Caletta Harris didn’t plan on becoming an activist. She didn’t plan on dedicating years of her life to advocacy on behalf of Columbia’s homeless. Back in 2013, she was simply a filmmaker runni…
The Big Mo drive-in is likely to fire up its projectors in April, but what movies will be ready to show?
The movies are picked by about 20 diverse contributors, all of whom are former employees of Columbia film organizations the Nickelodeon Theater and Indie Grits Labs, both overseen by the Columbia Film Society.
Jordan Lawrence
Managing Editor for Free Times
“It was something I could do cheaply and would entertain people,” Columbia filmmaker Christopher Bickel told Free Times while discussing his n…
Jordan Lawrence
Managing Editor for Free Times
“Judas and the Black Messiah” is directed by Shaka King and produced by Ryan Coogler, the director of “Black Panther” — fitting, as the film d…
It didn’t take long for The Luminal Theater to make a big impact in Columbia.
Jordan Lawrence
Managing Editor for Free Times
In December, Columbia was shocked to find out that one of its theaters would be a host for the Sundance Film Festival, one of the premiere fil…
Jordan Lawrence
Managing Editor for Free Times
Less than a month after reopening for reduced-capacity screenings on Dec. 11, the Nickelodeon Theatre is closed again.
Jordan Lawrence
Managing Editor for Free Times
There is something about August Wilson's words that brings the best out in Viola Davis. The playwright's “Fences” got Davis an Oscar and cemen…
Next week, Columbians will be able to watch movies in a Main Street cinema for the first time since it closed due to COVID-19 in March.
Jordan Lawrence
Managing Editor for Free Times
Columbia is the only location in the Carolinas to land a satellite screening, with theaters in Atlanta and Macon, Georgia, also playing host.
Jordan Lawrence
Managing Editor for Free Times
There are a handful of comedians with a legendary status, but I don't want to hear from any of them the way I want to hear Dave Chappelle.
The new Columbia Drive-in Movies Northeast series was started to correct an imbalance.
The closure of nation's second largest movie chain leaves a significant hole in the Capital City's film market.
Chris Trainor
Staff Writer/Digital Media
There are many philosophies that consider art more important to experience than understand.
”There is no courage without fear.” — Zhou (Tzi Ma)
My childhood heroes growing up included Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, James Brown, and even T'Challa from the Black Panther comic book. …
”Forgive me for being crude, but you’re not crazy, you know.” — Richard Turner (Ben Lee)
"Stories have to come from somewhere." — Alice (Gemma Arterton)
Fun fact about Charlize Theron: She’s technically African-American.
“There will be less bread tomorrow.” — Mayor (Mike Amason)
"I just wish I could turn around and go back." — Edna (Robyn Nevin)
"If you have money, why would you ever live in Staten Island?" — Scott Carlin (Pete Davidson)
The country is facing racial tension, streets have burned and people are yelling that Black Lives Matter. This seems like perfect timing for a…
Full disclosure: I didn’t want to watch Just Mercy last week.
This week in my attempt to find a movie to get me through a pandemic, I checked out The High Note. The film follows a 40-something black pop s…
Have you heard things are uncertain when it comes to summer movies? As with everything else, the typically blockbusting season’s outlook is as…
This has been an amazing year for Issa Rae. Not only is her HBO show, the insanely good Insecure, thriving in its fourth season, she’s also hi…
“You know, this is what happens when people spend too much time in Florida.” — Johnny (Matt Dillon)
Since we're all stuck in our homes and can't go to weddings, the next best thing is to watch a rom-com one on Netflix and remember a time when…
"This is supposed to scare other people, not us." — Alexis (Alexandra Daddario)
You might expect a drama revolving around abortion to be emotionally charged and veer into melodrama. But writer/director Eliza Hittman avoids current sociopolitical histrionics.
It’s a challenge at this point to make an 18th century period movie that's captivating.
There's a term in the black community called “passing,” used when a light-skinned black person is so racially ambiguous they could possibly be…
“Most people know where they are.”
In The Way Back, Ben Affleck plays a former high school basketball phenom turned alcoholic coach for that same high school, leading the way th…
How much is history reshaped by those who simply live long enough to tell the tale? Once most of the main players involved in a true-life stor…
“He said that wherever I went, he would find me, walk right up to me, and I wouldn’t be able to see him.” — Cecelia Kass (Elisabeth Moss)
"I never saw him believe in anything as much as he believes in you." — Françoise (Cara Gee)
"Regret is a disease." — Mr. Roarke (Michael Peña)
If I could, I would write the same review for Birds of Prey that the fictional album Shark Sandwich received in This Is Spinal Tap: “S#!t sand…
But the kitten that stumbles over her piano in the opening scene is real cute
Before he took on blockbuster studio properties such as the Sherlock Holmes series starring Robert Downey, Jr., Guy Ritchie won a reputation f…
If you want to feel old, just think about the fact that Will Smith's television debut in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air happened 31 years ago and…
"Your orders are to deliver a message calling off tomorrow morning's attack. If you fail, it will be a massacre." — General Erinmore (Colin Firth)
"I think something followed me home." — Detective Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough)
For those who have forgotten or aren't old enough to have known, Richard Jewell was a security guard at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park in 1…
“You knew. Still, you did nothing.” — Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo)
How did it take so long to get a Martin Scorsese collaboration with Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro? Did we somehow offend the movie gods?
"I suspect foul play. I have eliminated no suspects." — Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig)