Category Archives: Arts and Culture

Abhishek Singh’s Krishna Epic Gets New Cover for 15th Anniversary Reprint

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A stunning graphic novel that reimagines the life of Krishna is coming back to print next spring with fresh cover art.

Abhishek Singh’s Krishna: A Journey Within turns one of the world’s oldest spiritual stories into a visual meditation. Singh follows Krishna from divine child to cosmic guide, using lush colors and cinematic scope to explore questions of duty, desire, identity, and enlightenment.

Image Comics is bringing the book back for its 15-year milestone. The reprint hits comic shops in February 2027 and bookstores the following month.

Singh’s artwork has been praised for creating a meditative atmosphere that turns the retelling into something more than just another take on a classic story. It’s become the kind of book readers return to for both its wisdom and emotional pull.

The reprint will be available in print and across digital platforms including Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and Overdrive.

For indie creators working in mythology and spirituality, this anniversary reissue shows there’s lasting power in blending ancient stories with contemporary visual storytelling. Sometimes the oldest tales still have something new to say.

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Scottish Indie-Pop Trio BIS to Play First U.S. Show in 25 Years at Powerpuff Girls Cast Reunion

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A Glasgow band that soundtracked a generation’s Saturday mornings is coming back to the States for the first time in over two decades.

BIS, the indie-pop trio behind The Powerpuff Girls’ original end theme, will perform at The Heroes of Townsville on November 7 at Glendale’s Alex Theatre. It’s their first U.S. concert in more than 25 years, and it’s happening alongside a full reunion of the show’s original voice cast and creative team.

The event brings together Catherine Cavadini (Blossom), Tara Strong (Bubbles), E.G. Daily (Buttercup), series creator Craig McCracken, and Lauren Faust. Linda Simensky moderates, with Eric Bauza hosting.

BIS made their name in the ’90s with tracks like “Kandy Pop” and “Eurodisco,” mixing pop hooks with punk energy and disco rhythms. But for a whole generation of animation fans, they’re the sound of Cartoon Network childhood. Their music also turned up in the Jet Set Radio games, cementing their cult status.

Saturday Morning Cartoons United is producing the fundraiser, with proceeds benefiting Starlight Children’s Foundation and the nonprofit’s ongoing animation celebration work. The night also features Next Friday: Magical Meow Meow, an indie animated short by Jen Nguyen and Mary Ramos, plus a pop-up marketplace and photo ops.

It’s a rare crossover moment: the voices, the creator, and the music that helped make The Powerpuff Girls a pop-culture fixture, all in one room.

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Stephanie Economou Blends Grunge and Sci-Fi for HBO’s ‘Lanterns’ Soundtrack

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Grammy winner Stephanie Economou just dropped the full soundtrack for HBO Max’s Lanterns, and it’s a wild mix of ’90s rock grit and cosmic sound design.

The composer pulled from Nirvana, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, and Portishead to build the musical DNA for John Stewart, Hal Jordan, and the town of Rushville. She layered traditional guitars and drum kits with found sounds like glass bottles, scrap metal, and chains, then threw in synths to create what she calls a “tactile, dynamic sonic world.”

For the Green Lantern Corps and alien species, Economou went full experimental. Reversed violas, degraded strings, trombone mouthpiece sounds, and processed upright basses created the unsettling alien motifs. The Lanterns theme itself bends and shifts in ways that hint at something off about the Guardians.

The soundtrack also includes “Away From Home (Rushville’s Lament),” an original song featuring Ari Mason and Wayne Ingram. It’s meant to capture the resilience of the people caught in the cosmic chaos.

Economou made history in 2023 as the first-ever Grammy winner for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games. Now she’s bringing that same boldness to a major superhero series, proving indie-minded composers can reshape blockbuster sound.

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Cassie Workman Takes on Occultism With Puppets, Practical Effects, and Punk Energy in New YouTube Series

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A comedy series about magic, demons, and tarot cards just dropped on YouTube, and it’s got Lilly Wachowski’s stamp of approval.

CASSIE WORKMAN IS WITCHY AF is an eight-part adult comedy documentary that dives into occultism through the lens of a fictional bookstore. Creator and host Cassie Workman guides viewers through ritual magic, death, and identity, covering figures like Aleister Crowley and John Dee alongside Hollywood’s secret occult history and Santa Muerte.

