By Brian Lafferty

August 11, 2011 (San Diego) – It can get really eerie when a movie parallels your life. The Tree does so for me, striking a powerful emotional cord.

When I lost my mother last November, the following month was the most grueling period of my life. I was angry, sad, and lost. On Christmas night I looked up in tears and asked my mother, “How can I live my life if you’re not in it?” I fell asleep.

By Brian Lafferty

April 29, 2011 (San Diego) – The great sportswriter Grantland Rice said, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” Queen to Play purports to be a film about a housewife in a mid-life crisis and stale marriage who finds happiness through chess. It then ends in a Big Game. The movie fails on both counts.