Bev Questad
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It's Just Movies
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Articles by Bev Questad
Review: Earth’s Greatest Enemy
— by BEV QUESTAD — Just who or what is Earth’s greatest enemy?
Review: A Sad and Beautiful World
— by BEV QUESTAD — As Marianne pushes her baby, Nino, out into the world, an explosion blasts through the hospital. The baby is rushed by an attendant through the chaos to save him from a potential building collapse. Exactly one minute after that bombing, Yasmina is born in the same hospital in Beirut. We are told that one additional minute later, a massacre took place, the last stretch of railway was destroyed, and a rocket was sent into space.
Review: Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie
— by BEV QUESTAD — Congrats to the Canadian crew who created this Shangri-la! Lush palms, friendly animals, responsible humans, sunny weather, and a tall mountain with a waterfall cascading down fill out this Bali Hai dream. Brimming with challenges, lessons, and respect for others, I thought Spin Master Entertainment had produced a really fun movie. So, when a publicist interviewed my good friend and child critic, Logan, I was sure he’d have plenty to say.
Review: The Bend in the River
— by BEV QUESTAD — I’ve been thinking lately about what affects people’s destiny. There were seven of us freshmen friends at Whitman College. As an only child, I felt like I finally had sisters. But after that year we each veered off into different futures. If we could have chosen – like if we had been given white cards, each with one of the futures that would befall us with both the tragedy and the success – would we choose our own? Would we even recognize our own?
Review: American Doctor
— by BEV QUESTAD — Here are masked men who steal your heart. They are surgeons who signed up to work the trauma cases our tax dollars have created in Gaza. Award-winning filmmaker Poh Si Teng and her crew risked their lives to film these heroes, an American Jew and an American Zoroastrian, working side by side with Palestinians at the Nasser Medical Complex in war-torn Gaza.
Review: Spider-Man: Brand New Day
— by BEV QUESTAD — Logan, aged 5, is reportedly too young for the PG-13 rated “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” because of “sequences of action and violence.” But if you ask him, it’s only children younger than 5 who shouldn’t see this film. Having watched the first two Spider-Man films with his dad, Logan was prepared to see a special critics’ preview of the film at the Fox Tower Regal Cinema with his adult best friend. At the end, the Sony representative asked him for his rating.
It's Just Movies
— by BEV QUESTAD — Are we alone in the universe? Why am I here? Why is there a world? Those are the questions super genius Gentry Lee, a NASA robotics engineer, poses. He is called Starman. He answers those questions in a surprising exposé on extraterrestrial life. In the end, he presents the most insightful revelation of all. “Starman” is captivatingly narrated by Lee, with plenty of clips of him as a young man at NASA in colorful clothing.
Review: American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez
— by BEV QUESTAD — Jamie was 10 and a music lover. I took him to see “La Bamba.” Though rated PG-13, the rating noted he movie had no nudity, sex, violence or swearing. What could go wrong? In the end, Jamie cried right out loud, grief-stricken about what happened to Ritchie Valens, who died at age 17. I could not comfort him. The whole theater heard his heartbreak. He didn’t care. The power of Luiz Valdez’s work is like this. Emotional. Powerful. Enmeshed in Chicano culture.
Review: Far From Maine
— by BEV QUESTAD — Roy Cohen’s pressing problem involves where to bring up his precious curly-headed little daughter. Should his family immigrate from the “moral decay of Israel” or stay to promote social justice and peace? Haunting him, causing paralysis in decision-making, is the murder of his childhood friend. “Far From Maine” is a decidedly different perspective on the Middle East conflict because its genesis is right here in the United States.
Review: The Sheep Detectives
— by BEV QUESTAD — I took my junior film critic, Eileen (age 8) and her grandpa (age 79), to see this folksy film starring the “kindest animals in the world.” While their appreciation might have been what I expected, their comments were surprisingly astute. The sheep, led by the smartest sheep in the world, Lily (voiced by a shyly intelligent Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and a grand old winter ram (voiced by a powerful Bryan Cranston), are part of lovable George Hardy’s (Hugh Jackman) family (flock).