The series uses puppetry from Direct Message and practical SFX makeup from the team behind Smile 2 and Hocus Pocus. Guest stars include Garbage’s Shirley Manson, comedian Ben Russell, and what the press release calls “an all-star cast of demons and evil puppets.”

It’s a co-production between ETCH and Anarchists United Studios, the production company founded by Wachowski with Sarah Marie Flores and Lawrence Mattis. The company focuses on elevated genre work from underrepresented creators. Wachowski called the series “wickedly delightful” and said she’s proud to call Workman a friend.

Workman is an Australian writer, actor, comedian, poet, and musician known for surreal, emotionally raw performances. Her 2019 show Giantess, which explored gender identity, earned a nomination for Most Outstanding Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and won Best Show at Sydney Comedy Festival. Her 2021 theater piece Aberdeen won a Fringe First Award at Edinburgh in 2022.

The series was shot entirely in Asbury Park, New Jersey, at Wolfe & Kron bookstore and Georgies, the town’s oldest gay bar. The cast and crew were predominantly women, queer, and LGBTQIA+.

New episodes drop weekly on YouTube. For indie creators looking to blend comedy, philosophy, and practical chaos, this one’s worth the watch.

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New Documentary Traces 20 Years of Research Linking What We Eat to How We See and Think

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A new health documentary follows an Irish scientist’s two-decade quest to prove that nutrition affects vision and brain health in ways we’ve barely begun to understand.

“A Vision for Vision,” directed by two-time Emmy winner Wayne Chesler, tracks Professor John Nolan’s research into carotenoids, the plant-based pigments found in marigolds, eyes, and the brain. The film spans locations from marigold fields in Mexico to research labs in Ireland, omega-3-rich waters off Norway, and elite performance centers in Singapore.

Nolan, who founded and directs the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland, has spent over 20 years studying how targeted nutrition might support vision, memory, and aging. His recent trials, including the re-MIND, CARES Trial 2, and CREST AMD studies, found that supplements combining carotenoids, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin E showed positive effects on Alzheimer’s symptoms, improved working memory in healthy adults, and better visual performance in patients with early macular degeneration.

The doc arrives as conversations around preventative health gain traction. Nolan’s pitch is straightforward: aging happens, disease doesn’t have to, and earlier intervention through nutrition could change outcomes.

The film drops on digital and VOD November 3. For indie filmmakers covering health and science, it’s a reminder that some of the most compelling stories live in labs, not studios.

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Carla Simón Returns With Family Secrets Drama “Romería”

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RomeriaA young woman with a camcorder shows up at her estranged grandparents’ house on the Galician coast, looking for answers her family doesn’t want to give.

That’s the setup for “Romería,” Carla Simón’s latest feature, opening June 26 at Film Forum in New York. The film follows 18-year-old Marina, a budding filmmaker who needs a signature from her paternal grandparents to attend university in Barcelona. But what starts as a bureaucratic errand becomes something deeper. Armed with her deceased mother’s diaries and her camera, Marina tries to piece together the truth about her parents and her father’s death. Her relatives welcome her, sort of, but dodge her questions at every turn.

Simón knows something about mining family history for story. Her debut “Summer 1993” was autobiographical and won three Goya Awards. Her follow-up “Alcarràs” took home the Golden Bear at Berlin and represented Spain at the Oscars. “Romería” premiered at Cannes last year and played the New York Film Festival.

Shot along rocky Galician coastlines with what critics are calling “sun-dappled” cinematography, the film tackles a universal question: what were your parents like before you knew them? For indie filmmakers building stories from personal history, that’s fertile ground.

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Grammy Museum’s New Exhibit Celebrates Legendary Songwriters With Kurt Cobain’s Guitar, Prince’s Purple Rain Glasses, and More

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The Grammy Museum is opening a new permanent exhibit that puts the spotlight on the people who actually write the songs.

Tower of Song: Iconic Songwriters & Recordings opens May 28 in Los Angeles, bringing together artifacts from both the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. It’s a partnership that makes sense, shining a light on the craft behind the hits.

The crown jewels are wild. Kurt Cobain’s Mosrite Gospel guitar that he used to write most of Nevermind. Prince’s gold-rimmed glasses from Purple Rain. Miles Davis’s red lacquer trumpet. Keith Moon’s gold Premier drum kit from Tommy. Jim Morrison’s personal notebook. Frank Sinatra’s microphones from Capitol Records sessions.

