— by WILLIAM STERR — Imagine if, during the Clinton Administration (1993-2001), the biggest event was not Monica Lewinsky, but rather the revolt of robots, many of which represented cartoon characters or corporate mascots. That is the story given to us by the Russo Brothers (“Avengers:[...]
Author Archive
Review: Any Day Now
— by WILLIAM STERR — Boston. That historic city on the Charles River. Home of Back Bay and the Brahmins thereof. They are the folks that created and filled the Gardner Museum of Art. But then there are the gritty folks of South Boston. They keep the museum clean and serve as security gua[...]
Review: Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep
— by WILLIAM STERR — H.P. Lovecraft died in 1937. At the time, he was an impoverished, barely known writer of fantastic fiction. Since then, his works, all in the public domain, have been the inspiration for hundreds of writers and scores of film-makers. Many of those writers have contri[...]
Review: The Rule of Jenny Pen
— by WILLIAM STERR — Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow. Two elder luminaries of the cinema world. Lithgow turned in a fine performance as a conniving American cardinal in 2024’s “Conclave,” nd Best Actor Oscar-winner Rush, long a stage actor in Australia, is best known in film for “[...]
Review: Immaculate
— by WILLIAM STERR — When do miracles cross the line into mad science? As a young girl, Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney – “Madame Web”) suffered a near death experience. It changed her life, and she decided to devote that life to God. When still a novitiate, her local US convent closed[...]
Review: Anora
— by WILLIAM STERR — “Anora”: Winner of the 2025 Academy Awards for Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing (all by Sean Baker), Best Actress (Mikey Madison) and Best Picture. This is a complicated film. It begins with a somewhat silly, extremely graphic sexual relatio[...]
Review: Seven Veils
— by WILLIAM STERR — When art copies life copies art. Jeanine (Amanda Seyfried – “I Don’t Understand You”) has an opportunity to re-mount the opera “Salome,” a piece that she worked on with her deceased mentor, Charles, years before. She leaps at the chance. However, she [...]
Review: Nosferatu
— by WILLIAM STERR — Some lovers aren’t satisfied unless they can completely possess you. So it is with Ellen Hutter and her count. Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) is an up-and-coming employee at Herr Knock’s (Simon McBurney) real estate brokerage. He is given the charge of delivering[...]
Review: Arcadian
— by WILLIAM STERR — “Arcadian” gives a new twist to living “down on the farm.” The word means an ideal rural paradise, but the home set up by Paul (Nicholas Cage – “Longlegs”) and his teenage sons, Joseph (Jaeden Martell – “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone”) and Thomas[...]
Review: Saturday Night
— by WILLIAM STERR — Jason Reitman (“Ghostbusters: Afterlife”) has used his “Wayback Machine” to take us back to a seminal point in television entertainment – the point at which a form of popular entertainment that was rooted in vaudeville, the stage, and accepted mores of beha[...]
Review: The Piano Lesson
— by WILLIAM STERR — August Wilson. It’s a name that is synonymous with the experiences and heritage of the African-American community in the 20th century. His cycle of 10 plays from “Gem of the Ocean” to “Radio Golf” covers the Black experience in Pittsburgh through the 10 dec[...]
Review: A Real Pain
— by WILLIAM STERR — The Odd Couple visits Poland. Cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg – “The Social Network) and Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin – “No Sudden Move”) have signed up for a tour of Jewish heritage locations in Poland, using money left for that purpose by their belo[...]
Review: Green and Gold
— by WILLIAM STERR — I though Craig T. Nelson was dead. But I guess, like the old time dairy farmers of Wisconsin, he just keeps plugging along, even at 80 years old. “Green and Gold” is a modern day fable about the values of honesty, hard work, and not cutting corners. Dairy farmer [...]
Review: Memoir of a Snail
— by WILLIAM STERR — Gastropods – who doesn’t love a gastopod? Garlic, butter, parsley, salt – yum! Nothing like a dozen escargot served each in its own little indentation on a porcelain plate. Well, this is not that kind of story. This is the story of Ausie twins, boy and girl, an[...]