— by WILLIAM STERR — A beautiful fable for our time. The story of “The Convert” is set in 1830 in Aotearoa, the islands which would become New Zealand. British lay minister Thomas Munro (Guy Pearce) is concluding his travel to the English settlement of Epworth, where he has been hired to serve the community’s […][...]
Review: The Dead Don’t Hurt
— by BEV QUESTAD — This film is a tour de force in dramatization, headed up by charismatic Viggo Mortensen and inner strength phenome Vicky Krieps. The entire cast takes you inside the times and minds of people trying to survive in hardscrabble southwest America during the time of the Civil War. “The Dead Don’t […][...]
Review: Man and Witch
— by BEV QUESTAD — Talking animals, castles, hobbit-like scenery, wizards, witches and popular music are all in “Man and Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps,” a delightful fairytale for the 21st century. The Contented Kingdom has lost its descriptor with the invasion of the Ogres. So, the king makes a decree that whoever […][...]
Review: The Letter
— by WILLIAM STERR — I recently had the opportunity to attend the venerable (29th year) H.P. Lovecraft film Festival in Portland, Oregon. The HPLFF prides itself on showing features and shorts produced by individual filmmakers and small production companies. What they present over a two and one-half day program is definitely of mixed quality, […][...]
Review: Nocturnes
— by BEV QUESTAD — Turn off the lights and settle in for stereo sound and a cinematic rush. Who would have thought that a movie on a scientist’s project studying hawk moths would be such a symphony for the senses? You are led up into the eastern side of the densely forested mountains of […][...]
Review: America’s Burning
— by WILLIAM STERR — It’s election time again in America. There are two choices as to which way to go. Any other choice is a wasted vote or a vote for the opposite side, say those running for office. “You have no choice” because the other side will mean the end of America as […][...]
Review: The American Question
— by BEV QUESTAD — The rest of the world has a question about America. Why the gravitation to someone like Donald Trump? Guy Seemann, an Israeli-born entrepreneur and political operative, sought out the answer to America’s great divide and extremist lean. For eight years, he interviewed people in the swing states of Pennsylvania and […][...]
Review: The Secret Art of Human Flight
— by BEV QUESTAD — “If you want to leave this world, contact me.” Sometimes we are in a life situation so dark and painful we have to escape. Maybe through binge drinking, a drug overdose, a jump off a bridge, a self-inflicted gunshot, or a car crash. We could also just go crazy. Anything […][...]
Review: Lore
— by WILLIAM STERR — It’s a bit unusual these days to find a film that features an ensemble of short stories – an anthology film. The British film company Amicus was well known for them in the 1960s and ’70s. “Twilight Zone: The Movie” is an example from American film-makers. More often than not […][...]
Review: 500 Years
— by BEV QUESTAD — Though America is financing a genocide in Gaza and Lebanon right now, there have been other, quieter genocides with which America has been complicit in the past. By quieter, I mean less media coverage, not less tragic. “500 Years” documents one of those stories. Colonialists, investors, agri-business conglomerates and big […][...]