— by BEV QUESTAD — The New York Times listed “The Secret Agent” in its top 10 movies of 2025. It’s got a great title, it was made in Brazil, and it starts with a dead body under some casual cardboard flapping in the wind at a gas station. Flies buzz, dogs come, and Che […][...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: Sentimental Value
— by WILLIAM STERR — Film directors can be difficult people – especially if you have to live with one. Just ask Nora and Agnes. Their father, the celebrated Scandinavian auteur Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård – “Dune”), was barely part of their lives as they grew up – alway[...]
Review: Holding Liat
— by WILLIAM STERR — “We’re being led by by crazy people, whether its on the Israeli side or whether on the Palestinian side. And the result is all this death and destruction. And the whole thing makes me angry.” So said Yahuda Beinin one week after his daughter Liat and son-in-law[...]
Review: The Ugly Stepsister
— by BEV QUESTAD — This is one heck of a wild, bold take-off on The Grimm Brothers’s tale of Cinderella. Still set mostly in medieval times (some girls having braces is a surprise), “The Ugly Stepsister” explores a possible backstory to the rags-to-riches beloved princess. Who was [...]
Review: Dracula
— by WILLIAM STERR — We are all familiar with Bram Stoker’s novel of the undying vampire. Even if we’ve never read that musty tome, the countless films, TV adaptations, plays, parodies and popular references have touched us all. Dracula (Caleb Landry Jones – “Harvest”) has [...]
Review: Sallywood
— by WILLIAM STERR — On Nov. 11, 2025, Sally Kirkland “passed into spirit” (died) in Palm Springs, Calif., at the age of 84. In her career, she appeared in more than 250 movie and TV shows, beginning in 1964 in Andy Warhol’s “The 13 Most Beautiful Women.” In “Sallywood,” Za[...]
Review: If You See Something
— by BEV QUESTAD — How much did he know and when did he know it? The redheaded American woman, Katie, is driving two Iraqi friends, Ali and Dawod, to the airport. They hit some congestion which triggers a memory for Dawod, the Iraqi, seated in the back, who is headed for his flight back [...]
Review: Dog Man
— by BEV QUESTAD — My darling why-walk-when-I-can-run? four-year-old friend and child film critic, Logan, and I watched “Dog Man” in mesmerized paralysis. Logan forgot about his French fries while his eyes were completely transfixed by this colorful cornucopia of action, color, and e[...]
Review: Frankenstein
— by WILLIAM STERR — Lavish. Everyone says so. The new Guillermo del Toro version of “Frankenstein” is so lavishly mounted that many scenes impress as if they were paintings by a grand master. I’ve seen them, and agree. The problem is that the lavish set pieces overshadow the story[...]
Review: Hellboy: The Crooked Man
— by WILLIAM STERR — Hellboy has received a number of film treatments since his creation by Mike Mignola in 1994, when the character appeared in Dark Horse Comics’ “Hellboy: Seed of Destruction.” “Hellboy: The Crooked Man” is the fourth film adaptation of the comic character. W[...]
Review: Mistress Dispeller
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Mistress Dispeller” is a truly surprising and even revolutionary documentary. It captures shame in real time and dissects something Americans have in common with Chinese: social mobility and infidelity. And yet, there is also a learning, an insight, that can only [...]
Review: Plan C for Civilization
— by BEV QUESTAD — Imagine you are on a train track and a train is coming. On both sides of the track it is pitch black, so you don’t know which way to safely jump. But for sure, if you stay rooted on the track, you will be smashed to death. That’s my pitch […][...]
Review: Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere
— by WILLIAM STERR — Steve Schapiro passed away in 2022 at the age of 87. He discovered photography while at summer camp at the age of nine, fascinated by the magical appearance of an image on a blank sheet of paper through the photo development process. Shortly before his death, he was [...]
Review: Reawakening
— by WILLIAM STERR — Ten years. Ten years of wondering, fearing, hoping. That is what Mary and John Reed have gone through since their 14 year old daughter, Clare, walked out of the house and disappeared. A parents’ nightmare. During all that time, this middle-aged working class Britis[...]