"American Socialist: the Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs"

Thoughtfully done ... lots of information, good footage and stills ... informative and provocative ... Debs was a man of compassion, kindness, intelligence, determination, and faith. He understood history, and knew the heart of America, and cared for it, as few have done. He was willing, at all the turns of his time, to put himself on the line, and pay whatever price was demanded of him

This was a chance for America, but big money went to work, as it has always done, sullied the word "socialist," hounded and jailed men like Debs, violently broke strikes, and did everything that big money can do to alter perceptions and change the course of history, and that was that.

Dazzled by the glitter, America chose another path, and what a price the American People have paid.

A very discouraging docu for me ... just how stupid we are, with our silly self-reliance delusions, and our willingness to throw one another under the bus, along with our environment.

Believing that Big Money really cares about us.

While Big Money laughs all the way to the bank, because the wealthy will never allow anyone or anything to diminish their wealth.

If you want to be disturbed, in the best kind of way, check out this terrific documentary.

That God would grant us leaders like Debs.

Oh, LORD, I pray.

"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."

"Suburbicon"

I "loved" it ... but it's no joy ride; more like going through Dante's hell ... the evil we do unto one another ... all cleverly hidden beneath the surface of our "nice" lives - the image of a 50s suburb.

It's a study in evil, corporate and individual ... lust and hate ... racism and desire ... acting is superb, music, cinematography ... and the little boy, omg, what a fine actor. 

And in spite of a tour through hell, it ends on a hopeful note ... I'll not say more, but this gets my highest rating. 

A bit surreal, as it should be ... sometime metaphorical, and deeply ironic - those who would do evil unto others must pay a price. 

Definitely see in a theater ... and if anyone is part of a discussion group, have at it on this one.

"Gold"

A riveting story ...

Gold-fever.

Wealth, power and foolishness.

Lies and more lies ...

The foolers and fools.

Drunk on dreams, and drunk on booze.

In the end, was he or was he not?
Did he know, or did he not?

Hee hee ... enjoy.

---------

Men and women who would destroy everything for their own gain. Who have fallen down at the feet of Mammon, thrown away their humanity, willing to eat one another for breakfast, wiping their mouth and their hands, on to the next feast.

"The Founder"

This was a fine peace of work, and Michael Keaton, wide-eyed and determined, reveals the ligaments of dreams and power - it's all a mixed bag - wreckage left in his wake, an empire built, families disrupted, and in the end, money - money given to the Salvation Army and NPR (go figure). 

The entire cast is superb - the costumes and settings capture the feel of the times.

And I learned that Grand Rapids, MI was one of the very first in the new chain, and it was in GR, when I moved there in the fall of 1959, I remember my first trip there - going up to the window, the 15-cent burgers and 10-cent fries - I remember standing there and eating. Wow. I was 15 and in 10th grade.

Enjoying the story, feeling some of Kroc's enormous frustration in trying to find himself, and the constant anxiety of going on a limb, I found myself encouraged - persistence is the key, always. And clear-headed thinking and goals, too. 

But, in a sense, woe to those who achieve their dreams. The feel of the movie is morally ambiguous, which is pretty much the whole of life.

A movie for the times ... live and learn.

"Hidden Figures"

A must-see film.

The story opens a curtain on America and its standard operating procedure on race. Here we have three women (bad enough), and "colored (worst) - everything against them, but with loving families standing with them, and taking advantage of what they can, and always pushing the limits.

The acting is superb ... and the overall theme is painfully clear, as the husband of one of the women says: "Freedom is never given to the oppressed; it has to be taken" ...

These women walk a tight rope - their own ambition and ability constantly checked and challenged by racism - not always the violent kind, but the endemic kind, like air and water, just the way it is.

The setting is the early 60s ... the civil rights movement is on, and as one of the men says, "civil right isn't always very civil."

The women find ways and means to hang on, to stand up, to push ahead. They are brilliant in all respects, working a team of African American women segregated to the West Campus, doing their work, shunned and mistreated ...

There are a few white folk around who catch a glimmer of a different world ... and make it happen, even when it's not enough, but something is better than nothing. There are no "white heroes" here (which is too often case in movies); whatever freedom is won, is hard-won, and the whites, if they move, are moved by mostly by pressure, and not by compassion.

I found myself sickened at times - oh, how could we be like this, to look upon other human beings and simply categorize them as "less than us" and constantly deny to them a place in life - the colored bathrooms, the colored coffee maker, the colored section of the library - every goddamn thing marked off with boundaries drawn by whites - it's ugly, hateful, disgusting ... and almost always polite.

The three women swallow a lot ... they find surcease in family and faith ... they love and fall in love and are loved - the irony of it all: as Kevin Costner, the director, says, "our pee is all the same color" when he smashes off the wall a "colored bathroom" sign and walks away with everyone standing around in amazement.

Is there hope?

Sure.

But neither the story nor reality allow us to be naive ... we've come a long way, but the way ahead remains challenging ... the work of freedom, the work of civil rights, is far from complete.

Woven into the story is the character and crust of these three remarkable women. There's humor in the pain, and I found myself, with the audience, laughing with delight at the victories and humor in the face of sorrow, and cheering when a victory is won - like being able to take a night-course in all white high school, a decision made by a judge, so one of the women could continue her education.

At the end, narrative on screen telling us about the three women, and showing their pictures - suddenly, it's all-too clear: this is real story about real people and and a real time in our nation's history.

Powerful, important, entertaining, enlightening.

I came home and said, "What a fine, fine, movie."

Yes, a must-see movie.