It's Just Movies
— by BEV QUESTAD — Luscious jungle leaves, warm, moist air, stilted houses built over water on a routinely flooded island on a tributary of the Amazon, and the songs of jungle animals fill this gorgeous film. Amidst mangrove trees and soft earth, with idyllic, slow-moving life sustained by the antioxidant-rich acai berry and shrimp, an exotically beautiful 13-year-old barefoot Brazilian, called Tielle (Jamilli Correa, perfectly cast from local girls ), travels by boat to school.
Review: Bernstein’s Wall
— by BEV QUESTAD — Why is this archival documentary called “Bernstein’s Wall”? I suspect those who saw Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” will be the first to see this new film about America’s greatest conductor, Leonard Bernstein, who brought great classics to passionate new life and composed the score to America’s most exciting musical, “West Side Story.” Because Bernstein was so endeared, and yet also so controversial, Cooper’s biopic of him caused foment amongst the purists.
Review: Resistance 101
— by BEV QUESTAD — The best film for Holy Week is “Resistance 101.” Hosted by Reverend Chris Hedges, Ph.D., journalist, author, commentator and Presbyterian minister, this is a free movie (see link at end) that reveals a path of Christ in today’s world. What I’m going to call Christ’s disciples are an exceptionally good-looking group of social justice leaders who gathered in Italy this past February: Greta Thunberg, Francesca Albanese, Stefania Maurizi, Yanis Varoufakis, and Francesco Staccioli.
Review: Stop Time
— by BEV QUESTAD — Two stories begin separately and then converge. My favorite tells the life of a successful professional, Adrianna Maier (Kelly Deadmon), who is well-known in the lighting business for Broadway productions in New York City. Quizzically, she has received a letter from the Polish consulate requesting her presence. She had been adopted by an American couple when she was just under three, so her memories of her home country are hazy.
It's Just Movies
— by BEV QUESTAD — Cars moving slowly proceed gently down a long, flat road with farmland on both sides. The procession stops at a country church. People get out of the vehicles and join a service with clapping and lively music. It could be a baptism or wedding, because there are handshakes, smiles, and so many people. But then we see a line-up down the sanctuary aisle to the front. You soon realize they are lining up to pay their respects to the body lying in the open casket.
Review: Cutting Through Rocks
— by BEV QUESTAD — Just what kind of patience, strength, supportive gear, and skill would it take to cut through rocks? That’s the metaphor Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki (directors, producers, and editors) use to explain how difficult it is to change what the West calls misogyny in a country where women may be ostensibly revered but most severely restricted.
Review: It Was Just An Accident
— by BEV QUESTAD — Beware, films by Jafar Panahi have multiple levels of meaning, just as they have, in his case, multiple levels of production. All is not as it seems, and Panahi’s genius lies in his extraordinary ability to tell a story on many planes. Eghbal is driving with his family. It is a pitch-black night. Thud. Something is hit. He stops the car and steps out to have a look. We hear whimpering that he ignores. But as the family resumes travel, the car has engine trouble.
It's Just Movies
— by BEV QUESTAD — The underdog in this chaotic frenzied animation is actually an undergoat who dreams of being able to play roarball on a big team. Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures new animation is a cacophonous continuous burst of color, sound, and action that my fellow film critic, 5-year-old why-walk-when-you-can-run Logan, loved. Will is a furry, friendly goat with big dreams.
Review: No Other Choice
— by BEV QUESTAD — Ever since Elon Musk brandished his chainsaw, Americans have increased empathy for those who lose their jobs. Note to Musk: It’s not jobs we want to cut but the hemorrhaging of tax money by the federal government for things like ICE entanglement on our city streets and subsidies for the genocide in Gaza. Park Chan-wook, in his South Korean madcap film, hits a dead-serious spot: the cavalier power of big conglomerates to downsize, restructure and fire at whim.
