Why many Mormons avoid R-rated movies — and why that might be changing

Anybody who watches movies in Utah knows one rule: Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tend to avoid R-rated movies

The rule is nearly as old as the Motion Picture Association of America’s ratings system, which will mark its 50th anniversary on November 1. It goes back to talks by LDS leaders, starting in 1972, urging young members to steer clear of what they consider to be immoral content. But film lovers, including filmmakers and scholars, say the blanket bar on R-rated movies has taken some weird turns over the years — and that young viewers now may be ignoring it.

Read all about it on sltrib.com.

A rookie director creates a love letter to Louisa May Alcott, by making a 'Little Women' for the modern era

it takes some gumption, and a lot of heart, to dare to make a movie adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” and move the beloved story to the 21st century. That’s what first-time director Clare Niederpruem has done, and the resulting film (shot in summer 2017 in Utah) opens on some 600 screens nationwide this Friday.

I interviewed Niederpruem, and actors Sarah Davenport (who plays the heroine, Jo) and Lea Thompson (who plays Marmee), about updating Alcott and rediscovering the emotional core of a classic story 150 years after it was publshed.

Read my article on sltrib.com.

Pioneer Theatre starts a new season, after surviving 'Hamilton' mania at rival Eccles

After its 2016-17 season, Salt Lake City’s Pioneer Theatre Company reported an “all-time low” in ticket sales — prompted in part by the arrival of the shiny new Eccles Theater, home to touring Broadway musicals, and a new venue for the family-friendly Hale Center Theatre.

Last season, PTC bounced back, playing through the mania of “Hamilton” at the Eccles and scoring a hit with “Mamma Mia!” As the new season begins, with the Tony-winning play “Oslo,” PTC’s artistic director Karen Azenberg talks about the challenges of balancing crowd-pleasers with challenging fare.

Read the full story at sltrib.com.

Street performers add to Salt Lake City's 'urban environment'

What does it take to be a successful busker?

The ability to follow a crowd. A good "hat line," to cajole spectators into giving up their money. And for dancers on the sidewalk, comfortable shoes.

It also requires living in a city that welcomes street performance as part of the urban atmosphere. Organizers of the first SLC Busker Fest are trying to make Salt Lake City one of those cities.

Here's a look at Salt Lake City's street-performance scene, from sltrib.com.

Utah tech companies offer up some unusual perks

Would you want to work in an office that had a giant mural of Jon Snow, the tortured hero of "Game of Thrones," and George Costanza, the misanthropic nebbish from "Seinfeld," riding a tandem bike? Who knew that was even a thing?

Utah's up-and-coming tech and lifestyle companies are including perks like that in their offerings to recruit new employees. At Podium, which sells software products to help businesses improve their online presence, a newly opened office building in Lehi includes street art, a spacious cafeteria, soft-serve Dole Whip by the reception desk, and a pickleball court outside.

Read more about this trend at sltrib.com.

Robert Redford, movie icon and Utah's Sundance Kid, says he's done with acting

Robert Redford announced this week that he's going to retire from acting — with his final performance, as a career criminal in director David Lowery's "The Old Man and the Gun," arriving in theaters in late September.

Redford, who turns 82 on Aug. 18, will leave a powerful movie legacy, playing outlaws, journalists, athletes, strivers and outsiders in 46 movies. He also has directed nine films, winning an Oscar for his first directing effort, "Ordinary People." And as founder and guiding light of the Sundance Institute, he's had a hand in the revolution of independent filmmaking.

Read about Redford's announcement here, on sltrib.com. And check out this timeline of Redford's career, also on sltrib.com.

Poking fun at Mormon culture, with a family-friendly variation on Cards Against Humanity

The idea of a family-friendly version of the super-offensive party game Cards Against Humanity sounds like it makes as much sense as a Disney edit of "Deadpool."

But Dang You to Heck, the brainchild of Provo woman Jerilyn Pool, aims to use the party-game model to poke fun at Mormon culture. 

Read my story about Pool and her game, here on sltrib.com.

Internet porn filters don't keep teens away from porn, Oxford study finds

In the neverending attempt to keep children safe from all the bad things on the internet, many have sought technological fixes — like filters to keep objectionable material away from the kids.

A study by the Oxford Internet Institute, published this month, found that this filtering technology doesn't keep teens from finding objectionable material. 

Read more about it here on sltrib.com.

America's weirdest little film festival is back in tiny Bicknell, Utah

What's the connection between a half-man/half-moose creature, an 8-mile caravan route, one of America's most beautiful national parks and a small-town movie theater?

They all come together in the small town of Bicknell, Utah, just a few miles west of Capitol Reef National Park in central Utah. That's where the Bicknell International Film Festival, an unabashedly weird two-day celebration of B-movies, makes its return this Friday and Saturday after a five-year absence.

This year's theme is "Alaska: Films Worth Freezing For … in July," and opens with a homemade horror-comedy, "Moose: The Movie," in which park rangers are confronted by a "moosetaur." Read more about the movie, the festival, and the renovated movie theater that hosts it, here at sltrib.com.

Damn These Heels LGBTQ Film Festival is back, and so is Salt Lake City-born filmmaker Shaz Bennett

The Damn These Heels LGBTQ Film Festival is marking its 15th year next weekend, so the novelty of Salt Lake City having an LGBTQ film festival has long since worn off.

The festival, running July 20-22, boasts a line-up of 23 feature films, plus shorts programs and the results of the 48 Hour Film Festival, in which groups of filmmakers have a weekend to shoot and edit their own LGBTQ-themed films.

One of the films at Damn These Heels this year is "Alaska Is a Drag," a coming-of-age tale written and directed by Salt Lake City native Shaz Bennett. Read about her, and her film, at sltrib.com.