— by BEV QUESTAD — I wasn’t prepared to be impacted by this rock bio — but from the beginning, as wiry Freddie Mercury walks out on stage with his band, Queen, and sings, “Can anybody find me somebody to love?,” his four-octave vocal range, his energy, his physicality and his[...]
Author Archive
Review: Green Book
— by BEV QUESTAD — At last, the perfect balance of humor, inspiration, fabulous acting, and enthralling story. It’s a 10/10 movie sure to please everyone during the holidays. Beginning at the Copacabana Nightclub in 1962, Bobby Rydell is singing “Old Black Magic.” There is an alter[...]
Review: Isle of Dogs
— by BEV QUESTAD — Up for Best Animated Film on all the award lists, just about everything about this creative film is a winner. From the drumbeat score, to the combination of animation technology strategies used to get adorable, realistic dogs, to the great story about compassion and se[...]
Review: Ben is Back
— by BEV QUESTAD — The film begins on a cold, quiet New England road with bare tree branches and old grave markers. Soon we see a stone church, St. John’s Episcopal (est. 1894), in lightly falling snow. Backdropped by a gorgeous stained-glass window of St. John the Beloved seemingly bl[...]
Review: Vice
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Vice” leads the Golden Globes with six nominations for great writing, directing and acting. But is it honest, do we learn anything new and is it worth seeing? During the Bush II eight-year presidency, Dick Cheney was characterized by the media as a grim vice-presi[...]
Short Film: Nobody Dies in Longyearbyen
— by BEV QUESTAD — A chilling fact about global warming is that when the permafrost of the northern tundra regions melts it will unleash age-old germs and bacteria into the eco-system. Wildlife, vegetation and water will become contaminated with things like anthrax and deadly strains of [...]
Review: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Won’t you be my neighbor? It’s an invitation for somebody to be close to you. You know, I think everybody longs to be loved and longs to know that he or she is lovable. And consequently, the greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that they’re [[...]
Short Film: Sky Migrations
— by BEV QUESTAD — My very favorite film (free access at the end of this review) of all the gorgeously filmed shorts shown at the Willamette Riverkeepers’ 2018 Wild and Scenic Film Festival was “Sky Migrations.” It’s narrated by a young guy who is following the migration path of [...]
Review: All the Devil’s Men
— by RON WILKINSON — Where do all the ex-special elite military go? If we believe writer/director Matthew Hope they engage in careers as mercenary bounty hunters, double cross each other and all quickly eliminated. That is, until there is only one left standing. Presumably he goes on to [...]
Short Film: A Letter to Congress
— by BEV QUESTAD — Films on hiking with reticent kids, catching magnificent raptors, mountaineering with “badass” women in Nepal and crazy skiing in the ‘hood represent some of the short film subjects presented at the 2018 Willamette Riverkeeper Wild and Scenic Film Fest. Each year[...]
Review: Colette
— by BEV QUESTAD — Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was once a charming, happy farm girl in the farmlands of France in the late 1800s. She is seduced by Willy, an older, dapper Parisian author and publisher. They set up married life in Paris where she learns that her new husband is a philandere[...]
Review: Leave No Trace
— by BEV QUESTAD — Hidden deep in Portland’s Forest Park, one of the largest city parks (5,100 acres) in the world, a man and his daughter live in a tent abutting a hill, cook under a tarp, and hide camouflaged in the damp, richly green forest. It is inescapably idyllic. They play ches[...]
Review: Dark Money
— by BEV QUESTAD — Political mail with lies? Campaign ad grossly misrepresenting the truth? Can just anyone with the bucks say anything in a campaign? Besides the questionable rhetoric of the two major parties, when an outside source funds a spurious campaign ad, the funding source is ca[...]