A narrator makes all the difference in the world. One can easily imagine the story of French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, who died together while observing the eruption of Mount Unzen, told with withering nihilistic disbelief by Werner Herzog. Or their matching red knit caps as the centerpiece of the production design for a twee fictionalized version of molten melancholy by Wes Anderson, perhaps the Life Volcanic. Instead, in her compilation of the couple’s own photos and films, Sara Dosa has enlisted the talents of Miranda July, who conveys the story of their lives together with boundless wonder and aching romance.

SXSW ended a week ago, but Jenn’s been brewing up this coverage of the virtual offerings from the festival’s iconic horror/WTF section and just finished it up…better late than never, right? Right??

Omoiyari is a Japanese word that means to have sympathy and compassion towards another person. This is not only the title of Japanese-American musician Kaoru Ishibashi’s (known professionally as Kishi Bashi) film, but the very soul and purpose of it. We travel with Ishibashi around the United States as he embarks on a path of discovery both of his roots and the two worlds he’s torn between: culture and country. Those two aspects are not in opposition, but his entire life he’s kept them separate and at times hidden; now he’s finding a way to bring them together.

Destroyed as a child through the violent fits, paranoia and hallucinations of a mother unable to care of herself or her family Will does everything in his power to forget and move forward with a normal life. He’s managed to find a loving partner, a decent career (even if he is bullied by an overprivileged white woman with no talent other than berating her employees) and a calm happy life. Things start to go sideways when his mother makes contact, first through odd boxes of cult-related reading materials followed by unwelcome and traumatizing visits. Soon his life is thrown into chaos and we start to wonder if it’s his mind playing tricks on him or has the world gone completely mad?

Three kids on the fringe of adulthood from North London at the turn of the millenium have their sights set on fame and fortune. Ready to kick off the new century and rest of their lives with a crazy New Years Eve together, they’ll do anything to get tickets to the best party in town. As aspiring djs with a pirate radio station at their fingertips and a growing fanbase (or at least they hope) this party is their ticket to making it out of their hometown and into the limelight, but their friend and manager drops a bomb on them that threatens the future they’ve planned.

When I was young, The Kids In The Hall sketch comedy show felt like some kind of underground secret. Something that none of my friends or schoolmates knew about whose ridiculousness I could quote on queue like some big shot. Little did I know they’d been around in the Canadian comedy scene creating weird wonderful sketches for years before landing on my little television set. The Kids In The Hall: Comedy Punks brought all of that sassy schoolyard fun back but adds in the back stage frustrations, heartbreaks and growing pains of that amazing quintet of goons.