— by WILLIAM STERR — Sometimes, films surprise you. They are fashioned differently than you would expect. A modern film that is filmed in black and white, “The Artist” (2011), is one example. Another is one that tells a story from the end back to the beginning, like “Momento” (20[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: The Critic
— by WILLIAM STERR — Sir Ian McKellen has become a legend on the silver screen, in theater, and on television. Among his films are “Richard III,” “Gods and Monsters” and the “Lord of the Rings” series. On television, he starred in the delicious “Vicious.” And on stage, he[...]
Review: Close to You
— by WILLIAM STERR — Around 2020, actor Elliot Page announced his transition from female to male. Starring at the time in the Netflix series “The Umbrella Academy,” his character also transitioned from female to male between the second and third seasons. Now, as writer and producer, [...]
Review: Lost Nation
— by BEV QUESTAD — Prepare to be enlightened. New York State wanted to be bigger, African-Americans were amongst the earliest settlers in Vermont, and the proponent for recognizing Vermont as America’s 14th colony was given a tempting counter offer from the British. The story begins in[...]
Review: War Game
— by BEV QUESTAD — What if the 2024 election results end with a coup attempt, but better organized than the last? My greatest shock about the Jan. 6, 2020, attack on the US Capitol Building was not that it happened, but that it was met with such a limited response. I was thinking, “Gee[...]
Review: The Last Breath
— by WILLIAM STERR — These days, it seems like every week is Shark Week. There is a plethora of movies available featuring a variety of sharks right up to the venerable “Meg 2.” Of course, the most popular bad boy is the Great White and in “The Last Breath” the usual suspects, er[...]
Review: Deadland
— by WILLIAM STERR — Things are rough along the southern border of the United States. People are always trying to enter the country illegally from Mexico. It is the job of the Border Patrol to intercept these people – the first step in sending them back. Angel Waters (Roberto Urbina &#[...]
Review: Heart of an Oak (Le Chene)
— by WILLIAM STERR — Many’s the time I’ve walked through a forest, admiring the trees and the occasional bird or squirrel – maybe even a deer if I’m lucky. You probably have too. But there is so much more to see and know. The new nature documentary “Heart of an Oak” was creat[...]
Review: Green Border
— by BEV QUESTAD — Excruciatingly frustrating and heartbreaking, famed Polish director Agnieszka Holland has created a courageously accurate drama based on true events that I am calling The Film of the Decade. In 2021 Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko, president of Belarus since 1994, le[...]
Review: The Moor
— by WILLIAM STERR — England is famous for its moors. These deceivingly appear to be barren spots, eons old, where small plants and moss have grown, forming treacherous bogs. In olden days, human sacrifices were made there, and the bodies of criminals and enemies were tossed in, only to [...]
Review: Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
— by BEV QUESTAD — Perhaps Rita is the cleaning lady for the church, or perhaps she is a lady who voluntarily brings cleaning supplies to the church to clean. She badly tries to be helpful and wants a miracle. The film appears to end after 30 minutes. Credits roll and we seem to have [&h[...]
Review: About Dry Grasses
— by BEV QUESTAD — Nuri Bilge Ceylan uses light, a distinctive feature of his Rembrandt-like cinematography, to expose the interior mood of his characters. The shadows of darkness in secret meetings and the stark, cold snow landscape in “About Dry Grasses” reflect a brooding, cold, d[...]
Review: Shadow Land
— by WILLIAM STERR — Fictional former President Robert Wainwright (John Voight – “Megalopolis”) has retired to his expansive ranch, “Shadow Land.” As he plans his memoir, he assembles a team including Rachel Donnelly (Rhona Mitra – “Archive”) to write the book and[...]
Review: What Remains
— by WILLIAM STERR — Wow! What an excavation of the human psyche, from three different, solitary sufferers’ points of view. In “What Remains,” three broken people interact while trying to solve a mystery. Sture Bergwall (Gustaf Skarsgard – “Oppenheimer”) has been an inmat[...]