WHERE TO INVADE NEXT IGNORES HAWAIʽI, WHICH WAS INVADED BY THE USA IN 1893 Michael Moore decided to shame the United States by going across the Atlantic to find where life is better, but in most instances he discovered what already exists in the Aloha State. He begins by praising Italy’s paid leave policy, though […]
Political Film Review #506 Read More »
THE WITCH PROVIDES ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE PURITANS When uneducated people look for explanations of unexpected and unwelcome events, they may revere a religious document as their only source of wisdom. The Witch, directed by Robert Eggers, demonstrates how the Puritans tried to have witches assigned as causes of unusual events. In the film, a family
A WAR FOCUSES ON RESPONSIBILITY FOR CIVILIAN DEATHS IN AFGHANISTAN Claus Michael Pedersen (played by Pilou Asbæk) joins the Danish army and is assigned to the battlefield in Afghanistan (though filming is in Spain and Turkey) while his wife Maria (Tuva Novotny) and three young children try to cope in his absence. One day in
POLITICAL FILM SOCIETY ANNOUNCES BEST FILMS OF 2015 During 2015 members of the Political Film Society, selecting from a diverse set of nominated films, picked winning films that were equally as diverse: For the film that best raised consciousness about the need for DEMOCRACY, the choice was— Jimmy’s Hall, a film directed by Ken
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VOTING CONTINUES ON MULTIRACIAL SHORT LIST OF NOMINEES FOR BEST POLITICAL FILMS OF 2015 During 2015, 25 films were nominated in the four categories for Political Film Society awards—including those featuring Africans, African Americans, Chileans, and Turks. Political Film Society rules require final balloting for only the top 5 in each category, so members narrowed
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VOTING BEGINS ON MULTIRACIAL SHORT LIST OF NOMINEES FOR BEST POLITICAL FILMS OF 2014 During 2015, 25 films were nominated in the four categories for Political Film Society awards—including those featuring Africans, African Americans, Chileans, and Turks. Political Film Society rules require final balloting for only the top 5 in each category, so members narrowed
Political Film Review #503 Read More »
VOTING CONTINUES ON NOMINEES FOR BEST POLITICAL FILMS OF 2014 During 2015, 25 films were nominated in the four categories for Political Film Society awards, though only 5 for Democracy (Jimmy’s Hall, The Stanford Prison Experiment, Straight Outta Compton, The 33, Timbuktu) and 3 for Peace (Beasts of No Nation, Tangerines, Timbuktu). Political Film Society
Political Film Review #502 Read More »
VOTING BEGINS ON NOMINEES FOR BEST POLITICAL FILMS OF 2014 During 2015, 25 films were nominated in the four categories for Political Film Society awards, though only 5 for Democracy (Jimmy’s Hall, The Stanford Prison Experiment, Straight Outta Compton, The 33, Timbuktu) and 3 for Peace (Beasts of No Nation, Tangerines, Timbuktu). Political Film Society
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THE BIG SHORT IS A TEACHING TOOL Not everyone on Wall Street suffered financial disaster during the Great Recession. The Big Short, directed by Adam McKay, is primarily a biopic of economics student Michael Burry (played by Christian Bale), Greg Lippmann (renamed in the film Jared Vennette and played by Ryan Gosling), and Steve Eisman
CHI-RAQ OFFERS A GUN CONTROL SOLUTION When Chi-Raq begins, the screen is covered with slogans shouted anonymously. They complain about safety in Chicago but also paradoxically declare that they love their city. In the first full frame, Chicago’s bodycount during the era of the Iraq War is revealed as far exceeding that of American troops