— by RON WILKINSON — Faking works of art is a timeless tradition. Michelangelo is said to have faked a sculpture in the 15th century, making the work himself and then burying it to make it look older and fabricated by a presumably more esteemed artist. The buyer was so impressed with the[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: The 11th Green
— by BEV QUESTAD — Dwight Eisenhower meets Barack Obama in this ambitious historical fiction “What-if” drama beset with a secret so big the presidents have to ask, “Should we let the public know?” This is a good Republican president talking with a good Democrat president amidst a[...]
Review: Tesla
— by RON WILKINSON — Considering he brought electricity into our homes, invented motors we use every day and established the foundations of radio, we forgive this snippet’s lack of detail. Instead, writer/director Michael Almereyda takes us into the dreamscape of Nikola Tesla. At least[...]
Review: Skin Walker
— by RON WILKINSON — When Udo Kier is part of the cast all you have to do is sharpen the knives, load the rifle, bring out the hand-held sledge and the rest takes care of itself. Small comfort to Regine, a fragile waif who left daddy Claus ten years earlier when the memories of […[...]
Review: Scheme Birds
— by RON WILKINSON — It does not matter where the steel went, England or China. What is left in Motherwell Scotland is a regiment of left-behinds who have no future, and they do not even know it. A documentary almost without hope, the protagonist Gemma, a child growing into a woman, suff[...]
Review: Bacurau
— by RON WILKINSON — In the third world, a water truck on the road means one thing, there are people at the end of the trip who will die without it. They may have had water once, years or decades ago. Due to climate change, resource extraction or corporate manipulation, that water is gon[...]
Review: Earth (aka Erde)
— by BEV QUESTAD — “When a girl at a bar asks you what you do, and you look at her and you can honestly tell her right in the eyes that ‘I move mountains for a living,’ she questions that.” Sometimes a one-minute trailer is simply better than the film. Tightly woven with pithy [&[...]
Review: No Small Matter
— by BEV QUESTAD — There is a national security threat that is more important than all the others, but who’s talking about it? Three retired military leaders speak out about this American crisis that cripples every sector of US development. It is the one thing not only endangering our [...]
Review: Born to Play
— by BEV QUESTAD — My two heroes for the week are Allison Cahill and Chanté Bonds. They are famous for being the very best at what they do. They have guts, courage, strength and, most of all, drive. They have identified what they wanted to achieve and have let nothing stop them. They ar[...]
Review: Relic
— by RON WILKINSON — Mom walked away and daughter and grand daughter Kay and Sam are as miffed as they are concerned. We all have to go away to some care center or other as we get older and start forgetting things. As it turns out, young people forget things, too. Like old people. [&hell[...]
Review: Runner
— by BEV QUESTAD — Guor Mading Maker (aka Guor Marial) went from scavenging nuts and mangoes to survive at age 8 or 9 in Northern Sudan to becoming an American college graduate and Olympic marathon runner. This is a true, inspiring story of what America, at her best, can do for people in[...]
Review: We Have Boots
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Rogue Cops – Return the eye!” [Free access to uncensored version through July 6 at end of review.] “We Have Boots” is a fiery documentary interspersed with moments d’art. Echoing throughout the film is the rich full voice of Marion Anderson singing (19[...]
Review: Tommaso
— by BEV QUESTAD — Somehow, while watching this film, there is an odd sense that we are somehow seeing real life or that this is a study of someone’s life, either the exterior of what is truly occurring, or the interior struggle of thoughts and fears played out on the screen. The writi[...]