— by WILLIAM STERR — “Why do we want to believe one version (of a story) and not another? Maybe because it makes us feel safe at night.” So begins this exploration of how we view the most catastrophic and perhaps most formative event in the nation’s history, after its foundation. H[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: The Viewing Booth
— by BEV QUESTAD — When a college student, Maia, views a film clip of a boy around 6 years old apprehended by one policeman and then kicked by another, she cannot just describe this as an incident in itself. She presupposes a context, guessing about what must have happened first so that [...]
Review: Small Engine Repair
— by RON WILKINSON — One mistake leads to another in America’s rust belt. There is a profound sense of loss in the setting– lost jobs, lost futures and lost lives. This is the setup for the greatest loss of all, the loss of innocence. What could have been a standard issue revenge[...]
Review: Dogs
— by RON WILKINSON — Most of the stories about city people coming back to the country are about conflict. The newcomer does not fit and the locals want him gone. This story is the opposite. The returning city boy only wants to sell his deceased grandfather’s land and return to the city[...]
Review: The Meaning of Hitler
— by WILLIAM STERR — This documentary explores the myth of Hitler and the rise of the Nazi Party through commentaries by various historians and visits to some of the notorious locations where Hitler and his henchmen met, celebrated the dominance of the Nazi party, and carried out their a[...]
Review: 499
— by WILLIAM STERR — “499” is a unique film, and a daring experiment in film making. It begins on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, at Veracruz. A man is struggling in the surf. He is a conquistador, part of the inner circle of the expeditionary force led by Hernan Cortez in 1[...]
Review: Wildland
— by RON WILKINSON — Teenagers should never have to make some decisions. They should not have to decide to be loyal to a drug addicted mom or a crime sodden family of cousins that makes Ma Barker’s clan look like The Partridge Family. They should not have to give up part of their lives[...]
Review: In the Same Breath
— by RON WILKINSON — The best documentaries are the ones with the best access. This exceptional doc explodes with complete access to hospitals in Wuhan during the first days of Covid. Shooting footage is tense, scary and at times potentially lethal due to government persecution as much a[...]
Review: Battle for Afghanistan
— by RON WILKINSON — Perhaps it is because of the staggering losses the Soviet Union has suffered in war that it took a Russian production to show the profound cost of military conflict with perfection. It also took profound courage to document the final days of the Soviet route from Afg[...]
Review: Cancer; The Integrative Perspective
— by BEV QUESTAD — Just as the intelligent world was desperately waiting for a vaccination for COVID, those enduring cancer, genetic disorders and neurologic diseases also have been desperately wanting effective treatment to end their suffering. Nathan Crane thinks he may have an answer.[...]
Review: Tragic Jungle (Selva trajica)
— by WILLIAM STERR — This is the fascinating story, set in the early 1920s, of a young woman in Belize fleeing an arranged marriage to a ruthless white trader. She flees into the jungle of Belize, where she comes upon a group of indigenous chicle gum collectors. The story opens with Agne[...]
Review: Sabaya
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Please come with me. I will help you,” patiently explains Mahmud. He is a volunteer for the Yazidi Home Center in Syria, a non-governmental retrieval station for kidnapped Yazidi women who were forced into being sex slaves called Sabaya. As Mahmud’s team quickly[...]
Review: This Is My Desire
— by RON WILKINSON — Mofe’s new name is Sanchez and Rosa’s new name is, well, Rosa. There is nothing else disclosed about their current names because until they leave Nigeria, they are nothing. Two persons smart, focused and dedicated to leaving their home country behind do what they[...]
Review: Dachra
— by RON WILKINSON — An encyclopedia of Western horror film tropes parades across the screen in this Tunisian discovered-film horror comedy. Almost nothing new here and yet things are thrown together in a way that speaks to talent if not good taste. Three naive journalism students are fa[...]