— 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[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
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[...]
Review: ARTSAKH Armenian Genocide Continues
— by BEV QUESTAD — Remember when Trump claimed he deserved credit for ending six or seven wars during his first months in office? He said, “I think that we settled Aber-baijan and Albania.” The correction is that it was Azerbaijan and Artsakh. Vic Gerami, host and producer of The Blu[...]
Review: Where the Wind Blows
— by BEV QUESTAD — This is the kind of film I love. The story revolves around a perfect woman with high expectations. The film begins with two cowboys stopping in at a tavern in the Old West. The older one, Nathan Strong (C. Thomas Howell), is out for gambling, women, and a good time. [&[...]
Review: Borley Rectory: The Awakening
— by WILLIAM STERR — IMDB currently gives this period haunting an 8.1/10.0 rating (as of Oct. 21, 2025). I beg to differ. Borley Rectory was a real place, once known as “the most haunted house in Britain.” This appellation is primarily due to the questionable investigation of the sup[...]
Review: On The End
— by WILLIAM STERR — Thomas Ferreiri (Tim Blake Nelson – “Old Henry”) is not an attractive man. He’s a diabetic, has bad teeth, uses foul language, and lives in what can best be described as a nightmare of trash and auto parts. His neighbor and aunt, Dolly (Lois Smith –[...]
Review: Tribe
— by WILLIAM STERR — The Silurian Hypothesis. Formed in 2018, this thought experiment posits that a superior intelligent race existed on earth before humans, and that evidence of them can be found even after millions of years. Retired Prof. Devin Adams (played by an uncredited Dan Asma, [...]
Review: KOLN 75
— by BEV QUESTAD — There is something about Keith Jarrett’s improvisational music that transports the listener to another dimension. Test it out. Click on KOLN 75. Start the video and come back to read this review while you travel to a magical place of tones and subtlety that charms yo[...]
Review: There Was, There Was Not
— by BEV QUESTAD — “In Armenian, we don’t begin our stories with ‘Once Upon a Time.’ We begin with ‘There Was, There Was Not.’” While not planning on that theme when she began filming, seven years later, Emily Mkrtichian uses it as the title. In 2018, Mkrtic[...]
Review: Among Neighbors
— by BEV QUESTAD — Yoav Potash went to Poland to film a commemorative event. Upon arriving, his curiosity drove him to check out the community. He finds a Jewish grave-marker in an old man’s backyard scrapheap. Then he observes that Jewish markers became foundational rocks in roads, wa[...]