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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 […]

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

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS IS ANOTHER REMINDER OF SCOTLAND’S INDEPENDENCE The film The Outlaw King, released last month, ends in 1314, when Scotland secures sovereignty at the Battle of Bannockburn, with the monarch Robert I on the throne. England formally recognized Scotland’s independence in 1328. When Robert I died the following year, his 5-year-old son David II

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

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,

FAHRENHEIT 11/9 ENCOURAGES PROTEST  Michael Moore goes negative in Fahrenheit 11/9, attacking Donald Trump, former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, and the Democratic establishment. Moore begins with the tears of Hillary Clinton supporters on election night 2016 contrasted with the sober expression of winner Donald Trump. Bill Clinton is lambasted for privatizing

OPERATION FINALE PUTS EICHMANN UNDER PRESSURE  The film Operation Finale, directed by Chris Weitz, begins with titles indicating that 6 of the 10 million killed by Nazi Germany were Jews. Brief flashbacks to the Holocaust appear throughout the film. When the film begins, police in occupied Austria knock on the door of someone they believe is Adolf