdrawn teen’s depressed mother briefly disappears, prefiguring the revelation of a supernatural family secret. Contemporary folk horror with stronger direction than script, with extensive foreshadowing genre fans will be well ahead of and an inactive menace that doesn’t do enough to propel the story.

Snakehead (US, Evan Jackson Leong) Smuggled immigrant (Shuya Chang) works off her debt by acting as the right hand to the matriarch (Jade Wu) of an NYC Chinatown crime family. Socially conscious gangland drama features the bane of longtime documentarians turning their hand to fiction:  awkward, exposition-heavy scripting.

Arthur Rambo (France, Laurent Cantet) Rising literary star (Rabah Nait Oufella) plummets when the hate-filled tweets of his old alter ego resurface. Refined, uncinematic debate film presents thesis, antithesis, and credits.

Medusa (Brazil, Anita Rocha da Silveira) Member of AN ultra-right Christian school’s violent, pallid-masked theocratic girl gang  goes undercover at a coma ward in search of a disfigured model. Overlong, unfocused political allegory references the horror genre, chiefly by adopting Dario Argento’s color palette.

After Blue (Dirty Paradise) (France, Bertrand Mandico) On a psychedelic alien world, a young outcast (Paula Luna) frees the statuesque, wish-granting death-dealer Kate Bush and she must accompany her hairdresser mother (Elina Löwensohn) on a quest to hunt her down. Invokes the spirits of Jodorowsky and Barbarella for a sleepwalk trudge through an arbitrary sequence of dream-logic events. Like its influences it is perhaps intended for a chemically altered audience.

La Soga 2 (US, Manny Perez) Dominican hitman (Perez) has gotten out and is living with a devoted new girlfriend, until a corrupt CIA officer pulls him back in. Scrappy microbudget crime flick is Dominican. 

Oof, so busy! I finished up my paper(s) for SIGBOVIK and submitted them. Phew. I'll post 'em here after the embargo ends. I think the papers may be the canonical form of this particular project, but I'm starting on a visual version, which will probably become a video some time this month. (First up: I need to prep a live version for Unnecessary Detail, as mentioned in the previous post.) But right now I'm also on the West coast (in a car traveling from Los Angeles to San Diego) for a short family trip which was cut even shorter by the Spirit of Bad Aircraft Management of Spirit Airlines. Immediately upon arriving at the hotel I looked out our window and saw a little park and thought, "it would be fun to skateboard in that park," (I am not a skateboarder) and then, "did I already skateboard in that park 20 years ago in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater?" and I looked it up and yes, the Los Angeles level in THPS3 is based on that very park.

I thought I wasn't going to be able to make the SIGBOVIK live event at all because of this trip, but it looks like I will be back and might try to make it, depending partly on whether I can get any material together for a talk in time.

I spent most of my free time in March on hacking and writing for this silly paper, but sometimes the brain needs a break, and I continued with Teardown. I think this game is great. It is impressive technically and graphically. The sandbox is fun; I had a great time painstakingly disassembling an enormous blast furnace until the framerate became intolerable. (The way the physics works, the entire blast furnace can be held up by the connection of a single voxel. This is obviously totally unrealistic but it is pretty fun to try to blowtorch around an entire building and then try to hunt down why it is still standing.) But I was also impressed with how they managed to make the missions compelling too. There are a couple of ergonomic annoyances (like: There are limitations on what keys can be rebound to what, so I had to play with a controller. And the quick-save is great, but given that you might spend an hour setting up a heist in a level, it would be nice if you could make an in-level save that was a little less quick, just in case you accidentally stayed up to 2am). Getting close to the end of that one. I also played through Gunlocked, which was a good small Roguelike shoot-em-up. The powerups were really well done; it just could've used a bit more variety in the bad guys.

OK, getting a bit carsick here so I'm going to put the laptop away. See you soon.