【推荐1】When Owen Vaccaro, star of The House with a Clock in Its Walls, thinks about the start of his acting career (事业), he thinks about his first-grade teacher and his dislike of sports and other activities that many children enjoy.

“She knew we had tried every single sport and activity for me,” the 13-year-old actor said about his teacher. “Nothing really worked. So she said we should try out a theater company called MZ Stageworks. I went into it with really low hopes. I didn’t think I was going to like it any more than I had liked anything else.”

Now an eighth-grader, Owen still remembers the excitement of discovering those early theater classes in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. “I loved it and couldn’t wait until the next class.”

Soon, the theater classes led to his first auditions (试镜), which finally landed him his first film part, A Product of Me, six years ago. In the years since, Owen has been in eight more movies.

In The House with a Clock in Its Walls, an adaptation (改编) of a 1973 children’ s book by John Bellairs, Owen plays Lewis Barnavelt, the lead character. After losing his parents, Lewis is sent to live with his uncle Jonathan (Jack Black). Lewis quickly discovers that Jonathan and his best friend and neighbor, Mrs. Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett), actually have magic powers, and there’s something strange going on in Lewis s new house.

“It’s a film about amazing powers and family and fighting evil (邪恶) with the people you love,”' Owen said. “It is a starter horror (恐怖) movie for teens and older.”

Working with Black and Blanchett, who are both parents, “was marvelous,” Owen said. He even got to know their families. “I love them. Cate brought her kids to set. One of them, Iggy, and I would play games together,” he said. “And as for Jack, I went to Six Flags with his kids, and it was a ton of fun.”

【推荐2】This year, it felt as if every good movie was also an argument for why movies matter. They reward your attention, engage your feelings and respect your intelligence.

Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma)

The death of a grandmother, the sorrow of a parent, the acquisition of a new friend — these ordinary experiences, occurring in the life of an 8-year-old girl, provide the basic structure of this spare, perfect film. Whether it’s best described as a modern-dress fairy tale, or a low-tech time travel fantasy is up to you. What’s certain is that the performance of the cast causes maximum emotional impact. (Coming to theaters.)

Summer of Soul (Questlove)

This documentary about a series of open-air concerts in Harlem in 1969, connecting impressive performances with interviews with musicians and audience members, is a shot of pure joy. But the film is more than a time capsule: It’s a history lesson and an argument for why art matters, and what it can do, especially in time of anxiety. (Streaming on Hulu.)

Bring Your Own Brigade (Lucy Walker)

This documentary about California wildfires of September 2021 is also, almost by accident, an exploration of the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The picture Walker paints is complicated, partly because that’s the way people are: panicked, generous, stupid and brave. The movie is hardly optimistic, but its open-mindedness provides a buffer against despair. (In theaters.)

The Velvet Underground (Todd Haynes)

Like “Summer of Soul”, this documentary revisits the music of the 1960s in a spirit that is more historical than just recalling the past. Rather than gathering present-day musicians to celebrate their ancestors, Haynes concentrates on the Velvet, a band, and on the artistic scene that inspired them. In particular, he focuses on their connections to the experimental cinema that boomed in New York. (Streaming on Apple TV+.)

【推荐2】The United Arab Emirates is a small country with big ambitions. Possibly, nowhere is clearer than in its space program, which has already sent two astronauts to space and has a satellite probing (探测) the atmosphere around Mars.

The country, over 50 years old, marked a milestone on Monday after Emirati astronaut Sultan Alneyadi returned to Earth in a SpaceX capsule following six months aboard the International Space Station. It was the longest space mission conducted by an Arab astronaut. Alneyadi also became the first person from the Middle East to conduct a spacewalk outside the ISS.

Alneyadi, 42, was part of a four-person NASA Crew-6 mission that was launched in March and returned to Earth after 186 days in space, Alneyadi’s time aboard the ISS highlights the country’s regional edge in space exploration.

“For me, it was a dream that had come true. It was really amazing, especially for my region,” Alneyadi said in a video conference a few days before leaving the ISS. “I felt that I’m responsible for showing what’s happening aboard the station. I think it’s a boost towards spreading the enthusiasm in our region.”

The father of six and longtime military engineer has been praised as a national hero in the UAE since his return to Earth.

The UAE’s president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, referred to Alneyadi as “my son” in a post congratulating him on his achievement. He said, “Alneyadi’s journey shows we are capable of contributing positively to humanity’s scientific and civilized march.”

Alneyadi, a Ph. D. holder in information technology, beat out thousands of candidates in the UAE, passing numerous physical and psychological tests to ensure he could stand the physical and mental stress of being in space for many months. He then trained in Russia and the US to become an astronaut.

In one of his final social media posts from space, Alneyadi wrote, “Space, this is not a goodbye, I will see you later, whether on a new mission to the ISS or a farther destination.”