Review: All That’s Left of You
— by BEV QUESTAD — Two boys scamper, laughing on rooftops. Agile, they leap down to the street, not missing momentum as they race in delight through narrow streets. Healthy, happy best friends, their chase game is abruptly blocked by a street protest. Shots. One boy, Noor, seeking cover behind a car door, is shot in the head. His mother speaks to us, assuming an American audience: “I know you are wondering why we are here. You don’t know much about us. It’s okay. I’m not here to blame you.
It's Just Movies
— by BEV QUESTAD — Let’s talk about death. In one of the first stories about dying, the ancient myth of Orpheus and Eurydice (6th century BCE), Orpheus cannot accept the death of his beloved. His grief is so great that he travels to the underworld to bring his beloved Eurydice back out. But, he ends up failing. Very strangely, Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell (based on novel by O’Farrell), screenplay authors of “Hamnet,” have the listener of this story, Agnes, say she likes it.
Review: Jay Kelly
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Jay Kelly” made Barack Obama’s top 10 best films list. I suspect it’s not just because it’s the story of a parent whose ascending career involved family sacrifices, but because we see some fabulous storytelling and acting with an important message. By the time kids are 18 and train-tripping in Europe, all the important birthdays, school plays, and concerts are over. By this age, they are programmed for independence and adventure.
Review: The Voice of Hind Rajab
— by BEV QUESTAD — If there is no other film you see this year, see this one. It’s more important and more dramatic than any other. This is because it’s true, based on first-hand accounts, encompassing a moral dilemma, and its human response. Even if you’ve seen all the Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated films, even if you are saturated with drama, disgust, inspiration, and insight, still … see this one. “The Voice of Rajab” is a docu-dramatization of what happened on Jan. 29, 2024.
Review: Come See Me in the Good Light
— by BEV QUESTAD — Wellness Check In any moment on any given day I can measure my wellness by this question: Is my attention on loving, or is my attention on who isn’t loving me? That’s by Andrea Gibson. Straight to the core of the human experience. Stops me — can’t read another poem for a few days. Too much practice needed for this one.
It's Just Movies
— by BEV QUESTAD — Parents from the heartland reported that their kind son had returned from serving in the US Army a murderer. There had been a terrible atrocity in Vietnam that was being covered up. If you are over 70 years old, you remember it. The My Lai massacre was a United States war crime committed on 16 March 1968.
Review: Wicked: For Good
— by BEV QUESTAD — Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked: For Good” is a spectacle. It is to be seen like fireworks on the Fourth of July. Glinda’s dresses are filmy cotton candy delights and her transparent bubble mobile lets us gaze at her dreamy pink-hued superficially perfect life as the spokesperson for the deceitful Wizard of Oz. But behind the scenes, Glinda (Ariana Grande) has an identifiable conflicted spirit.
It's Just Movies
— by BEV QUESTAD — I messed up. I thought the title was “Begonia” after the flowering plant. But then I checked the spelling and then its definition. Boy, was I off track on that – and a lot more. Kudos go to the writer, Will Tracy, for the obscure title concept. Though his screenplay is based on the 2003 Korean film “Save the Green Planet!,” he changed the title.
Review: Sentimental Value
— by BEV QUESTAD — Oh, my precious Norway, you consistently rank in the top 10, amongst other Scandinavian countries, of the happiest in the world. You have one of the safest, most comprehensive, caring governments on the planet, yet it’s from your country we get your consistent exploration of the dark side, like Edvard Munch’s multiple creations of “The Scream” (1893), meant to convey, not gently, the existential horror embedded in the human condition.
Review: Train Dreams
— by BEV QUESTAD — Sometimes it seems that life happens to us – that we just go along, minding our business, trying hard to do our best and then, wham — a bad thing happens or a good thing happens, without will on our part. That’s the way it seems for Robert Grainier. Around 1894, when he is six years old, his parents die and he is sent on a train with a tag around his neck with the arrival city printed on it.
