— by BEV QUESTAD — This beautiful Czech film begins with gentle, romantic music, a wedding and a short car caravan through a pastoral Czechoslovakian countryside to a small reception at the family farm. A beautiful bride is in the arms of a self-confident, dashing, amorous groom. The only problem is the uninvited guest. During […][...]
Interview: Filmmaker John Alan Simon
— by BEV QUESTAD — Philip K. Dick, dead by a stroke at age 53 in 1982, was early in his career reduced to buying horse meat, sold for dogs, in order to survive. Now revered as one of the great sci-fi writers of all time, with his work mined for ideas to turn into […][...]
Review: Rage
— by RON WILKINSON — Nicolas Cage plays ex-mobster Paul Maguire in this Cage vehicle for the free and thorough expression of one thing that Cage does well: rage. And there is plenty to rage about in this flick when perky daughter Caitlin is kidnapped and found dead. Maguire reunites with his past crew, Kane […][...]
Review: Heatstroke
— by RON WILKINSON — Evelyn Purcell’s thriller, set in the African desert, combines wild animal mystique with a decidedly feministic point of view. Tally (Svetlana Metkina) and Josie (Maisie Williams) become stranded in the desert and must face the duel threats of dehydration and psychopathic gun runners. In the background are the growling and […][...]
Review: The Hornet’s Nest
— by RON WILKINSON — It is hard to say where this film fatally diverges from what appears to be its inspiration, “Restrepo,” but it might be that the narration is the first cut. The movie is a documentary of two US military teams pushing into one of Afghanistan’s most hostile valleys. The teams’ every […][...]
Radio Free Albemuth: Official Trailer
— by BEV QUESTAD — Featuring Alanis Morissette, this sci-fi film is centered on a good-natured young man in the ’80s who has a beautiful wife, a dedicated best friend, a job in the family record store and a seeming idyllic life. However, this is all disturbed one night when he wakes up to a […][...]
Review: Two Raging Grannies
— by BEV QUESTAD — Shirley Morrison, now 92 years old, has a history of speaking her mind, asking the important questions and being jailed over 12 times. Hinda Kipnis, age 85 (b. 1929), is known for her protest parodies and contrarian New York-bred point of view. A glorious Norwegian, Håvard Bustnes, created this surprising […][...]
Review: The Rover
— by RON WILKINSON — David Michôd ups the ante and hauls in a big one in this Aussie thriller set in the desolate outback 10 years after the collapse. The collapse? The comedians in the audience will point out that the outback 10 years after the collapse looks about the same as it did […][...]
Review: Ida
— by BEV QUESTAD — Mother Superior calls Ida to her office. Ida is informed that she must visit her mother’s sister before she takes her final vows. Ida didn’t know she had any relatives, much less an aunt. Ida had been left with a priest who had placed her as an infant at the […][...]
Review: The Internet’s Own Boy
— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at the 40th Seattle International Film Festival, Brian Knappenberger’s biopic of Internet pioneer Aaron Swartz is as much a cautionary tale about the new web-based world as it is a story of one of its brightest stars. Swartz was a brilliant child who grew up to be a brilliant […][...]