All Forms of Art

  I recently gave my ten-year-old daughter a book I remember from my own childhood. She didn't like it, and honestly, it didn't surprise me. I hadn't liked it either when I read it the first time; I was about her age. However, I didn't exactly remember the story, so I decided to pick it up again, almost thirty years later. Going Back The book was Os Olhos de Ana Marta by Portuguese writer Alice Vieira. There isn't really an English edition, so I'll loosely translate the title as Ana Marta's Eyes . I remembered the book as strange and frightening. Even disturbing. What I didn't remember was why. My daughter is an avid reader, and eventually we ran out of books at home that she hadn't already read. So I went to my mother's house and brought back some books from my own childhood. There they were: books I had read when I was roughly her age, books that had survived in my memory for decades. And among them was Ana Marta's Eyes . The funny thi...

  Noah Centineo is an American actor best known as one of Netflix’s most recognizable young stars, thanks to a string of popular teen romantic comedies.  With his charming screen presence and natural comedic timing, he quickly became associated with the modern teen rom-com before exploring more dramatic and action-oriented roles. Early Career Born on May 9, 1996, in Miami, Florida, Noah Centineo began acting as a child. His early career included appearances in television shows and films, gradually building his experience before he landed the role that would change his career. Centineo became particularly familiar to young audiences when he joined The Fosters as Jesus Adams Foster. The role gave him the opportunity to move beyond smaller appearances and establish himself as a recognizable television actor. The Netflix Rom-Com Era Centineo's breakthrough came with Netflix's To All the Boys I've Loved Before in 2018, where he played Peter Kavinsky opposite Lana Condor . ...

Some actors spend years building a career before getting the role that makes people notice them. Alfie Williams had a rather different beginning. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2011, Williams began acting at a very young age, following in the footsteps of his father, actor Alfie Dobson. Before landing the role that would change his career, he had appeared in projects including Phallacy , His Dark Materials and A New Breed of Criminal . Then came 28 Years Later . For his feature-film debut, Williams wasn't given a small supporting role. He was cast as Spike , the young protagonist at the center of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's return to the world of 28 Days Later . And suddenly, a very young newcomer had to carry a major horror film. Becoming Spike Spike is a difficult character to play because so much of his story depends on watching him grow. He has been raised in an isolated community where survival is part of everyday life. His father teaches him how to deal with dange...

  Some movies are easy to criticize because something clearly doesn't work. 28 Years Later is more difficult. It isn't a bad movie. In fact, it starts incredibly well, has some fascinating ideas, and creates a world that immediately makes you curious. And yet, when the credits rolled, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. A Great Start The movie wastes no time. Its opening is shocking and immediately creates the feeling that you are watching something dangerous.  The movie understands something important about horror: sometimes the best way to create fear is to make safety feel temporary. For Spike ( Alfie Williams ), safety exists on the island. It is protected, isolated, and predictable. But eventually, he has to leave it. That's more than a survival decision - it's growing up. You Can't Protect a Child Forever One of the most interesting conflicts in the movie is between Spike's parents and their different ideas of what it means to...

Alba Flores is a Spanish actress best known internationally for her roles as Nairobi in Money Heist ( La Casa de Papel ) and Saray Vargas de Jesús in Vis a Vis . With her distinctive presence and emotionally intense performances, Flores has become one of the most recognizable Spanish actresses of her generation. Early Life and Acting Career Born in Madrid in 1986, Alba Flores grew up surrounded by music and performance. She is the daughter of Spanish musician and composer Antonio Flores and comes from a family with a strong artistic tradition. She began acting at a young age, appearing in theatre productions before moving into television and film. Her early career included roles in Spanish television series and stage productions, where she developed the expressive style that would later become one of her trademarks. Vis a Vis : Saray One of Flores's breakthrough roles came with Vis a Vis , where she played Saray Vargas de Jesús, a prisoner serving a long sentence. Saray is a c...

  Rachel Renée Russell is an American author, attorney, and cartoonist best known for creating the hugely successful Dork Diaries series. The books follow Nikki Maxwell, a middle-school girl trying to survive friendships, crushes, school drama, and the many humiliations of adolescence. The series has become an international bestseller, with more than 55 million books in print and translations into 52 languages. From Lawyer to Children's Author Before becoming a bestselling children's author, Russell worked as an attorney. She has joked that she prefers writing children's books to legal briefs because books are much more fun — and because pajamas and bunny slippers aren't exactly appropriate courtroom attire. Her experience raising two daughters also became an important source of inspiration for her writing. Russell has described herself as a "dork," making the awkwardness and insecurities of middle-school life central to her work. Creating Dork Diaries Th...