— by BEV QUESTAD — So often there are docs about musicians with frustratingly little of their music to demonstrate why a film was made about them in the first place. But it isn’t this way with “Enzo.” This portrait film of his musical gifts is more like going to an actual concert i[...]
Archive for October, 2013
Review: The Network
— by RON WILKINSON — To 99 percent of Americans, Afghanistan is a battlefield. It is a place of misery and horrendously bad memories for hundreds of thousands of US service members and their loved ones. The number of Afghan casualties is at least double that of the Americans, not even in[...]
Review: Running Wild
— by BEV QUESTAD — In 1988, at age 65, Dayton Hyde looked at his life and asked himself what he really wanted to do. Then he gathered his credit cards, applied for a loan and left his wife and family on their Oregon ranch and headed to South Dakota. There Hyde bought 11,000 acres [&helli[...]
Review: K2: Siren of the Himalayas
— by RON WILKINSON — Known as “The Savage Mountain,” K2 is a mountain of contradictions. Although it is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest, the times humans have successfully climbed it number only about 10 percent those of Everest. The area is so remote and th[...]
Review: Inuk
— by BEV QUESTAD with ARDELLE ANDERSON — This is a film about loss and the road to recovery in a frozen land where the harsh environment serves as a keen metaphor to life’s challenges. It is also about the power of human relationships – and how, like the icy hand of the frozen north,[...]
Review: Machete Kills
— by JAMES SHAW — Machete is a spoof character from the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double-feature movie “Grindhouse” and the character was not only given its own movie, but, unfortunately, a sequel as well. Danny Trejo returns as the title character in “Machete Kills” and[...]
Review: About Time
— by ADAM DALE — An expert at the rom-com formula, Richard Curtis is back with an all-new film. Curtis wrote and directed “About Time,” which tells the story of privileged man named Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) who gets told a secret on his 21st birthday by his father (Bill Nighy). Ti[...]
Directors selected for Angry Birds film
Rovio Entertainment announced that Fergal Reilly and Clay Kaytis will direct “Angry Birds,” the upcoming 3D CG-animated film based on Rovio’s bestselling app. The film is being produced by John Cohen and Catherine Winder and executive produced by David Maisel; the screenplay is by Jon Vitt[...]
Review: A Touch of Sin
— by RON WILKINSON — The winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes (2013), Zhangke Jia’s mean streets drama “A Touch of Sin” (aka “Tian zhu ding”) is a condemnation of Western values and celebration of Western life, at the same time. This is four stories taken [...]
Review: The Secret Lives of Dorks
— by RON WILKINSON — “The Secret Lives of Dorks” should be praised for its honesty at the same time that it is condemned for its lack of originality. It is exactly what one would expect and is, therefore, completely absent originality. On the other hand, anybody who watches it has no[...]
Review: Gideon’s Army
— by BEV QUESTAD — “If you are trying to rescue people from hell you have to kinda go to hell to do it,” Jonathan Rapping, Georgia law professor, patiently explains to Brandy, a warrior in America’s shaky battle in the criminal justice system. She’s been a public defender for thr[...]
Review: Morning
— by RON WILKINSON — From the very beginning of this film, five days in the lives of a severely grief stricken couple, you know the going will not be easy. Sure enough, for the first hour there is not much variety in the grief presented. Unfortunately, this first hour tells the story of [...]
Review: Runner Runner
— by JAMES SHAW — “Is your life worth the gamble?” Brad Furman’s “Runner Runner” is an exaggerated film that seeks to expose the seedy world of online gambling. Online gambling brings in a lot of revenue for owners, but can you really trust them? Richie Furst (played by Justin [...]