— by BEV QUESTAD — This is one heck of a wild, bold take-off on The Grimm Brothers’s tale of Cinderella. Still set mostly in medieval times (some girls having braces is a surprise), “The Ugly Stepsister” explores a possible backstory to the rags-to-riches beloved princess. Who was [...]
Author Archive
Review: If You See Something
— by BEV QUESTAD — How much did he know and when did he know it? The redheaded American woman, Katie, is driving two Iraqi friends, Ali and Dawod, to the airport. They hit some congestion which triggers a memory for Dawod, the Iraqi, seated in the back, who is headed for his flight back [...]
Review: Dog Man
— by BEV QUESTAD — My darling why-walk-when-I-can-run? four-year-old friend and child film critic, Logan, and I watched “Dog Man” in mesmerized paralysis. Logan forgot about his French fries while his eyes were completely transfixed by this colorful cornucopia of action, color, and e[...]
Review: Mistress Dispeller
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Mistress Dispeller” is a truly surprising and even revolutionary documentary. It captures shame in real time and dissects something Americans have in common with Chinese: social mobility and infidelity. And yet, there is also a learning, an insight, that can only [...]
Review: Plan C for Civilization
— by BEV QUESTAD — Imagine you are on a train track and a train is coming. On both sides of the track it is pitch black, so you don’t know which way to safely jump. But for sure, if you stay rooted on the track, you will be smashed to death. That’s my pitch […][...]
Review: ARTSAKH Armenian Genocide Continues
— by BEV QUESTAD — Remember when Trump claimed he deserved credit for ending six or seven wars during his first months in office? He said, “I think that we settled Aber-baijan and Albania.” The correction is that it was Azerbaijan and Artsakh. Vic Gerami, host and producer of The Blu[...]
Review: Where the Wind Blows
— by BEV QUESTAD — This is the kind of film I love. The story revolves around a perfect woman with high expectations. The film begins with two cowboys stopping in at a tavern in the Old West. The older one, Nathan Strong (C. Thomas Howell), is out for gambling, women, and a good time. [&[...]
Review: KOLN 75
— by BEV QUESTAD — There is something about Keith Jarrett’s improvisational music that transports the listener to another dimension. Test it out. Click on KOLN 75. Start the video and come back to read this review while you travel to a magical place of tones and subtlety that charms yo[...]
Review: There Was, There Was Not
— by BEV QUESTAD — “In Armenian, we don’t begin our stories with ‘Once Upon a Time.’ We begin with ‘There Was, There Was Not.’” While not planning on that theme when she began filming, seven years later, Emily Mkrtichian uses it as the title. In 2018, Mkrtic[...]
Review: Among Neighbors
— by BEV QUESTAD — Yoav Potash went to Poland to film a commemorative event. Upon arriving, his curiosity drove him to check out the community. He finds a Jewish grave-marker in an old man’s backyard scrapheap. Then he observes that Jewish markers became foundational rocks in roads, wa[...]
Review: Sisters of Ukraine
— by BEV QUESTAD — In the early days of October 2022, two people ran a mercy mission to rescue a group of women and children waiting in a bomb shelter in western Ukraine. The day before they were to arrive, October 9, the great bridge linking Crimea with Russia and its supply line was [&[...]
Review: Soul of a Nation
— by BEV QUESTAD — What was going on in Israel during the months leading up to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack? How popular was Netanyahu then and now? The what and how are answered through a series of interviews, news clips and live videos in this eye-opening documentary. But it’s not perfect[...]
Review: Monsters Within
— by BEV QUESTAD — A loner and a vet aptly named Luke Wolf (Devin Montgomery) comes back to his hometown unemployed and an alcoholic. On his first night back, after the singer in a bar insults the bartender, we see a gruesome wild animal head with long gnashing carnivorous teeth appear i[...]
Review: Hola Frida
— by BEV QUESTAD — Drew Barrymore says she’s grown into being her own best friend. Like Drew, but more than 100 years earlier, Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) overcame great obstacles because of her inner voice, her own best friend. Created specifically for children and their families, “Hola[...]