— by RON WILKINSON — This is one of those documentaries that defies explanation. It is impossible to understand how a filmmaker could have gained the trust and access required to interview a man raising a family to fight for a Syrian caliphate. Director Talal Derki knew he was taking a lethal risk when he […][...]
Review: Leave No Trace
— by BEV QUESTAD — Hidden deep in Portland’s Forest Park, one of the largest city parks (5,100 acres) in the world, a man and his daughter live in a tent abutting a hill, cook under a tarp, and hide camouflaged in the damp, richly green forest. It is inescapably idyllic. They play chess, read, […][...]
Review: Detour
— by RON WILKINSON — The next time you see this movie may not be your first time, but it may be the best time. Leaping from the screen in a spanking new 4K restoration of a classic noir, “Detour” defines the genre. Down on his luck piano player Al Roberts (Tom Neal) is beaten […][...]
Review: Dark Money
— by BEV QUESTAD — Political mail with lies? Campaign ad grossly misrepresenting the truth? Can just anyone with the bucks say anything in a campaign? Besides the questionable rhetoric of the two major parties, when an outside source funds a spurious campaign ad, the funding source is called “dark money,” meaning a third party […][...]
Review: Speed Kills
— by RON WILKINSON — John Travolta knows a thing or two about speed. As a professional level jet pilot holding a dozen licenses, he has traveled much faster than Ben Aronoff ever did. Even so, Aronoff’s love of speed exceeded anything most of us will ever know. The inventor of modern offshore boat racing, […][...]
Inspired to Travel … by the Movies
Films have a lot to answer for – they well and truly influence many different aspects of our lives. But what about traveling? There are so many incredible places that have served as the backdrop to the movies we love that it’s no wonder that they’ve got us thinking and planning to book those plane […][...]
Review: Flipping the Script
— 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 […][...]