— by RON WILKINSON — Kicking off the year with a powerhouse of an essay on the horrors of war, director Kantemir Balagov weaves together stories of the Siege of Leningrad. As one might expect, all three are bad, ending in the briefest ray of light. Some survive and some do not. As in all[...]
Archive for January, 2020
Ancient Egypt stories ready to be hit films
— by SIMON LEDGER — There are many stories about Ancient Egypt that have turned out to be big on-screen movie hits. From the tale of “The Prince of Egypt” to “The Mummy” trilogy and the life of the most beautiful woman in her time, Cleopatra, these stories captured the mystic sid[...]
Review: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
— by RON WILKINSON — An artist hired to paint a portrait of a bride-to-be discovers that the subject refuses to pose. She is not just camera shy, or easel shy, she is fundamentally opposed to the idea of being painted. The French had their attitudes, even in 1790. As it turns out, there [...]
Major animation movies coming in 2020
Last year came with some really great animation movies, which included “Frozen 2,” “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” “The Addams Family,” “Toy Story 4” and many others. However, 2020 promises to be even better. We will get to see a few original animation films from Netfli[...]
Review: Clemency
— by RON WILKINSON — In this profound exploration of the emotional toll of capital punishment, Alfre Woodard seems to take responsibility for the entire movie, just as her character takes responsibility for ending the lives of those deemed by society as being unfit to live. As she does t[...]
Valentine’s Day Top Five Movie Playlist
Well, you have one less problem to think about this Valentine’s Day. You can just go and catch a movie with your date. Instead of running around looking for things you can do, go back to your online gambling or favourite kiwi pokies and play your game, because your chance to-watch movie list is he[...]
Review: Little Joe
— by BEV QUESTAD — Alice is a bio-engineer who has created a plant with a scent that makes people happy. She wears a mask at all times while she is tending her creation that has been mass-propagated in a sterile, warm, locked, glass-enclosed test room. Why the high tech containment? This[...]
DC’s top recent comic book movies
DC Comics recent movie history is somewhat up and down in terms of recent quality, but there is little denying the comic book company has been responsible for some of the more fun superhero movies of the last few years. And while others are winning real money online at online casinos, some are busy [...]
Review: Three Christs
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Three Christs” is as entertaining as it is soul-searching. A brilliant cast, headed by Richard Gere, and a poignant study of mental health make this the new “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” of 2020. Based on the psychiatric case study titled “The [...]
Review: Midnight Family
— by RON WILKINSON — Never have so few done so much for so little. In Mexico City, the Ochoa family operates a private ambulance service that survives, barely, by virtually begging critically injured patients to pay. Sometimes they do pay, and then local police bust the family for operat[...]
Review: Invisible Life
— by RON WILKINSON — Born in Rio de Janeiro, Guida and Euridice grow up sharing their most intimate secrets. Through the brilliant direction of Karim Ainouz, we are part of that intimacy. There is no film in recent history that takes the viewer into the hearts of the characters as well. [...]
Review: 1917
— by RON WILKINSON — Edited to simulate a continuous take, a plot that might otherwise be mundane and trite becomes a tense, power-packed race for life. The lethal terror of World War I is turned on its head by the realistic scenes of boredom, fear and rats in the trenches, making filth [...]
Review: Bombshell
— by BEV QUESTAD — The leering male staff made comments and others made demands. The pseudo-strong females were demeaned and coerced. Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), a prior Miss America and a Stanford grad, was the first to rise up. This is her story and it is a good one. Young girls [...]
Review: Dark Waters
— by BEV QUESTAD — If you’ve still got some Teflon pans, dump them immediately at a toxic waste site. That advice is inferred from an exposé on one of the world’s largest and most dangerous chemical companies and their production of perfluorooctanoic acid, aka PFOA, a deadly carcino[...]