— by BEV QUESTAD — Would distributing checks to families who kept their children in school provide a greater boon to an economy than investing in stock portfolios? Would deploying soldiers to protect the environment at home rather than pillage one across a foreign sea bring greater natio[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Under Review: ‘Le Havre’
— by BEV QUESTAD — In a time of increasing economic fears, the words of the hero in “Le Havre” are a sad commentary about his position as a shoeshine man: “There are better professions, but besides shepherds, it’s closest to the people and the last to respect The Sermon on th[...]
Under Review: ‘The Darkest Hour’
— by ADAM DALE — The holiday season is customarily full of a plethora of new movies of the family-friendly variety. This year is no exception, but there is an unusual surge of adult-oriented films hitting theaters this week. One of those is “The Darkest Hour,” an alien invasion/end o[...]
Under Review: ‘War Horse’
— by ADAM DALE — Not only is Steven Spielberg one of the most brilliant and influential minds of the 20th and 21 centuries in the entertainment industry, there is a certain feeling you get when watching one of his movies. The memory of your first Spielberg movie — whether it’[...]
Under Review: ‘Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy’
— by ADAM DALE — Based off a 1974 novel by the same name, “Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy” is an espionage film that focuses on the British Intelligence agency known as “The Circus” during the height of the Cold War when the head of the agency, named Control (John Hurt), is forced [...]
Under Review: ‘Mysteries of Lisbon’
— by BEV QUESTAD — Life at times is cruel and unjust. Raul Ruiz delivers this message in his gorgeous film with period extravagance and beauty. Life stories of passion and grief are recounted by the characters, explaining what happened in their surprisingly interconnected lives in Lisbon[...]
Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
— by ADAM DALE — In 2009 director Guy Ritchie surprised us all by bringing the legendary personage, Sherlock Holmes — from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories — to life and at the same time making him intriguing and a unique take on the character with his eccentric tendencies.[...]
Under Review: ‘The Chef of South Polar’ (aka Nankyoku ryôrinin)
— by BEV QUESTAD — Eight Japanese men in the prime of their lives are sent to a desolate outpost deep in Antarctica for 414 days. Their job is to mine ice cores that document climate change through the last 300,000 years. But 414 days is a long time. Sometimes the sun never sets and [&he[...]
Under Review: ‘Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie’
— by BEV QUESTAD — “It kind of feels like kind of a rap of what I’ve been doing. It really is a nice completion. I can just go home and die now.” That’s what David Suzuki says about his 2009 lecture at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. However, at 73, Suzuki is [&h[...]
Under Review: ‘Ruhr’
— by BEV QUESTAD — From time to time, I see art and I am blown away — Louise Bourgeois, Frida Kahlo, Mindy Weisel, William Thompson — my mesmerized subconscious overflows. Other times I just don’t get it and I contact my artist friends and demand, “How does this constitut[...]
Review: The Muppets
— by ADAM DALE — Jim Henson’s creation of the Muppets in the mid 1950s sparked an epidemic the world over of fans, young and old alike. Even though Jim has passed away and some of the original voice-actors retired, nothing could stop the return of “The Muppets” to a new generation.[...]
Under Review: ‘Crazy Wisdom’
— by BEV QUESTAD — Forty-one years ago, a friend of mine said that a true IQ test would be on how well we can hide our insanity. For Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, whom this film is all about, the potential paradox of crazy wisdom and his embrace of it may cause the viewer[...]
Under Review: ‘Superman Requiem’
— by ANDY BEHBAKHT — The great thing about comic book fans is that they are so dedicated to what they love. Gene Fallaize is one of those fans. He is the writer, producer and director of the Superman fan film “Superman Requiem,” which pays tribute to the Richard Donner version of the[...]
Under Review: ‘Happy Feet Two’
— by ADAM DALE — “Happy Feet” was a happy surprise hit for Warner Bros. Pictures in 2006 when this sleeper hit came out of nowhere and grossed over $380 million at the box office. Its flawless mixing of gorgeous computer-animated graphics, showcasing the beautiful icy world of the An[...]