— by BEV QUESTAD — Why haven’t we heard more acclaim for “Mufasa”? Where’s the excitement and marvel at such an extravaganza of visual accomplishment? Why the snub for an Oscar nomination? It’s a Disney animation feat of breaking-news magnitude. Its life-like lions have hair so real I desperately wanted to jump on, string my […][...]
Review: Arcadian
— by WILLIAM STERR — “Arcadian” gives a new twist to living “down on the farm.” The word means an ideal rural paradise, but the home set up by Paul (Nicholas Cage – “Longlegs”) and his teenage sons, Joseph (Jaeden Martell – “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone”) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins – “Joe Bell”), as a refuge […][...]
Review: Saturday Night
— by WILLIAM STERR — Jason Reitman (“Ghostbusters: Afterlife”) has used his “Wayback Machine” to take us back to a seminal point in television entertainment – the point at which a form of popular entertainment that was rooted in vaudeville, the stage, and accepted mores of behavior and language was replaced by a free-wheeling, irreverent […][...]
Review: The Piano Lesson
— by WILLIAM STERR — August Wilson. It’s a name that is synonymous with the experiences and heritage of the African-American community in the 20th century. His cycle of 10 plays from “Gem of the Ocean” to “Radio Golf” covers the Black experience in Pittsburgh through the 10 decades of the last century. The fourth, […][...]
Review: A Real Pain
— by WILLIAM STERR — The Odd Couple visits Poland. Cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg – “The Social Network) and Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin – “No Sudden Move”) have signed up for a tour of Jewish heritage locations in Poland, using money left for that purpose by their beloved grandmother, a holocaust survivor. The two, despite […][...]
Review: The Substance
— by BEV QUESTAD — I am obsessed with my weight, aging, hair and wrinkled looks. I see my 75-year-old self in the mirror every morning, sometimes totally disgusted. I’m just being honest. I asked my best friend, Bill, if he did the same. “Oh yes,” he sadly confided. So, women aren’t the only ones. […][...]
Review: Green and Gold
— by WILLIAM STERR — I though Craig T. Nelson was dead. But I guess, like the old time dairy farmers of Wisconsin, he just keeps plugging along, even at 80 years old. “Green and Gold” is a modern day fable about the values of honesty, hard work, and not cutting corners. Dairy farmer Buck […][...]
Review: Memoir of a Snail
— by WILLIAM STERR — Gastropods – who doesn’t love a gastopod? Garlic, butter, parsley, salt – yum! Nothing like a dozen escargot served each in its own little indentation on a porcelain plate. Well, this is not that kind of story. This is the story of Ausie twins, boy and girl, and the lives […][...]
Review: Heretic
— by WILLIAM STERR — There is no end to the versatility of actor Hugh Grant. From romantic comedies like “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” to numerous turns as a roguish villain (such as the Paddington Bear films), to this truly diabolic performance as a psychopath, Grant has never failed to turn in a good, […][...]
Review: Black Box Diaries
— by BEV QUESTAD — Her parents told her to keep quiet. Her sister begged her not to mention it. The police warned her that her career would be over if she pursued her complaint. In Japan, when you don’t want someone to know something, when you want to keep something secret, you put it […][...]