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Review: Beyond the Drumlins

— by WILLIAM STERR —

drum’lin (noun): an oval or elongated hill believed to have been formed by the streamlined movement of glacial ice sheets across rock debris, or till. The name is derived from the Gaelic word druim (“rounded hill,” or “mound”). Encyclopedia Britannica

There is something about “rounded hills” that evokes the ancient, and in stories such as those of H.P. Lovecraft, sites where ancient rites are carried out to the detriment of humanity. English author Arthur Machen was also fond of them as locales where evil dwelt.

There is something about the land in the forested area of a secluded farm that keeps people away. (CONTINUED)


Review: Mr. Blake at Your Service!

— by WILLIAM STERR — In an age of raucous, frenetic, raunchy comedies, this film is a throwback to a gentler, more respectable, even genteel comic sensibility. As such, it’s general audience popularity is in question. Andrew Blake (John Malkovich) is a widower. His French wife died four months ago and his life is adrift. […][...]


Review: Sisters of Ukraine

— by BEV QUESTAD — In the early days of October 2022, two people ran a mercy mission to rescue a group of women and children waiting in a bomb shelter in western Ukraine. The day before they were to arrive, October 9, the great bridge linking Crimea with Russia and its supply line was […][...]


Review: Roads on Fire

— by WILLIAM STERR — Have you ever wondered what it would be like to get so desperate that you would take every cent you could raise, beg, and borrow to get out of your own country and flee to another? With your children? Having to trust people who might leave you for dead anywhere […][...]


Review: Soul of a Nation

— by BEV QUESTAD — What was going on in Israel during the months leading up to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack? How popular was Netanyahu then and now? The what and how are answered through a series of interviews, news clips and live videos in this eye-opening documentary. But it’s not perfect.[...]


Review: A Blind Bargain

— by WILLIAM STERR — Crispin Glover is an unusual actor. Some call him “genius.” Other think he’s a “madman.” Perhaps he’s both. But whatever he is, he has a talent for picking bizarre roles. In “A Blind Bargain,” he has chosen another unusual vehicle and warped character, mad Doctor Gruber. “A Blind Bargain” is […][...]


Review: Monsters Within

— by BEV QUESTAD — A loner and a vet aptly named Luke Wolf (Devin Montgomery) comes back to his hometown unemployed and an alcoholic. On his first night back, after the singer in a bar insults the bartender, we see a gruesome wild animal head with long gnashing carnivorous teeth appear in Luke’s head. […][...]


Review: The Drowned

— by WILLIAM STERR — “Cue the soundtrack.” This is the first big design error in the horror flick “The Drowned.” From the very first frames, we are assaulted with an ominous, cacophonous, hodgepodge of sounds, including striking gongs, cat-like cries, and eventually quasi-human voices. Presumably this is to instill a sense of foreboding rather […][...]


Review: The Oval Portrait

— by WILLIAM STERR — Lush. There was a time – the late 1930s to early 1950s – when Hollywood made pictures that were lush in their photography (typically B&W), their orchestral scores, and the attention to period details. That is not to say that films lack these characteristics today, just that styles have changed. […][...]



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