— by RON WILKINSON — Gianfranco Rosi’s genre bending documentary “Fire at Sea” is two stories. The first is the story of 12-year-old Samuele growing up in the Garden of Eden environment of Lampedusa, an island 200 kilometers south of Italy in the heart of the Mediterran[...]
Archive for October, 2016
Review: After Spring
— by BEV QUESTAD — There are three things to know before you see this film. First, Jon Stewart, past host of “The Daily Show,” is the executive producer, so expect a documentary with integrity. Second, one man, Charles Lee, knows the fundamental problem in refugee camps, so expect a [...]
Review: Tanna
— by BEV QUESTAD — Based on a true Romeo and Juliet story, this tale of dangerous, forbidden love takes place on Tanna, one of the lush Vanuatu jungle islands in the South Pacific. Tradition rules that girls must marry outside their tribe, but Wawa and Dain, members of the same tribe, se[...]
Review: King Cobra
— by RON WILKINSON — Writer/director Justin Kelly’s (“I Am Michael”) film is based on the true story of a gay porn film star who switches his allegiance mid contract. The bloody violence that ensues is depicted as being caused by childhood pedophilic trauma, but there is so lit[...]
Review: Theo Who Lived
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Theo Who Lived” is a documentary about a quirky journalist who was tortured and prepared for death by hanging. He returns to re-trace his steps for this documentary, re-enacting his exhilarated run across the Turkey-Syrian border as well as the self-impose[...]
Review: Do Not Resist
— by BEV QUESTAD — Remember the 2014 Ferguson, Missouri, protest for the police shooting of Michael Brown? Craig Atkinson, filmmaker and the son of a SWAT team officer and a participant in SWAT trainings, reveals that times are a-changing when it comes to police tactics and ideology thro[...]
New Blade movie won’t happen any time soon
It’s pretty much an accepted fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe basically prints money. With a whopping 13 wildly successful films under its belt and another nine on the way (that we know of), it’s safe to say that the MCU is one of the most successful film franchises of all time. A[...]
Review: Aquarius
— by RON WILKINSON — Emerging writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho uncorks a simmering thriller with this Brazilian morality tale. Life in Recife 40 years ago is compared to life today and it does not measure up. Everything is about change, growth, speed and, above all, money. Gone are[...]
Review: Snowden
— by BEV QUESTAD — “What is it about this job that’s worth more than your life?” shouts an exasperated Lindsay Mills’ to her boyfriend, Edward Snowden. Oliver Stone, whose controversial films have won nine Academy Awards, lays out a story about a man willing to give up ev[...]
Review: Among the Believers
— by RON WILKINSON — Directors Mohammed Naqvi and Hemal Trivedi (written by Jonathan Goodman Levitt) somehow obtain amazing access to the extremely powerful, and heavily armed, Muslim cleric and Taliban ally Maulana Aziz. Although one has to wonder how much they dared record, their spont[...]
Review: When Two Worlds Collide
— by BEV QUESTAD — Starting out as if it was going to be a National Geographic special, the gorgeous footage of sounds and sights in the steamy Peruvian Amazon region aims to delight. Then our hero appears and says he is about to become Tarzan. He disrobes and jumps into a murky body of [...]
Review: Go Home
— by BEV QUESTAD — Arriving as an ex-pat now from Paris, hauntingly beautiful Nada returns to her war-torn Lebanese village to find her abandoned old home ransacked and its property full of garbage. “Go Home” is written on the inside of the walls after she returns from hearing a nois[...]