— by BEV QUESTAD — If you tend to watch CNN then you probably know the handsome, well-spoken Yale Law School commentator whose rich voice speaks with passion. On the night of the 2016 election he somberly intoned: “It’s hard to be a parent tonight for a lot of us. You tell your kids: Don’t […][...]
Review: Alchemy of the Spirit
— by WILLIAM STERR — Oliver Black (Xander Berkeley – “Butcher’s Crossing) is an artist. He works out of a studio in his home in a village in Vermont. One fall morning, he wakes to find his wife, Evelyn (Sarah Clarke – “Coda”) dead beside him. His trauma is intense – she is clearly the […][...]
Review: Marlowe
— by WILLIAM STERR — Let me introduce you to something interesting. We’ll call it “The Case of Three Marlowes.” Once upon a time in California, way back in 1939, a detective fiction writer by the name of Raymond Chandler, published a novel, “Farewell, My Lovely,” featuring the private investigator Philip Marlowe. This, and seven […][...]
Review: After Love
— by BEV QUESTAD — The day after the death of her husband, a British woman, whose home is in Dover, learns about a surprise her husband left behind across the Channel in Calais. This alone is intriguing enough, but the widow is a Muslim, all wrapped up in a hijab … with striking blue […][...]
Review: Wolf Garden
— by WILLIAM STERR — Have you ever walked into a restaurant and ordered a juicy hamburger with all the trimmings? And when the server brings the meal, you see the tempting sesame seed bun, the crisp lettuce and the ripe tomato slice, the aroma of Bermuda onion and dill pickle. But when you bite […][...]
Review: Orchestrator of Storms
— by WILLIAM STERR — “Orchestrator of Storms” relates the life and career of the late French director Jean Rollin. While Rollin was a prolific writer, his supreme love was the production of films, almost exclusively in the “le cinema fantastique” genre. As such, his low budget productions featured a great deal of female nudity, […][...]
Review: El Equipo
— by WILLIAM STERR — In 1976, a military coup overthrew legitimately elected Argentinian President Isabel Peron and established a military government that lasted until 1983. Shortly after the coup, American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger urged the coup leaders to destroy their enemies in Argentina quickly. Kissinger was recorded describing the junta leader: “… […][...]
Review: Navalny
— by BEV QUESTAD — Early on in this remarkable Oscar-nominated documentary, Alexei Navalny is asked, “If you are killed, what message do you leave for the Russian people?” Navalny is the handsome 41-year-old lawyer who campaigned against business and government corruption in Russia. His story reads like a John le Carré suspense novel as […][...]
Review: Enys Men
— by WILLIAM STERR — A woman (Mary Woodvine – “Bait”) wearing a red windbreaker makes her way across blustery hills of heather and sedge, then down to the edge of a cliff where six strange flowers grow. These are rare plants on this Cornish island and her job is to measure the temperature and […][...]