— by BEV QUESTAD — Red Pine is the nom de plume of Bill Porter who grew up in LA, the son of a wildly disturbed, abusive multimillionaire patron of the Kennedys, who owned at least 52 hotels. Bill was sent to boarding school beginning in the fourth grade, so his parents could have more [[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: Older Gods
— by WILLIAM STERR — Every year – maybe every month – we read about new aspects of our ever-expanding knowledge of the universe. Of creation. And as this knowledge expands, even though our ability to comprehend the wonders of existence expands with it, our actually position in that u[...]
Review: Irena’s Vow
— by WILLIAM STERR — Sometimes people find themselves in desperate situations. Situations where they must make life and death decisions. Such was the situation Irena Gut (Sophie Nelisse – “Close”) faced in Lublin, Poland, during the German invasion in 1939. Training as a nurse,[...]
Review: All We Carry
— by BEV QUESTAD — “My father was murdered. I can never get that out of my mind.” It is spring, 2018. Magdiel, Mirna and their son, Joshua, are on the migrant caravan coming up from Honduras and headed for the US when they meet Cady Voge, filmmaker and journalist, who commits to film[...]
Bev’s 2023 Best Documentary List
— by BEV QUESTAD — There were 167 Oscar-qualified documentaries for 2023. I viewed about 70, using award nominations from various organizations and my own interests as a guide. Documentaries serve as my post-graduate education. They extend my knowledge in history, geography, politics, ph[...]
Review: Just Getting By
— by WILLIAM STERR — Bess O’Brien is located in the northeast corner (the Northeast Kingdom) of Vermont. There she has turned out a number of fascinating documentaries on the people of Vermont over many years. She has a new one out: “Just Getting By.” In her previous work, through [...]
Review: The Black Guelph
— by WILLIAM STERR — The Black Guelph was a group of men who, in 14th century Italy, took it upon themselves to violently support the Pope against any adversary seeking to weaken the stranglehold the papacy had over the Italian principalities. Among their victims was the great poet, Dant[...]
Review: Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
— by BEV QUESTAD — Michael J. Fox is asked what it means to be still. Mentally or physically? Is it being non-productive and not creative? Is it being passive? Depressed? Does it mean being locked inside a body in a wheelchair? Parkinson’s Disease (PD) affects nerve cells in the brain.[...]
Review: The Uncertain Detective
— by WILLIAM STERR — This is a bizarre little film. Actually, it’s a film about a man making a filmed podcast called “The Uncertain Detective.” “The Uncertain Detective” is about a detective (Gregg Lachow) and his assistant detective (Eric Ray Anderson). Their motto is “No ca[...]
Review: American Dreamer
— by BEV QUESTAD — “What do we need to be happy? How far are we willing to go to get it? This is a human being’s daily dilemma,” asserts Dr. Phil Loder, an economics professor whose students hang on his every word. Move over Steve Martin! Peter Dinklage’s slapstick in “Amer[...]
Review: All We Carry
— by WILLIAM STERR — What is it like to be threatened by ruthless gangs and then, when you go to the police, discover that they are being paid off by those same gangs? There are people in the US who know all too well what that is like, but most of us don’t. Even […][...]
Review: Limbo
— by WILLIAM STERR — Limbo – a fictional town in the hot, arid Australian Outback. Limbo – a place of indeterminate location, whose inhabitants are neither in heaven nor hell. Limbo – a film by aboriginal director/writer Ivan Sen, which explores a forgotten murder case that took pl[...]
Review: Knox Goes Away
— by WILLIAM STERR — “Put it on the … the … the thing over there … you know.” How many times has something like that happened to you? You need a common, everyday word and it just wont come. Then the person you’re talking to says “counter?” and of course you knew that! It [...]
Review: Just Getting By
— by BEV QUESTAD — Last Monday, I spent five hours preparing, serving, and cleaning up dinner for 15 homeless at my church in Vancouver, Washington. We alternate providing dinners, breakfasts, and overnight housing with another church. By 7:30 p.m., the guests nestled in on fold-out matt[...]