— by RON WILKINSON — Perhaps it is because his past efforts were more Rabelaisian than revelatory, Mads Brugger’s latest will be taken with a grain of salt – even after he rightfully and correctly declares “Everything is Real.” The story that has Mads on the cusp of buying interm[...]
Author Archive
Review: Ascension
— by RON WILKINSON — If you were going to create a successful capitalist nation from scratch, which would come first, smile training or sex dolls? Such appears to be the choice in China as the productivity behemoth groans and stretches through its growing pains as a developed economy. As[...]
Review: Grandpa Was An Emperor
— by RON WILKINSON — Still revered by many to this day, Emperor Haile Selassie ruled Ethiopia for decades. This film examines the coup that unseated him in 1974 through the eyes of his great granddaughter (Yeshi Kassa), and the reverberations of that coup throughout Selassie’s extended[...]
Review: Summer of Soul
— by RON WILKINSON — The most significant memory in this stirring documentary is how it sat on the shelf for nearly five decades due to lack of public interest. Woodstock, located one hundred miles to the north and bursting out at the same time, became legend while the Harlem Cultural Fe[...]
Review: The French Dispatch
— by RON WILKINSON — Wes Anderson fans relish the games he plays with reality. The characters steadfastly do their own thing, despite conflicts with others and half the time this results in snarky, lighthearted humor. As in several of Anderson’s earlier movies, Bill Murray (here playin[...]
Review: El Planeta
— by RON WILKINSON — We live our lives in two parts, the one we want to live and the one others want us to live. We balance those two to meet practical necessities such as food and shelter. Maria and her daughter Leo did not get the memo on balance. To the extent of […][...]
Review: Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
— by RON WILKINSON — The Xeron computer has been linked to many mysterious information leaks, some were unconsciously intended by the users and some were not. Escalators travel up and down, opposite directions sliding past each other. Subway trains travel back and forth providing brief m[...]
Review: No Time to Die
— by RON WILKINSON — The last Daniel Craig James Bond movie tries to bridge the gap between the old and the new. Among the various filming locations, Jamaica stands out. The home of Ian Fleming’s first twelve Bond novels is revisited, if lacking the sparkling characters that turned the[...]
Review: The Village Detective: a song cycle
— by RON WILKINSON — Even legendary Soviet actor Mikhail Zharov probably did not consider it a masterpiece. Like dozens, if not hundreds, of his films, it was watched by adoring thousands, if not millions, and then fell by the wayside. A curiously unfinished copy did more than fall by th[...]
Review: Wife of a Spy
— by RON WILKINSON — A loyal warrior once proclaimed he would give his life for his country. “Yes,” his commander said, “But would you give your honor?” The greatest heroes sometimes are called to do exactly that. Risk disgrace and ostracization as well as imprisonment and possib[...]
Review: Small Engine Repair
— by RON WILKINSON — One mistake leads to another in America’s rust belt. There is a profound sense of loss in the setting– lost jobs, lost futures and lost lives. This is the setup for the greatest loss of all, the loss of innocence. What could have been a standard issue revenge[...]
Review: Dogs
— by RON WILKINSON — Most of the stories about city people coming back to the country are about conflict. The newcomer does not fit and the locals want him gone. This story is the opposite. The returning city boy only wants to sell his deceased grandfather’s land and return to the city[...]
Review: Wildland
— by RON WILKINSON — Teenagers should never have to make some decisions. They should not have to decide to be loyal to a drug addicted mom or a crime sodden family of cousins that makes Ma Barker’s clan look like The Partridge Family. They should not have to give up part of their lives[...]
Review: In the Same Breath
— by RON WILKINSON — The best documentaries are the ones with the best access. This exceptional doc explodes with complete access to hospitals in Wuhan during the first days of Covid. Shooting footage is tense, scary and at times potentially lethal due to government persecution as much a[...]