— by RON WILKINSON — Writer/director Kirill Serebrennikov dives headfirst into the adolescent mind in an entreaty for understanding, and, well, common sense. Student Veniamin Yuzhin (Pyotr Skvortsov) is having a bad day and it is up to his science teacher, Elena (Viktoriya Isakova), to s[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: Graduation
— by RON WILKINSON — “Graduation,” Cristian Mungiu’s latest exploration into the murky folds of conscience and personal responsibility, features the father-daughter pair of Romeo and Eliza. Romeo is a successful, if underpaid, doctor practicing in a small town in Romania. H[...]
Review: The Lost City of Z
— by RON WILKINSON — Hardly the swashbuckling story on might expect, “Z” focuses on the life and motivations of British explorer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam). Like many others, he explores the Amazon jungle in the early 20th century looking for a legend. However, his motivation is [...]
Review: A Quiet Passion
— by BEV QUESTAD — At the end of the second semester at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, circa 1850, the students were asked, “Do you wish to come to God and be saved? Those who wish to be Christian and be saved will move to my right. To those who remain and hope to be […][...]
Review: The Zookeeper’s Wife
— by BEV QUESTAD — Their son sleeps with two blond cubs cuddled gently around him. A long-nosed black and white furry badger clutches like a baby to a human. A dromedary, aka a one-humped camel, scurries humorously around the zoo grounds in free abandon. This seemingly innocent film open[...]
Review: Raw
— by RON WILKINSON — Writer/director Julia Ducournau’s debut feature “Raw” took home the FIPRESCI international critics’ award at Cannes this year and the it was well-deserved. Building on a small and well-used horror trope, the movie expands the envelope of in-yo[...]
Review: The Settlers
— by RON WILKINSON — Even the uninitiated and marginally informed will recognize Shimon Dotan’s documentary as having a decided agenda, but to call it a propaganda film is going too far. It is composed of archival footage of the history of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the Golan[...]
Review: The Levelling
— by BEV QUESTAD — Set in the scenic Somerset Levels across the misty Bristol Channel of the Atlantic opposite Wales, this poignant film is the master teacher on reunification and redemption. Beginning with a happy revelry in mid-October, the guys get hot and riled up as they dance aroun[...]
Review: Land of Mine
— by RON WILKINSON — In post-World War II Denmark, a group of young German POWs is forced to clear a beach of thousands of land mines under the watch of a Danish sergeant who slowly learns to appreciate their plight. Roland Møller plays Sgt. Carl Rasmussen, a battle-hardened soldier who[...]
On the Map: Seattle Jewish Film Festival
— by BEV QUESTAD — Laugh, cry, love, gather and celebrate are the words for the 2017 annual Seattle Jewish Film Festival (SJFF), held March 25 – April 2, 2017. On its final-day, an exceptionally well-made documentary, “On the Map” with legendary Bill Walton narrating, will entertai[...]
Review: You’re Killing Me Susana
— by BEV QUESTAD — Yeah, Susana (Verónica Echegui) is killing everyone watching this film. She’s Natalie Portman-beautiful and haunting — no match for Eligio (Gael García Bernal), her weak-minded husband. She is the responsible, talented, good-looking writer and he is an irresp[...]
Review: The Draft and the Vietnam Generation
— by BEV QUESTAD — Here are a couple hypothetical questions for you. If this were 1968 and you were of draft age, would you volunteer to fight in Vietnam? If you were of conscription age today, would you volunteer to fight in Syria or any other country our President might send our army? [...]
Review: Solitary: Inside Red Onion State Prison
— by RON WILKINSON — “Solitary” by filmmaker Kristi Jacobson (“A Place at the Table”) is one of the most eerie and troubling films you will ever see. The prison itself is a nether world of locked boxes with almost no visual access. Each pod is a cacophony of yells and banging com[...]