"Black Panther" & "Call Me by Your Name"

Two movies this week ... "Black Panther" last night and "Call Me by Your Name" on Wednesday. Each, in their own way, offering a perspective not ordinarily given in mainstream film.

"Call Me by Your Name" - a gay coming of age film, reminding me of "Summer of '42" (1971, a boy and an older woman).

"Black Panther" - a story, a hero (not always super, but full of integrity and struggle), a nation, technology, hope - from the heart of Africa ... not the "heart of darkness," but the heart of light and promise.

"Call Me" dragged a bit ... a 30-minute film stuffed into a two-hour bag, or so I thought ... but perhaps the time is needed to represent the slow and uncertain movements of love and discovery, in that fine summer time in Italy.

"BP" was a bit disjointed at times, but it's a gigantic story well told, with so much promise for future Marvel tales ... and, of course, always fun to see Stan Lee's cameo. Be sure to stay for the mid- and post-credits scenes.

Both films open new doors to the audience ... doors much needed, because on the other side, a whole world awaits.

"Hostiles"

One of the finest films I've ever seen ...
mature, candid ...


the frontier cruel to the bone, for everyone ...
death everywhere ... no one was free from it's chilled hand ...


scoundrels survive until their end; soldiers do their job ...


souls harden; spirits collapse ...


can there be any form of goodness in such a setting? No angels here, no clean hands ... but can there yet be some hope?


Can D.H. Lawrence's quote that sets the stage for the film yet be undone by better angels?

“The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted."