Tag: America

  • If Beale Street Could Talk

    If Beale Street Could Talk

    Barry Jenkins and Damien Chazelle both directed Oscar-nominated movies this year. The last time that happened was in 2017 when Chazelle’s La La Land was mistakenly announced as the Best Picture winner only to be supplanted by the true Best Picture winner — Jenkins’ Moonlight. The debacle was a distraction from what should have been…

  • Darkest Hour

    Darkest Hour

    In America none of us ever feared that our country would be invaded and we would be subjugated to the will of a foreign country. Even in WWII we were confident that our foreign opponents could and would be overcome, and even if they were not totally defeated, they would not invade the American continent.…

  • American Made / Battle of the Sexes / Stronger

    American Made / Battle of the Sexes / Stronger

    Welcome to another edition of Mini-Review Roundup where we present smaller reviews of several movies at once. Up this month: American Made, Battle of the Sexes, and Stronger.   American Made   Scientology may be a made-up religion, but they’ve clearly found the cure for aging. Tom Cruise hasn’t had a birthday in 30 years.…

  • Bourne vs. Bond: Two American Stories

    Bourne vs. Bond: Two American Stories

    “You’re no use to anyone now.” — M to James Bond in Die Another Day, 2002. “I volunteered because of a lie.” — Jason Bourne James Bond and Jason Bourne, the two super spies of cinema. They stand alone at the top of the genre as the two most recognizable and influential characters in the…

  • Hidden Figures

    Hidden Figures

    When I was a child the science museum in my hometown hosted a traveling exhibit featuring all kinds of information about the moon, the U.S. space program, and even some samples of lunar rock (which is less interesting to look at when you’re ten-years-old than it sounds). To prepare for our field trip to the…

  • Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

    Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

    Many of us have ambivalent feelings about the wars our country fights. Even if we have concerns for the justifications given to our troops to be in harm’s way overseas, we cringe at the potential damages to their physical and mental health, let alone the chance that they may pay the “ultimate price.” When we…

  • Snowden

    Snowden

    The prodigal son returns! Tim is back on the show to talk about the big release of September — Oliver Stone’s Snowden. Snowden tells the true story of Edward Snowden, a brilliant mind who rises through the ranks of the CIA only to expose the agency after discovering the government practice of spying on its…

  • The Good Lie

    The Good Lie

    In 1983 a civil war broke out in Sudan between the North and South regions. This was settled, but then followed by a second civil war in 1987. More than 2 million people have died in this conflict but, like so much war in the world today, the stories of human tragedy and suffering are…

  • Brooklyn

    Brooklyn

    Imagine leaving your country and everything you’ve always known with just a suitcase and the clothes on your back. Suddenly, you’re a foreigner in a strange, new land. No friends, no family – just a job and a place to sleep at night. That’s the premise of Brooklyn. Eilis is just 20 years old when…

  • The Armor of Light

    The Armor of Light

    Weekdays as I exit the freeway on my way home from work, I frequently find myself at the stoplight behind a car that boasts a bumper sticker reading: “God, Guns and Guts Made America Great!” The first time I saw it I just shook my head in disbelief. Now, whenever I find myself behind this…