Friday, December 9, 2016

Captain Fantastic

A father (Viggo Mortensen) raises his six children in an unconventionally holistic way away from modern society in the forest.  Upon the news of his wife's death, their journey to come to terms with that and how they are living is met with humor and heartfelt moments.  Captain Fantastic is that fascinating journey by writer and director Matt Ross and it is quite a gem of a unique film that is quite engaging in it's simple moments.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

The 13th

Director Ava Duvernay's The 13th is a powerful and insightful documentary that explores the modern day incarnations of racism, particularly in the U.S. penitentiary system especially toward African American males.  It also importantly and intelligently shows the true historical origins and evolution of that sort of racism and how it continues to breed that in policy, procedure, and perception for all Americans. On that note, I think every American should see this film.  There's a real and growing divide in this country and lack of understanding our different historical experiences and how they shape our perceptions and actions/inactions, that only serve to threaten us as a whole.   The 13th looks at this for African Americans and the seemingly recent, racist biased violence that has ensued of late; and explains the systematic, economic driven strategy that allows it to flourish in different forms.