— by BEV QUESTAD — I wasn’t prepared to be impacted by this rock bio — but from the beginning, as wiry Freddie Mercury walks out on stage with his band, Queen, and sings, “Can anybody find me somebody to love?,” his four-octave vocal range, his energy, his physicality and his[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: Green Book
— by BEV QUESTAD — At last, the perfect balance of humor, inspiration, fabulous acting, and enthralling story. It’s a 10/10 movie sure to please everyone during the holidays. Beginning at the Copacabana Nightclub in 1962, Bobby Rydell is singing “Old Black Magic.” There is an alter[...]
Review: Sobibor
— by RON WILKINSON — Superficially the story of one of the worst Nazi death camps in the history of the holocaust, this is a story of extraordinary courage. Not only were Nazi death camp victims tortured and worked to death, they were brainwashed into thinking they had no alternative. Th[...]
Review: Isle of Dogs
— by BEV QUESTAD — Up for Best Animated Film on all the award lists, just about everything about this creative film is a winner. From the drumbeat score, to the combination of animation technology strategies used to get adorable, realistic dogs, to the great story about compassion and se[...]
Review: Ben is Back
— by BEV QUESTAD — The film begins on a cold, quiet New England road with bare tree branches and old grave markers. Soon we see a stone church, St. John’s Episcopal (est. 1894), in lightly falling snow. Backdropped by a gorgeous stained-glass window of St. John the Beloved seemingly bl[...]
Review: Vice
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Vice” leads the Golden Globes with six nominations for great writing, directing and acting. But is it honest, do we learn anything new and is it worth seeing? During the Bush II eight-year presidency, Dick Cheney was characterized by the media as a grim vice-presi[...]
Review: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Won’t you be my neighbor? It’s an invitation for somebody to be close to you. You know, I think everybody longs to be loved and longs to know that he or she is lovable. And consequently, the greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that they’re [[...]
Review: Widows
— by RON WILKINSON — After “12 Years a Slave,” what was director Steve McQueen to do? That was a hard act to follow. He could have played it safe, but instead he doubled down with fellow Oscar-winner Viola Davis to produce this powerhouse ensemble drama about three terminally disenfr[...]
Review: All the Devil’s Men
— by RON WILKINSON — Where do all the ex-special elite military go? If we believe writer/director Matthew Hope they engage in careers as mercenary bounty hunters, double cross each other and all quickly eliminated. That is, until there is only one left standing. Presumably he goes on to [...]
Review: Colette
— by BEV QUESTAD — Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was once a charming, happy farm girl in the farmlands of France in the late 1800s. She is seduced by Willy, an older, dapper Parisian author and publisher. They set up married life in Paris where she learns that her new husband is a philandere[...]
Review: Of Fathers and Sons
— by RON WILKINSON — This is one of those documentaries that defies explanation. It is impossible to understand how a filmmaker could have gained the trust and access required to interview a man raising a family to fight for a Syrian caliphate. Director Talal Derki knew he was taking a l[...]
Review: Leave No Trace
— by BEV QUESTAD — Hidden deep in Portland’s Forest Park, one of the largest city parks (5,100 acres) in the world, a man and his daughter live in a tent abutting a hill, cook under a tarp, and hide camouflaged in the damp, richly green forest. It is inescapably idyllic. They play ches[...]
Review: Detour
— by RON WILKINSON — The next time you see this movie may not be your first time, but it may be the best time. Leaping from the screen in a spanking new 4K restoration of a classic noir, “Detour” defines the genre. Down on his luck piano player Al Roberts (Tom Neal) is beaten [&helli[...]