— by BEV QUESTAD — “Is there some society that you know that doesn’t run on greed?” Executive produced by Brad Pitt, “Big Men” opens with this question. It also tells the true story, with impressive access and documentation, about a little Texas company that finds oil in Ghana. Everyone wants to be a major […][...]
Review: Purgatorio
— by RON WILKINSON — “Purgatorio: A Journey Into the Heart of the Border” — Rodrigo Reyes’ simmering treatise on the human condition in the worst of all worlds — starts from the beginning. Children laugh and play, full of good intentions and dreams of the future. But something happens to them when they grow. […][...]
Review: Fishing Without Nets
— by RON WILKINSON — Writer/director Cutter Hodierne took home the Dramatic Directing Award at the 2014 Sundance Festival for “Fishing Without Nets,” a gutsy inside look at desperation, despair and deliverance. Inevitably, comparisons will be made to Paul Greengrass’ 2013 “Captain Phillips” box office bonanza. In some ways this film is even better in […][...]
Review: The Green Prince
— by RON WILKINSON — It is unusual, but not unheard of, for a young Palestinian to be recruited by Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence machine to provide inside information on Hamas. So there is little amazing in the 2010 ABC News story that Mosab Hassan Yousef, “The Green Prince,” worked for Shin Bet from 1997 […][...]
Review: Last Days in Vietnam
— by RON WILKINSON — In 1975, both American and the Republic of South Vietnam were struggling, against the odds, to bring peace with dignity to Southeast Asia. The Paris Peace accords of two years’ earlier had established a framework of commitment and cooperation to end the war. In 1974, America’s President Nixon has declared […][...]
Review: Rocks in My Pockets
— by BEV QUESTAD — In “Rocks in my Pockets,” writer/director/animator Signe Baumane investigates a familial trail of five suicides and her own dark challenge. Coincidentally, as soon as I finished watching this film, a respected friend messaged me that his Nepali colleague, with a wife two months pregnant, had just hung himself. Why? There […][...]
Review: The Skeleton Twins
— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at the 40th Seattle International Film Festival, Craig Johnson directs “Saturday Night Live” alums Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader as estranged twins reuniting after 10 years of silence. “The Skeleton Twins” starts off with the twins simultaneously planning suicide. Milo (Bill Hader) gets furthest down the road, drinking a […][...]
Saw returning to theaters for one week only
This Halloween, Lionsgate will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the theatrical release of “Saw,” the film that kicked off the most successful horror franchise in history, by bringing it back to theaters nationwide for one week only. The film will open Oct. 31, with select screenings beginning Thursday night, October 30. The seven “Saw” films […][...]
Review: Song of the New Earth
— by BEV QUESTAD — Tom Kenyon is a sound healer who does not expect anyone to believe his story. He has even investigated the possibility that his visions, voices and experiences might be signs of mental illness. But what is universally agreed upon is that Tom Kenyon is extraordinary and he has followers from […][...]
Review: Casualties of the State
“Treason is inciting war and profiting from it at the expense of American lives.” – statement from “Casualties of the State.” — by BEV QUESTAD — Back in the ‘70s, US protesters claimed patriot status. Brought up by World War II dads who survived unspeakable hardships in the military and a national identity based on […][...]