Review: The Perfect Neighbor
— by BEV QUESTAD — Filmed via police body cams, police procured videos, and 911 recordings, “The Perfect Neighbor” is an Oscar nominee for Best Documentary. It’s a powerful way to create film verité – no voice-overs and no explanatory narration. You just get the action and voices as recorded by police devices. It all begins in Ocala, Florida, in February 2022, in a neighborhood of many rentals and a community green space for children to play.
Review: Anniversary
— by BEV QUESTAD — Oh, Americans, we complain about being too polarized and that extremes on the right and left are dangerous and a threat to society. So, my friends, what if there was a Unity Party? What if there was a remake of the flag with the stars and the blue background in the middle, denoting that we were all one country in solidarity?
Review: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
— by BEV QUESTAD — Just as convoluted and star-studded as the prior two “Knives Out” whodunits, “Wake Up Dead Man” will likewise challenge your sleuthing skills. But added froth to the bouillon in this third Rian Johnson creation is Catholicism. Conflicted Father Jud Duplenticy (a near double entendre here?), superbly well-played by Josh O’Connor, once killed a man in a boxing match. In deep personal reexamination, he commits himself to becoming a priest.
Review: Orwell: 2+2=5
— by BEV QUESTAD — And we are not at war with Venezuela, the War in Gaza is not a genocide, and prices in America are lower than ever. Double-speak, a term inspired by George Orwell’s terms, Newspeak and doublethink as presented in the satire “1984,” is now de rigor politicalspeak throughout the world. Are we really there? Has Orwell’s warning about authoritarianism and greedy political power become obscenely true in 2025?
Review: Caterpillar
— by BEV QUESTAD — Is there any part of your body you would not consider enhancing? People pay plenty for nose jobs, liposuction, breast implants, and face lifts. They endure temporary physical deformity and incapacitation for a promise of future beauty and glory. So, would you also consider changing the color of your eyes? Imagine an Asian with stand-out sapphire blue eyes. Why not a Norwegian with cat-like gold eyes? A Hispanic with deep lavender eyes?
Review: The Secret Agent
Review: The Secret Agent — by BEV QUESTAD — The New York Times listed “The Secret Agent” in its top 10 movies of 2025. It’s got a great title, it was made in Brazil, and it starts with a dead body under some casual cardboard flapping in the wind at a gas station. Flies buzz, dogs come, and Che Guevera-like Wagner Moura, playing affable Armando, drives up in his yellow VW Beetle. Juxtaposition of the dangerously revolting to the happy mundane.
Review: The Ugly Stepsister
— by BEV QUESTAD — This is one heck of a wild, bold take-off on The Grimm Brothers’s tale of Cinderella. Still set mostly in medieval times (some girls having braces is a surprise), “The Ugly Stepsister” explores a possible backstory to the rags-to-riches beloved princess. Who was her father, what was her life like before he died, and what was the revisionist shocking reason she was demoted to cleaning duty?
Review: If You See Something
— by BEV QUESTAD — How much did he know and when did he know it? The redheaded American woman, Katie, is driving two Iraqi friends, Ali and Dawod, to the airport. They hit some congestion which triggers a memory for Dawod, the Iraqi, seated in the back, who is headed for his flight back home to Baghdad. He remembers when he and Ali were driving in a car in Iraq during their university days.
It's Just Movies
— by BEV QUESTAD — My darling why-walk-when-I-can-run? four-year-old friend and child film critic, Logan, and I watched “Dog Man” in mesmerized paralysis. Logan forgot about his French fries while his eyes were completely transfixed by this colorful cornucopia of action, color, and explosive noise. The story is about a policeman, Knight, who is in an accident with his police dog, Greg. In surgery, the only way both can survive is to combine them into one entity.
