— by BEV QUESTAD — If it is true that cancer is related to an immune system that has run amuck, then why are we adding toxic chemicals into patients, especially children, when it is the immune system that we need to strengthen? In his documentary, “Flipping the Script: When Parents Fight Back,” Jeff Witzeman […][...]
Review: Distant Constellation
— by RON WILKINSON — New director Shevaun Mizrahi does a lot with a little is this old school probe of lives we live and lives we think we live. The film shifts between two stories, a Turkish retirement home and the construction site just outside the window. The construction site embodies what is the […][...]
Interview: Director/Writer Patrick Wang
— by BEV QUESTAD — I’ve seen four of Patrick Wang’s exceptionally thoughtful films. In response to my request and explanation of my difficulties with his work, he magnanimously responded: “Thanks for taking the time to watch and think about all these movies. I also love your honesty about what you connected with and what […][...]
Review: The Grief of Others
— by BEV QUESTAD — Sometimes a film’s weakness turns out to be a strength. At first confusing and sometimes hard to figure out what is going on and who is who, “The Grief of Others” explores the loss of a baby, who really never had life, on all family members. Was it a death […][...]
Review: A Star is Born
— by RON WILKINSON — Perhaps Bradley Cooper thought he could get off easy by making his directorial debut an expanded MTV video. After all, having cornered the considerable singing talents of Lady Gaga promised to go a long way. As it turns out, Gaga, playing the lead part of super-star to be Ally, must […][...]
Review: Fists in the Pocket
— by RON WILKINSON — The golden age of Italian cinema is making a comeback, at least the Cineteca di Bologna and the L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory hope so. This freshly restored 4k B&W beauty has all the stripped down power of the spaghetti westerns and the music of Ennio Morricone to boot. Radically exploring the […][...]
Review: The Guilty
— by RON WILKINSON — This masterpiece of stripped down tension is even more beautiful for what it is not. Presenting the exact opposite of an ensemble cast, the story is told in the mind and ears of a single person, Asger Holm, who may well be going insane. The viewer must decide what is […][...]
Review: Bloodline
— by RON WILKINSON — Seann William Scott (“Goon” and “American Pie”) tries something different, of the raging slasher persuasion, in this fun-loving flick from Blumhouse. Director Henry Jacobson teams up with perennial producer/disruptor Jason Blum and co-producer Derek Bishe’ to produce a routine review of throaty blood spurting that has a lurking hint of […][...]
Review: Nigerian Prince
— by RON WILKINSON — A movie named after the famous internet scam has a lot to live up to. The “Nigerian prince” scam promised a huge cash reward for helping a foreign national out of a paperwork problem. The victim is then robbed of money, identity, or both. The scam has been used so […][...]
Review: A Bread Factory, Part Two
— by BEV QUESTAD — Hold on, ye professed intellectuals! Patrick Wang takes the time with left-over funding from “A Bread Factory, Part One” to do a second response to the real-life story of a New England community arts center in trouble. In case “Part One” wasn’t experimental enough, this time Wang incorporates the ancient […][...]