— by WILLIAM STERR — Nearly a century and a half ago, one of the greatest names in theater, worldwide, was Sarah Bernhardt. She was a French actress, artist, theater manager and play producer. The new film “The Divine Sarah Bernhardt” captures various points in her career. This is no[...]
Author Archive
Review: Hamnet
— by WILLIAM STERR — A film for the decade. Hamnet was nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as one of the 10 best American films of 2025. But it didn’t win. Instead, a film about the insane violence of American people against each other received the Oscar for B[...]
Review: Watch the Skies
— by WILLIAM STERR — An Einstein-Rosen Bridge, known more commonly as a wormhole, is a theoretical, mathematical solution to Albert Einstein’s field equations in general relativity that proposes a shortcut connecting two separate points in space time. It is an element of many science-f[...]
Review: Group – The Schopenhauer Effect
— by WILLIAM STERR — Have you ever been in group therapy? I have not, and my only experience even tangentially related is the hilarious group featured in the old “Bob Newhart Show” from the 1970s. This is very different. Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy where therapists treat[...]
Review: Diva Futura
— by WILLIAM STERR — Cicciolina – the adult film actress turned legislator in the Italian parliament. Where did she come from? What was her appeal? Were there other women like her? That is the story of “Diva Futura.” Riccardo Schicchi (Pietro Castellitto – “The Predators”[...]
Review: Mickey 17
— by WILLIAM STERR — A cat supposedly has nine lives. But what if there was no limit at all? That’s the premise behind “Mickey 17.” This isn’t a new idea – the sci-fi flick “Moon” used a similar premise – except it was the twist that came near the end of the story. Here, [...]
Review: Blue Moon
— by WILLIAM STERR — A descent into despair, as performed by a prisoner of passion and his tormentors. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart worked together for 24 years, creating 28 musicals and over 500 songs. However, due to Hart’s alcoholism, Rodgers formed a team with lyricist Oscar Ham[...]
Review: The President’s Cake
— by WILLIAM STERR — In southeastern Iraq, there is an area historically known as “The Garden of Eden.” It is an extensive marshland fed by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. There, for five thousand years, the “marsh Arabs,” in their reed houses and high-prowed canoes, have lived.[...]
Review: Beneath the Light
— by WILLIAM STERR — Lighthouses have a peculiar attraction for many people. However, the lighthouse on the end of the breakwater at Lorain, Ohio, overlooking Lake Erie is special. Not that it looks it. The 108-yea- old structure looks pretty dilapidated, needing a lot of repair. Jacob ([...]
Review: One Battle After Another
— by WILLIAM STERR — Those of us old enough to have lived through the turbulent latter decades of the 20th century will recall the KKK, the Weather Underground, the Symbionese Liberation Army and other home-grown terrorist organizations. But what about The French 75? The French 75 is a f[...]
Review: Sinners
— by WILLIAM STERR — Who hasn’t dreamed of leaving home, making good somewhere in the wider world, and then returning to our roots to make a personal dream come true? That is the story of identical twins Elijah “Smoke” and Elias “Stack” Moore (both played by Michael B. Jordan),[...]
Review: Weapons
— by WILLIAM STERR — A parents’ worst nightmare: your children disappear without a trace. There is no ransom demand. Nothing. Seventeen children from Ms. Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner – “The Fantastic Four: First Steps“) third-grade class disappeared at 2:17 a.m. on a Wedne[...]
Review: The Voice of Hind Rajab
— by WILLIAM STERR — Warning! This re-enactment (not dramatization) of a real-life tragedy in Gaza is not for the faint-hearted. Even though there is no violence, the level of emotion displayed, and the fact that a young life is held so precariously in the balance, makes this film far mo[...]