— by BEV QUESTAD — Conjuring aggression and beguilement, death and trickery, survival and provocative bedevilment, this great title headlines the most important film venue of the year, the 2012 Human Rights Watch Film Festival (HRWFF). Opening night of the festival will feature the[...]
Author Archive
Review: Two Brothers
— by BEV QUESTAD — Insightful, candid, honest and absolutely groundbreaking, this documentary reveals two brothers’ challenges, triumphs and personal growth through 5000 days. When they are young they are in conflict. Luke says about Sam, “I don’t like him.” But as time and life [...]
Review: To the Arctic
— by BEV QUESTAD — Narration by Meryl Streep, music by Paul McCartney, scenery in the Arctic and production by IMAX filmmakers = fabulously unforgettable cinematic experience. The headlining event for the kick-off to the 2012 Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) Film Festival was[...]
Review: The Lady
— by BEV QUESTAD — Critics be tarred, feathered, hung and shot. Of the 150 films I have reviewed in the last three years, I have given few rave reviews, but “The Lady” would be in those top three. The reason is simple – it’s an important story about principle, sacrifice a[...]
Trailer: The Lady
— by BEV QUESTAD — History and current events have collided in the last weeks with the coincidental release of Aung San Suu Kyi from 15 years of house arrest in Myanmar (Burma) and the film about her life — “The Lady.” As the world now knows, Suu Kyi left Burma and even[...]
Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
— by BEV QUESTAD — I am Lisbeth … Lisbeth Salander. I was created by Stieg Larsson and transferred to celluloid by Niels Oplev. Then Daniel Alfredson. Then David Fincher. Why did anyone think they could be successful at this? The Cast In Oplev and Alfredson’s versions I was portrayed[...]
Review: Gerhard Richter Painting
— by BEV QUESTAD — He takes three colors — red, blue and yellow — and stripes them in arcs and jutting angles onto a large canvass. Beautiful balance, natural primary colors. Simple and elegant. Then he spreads bright yellow paint onto a long wedge, as if buttering the length[...]
Review: Red Desert (aka Il Deserto Rosso)
— by BEV QUESTAD — Forget about the name of this film. Maybe it refers to communism, global warming, anomie or the red-headed lead character, Giuliana. Michelangelo Antonioni, a classic art film director with ambitions nearly as great as his first name, once said he just gave it a random[...]
Review: A Separation
— by BEV QUESTAD — Bravo to Iran for winning the coveted Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film with a brave, insightful study of the human condition. At first, because of the headscarves and trenchant males, the viewer might be tut-tutting that this is just how we expected Iran to[...]
Review: Rocco and His Brothers
— by BEV QUESTAD — Four brothers with their shrew of a mother have left their farm and traveled to the big city of Milan to surprise and move in with the older, newly-engaged fifth son. Surprise, surprise. “Rocco and his Brothers,” renowned as perfection in cinema, begins with artist[...]
Review: The Life of Fish
— by BEV QUESTAD — Despite their own life challenges, everyone is laughing and smiling — everyone but Andrés. They quiet down and ask him seriously, “Have you seen her yet?” Andrés is back. He’s got the charm, the boyish looks, the fame and the charisma that make him irresi[...]
Review: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
— by BEV QUESTAD — Winding slowly with burning flame headlights, three police cars necklace the dark hills of Anatolia, the great Turkish tongue of Asia, in the dark of a still night. Two bedraggled men lead the police ensemble to possible sites where they might have buried[...]
Review: Monsieur Lazhar
— by BEV QUESTAD — It is Montreal in the winter. Children are playing outside their school in the slushy cold. Two little sixth graders befriend each other. Alice (Sophie Nélisse) reminds Simon (Émilien Néron) it’s his turn to get the milk. He dashes off, excited to be a helper. He [...]
Review: Footnote (aka He’arat Shulayim)
— by BEV QUESTAD — There are five nominations for this year’s Best Foreign Language Oscar and three of them were shown at Portland’s 35th International Film Festival this month. Normally you’d be thinking that this would be a great opportunity to see great work, but unless[...]