— by WILLIAM STERR — England is famous for its moors. These deceivingly appear to be barren spots, eons old, where small plants and moss have grown, forming treacherous bogs. In olden days, human sacrifices were made there, and the bodies of criminals and enemies were tossed in, only to sink below the murky surface […][...]
Review: Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
— by BEV QUESTAD — Perhaps Rita is the cleaning lady for the church, or perhaps she is a lady who voluntarily brings cleaning supplies to the church to clean. She badly tries to be helpful and wants a miracle. The film appears to end after 30 minutes. Credits roll and we seem to have […][...]
Review: About Dry Grasses
— by BEV QUESTAD — Nuri Bilge Ceylan uses light, a distinctive feature of his Rembrandt-like cinematography, to expose the interior mood of his characters. The shadows of darkness in secret meetings and the stark, cold snow landscape in “About Dry Grasses” reflect a brooding, cold, detached presence in the soul of the principle character. […][...]
Review: Shadow Land
— by WILLIAM STERR — Fictional former President Robert Wainwright (John Voight – “Megalopolis”) has retired to his expansive ranch, “Shadow Land.” As he plans his memoir, he assembles a team including Rachel Donnelly (Rhona Mitra – “Archive”) to write the book and Elliot Davrow (Marton Scokas – “Sleeping Dogs”), his former psychiatrist, to help […][...]
Review: What Remains
— by WILLIAM STERR — Wow! What an excavation of the human psyche, from three different, solitary sufferers’ points of view. In “What Remains,” three broken people interact while trying to solve a mystery. Sture Bergwall (Gustaf Skarsgard – “Oppenheimer”) has been an inmate in a psychiatric hospital for years. He’s an admitted child molester […][...]
Review: The Grab
— by BEV QUESTAD — If I had enough money, could I buy parts of countries? For example, could I buy agricultural property in Canada? Norway? Russia? China? This question took me down a rabbit hole of exceeding complexity, but I can report one thing with clarity. Any nationality may buy any land for sale […][...]
Review: Rowdy Girl
— by BEV QUESTAD — Rowdy Girl is an amber-brown, willful cow who does what she pleases. She is not confined to a milking stall but roams the land with freedom. She may come when she’s called – or not. She’s free, obstinate, and has a mind of her own. But there is also another […][...]
Review: Food Inc. 2
— by BEV QUESTAD — Change is going to come! Rich with exposure and documentation, “Food Inc. 2” continues its attacks and solutions to our food problems after the 2009 film “Food Inc.” This time, directors Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo have Cory Booker and Jon Tester aboard to help their cause in the US […][...]
Review: Protocol 7
— by WILLIAM STERR — Merck develops and produces medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. It has multiple blockbuster drugs or products each with 2020 revenues including cancer immunotherapy, anti-diabetic medication and vaccines against HPV and chickenpox. It is one of the largest pharma-ceutical companies in the world, generally ranking in the global […][...]
Review: Taking Venice
— by WILLIAM STERR — In 1964, the United States government, through the United States Information Agency (USIA) supported an entry by several American artists in the Venice Biennale, one of the most prestigious art competitions in the world. “Taking Venice” is a documentary about the campaign – the “engineering” if you will – of […][...]