On the songwriting side, there’s Neil Diamond’s handwritten lyrics for “Song Sung Blues,” Diane Warren’s Yamaha DX 7 keyboard she used to write countless hits, and the LinnDrum and Ensoniq synthesizer Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis used to create Rhythm Nation 1814.

The exhibit includes an original film featuring Alan Menken, Carole King, Warren, and Jimmy Jam discussing their creative process. There’s also a digital interactive asking visitors to break down what makes these Hall of Fame songs actually work.

The opening night features a public program with Jimmy Jam and Warren breaking down their craft, followed by a reception.

For indie songwriters grinding it out, this is validation that the craft matters.

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Pearl Jam, Alabama Shakes, and Maná Set to Headline Ohana Festival’s 10th Anniversary

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Ohana-Festival-2026Ohana Festival is hitting a milestone, and the lineup reflects it. Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder & Friends, Tyler Childers, and Maná will headline the three-day event at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California, running September 25 through 27.

The 10th anniversary edition also includes Alabama Shakes, Fontaines D.C., Billy Idol, Pixies, Rilo Kiley, Jon Batiste, Men I Trust, and Bad Religion across more than 30 acts and three stages.

Since Eddie Vedder founded the festival in 2016, Ohana has become a standout on the festival circuit, mixing world-class music with environmental activism and surf culture along the Southern California coast. Pollstar named it Music Festival of the Year four times, most recently in 2026.

The Cove, a dedicated area within the festival grounds, focuses on oceans, conservation, Indigenous voices, and community action. The Storytellers Stage hosts panels with environmentalists, activists, and pro surfers, while The Cove Gallery displays hundreds of curated art pieces tied to music and board culture. Proceeds support nonprofit partners through the Vitalogy Foundation.

Ten Club presale starts Tuesday, May 12 at 10 a.m. PT. General presale follows Thursday, May 14 at noon PT. Tickets include GA, VIP, and Ultimate VIP packages. More info at ohanafest.com.

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Film Forum Bringing 35mm “Third Man” Print to NYC, Old-School Photochemical Style

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Third-Man-2026Film Forum is screening a new 35mm print of Carol Reed’s “The Third Man” from June 12-25, and they’re doing it the analog way.

Unlike most classic film prints made today, which are digitally restored then output to film stock, this print was created photochemically in a lab from the original 35mm elements. Haghefilm and L’Immagine Ritrovata handled the work for Studiocanal, keeping the process true to the film’s origins.

The 1949 noir, starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, and Orson Welles as Harry Lime, was shot across five weeks of double shifts in Vienna. Cinematographer Robert Krasker won an Oscar for his shadow work, and Anton Karas’s zither theme became a worldwide phenomenon.

Welles lit his own scenes and wrote much of his dialogue, including the famous “cuckoo clock” speech. The film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and was named one of the 10 best-shot films of cinema’s first 50 years by American Cinematographer.

This matters because photochemical preservation is increasingly rare. Most repertory houses default to digital restorations. Film Forum’s commitment to analog processes keeps the craft alive for filmmakers and audiences who care about how classics are preserved and presented.

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Drama Desk Awards Announces Nominees for 70th Anniversary Ceremony

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drama-desk-awardsThe Drama Desk Awards revealed nominations for its 70th edition, returning to The Town Hall on May 17 after the venue went dark during the 2020 shutdown.

Beau the Musical and Mexodus lead with 10 nominations each, followed by The Seat of Our Pants with nine. Death of a Salesman and Ragtime also scored big, with eight and six nods respectively.

The Drama Desks stand apart as the only major theater award honoring work across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway. This year’s nominees span from big revivals to scrappy originals, with contenders including Preston Max Allen’s Caroline, Jordan Tannahill’s Prince Faggot, and the immersive Masquerade reimagining of Phantom of the Opera.

The ceremony will honor Tom Schumacher, former Disney Theatrical Productions president, with the Harold S. Prince Award. Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire receive the William Wolf Award for their decades of collaboration and mentorship.

Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, and John Lithgow compete for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, while Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, and Brandon Uranowitz are up for Musical honors.

Tickets are available now at DramaDesks.com. For a full nominations list and the complete announcement video, visit the Drama Desk website.

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