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.
ON THE BASIS OF SEX CELEBRATES RUTH BADER GINSBURG’S STRUGGLE The film On the Basis of Sex is a biopic of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1993 and has authored landmark rulings to bring gender equality to the United States. The focus is on her extraordinary quest to be accepted […]
On the Basis of Sex Read More »
VICE DEMONIZES DICK CHENEY A choppy biopic of Dick Cheney (played by Christopher Bale), Vice begins chronologically in 1963, when Cheney is an alcoholic troublemaker. Soon his wife Lynne (Amy Adams) issues an ultimatum—make something of your life or divorce. Cheney begins his political career in 1969 by serving as a Congressional intern during the Nixon presidency. Impressed
GREEN BOOK FOCUSES ON A BLACK PIANIST IN THE SEGREGATED SOUTH Dr. Don Shirley (played by Mahershala Ali) was a Jamaican-born American musician whose talents Igor Stravinsky described as “virtuosity is worthy of Gods.” After studying and performing in his youth, he decided to pursue a doctorate of Music, Psychology, and Liturgical Arts. The film Green Book features
OUTLAW KING REMINISCES ABOUT SCOTLAND’S INDEPENDENCE The Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England joined on May 1, 1707, to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. Separate parliaments became one parliament, though the two legal systems remained separate. Scottish educational, religious and other institutions have remained distinct from the rest of the UK, maintaining Scottish culture
THE FRONT RUNNER EXPLAINS WHY GARY HART NEVER BECAME PRESIDENT Colorado Senator Gary Hart (played by Hugh Jackman) was an up-and-coming political star in 1984, when he threw his hat into the ring to seek the presidential nomination from the Democratic Party. Although he lost to Walter Mondale that year, he carefully planned for 1988 with
AT LEAST 600,000 NEED TO SEE BOY ERASED In small towns throughout the United States, where college education is a rarity, many children grow up in authoritarian families and attend church services where the pastor tries to explain what is happening by referring to the Christian bible as the only source of wisdom. Jared Eamons (played
BLACKKKLANSMAN IS THE FIRST ANTI-TRUMP FILM SO FAR Released to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Charlottesville weekend incident, BlacKkKlansman identifies President Donald Trump as the fulfillment of the dreams of Klansman David Duke. The film begins and ends with documentary footage. Civil War carnage is presented in the beginning. Charlottesville chaos is captured toward the end.
22 JULY SHOWS HOW A TERRORIST EVENT CHANGES NORWAY In 143 minutes, director Paul Greengrass gives more than enough time in 22 July to explain Norway’s version of 9/11. On that date in 2011, Anders Behring Breivik (played by Anders Danielsen Lie) set off a bomb near the prime minister’s office and then opened fire on Utøya Island,
CHAPPAQUIDDICK DROWNS MORE THAN MARY JO KOPECHNE The Kennedy curse may have accounted for the death of the first Kennedy son and the assassination of the next two Kennedys, but not for what happened to Ted Kennedy (played by Jason Clarke) on the night of July 18, 1969. At 11 p.m., after a party with a
THE YOUNG KARL MARX IS NOT BABYFOOD Those attending The Young Karl Marx might expect to see a baby become an infant, a teenager, and emerge as an adult. But Haitian-born director Raoul Peck, whose film Lumumba received a Political Film Society nomination, starts the film in 1843, when Karl Marx (played by August Diehl) was about 25 years old,
The Young Karl Marx Read More »