— by WILLIAM STERR — It’s winter, but there is no snow. A middle-aged couple sits alone in a pew as a priest officiates at a funeral for their young daughter. They stand with a few mourners at the graveside; together they clutch a white rose. Things are not as they seem. While his wife[...]
Author Archive
Review: Castro’s Spies
— by WILLIAM STERR — In 1898, the United States fought a war against Spain. At the conclusion of that war, the US seized the Philippines, Puerto Rico and smaller Pacific islands that had been part of the Spanish Empire. Cuba was not seized but remained occupied until 1902. From then unti[...]
Review: A.K. Tolstoy’s A Taste of Blood
— by WILLIAM STERR — What if your father, with the aim of protecting you, went out one night, and came back the next night as a monster – the very thing he tried to protect you from? A. K. Tolstoy, older second cousin to the more famous Leo Tolstoy, was a literary giant of […][...]
Review: MAU
— by WILLIAM STERR — “Think about the number of times you can close your eyes and open them in a space where you only see the natural world; and you realize that it’s almost never; it’s almost zero. That what you’re experiencing, your life is a designed life. And the beauty of th[...]
Review: The Ants and the Grasshopper
— by WILLIAM STERR — “The Ants and the Grasshopper” is a documentary that will appear at the “EarthX Film Festival in mid-May in Dallas, Texas. The festival’s mission is to “bring awareness of the environmental crisis in order to create sincere action on both an individual and [...]
Review: A Thousand Little Cuts
— by WILLIAM STERR — This is a disturbing movie. A movie that is difficult to watch. It is also a movie that deals with a very difficult subject – one that we as a society need to be reminded of again and again and again. The film opens with a woman jogging. She jogs […][...]
Review: Black Box
— by WILLIAM STERR — You are on European Airlines Flight 24, from Dubai to Paris, just flying into French airspace. It’s 7:24 a.m. and breakfast is being served in all classes. You ask for coffee. Then any flyer’s nightmare begins. The plane begins to descend, rapidly. This is what y[...]
Review: Prince Philip: The Man Behind the Throne
— by WILLIAM STERR — “Prince Philip: The Man Behind the Throne” is a loving, tender, indulgent biography of the late Prince Philip, consort to Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, to whom he was married for 73 years. The film begins with a description of Philip’s childhood. He was [...]
Review: Death on the Nile
— by WILLIAM STERR — Imagine you are young, of good family, vibrant, intelligent and in love. Desperately in love with a wonderful man for whom you would do anything. This is at the heart of Agatha Christie’s 1937 classic “Death on the Nile.” The late (she died in 1976, two years b[...]
Review: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
— by WILLIAM STERR — How often does a Nicholas Cage movie come along? OK, every few months. But this one is different – it’s Cage unleashed. OK, so he’s almost always unleashed (and without a muzzle). But how often do you get a Nic Cage movie with multiple Nic Cages? Ha! Got you th[...]
Review: Hit the Road
— by WILLIAM STERR — “Hit the Road” is a small movie. It has a small cast, and most of the action takes place inside of a small car. It is also a movie with a big, big heart. This is the story of an Iranian family making a road trip across the mostly barren […][...]
Review: State Funeral
— by WILLIAM STERR — On March 5, 1953, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, absolute dictator of the Soviet Union, died. For three days, he had lain in a coma as his condition declined following a massive stroke. For 31 years, from 1922 until his death, he ruled Russia and its vassal states wit[...]
Review: Fabian: Going to the Dogs
— by WILLIAM STERR — It’s the late 1920s in Berlin, Germany. The Wiemar Republic is beginning to crumble under the multiple onslaughts of a failing economy, social disintegration, and the rising Nazi party. Jakob Fabian (Tom Schilling) is a young man from Dresden who has moved to the c[...]