Review: Mistress Dispeller
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Mistress Dispeller” is a truly surprising and even revolutionary documentary. It captures shame in real time and dissects something Americans have in common with Chinese: social mobility and infidelity. And yet, there is also a learning, an insight, that can only come when people are honest. In the very beginning, we are told on a black screen that the participants in this documentary agreed to be filmed before this project began.
Review: Plan C for Civilization
— by BEV QUESTAD — Imagine you are on a train track and a train is coming. On both sides of the track it is pitch black, so you don’t know which way to safely jump. But for sure, if you stay rooted on the track, you will be smashed to death. That’s my pitch about Global Warming. We know world temperatures are increasing and ultimately going to devastate earth’s ecosystem. That’s the train that’s coming. But what do we do about it? That’s the unknowable dark … for most people.
Review: ARTSAKH Armenian Genocide Continues
— by BEV QUESTAD — Remember when Trump claimed he deserved credit for ending six or seven wars during his first months in office? He said, “I think that we settled Aber-baijan and Albania.” The correction is that it was Azerbaijan and Artsakh. Vic Gerami, host and producer of The Blunt News, knows just how far the US was involved and the convoluted reasons why.
Review: Where the Wind Blows
— by BEV QUESTAD — This is the kind of film I love. The story revolves around a perfect woman with high expectations. The film begins with two cowboys stopping in at a tavern in the Old West. The older one, Nathan Strong (C. Thomas Howell), is out for gambling, women, and a good time. He hands $640 to his riding partner, Chase Logan (Brad Pitt-like Trevor Donovan), for safe-keeping and sits down at a poker table. Chase is a loner, reserved and quiet.
It's Just Movies
— by BEV QUESTAD — There is something about Keith Jarrett’s improvisational music that transports the listener to another dimension. Test it out. Click on KOLN 75. Start the video and come back to read this review while you travel to a magical place of tones and subtlety that charms your mind. You are listening to the best-selling solo jazz album of all time and the best-selling solo piano album of any genre.
Review: There Was, There Was Not
— by BEV QUESTAD — “In Armenian, we don’t begin our stories with ‘Once Upon a Time.’ We begin with ‘There Was, There Was Not.’” While not planning on that theme when she began filming, seven years later, Emily Mkrtichian uses it as the title. In 2018, Mkrtichian began recording footage about four different women living in Atsakh who were strong and independent. Each one of them had a career, and each one inspired other Armenian women to become more than a servant to their respective families.
Review: Among Neighbors
— by BEV QUESTAD — Yoav Potash went to Poland to film a commemorative event. Upon arriving, his curiosity drove him to check out the community. He finds a Jewish grave-marker in an old man’s backyard scrapheap. Then he observes that Jewish markers became foundational rocks in roads, walls, and house foundations all over Poland. But a new Polish law forbid asking questions. Freedom of speech and expression meets historical revisionism, just like right here in America.
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 successfully bombed. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it only provoked a hornets’ nest of retaliatory strikes all over Ukraine.
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. The Composition The cinematography and editing are exquisite. The focus on internal Israeli politics is meaningful and timely.
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. Luke is helplessly overcome and proceeds to attack the guy. The only reason the offending singer lives is that others pull Wolf off the attack.
Review: Hola Frida
— by BEV QUESTAD — Drew Barrymore says she’s grown into being her own best friend. Like Drew, but more than 100 years earlier, Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) overcame great obstacles because of her inner voice, her own best friend. Created specifically for children and their families, “Hola Frida” strikes a tender chord on acceptance of all, no matter their disability, gender, or political views.
Review: The Glassworker
— by BEV QUESTAD — Sometimes it is hard to stay true to yourself, to have the courage of your convictions, and still be accepted. Especially in times of war when you are a pacifist. From Karachi, Pakistan, via the Berklee College of Music in Boston and the influence of Ghibli Studios in Japan, comes Usman Riaz’s wondrous world of Watertown, a fantasy every-town caught in a serious grip of trouble that escalates into war and destruction.
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