— by RON WILKINSON — It is unusual, but not unheard of, for a young Palestinian to be recruited by Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence machine to provide inside information on Hamas. So there is little amazing in the 2010 ABC News story that Mosab Hassan Yousef, “The Green Prince,” work[...]
Author Archive
Review: Last Days in Vietnam
— by RON WILKINSON — In 1975, both American and the Republic of South Vietnam were struggling, against the odds, to bring peace with dignity to Southeast Asia. The Paris Peace accords of two years’ earlier had established a framework of commitment and cooperation to end the war. In 197[...]
Review: The Skeleton Twins
— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at the 40th Seattle International Film Festival, Craig Johnson directs “Saturday Night Live” alums Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader as estranged twins reuniting after 10 years of silence. “The Skeleton Twins” starts off with the twins simultan[...]
Review: Rage
— by RON WILKINSON — Nicolas Cage plays ex-mobster Paul Maguire in this Cage vehicle for the free and thorough expression of one thing that Cage does well: rage. And there is plenty to rage about in this flick when perky daughter Caitlin is kidnapped and found dead. Maguire reunites with[...]
Review: Heatstroke
— by RON WILKINSON — Evelyn Purcell’s thriller, set in the African desert, combines wild animal mystique with a decidedly feministic point of view. Tally (Svetlana Metkina) and Josie (Maisie Williams) become stranded in the desert and must face the duel threats of dehydration and psych[...]
Review: The Hornet’s Nest
— by RON WILKINSON — It is hard to say where this film fatally diverges from what appears to be its inspiration, “Restrepo,” but it might be that the narration is the first cut. The movie is a documentary of two US military teams pushing into one of Afghanistan’s most hostile valle[...]
Review: The Rover
— by RON WILKINSON — David Michôd ups the ante and hauls in a big one in this Aussie thriller set in the desolate outback 10 years after the collapse. The collapse? The comedians in the audience will point out that the outback 10 years after the collapse looks about the same as it did [[...]
Review: The Internet’s Own Boy
— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at the 40th Seattle International Film Festival, Brian Knappenberger’s biopic of Internet pioneer Aaron Swartz is as much a cautionary tale about the new web-based world as it is a story of one of its brightest stars. Swartz was a brilliant child who grew [...]
Review: Rigor Mortis
— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at the 40th Seattle International Film Festival, “Rigor Mortis” was a welcome change from the everyday. It seemed as if all of the good, old fashioned, action / horror flicks were being canceled at the last minute and substituted with religious dogma or [...]
Review: Coherence
— by RON WILKINSON — James Ward Byrkit’s sci-fi thriller “Coherence” starts as an updated comedy of manners like Luis Buñuel’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” and ends like something from Alfred Hitchcock. In the background we are waiting for Rod Serling’s [...]
Review: Evergreen: The Road to Legalization
— by RON WILKINSON — Starting off with great archival footage of the now famous marijuana fear mongering campaigns of the mid-twentieth century, Riley Morton’s documentary (written by Nils Cowan) picks up the trail of the long and winding road towards marijuana legalization in Washingt[...]
Review: Anna
— by RON WILKINSON — Mark Strong (Jim Prideaux in the 2011 remake of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”) comes back a good guy in “Anna” (aka “Mindscape”). He is still as cold and calculating as ever, approaching the diagnosis of his most recent case as he approached[...]
Review: Bright Days Ahead
— by RON WILKINSON — Marion Vernoux’s romantic comedy starts off with recent retiree Caroline (Fanny Ardant—“8 Women,” Confidentially Yours”) plunging ahead with retirement at the Bright Days Ahead senior center. The screenplay has Caroline visiting the center with trepidation [...]
Review: Beneath the Harvest Sky
— by RON WILKINSON — Casper (Emory Cohen – “The Place Beyond the Pines”) and Dominic (Callan McAuliffe – “The Great Gatsby”) grow up together in the tiny community of Van Buren just south of the Canadian border. They are very different people. Dom is hard working and has his [...]