— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at the 40th Seattle International Film Festival, Madeleine Sackler’s awesome, thrilling and beautiful biopic of the underground theatrical group “Unstable Elements of Belarus” is part nail-biting spy story and part inspirational political performance art. The Unstable Elements perform theatrical productions critical of the dictatorship ruling the Republic of Belarus. […][...]
Review: Dormant Beauty
— by RON WILKINSON — Some Italian films err on the lighthearted side, some on the heavy. Marco Bellocchio’s angst-fest “Dormant Beauty” is so laden with emotion soaked evocation the average American viewer may want a divorce after the first 15 minutes. The story, written by the director, is loosely based on the real life […][...]
Review: The Signal
— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at the 40th Seattle International Film Festival, “The Signal” features computer hackers Brenton Thwaites (playing Nic Eastman) and Beau Knapp (playing Jonah Breck), who receive a very mysterious message. A couple of quick replies indicate they are being challenged to a computer dual. In fact, the troll is also […][...]
Korengal: Trailer
— by BEV QUESTAD — Soldiers are penned up in a sand-bagged lookout on a hillside overlooking the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. They are ordered out on daily sorties where they are shot at either coming or going. They are the bait. Enemy fire reveals where the adversary is. This is Sebastian Junger’s follow-up to […][...]
Review: Blueberry Soup
— by BEV QUESTAD — Blueberry soup, often served cold on New Year’s Day, is high in anti-oxidants. Tradition says it cleanses and purifies the system. Hopefully, this metaphor will eventually prove an accurate description for the ground-breaking constitutional experiment in Iceland. In October 2008, three of Iceland’s major banks collapsed. “Blueberry Soup” reports that […][...]
LEGO Ninjago movie set for Sept. 23, 2016
Expanding the LEGO brand’s cinema universe, Warner Bros. Pictures has slated the animated 3D action adventure “Ninjago” for release on Sept. 23, 2016. “Ninjago” is The LEGO Group’s popular ninja-inspired line of building sets and minifigures that have gained their own legion of fans. The film will be directed by Charlie Bean (TV’s “Tron: Uprising”), […][...]
Review: 40 Days of Silence
— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at the 40th Seattle International Film Festival, Saodat Ismailova’s “Chilla” came as a surprise to an audience expecting the Indian crime thriller “Monsoon Shootout.” As the SIFF staff pointed out, “this is no Monsoon Shootout.” Indeed, Ismailov’s movie probably produces more lasting impact than “Shootout” ever could. The cast […][...]
Review: Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
— by RON WILKINSON — Emerging director Sam Fleischner is able to put his dozen-plus lenser creds to good use in this surrealistic yet grounded narrative of a boy lost in the New York subways. Winner of a Special Jury Mention for Best Narrative Feature at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, this film takes crafty […][...]
Review: Half of a Yellow Sun
— by BEV QUESTAD — In the beginning, two beautiful women are dining at a stately dinner in their luxurious family home. In a seeming eyeblink, they are caught in the tightening vise of a desperate civil war. This is a harrowing story of imperialism and the now-familiar pattern of events that follow the exhausted[...]