— by BEV QUESTAD — Starting out as if it was going to be a National Geographic special, the gorgeous footage of sounds and sights in the steamy Peruvian Amazon region aims to delight. Then our hero appears and says he is about to become Tarzan. He disrobes and jumps into a murky body of [...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: Go Home
— by BEV QUESTAD — Arriving as an ex-pat now from Paris, hauntingly beautiful Nada returns to her war-torn Lebanese village to find her abandoned old home ransacked and its property full of garbage. “Go Home” is written on the inside of the walls after she returns from hearing a nois[...]
Review: The Lovers and the Despot
— by RON WILKINSON — “The Lovers and the Despot” is a movie about a fascinating story. It is a story of love, betrayal, hero worship, international politics and film making. Unfortunately, although the story may someday be told, it is not told in this movie. Presumably, write[...]
Review: SEED: The Untold Story
— by BEV QUESTAD — “The diversity in our seed stocks is as endangered as a panda or a golden eagle right now. We have the largest seed shortage in history,” warns Will Bonsall, a long-haired, long-bearded 67 year-old dedicated to seed collecting. He reports that 94 percent of our tot[...]
Review: Fatima
— by BEV QUESTAD — I am quite interested in the complex issues swirling around immigration because I shelter an immigrant from a third world country in my own home. As an orphan, he had no opportunity for a decent education in his home country and no prospects for a career. But after imm[...]
Review: For the Love of Spock
— by BEV QUESTAD — The raised eyebrow, the split fingers salutation, the mind meld and the dignified pointed ears: Spock represented a logically-evolved mind dedicated to the search for truth. Leonard Nimoy, who embodied this Star Trek (ST) character, became inextricably linked to his se[...]
Review: Sonita
— by BEV QUESTAD — Even though girls are not allowed to perform in Afghanistan or Iran, Sonita is absolutely obsessed with singing. This brave documentary follows her as she dangerously competes in, and then wins, an international online rap contest. Award-winning filmmaker Rokhsareh Gha[...]
Review: A Beautiful Now
— by BEV QUESTAD — Daniela Amavia, the writer/director/producer of this haunting psychological study, is a stunning Greek model for Chanel and Dior who became an actress, director and producer. Shot in 18 days, “A Beautiful Now” is an insightful study not only into AmaviaR[...]
Review: Complete Unknown
— by RON WILKINSON — Writer/director Joshua Marston won the Silver Bear at Berlin in 2011 for Best Screenplay for “The Forgiveness of Blood” (shared with Andamion Murataj). You would never know it from “Complete Unknown,” a self-absorbed essay on the foibles of New York[...]
Review: Morgan
— by RON WILKINSON — Not just another android gone bad, Luke Scott’s neo-Frankenstein soft peddles the techno-babble and gets right to the point. Artificial human female Morgan is acting up and something must be done. “Risk Management” specialist Lee Weathers (Kate Mara) is dispatc[...]
Review: Don’t Breathe
— by RON WILKINSON — Breakout writer/director Fede Alvarez unleashes a corker of a teen caper horror flick with “Don’t Breathe.” The movie starts out slow with the usual semi-lame dialogue and pretzel logic, but things pick up quite nicely right to the end. The screenpl[...]
Review: Lo and Behold
— by RON WILKINSON — Werner Herzog has made some great documentaries in his time. This is not one of them. A confused hodge-podge of social criticism, sci-fi prognostics and impending internet doom, the film unfolds like a bad dream. Aimless interviews with academics that are either blit[...]
Review: Don’t Think Twice
— by RON WILKINSON — The great thing about Mike Birbiglia’s tale of six comics is that although set in New York City, it manages to be about the people and not the place. The city certainly has its part, contributing the crushing poverty, the insane stress and the daily humiliation tha[...]