— by BEV QUESTAD — Part dance-musical, part Monty Python farce, part Shakespearean rendition on the “All the world’s a stage” theme, part melodrama and then a dollop of realistic tragedy makes “Anna Karenina” one ambitious experiment in art. But would Leo Tolstoy like it? With [...]
Author Archive
Review: Zero Dark Thirty
— by BEV QUESTAD — You’re right there. The camera has night goggles. You arrive at 12:30 a.m. and it is quiet. The Pakistani community, with its own rendition of West Point within a mile, must hear you. But the two experimental Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters’ low hum is deceptive[...]
A Clip from Zero Dark Thirty
— by BEV QUESTAD — One of the amazing true stories of the last 50 years is the death of Osama bin Laden in a surgical midnight raid by US Navy SEALs on May 2, 2011. Leave it to America to also make it into a film as fast as possible. Just in time for […][...]
Review: Arbitrage
— by BEV QUESTAD — This is characterization hit out of the ballpark – and this home-run by Richard Gere in “Arbitrage” is breath-taking. He plays a slick wheeler-dealer consumed with what he calls the five ways to success: M-O-N-E-Y. Okay, let’s skip an explanation of the title ([...]
Review: Samsara
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Samsara” is a magical experiment in the power of sound and imagery. This glorious poem of life, set to a gentle, haunting original score, guides the viewer in a visual meditation on the nature of life. The image choices and how they are organized propel a dialogue[...]
Review: White Tiger (aka Belyy tigr)
— by BEV QUESTAD — The official Russian entry for the 85th Academy Award competition for best foreign language film is not quite what you’d expect – yet then again, in the country producing Dostoevsky’s anguished “Crime and Punishment,” Chekov’s depressing “Ward Number 6”[...]
Review: Field Work: A Family Farm
— by BEV QUESTAD — With rustling corn tassels, warbling bird songs, skies rippled with pinks and iridescent blues, and sometimes just the calm silence of a meandering light breeze, John Helde has interspersed this look at the family farm life with tender respect. Set to the folksy fiddle[...]
Review: The Invisible War
— by BEV QUESTAD — The invisible war in our Armed Forces is the one few know about, talk about, acknowledge or do anything about. This important film exposes the military’s silent response to violent, heartbreaking sexual assaults in the US Military perpetrated by US soldiers against U[...]
Review: Escape Fire
— by BEV QUESTAD — There’s a burning inferno spreading quickly across forest land. Firefighters are dashing in desperation. One of the firefighters, Wag Dodge, thinks the only way out is to stop and set a fire where he stands. The others are sure he’s nuts and rush on. When the fire [...]
Review: The World Before Her
— by BEV QUESTAD — “A lot of people think if you allow women to be liberated and get educated, you lose your culture,” says a Miss India contestant. The follow-up questions should be about what constitutes a culture and how the oppression of one group of people is ultimately benefici[...]
Review: Bidder 70
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Bidder 70” is the true story of the frustrating, discouraging irony that sometimes befalls the good guy who stands up for the right side. I call it the Christ Phenomenon. America was built on the rebel, the protestor – those demanding religious freedom, those pr[...]
Review: Words of Witness
— by BEV QUESTAD — Hot off the streets of turbulent Cairo, this work of cinema verité tells the current story of the hopeful Egyptian revolution through the concerned eyes of a 22-year-old, tightly-scarved journalist named Heba Afify. After Hosni Mubarak’s resignation on Feb. 11, 2011[...]
Review: Argo
— by BEV QUESTAD — This is a riveting, masterfully directed important movie that celebrates the true American spirit. This is the story of Tony Mendez. He takes risks, sees what’s right and lets his guts and conscience lead the way. Ben Affleck, both director and lead, reflects the con[...]