— by BEV QUESTAD — Two boys, scared in a small carnival funhouse with sudden pop-outs, mirrors, clown faces, and crazy laughs, reflect the lives of African-Americans living in southern America. No matter where they turn in the frightening, bizarre environment, they must first conquer the[...]
Author Archive
Review: Celebration
— by BEV QUESTAD — What is there to hide? Banned for 18 years, “Celebration,” an introspective on Yves Saint Laurent as a dress designer, has finally been released for all to view. Opening for a limited US run last October (2019), “Celebration” is streaming online this April. Whi[...]
Review: Human Nature
— by BEV QUESTAD — The magic was here all along, and now, more than ever, it is ready to be used to eradicate congenital disorders, save coral reefs and possibly even help adaptation to climate change. It’s called CRISPR and it enables genetic engineering. Already it’s close to preve[...]
Review: Run This Town
— by BEV QUESTAD — Beginning with a mock convention involving stand-ins for mayor and other local pols, “Run This Town” has an underlying satirical spirit. The intellectual acumen and clever arguments in the mock city hall hearings are entertaining. At random intervals, a washer or d[...]
Review: American Factory
— by BEV QUESTAD — Yes, “American Factory” won the Oscar for Best Documentary. But was it really the best? The story is about a big American GM plant that closed in Dayton, Ohio, in 2008. The founder and CEO of a Chinese automobile glass manufacturing company, Cho Tak Wong, saw a bar[...]
Review: Judy
— by BEV QUESTAD — Renée Zellweger won the Golden Globe for Best Actress for her portrayal of Judy Garland. Can she do it again for the Oscar? “Judy” is the 2019 movie adaptation of the play “End of the Rainbow,” which documents the last year or so of Garland’s struggle with h[...]
Review: The Cave
— by BEV QUESTAD — Nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar, “The Cave” explains what happens when 40,000 people are caught in a no-exit strangle-hold. With snipers on rooftops and sporadic planes re-bombing structural remains, the only safe place is deep underground. Food is scarce [...]
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[...]
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: 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[...]
Review: Clemency
— by BEV QUESTAD — Not a hair out of place, demurely dressed in a tailored suit, calm and in control, the warden supervises a prison each day meticulously confirming that all rules and regulations are followed, especially the ones for executions. After four years of research, Chinonye Ch[...]
Short Film: Blue
— by BEV QUESTAD — The most exciting, shocking, gorgeously filmed environmental short at Willamette Riverkeeper’s 2019 Wild and Scenic Film Festival is about women athletes snow biking down mountains outside of Valdez, Alaska. There are steep, gaping crevasses, suicidal slippery-edged [...]
Review: Saving Atlantis
— by BEV QUESTAD — Plato mentioned that Atlantis was the unfortunate, great kingdom that fought and lost to mighty Athens. Also losing favor from the gods, Atlantis was so totally destroyed that it was overcome by the sea. While subsequent writers have found evidence that Atlantis was ov[...]