Leslie Bridgers

Press Herald

Leslie Bridgers is the features editor for the Portland Press Herald, overseeing coverage of arts, entertainment and culture. She spent 10 years as a reporter, half of that time for the Portland Press Herald, covering the western suburbs of Portland, writing feature stories and working on special projects. Originally from Connecticut, Leslie came to Maine by way of Bowdoin College and never left.

Latest

Published
May 2, 2021

A farm woman of iron will yet surprising delicacy anchors this Icelandic drama

If you’ve seen the recent Oscar-winner “Nomadland,” you might recognize a little bit of Frances McDormand’s Fern in Inga, the indomitable heroine of “The County.” Granted, Inga lives on a dairy farm in Iceland, thousands of miles away from Fern’s itinerant existence tooling around the American West in search of work. Set adrift by grief […]
Published
May 2, 2021

Familiar addiction drama is elevated by powerful performances

Anyone who saw the movie “Beautiful Boy” – the fact-based 2018 addiction drama starring Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet as a father and son struggling with the younger man’s drug dependency – will already be familiar with the narrative rhythms of the similarly themed “Four Good Days.” Much like Felix Van Groeningen’s movie, based on […]
Published
May 2, 2021

‘Rutherford Falls’ upends the narrative on Native stories

Native peoples’ stories in Hollywood are, more often than not, depicted as sad and monolithic. And while the stories of historical trauma inflicted upon our nation’s first inhabitants serve a purpose, it seems a sea change may be afoot. “Rutherford Falls,” a half-hour series for NBC’s Peacock streaming service, is one of a few Native […]
Published
May 2, 2021

Society Notebook: In virtual format, Source awards sharpen focus on environmental work

The annual recognition of Maine’s sustainability leaders was held virtually on April 21.
Published
May 2, 2021

Deep Water: ‘Going to Church,’ by Gibson Fay-LeBlanc

This week’s poem, Gibson Fay-LeBlanc’s “Going to Church,” is a beautiful litany of graces. I love the music, intimacy and devotion of this poem, in praise of the “church” that exists all around us. It appears in Fay-LeBlanc’s new poetry collection, “Deke Dangle Dive,” which explores grief, masculinity, brotherhood and hockey, and which launches with a […]
Published
April 26, 2021

Bar Guide: Don’t be fooled by the plain facade, it’s a party inside Bueno Loco

The Falmouth restaurant’s owners describe the vibe as ‘Mexidelic.’
Published
April 26, 2021

Indie Film: Eastport among the small towns profiled in uplifting HBO documentary

‘Our Towns,’ based on a book, is streaming on HBO Max.
Published
April 25, 2021

Theater review: Annie Henk charms as star of ‘Bad Dates’

The warm, one-woman show from Portland Stage follows a single mom’s return to dating.
Published
April 25, 2021

Uneven comedy-drama ‘My Wonderful Wanda’ has a dash of ‘Parasite’ and a smidgen of ‘Juno’

We meet Wanda on a bus from Poland to Germany, where she is returning to work for a prosperous family in their gracious lakeside villa. The patriarch has suffered a stroke and is bedridden; he’s sent all the other help away. He wants Wanda back. There’s also work to do preparing for his upcoming 70th […]
Published
April 25, 2021

Art review: Maine Jewish Museum presents three disparate shows

The presentation of the works in wood, paint, paper and photography could have benefited by swapping places.

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