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Review: Infinite Sea

— by WILLIAM STERR —

When Portuguese writer/director Carlos Amaral (“Por Diabos”) sat down to work out the story of “Infinite Sea,” I’m sure he found the idea fascinating and full of promise, as did I when I first heard of his film.

The story takes place in a bleak, near empty city somewhere in Portugal. It isn’t named, but the few people we meet speak Portuguese, so … Whether it is part of our world or some parallel world doesn’t matter. The city doesn’t appear damaged, the utilities function, and the atmosphere, while dreary, is not obviously dangerous. Occasionally a distant rocket takes off, headed for a new Eden, a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri. That star is 4.24 light years from our own, so you can imagine the travel time for people living in a world with technology comparable to our own. For those of you who can’t, it would take about 6,300 years. (CONTINUED)


Review: Back to the Drive-In

— by WILLIAM STERR — When I was a kid back in Green Bay, Wisc., the family would pile into the station wagon and go out for an evening of movies at the drive-in. In our case, it was the Starlite Drive-In, which had opened in 1949. A few years later, it was my high […][...]


Review: Triangle of Sadness

— by BEV QUESTAD — 1. “The last capitalist we hang is the one who sold us the rope.” Who said it? Nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, “Triangle of Sadness” is a cutting satire on power and the human condition. The very worst part of the film, which lasted many minutes, was the sickening […][...]


Review: Juniper

— by WILLIAM STERR — Juniper – a genus of hardy aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs of the cypress family, distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The “berry” – actually a fleshy cone – of the juniper is used to flavor gin. Sam (George Ferrier – “Kiwi Christmas”) is having a difficult time of it. He […][...]


Review: Living

— by WILLIAM STERR — In 1843, a British writer published a story about a man who, in his ambition for a secure life in business, drove away those around him and hollowed out that life. Eventually, faced with the threat of his own death, he changed his ways and began reconnecting: doing good in […][...]


Review: Goliath

— by WILLIAM STERR — This is a difficult, even infuriating, movie. Most of us are familiar with the story of how the tobacco industry fought for decades to obscure the fact about tobacco use, addiction and health issues. We’ve seen the same thing with fossil fuels and opioids. French writer/director Frederic Tellier (“Through the […][...]


Review: The Whale

— by WILLIAM STERR — In 2012, Darren Aronofsky (“Mother!”), attended a performance of “The Whale,” a play by Samuel Hunter. A decade later, he directed a movie version with Hunter as screenwriter and Brendan Fraser (“Gods and Monsters”) starring as the protagonist, Charlie. Charlie is a recluse. He teaches a writing class online, invisible […][...]


Review: The First Step

— by BEV QUESTAD — If you tend to watch CNN then you probably know the handsome, well-spoken Yale Law School commentator whose rich voice speaks with passion. On the night of the 2016 election he somberly intoned: “It’s hard to be a parent tonight for a lot of us. You tell your kids: Don’t […][...]


Review: Alchemy of the Spirit

— by WILLIAM STERR — Oliver Black (Xander Berkeley – “Butcher’s Crossing) is an artist. He works out of a studio in his home in a village in Vermont. One fall morning, he wakes to find his wife, Evelyn (Sarah Clarke – “Coda”) dead beside him. His trauma is intense – she is clearly the […][...]



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