MULTICULTURAL LOS ANGELES FETED AT THANKSGIVING Thanksgiving is an odd American holiday. A nation composed of immigrants from around the world expects to sit down to a dinner table with an extended family to consume a strange combination of relatively bland foods–roast turkey and dressing with sweet and mashed potatoes—made palatable by the addition of […]
MULTICULTURAL LOS ANGELES FETED AT THANKSGIVING Thanksgiving is an odd American holiday. A nation composed of immigrants from around the world expects to sit down to a dinner table with an extended family to consume a strange combination of relatively bland foods–roast turkey and dressing with sweet and mashed potatoes—made palatable by the addition of
Political Film Review #90 Read More »
KIPPUR TAKES FILMVIEWERS TO THE BATTLEFIELD DEAD AND WOUNDED On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur Day. In Kippur, director Amos Weinraub Gitai provides an autobiographical account of a small portion of the war. He focuses on two reserve soldiers, Weinraub (played by Liron Levo) and Ruso (played by Tomer
Political Film Review #89 Read More »
KIPPUR TAKES FILMVIEWERS TO THE BATTLEFIELD DEAD AND WOUNDED On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur Day. In Kippur, director Amos Weinraub Gitai provides an autobiographical account of a small portion of the war. He focuses on two reserve soldiers, Weinraub (played by Liron Levo) and Ruso (played by Tomer
In Men of Honor Carl Brashear is depicted as a quintessential American hero. Although the film is based on a true story, director George Tillman, Jr., has not made a biopic but rather has added dramatic flourishes to make an exciting and heartwarming story. Born into poverty at Sonora, Kentucky, we first see Brashear swimming
THIRTEEN DAYS RELIVES A TIME WHEN THE WORLD WAS AT THE BRINK OF NUCLEAR WAR A nuclear winter nearly began in October 1962, when American leaders pondered a military response to the installation of more than two dozen offensive SS-4 nuclear missiles in Cuba that could hit nearly every city in the United States. The
TWO FILMS DEPICT BLACK ACCOMMODATION TO WHITE POWER When the major networks announced sitcom line-ups for fall 1999, not a single minority person was cast, though minor networks featured “The PJs” and “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer,” both filled with Black stereotypes. In Bamboozled, Director Spike Lee delivers a riposte to the networks, critiquing
Political Film Review #88 Read More »
When the major networks announced sitcom line-ups for fall 1999, not a single minority person was cast, though minor networks featured “The PJs” and “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer,” both filled with Black stereotypes. In Bamboozled, Director Spike Lee delivers a riposte to the networks, critiquing even the portrayal of Blacks in “The Jeffersons”
THE CONTENDER REPLAYS THE CLINTON TAPES When President Clinton was asked whether he had an extramarital affair, was the question itself proper? This is the conundrum subliminally posed in The Contender, written and directed by Rod Lurie, who has improved greatly from the misspelled and misfired Deterence (2000) by cloning the classic Advise and Consent