— by WILLIAM STERR — Mikhail Gorbachev has been out of power for 30 years, so it would be useful to begin by identifying him. He was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. As such, he was the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union. [&he[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: El Planeta
— by RON WILKINSON — We live our lives in two parts, the one we want to live and the one others want us to live. We balance those two to meet practical necessities such as food and shelter. Maria and her daughter Leo did not get the memo on balance. To the extent of […][...]
Review: The Rescue
— by RON WILKINSON — There are few documentaries so good they keep you on the edge of your seat even though you, and everybody, already know the ending. Cave diving is like open water diving except there is no surface. A malfunctioning scuba air supply in open water means an emergency su[...]
Review: Storm Lake
— by BEV QUESTAD — I want to sit across the table from Art Cullen at the Better Day Cafe in Storm Lake, Iowa. I want to talk about the danger of news deserts, the difficulties of investigative journalism, and what he thinks about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for president. I also want to hav[...]
Review: Ascension (aka 登楼叹)
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Foreign position with dorm living, air conditioning and $2.99 per hour! You can sit. Easiest work you can find – making new phone products!” announces a job recruiter at an employment station in China. Jessica Kingdon, a Chinese-American director/producer, h[...]
Review: Fathom
— by BEV QUESTAD — Can whales replicate sounds we introduce electronically? Could an electronic device mimic whale speech and eventually get involved in a conversation? “Fathom” documents the communication efforts of two separate studies, one in Alaska and one in French Polynesia. Dr[...]
Review: Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
— by RON WILKINSON — The Xeron computer has been linked to many mysterious information leaks, some were unconsciously intended by the users and some were not. Escalators travel up and down, opposite directions sliding past each other. Subway trains travel back and forth providing brief m[...]
Review: No Time to Die
— by RON WILKINSON — The last Daniel Craig James Bond movie tries to bridge the gap between the old and the new. Among the various filming locations, Jamaica stands out. The home of Ian Fleming’s first twelve Bond novels is revisited, if lacking the sparkling characters that turned the[...]
Review: The Village Detective: a song cycle
— by RON WILKINSON — Even legendary Soviet actor Mikhail Zharov probably did not consider it a masterpiece. Like dozens, if not hundreds, of his films, it was watched by adoring thousands, if not millions, and then fell by the wayside. A curiously unfinished copy did more than fall by th[...]
Review: The Song of the Butterflies
— by BEV QUESTAD — Where do the souls of the bodies of those enslaved, cruelly treated and slaughtered go? Is there a gentle reward for a life so savagely ended? “The Song of the Butterflies” takes us on a voyage with Rember Yahuarcani into the teeming, dark Amazon region, where he h[...]
Review: Wife of a Spy
— by RON WILKINSON — A loyal warrior once proclaimed he would give his life for his country. “Yes,” his commander said, “But would you give your honor?” The greatest heroes sometimes are called to do exactly that. Risk disgrace and ostracization as well as imprisonment and possib[...]
Review: Civil War (or Who Do We Think We Are)
— 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[...]
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[...]