Films that bring previously obscured truths about the political process to the attention of the public, showing for example how offices of public trust are used for private purposes.
MOB TOWN EXPLAINS WHY THE FBI FINALLY TOOK THE MAFIA SERIOUSLY Sicilian gangsters operated in various Northeastern cities after migrating to the United States in the 1890s, trying to copy the Sicilian Mafia. They smuggled liquor during Prohibition, but started legitimate businesses to cover what they were doing illegally. The Federal Bureau of Investigation mostly […]
SEBERG TRIES TO EXPLAIN WHY A BUDDING ACTRESS DIED AT AGE 40 Iowa-born actress Jean Seberg (played by Kristen Stewart), icon of the French New Wave films, flies from Paris to Los Angeles in 1968. When Hakim Jamal (Anthony Makie) demands to sit in first class, she supports him. When she walks off the plane,
RICHARD JEWELL PROVES THAT THE FBI MAKES MISTAKES—TRAGIC ONES On almost the very day when the Inspector General of the Department of Justice filed a report containing criticisms of FBI officials, Richard Jewell was released to provide vivid evidence of the same. In 1996, security guard Jewell (played by Paul Walter Hauser) spots a possible
THE TWO POPES ANSWERS WHY BENEDICT XVI RESIGNED Popes are supposed to remain at the head of the Catholic Church until death. But Benedict XVI suddenly resigned in 2013, and Francis I took his place. The Two Popes provides an explanation within what is in part a biopic of Francis I with many flashbacks. Filmviewers
DARK WATERS REVEALS HOW 99% OF THE WORLD HAS BEEN DELIBERATELY POISONED When heat under Teflon breaks the surface while cooking, small particles of Teflon enter the gastrointestinal system as a poison, a fact brought to light in Dark Waters, directed by Todd Haynes. That fact, however, was well known to DuPont, which manufactured the
THE REPORT EXPOSES HOW WASHINGTON WORKS WHEN TRUTH IS DANGEROUS The 2009 book George W. Bush, War Criminal? Identifies 269 war crimes, but the one that attracted the most attention was torture. Senator Dianne Feinstein (played by Annette Bening) was eager to expose the practice, which yielded nothing of value according to the CIA. The
THE LAUNDROMAT EXPOSES CORRUPTION, DECEPTION, AND FRAUD With the writing skills of Jake Bernstein and Scott Z. Burns, director Steven Soderbergh decided to bring the Panama Papers to the screen in The Laundromat. Rather than a conventional story beginning with a problem, developing characters through various scenes, leading to a climax, the film illustrates various
BRIAN BANKS EXPOSES DISCRIMINATION AND REDEMPTION At the age of 16, Brian Banks (played by Aldis Hodge) is a star football athlete at Long Beach Polytechnic High, looking forward to a scholarship from USC. On campus one day, he encounters a girlfriend, Kennisha Rice (Xosha Roquemore), and the two decide to do some smooching, so
15 MINUTES OF WAR CELEBRATES HOW LONG TERRORISTS WERE SHOT DOWN Based on an incident in 1976, Somali terrorists kidnapped a bus of 31 children going to school in the French colony of Djibouti. The Somalis wanted to exchange the kids for release of their brethren. Paris sought negotiations while a small group of sharpshooters
A FILM TITLE I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS ? That’s right. There is a film with such a title. In 1941, the same words were spoken during a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the government of Romania. The words were used to galvanize support for a
I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians Read More »