— by BEV QUESTAD — “If you want to see the world in one day, ride the sun.” A cinematographic study, a film poem and a mosaic of life in Cairo during President Mubarak, Tamer El Said’s film witnesses daily life in Egypt. Though there is spartan dialogue and plot, there is a sense t[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: Return to Mount Kennedy
— by BEV QUESTAD — This film is just not what you expect it to be. Opening with gorgeous photography of quiet, pristine snow on a field of majestic peaks, it abruptly switches to the raucous grunge scene of Seattle in the ’80s, focusing in on the band Mudhoney (“Touch Me, I’m S[...]
Review: Dirtbag
— by BEV QUESTAD — Described as the Bob Dylan of mountain climbing – “completely inscrutable and no one’s sure if they like him or not” – Fred Beckey was the ultimate rock-climber, with more first ascents than anyone in the world. A dirtbag in colloquial speech is a dirty, unke[...]
Review: RBG
— by BEV QUESTAD — Thank you, Ruth, for making sure my friends had the freedom to pursue the jobs of their passion (Marines) and could be hired irrespective of their gender (security guard). Thank you for promoting respect and equity under the law so that women cannot be excluded from pu[...]
Review: Charm City
— by RON WILKINSON — A great documentary takes on a life of its own. By the end of “Charm City,” it is obvious that to write this as fiction would be impossible, this is a screenplay written by those who know. There is no middleman, the viewer is in a world that few could […][...]
Review: Ghost Box Cowboy
— by RON WILKINSON — A stranger in a strange land sees gold nuggets falling out of the sky. The cowboy puts on his hat and rides for the horizon, horse and camel. The Ghost Box is the key. A strange, inexplicable black box that talks to the spirits of the dead while warding off […[...]
Review: Ready Player One
— by JESSIKA OWENS — Hello, my name is Jessika and I am an addict. What am I addicted to? My Funko Pop collection is evidence of my obsession over all things pop culture. “Ready Player One” ambitiously wants to appease said obsession. Film, television, music and game referenc[...]
Review: The Girl and the Picture
— by BEV QUESTAD — The 1937 Nanjing Massacre by Japanese forces is an example of a military invasion gone berserk. Initially, the Japanese vehemently denied their actions and called reports of the mass murder of sick, elderly and poor as made-up stories. But unknown to these liars, John [...]
Review: Ghost Stories
— by RON WILKINSON — Professor Phillip Goodman is comfortable with himself. As an A-list psychic debunker, he is quite at home shattering others’ spiritual illusions. His mad dog attacks on celebrated practitioners of the sixth sense almost always win him another stuffed head over the [...]
Review: I Feel Pretty
— by JESSIKA OWENS — Renee Bennett is a women with low self esteem, a job that isn’t fulfilling and is for the most part, your “average” woman. Who is Renee Bennett and why is she attempting to mirror the qualities and experiences so many women have? What does it look l[...]
Review: Island of the Hungry Ghosts
— by RON WILKINSON — Tiny Christmas Island, Australia, may be the world’s most beautiful and mystical place. At least, the most beautiful place in which you would never want to live. The sea pounds its jagged, rocky shoreline whistling, wheezing and sometimes screaming through blowhole[...]
Review: Lou Andreas-Salomé
— by BEV QUESTAD — Lou Andreas-Salomé, born in Russia in 1861, machete-chopped herself into the inner sanctum of the all-male intellectual community in Germany with a strident drive for independence and equality. Gifted with an extraordinary intellect, a drive to pursue advanced study a[...]
Review: Zama
— by RON WILKINSON — Don Diego de Zama suffocates within a glass cage in the sweltering miasma of Spanish colonial Paraguay. A minor official of an invasion, he is stationed where occupiers are sent to die. If they do not die they are forgotten. South American born, and slowly being writ[...]