Ed Asner. Multiple Emmy winner. Leader of the Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) during their 1980 strike for a better, more equitable contract. In this film, released the year before his death at age 91, Ed Asner plays an aging Jewish widower and Holocaust survivor living in Los Angeles. One day, as he[...]
Author Archive
Review: Holistay
— by WILLIAM STERR — Movies about short-term rental horrors seem to be a cottage industry within the larger horror genre. This story is about a very nice “cottage” on a golf course in San Diego. A young couple, Branna (Erin Gavin – “Audrey”) and Finn (Gavin O’Fearraigh &#[...]
Review: Belle
— by WILLIAM STERR — The story of “Beauty and the Beast” has charmed readers and viewers for centuries. Adaptations have appeared on stage, on TV, and in the movies. Here we have a new one. “Belle” takes place in the starkly beautiful environment of Iceland. It begins with a reci[...]
Review: Cocaine Bear
— by WILLIAM STERR — This is the second bear-based movie I reviewed for “It’s Just Movies” in one week. The first was the execrable “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.” Honey is supposed to be sweet, but when you mix it with blood, it’s a real stinkeroo. Both movies deal with [...]
Review: Asteroid City
— by WILLIAM STERR — Wes Anderson has been making films since “Bottle Rocket” (1996). They are distinctive for the symmetrical composition of his shots, the color palate of each shot, long, tableau-like takes, deadpan delivery of dialogue, etc. And, of course, the recurring cast of a[...]
Review: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
— by WILLIAM STERR — Once upon a time, when we were very young, our parents read us stories. In these stories, fairies danced in the moonlight, pirates buried wonderful treasures, cows jumped over the goodnight moon, and a handful of stuffed animals came to life and played with their lit[...]
Review: South of Sanity
— by WILLIAM STERR — At last! A movie that accurately portrays the denizens of our southern states – “South of Sanity.” Actually, no. “South of Sanity” does poke fun at the negative sterotypes of white southern folks, specifically Alabamans, but in the same sort of way that the[...]
Review: Biosphere
— by WILLIAM STERR — Ray and Billy have been friends since childhood. Really close friends. So close that Billy refers to them as “brothers from different mothers.” Ray is black. Billy is white. They even live together, although theirs is not a romantic relationship. Oh, and one more[...]
Review: Citizen Stan
— by WILLIAM STERR — This is a documentary about a man who has devoted his life to the search for peace and justice here within the United States and around the world – even when that meant arguing against the powers-that-be here. Stanley K. Sheinbaum was born into a well-to-do Jewish [...]
Review: Barbie Nation
— by WILLIAM STERR — This history of the Barbie Doll opens with a scene from a Barbie convention. An elaborate Barbie Doll in a custom dress is being auctioned off. It goes for $4,250 and the buyer, in her own Barbie inspired clothing, is ecstatic. From there a montage continues from Bar[...]
Review: The Stroll
— by WILLIAM STERR — This is the story of the trans women sex workers who spent parts of their lives working the streets of New York City’s meatpacking district – an area informally know as “The Stroll.” These women, from a variety of backgrounds and of different races, each foun[...]
Review: Renfield
— by WILLIAM STERR — Nicolas Cage: Oscar winner, Golden Globe winner, SAG winner, all time Blockbuster Entertainment (yeah, the video store people) award winner, and frequent Razzie nominee. You never know who you’re going to get with a Nick Cage movie – in fact, in “The Unbearable[...]
Review: Mad Heidi
— by WILLIAM STERR — In my avocation as a movie reviewer, I often – too often – screen films that, for lack of a better word, are pretty “cheesy.” Outrageous dialogue, over the top acting, fantastic settings, impossible premises, outlandish costumes, and so on. This one takes the[...]