Home Fires Still Burning

Home Fires – 2016 (3.2). As WWII progresses, the effect on the English village becomes more direct, with local men off to war and their families losing track of them in the turmoil. The various love relationships move along, some for the better and some not. An evacuated unit of Czech soldiers temporarily housed in the area provides a new love interest, the local business baron dies and leaves a mystery and danger of sabotage lingers. The intertwining of character and plot lines still feels correct, though one can always find a few quibbles. Bottom line is you have to admire the Brit stiff upper lip and the ability of most of the villagers to overcome their differences and pull together.

13^th – 2016 (3.1). Documentary filmmaker Ava DuVernay spent a couple years working on this comprehensive movie about the history of using the American criminal justice system to continue many of the aspects of the slavery that was abolished by the 13^th Amendment. She rightly compares the segments of the film to pieces of a puzzle that she wanted to put all together. She interweaves segments from many two hour interviews with ex-con activists, politicians, academics and commentators with historical film and photos. One of the major thought provokers from the movie is the fact that 97% of the incarcerated never had a trial but were pressured into accepting a lesser offense plea bargain instead of risking conviction and a long minimum mandatory sentence. In many states this makes them an ex-convict ineligible to ever vote again. Also revealing is the collusion between politicians (usually Republican) and corporations that have a financial stake in perpetuating the incarceration industry.

Command and Control [American Experience]– 2016 (3.0). In 1980 in an Arkansas Titan missile silo a mechanic dropped a wrench which set off a series of mishaps leading to the nuclear warhead being catapulted some distance off the head of the missile. This documentary eerily captures this extremely dangerous occurrence which necessitated a secret search of the local area to locate the warhead packing 6000 times the firepower of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Archival footage and interviews are combined to chronicle what happened.

Dead Reckoning: War,Crime and Justice – 2016 (3.0). Shown on PBS as a three part documentary, this was a bit of a surprise because it did not go into great technical detail about the process of prosecuting war crimes but instead spent much time on the process by which the crimes are uncovered and investigated. Starting with WWII and coming forward the movie covers declared wars and civil insurrection and genocides. At first it seems there are too many talking heads, but then the realization sinks in that these people are knowledgeable experts with hands on experience investigating and prosecuting the crimes. Sadly, the sheer extent of atrocities is discouraging and the minimal numbers that are prosecuted is extremely disheartening. Local community confession and forgiveness programs in Africa demonstrate a sophistication that seems to have escaped people from other continents. Given that war crimes are overwhelmingly committed by males and often against females, one has to wonder whether a world run by women would be far better.

The Great War [American Experience] – 2016 (3.0). Shown on PBS over three nights, this documentary covers the immediate lead up to WWI, the countervailing attitudes toward American involvement or neutrality, the American entry into the War and the negotiation of the Armistice and then the final Peace Treaty. Our complex President Woodrow Wilson was central to the American aspect of the story, first as a proponent of neutrality, then asking for a War declaration and finally working toward a peace treaty that would create a new League of Nations. Historical commentators are interspersed with archival footage to cover numerous aspects of the War, some more familiar and some less known, whetting the appetite to go more in depth and learn more about this pivotal time when the US became a world power.

Game of Thrones (Season Six) – 2016 (2.9). The saga continued based on outlines of future novels from author Martin, adapted as were previous seasons to be more TV friendly. Martin gave input on the finished scripts. At times this year the episodes seemed to drag a bit in parts. The climactic land battle was a tour de force as it was intended to be. It remains hard to keep track of all the story lines and remember fully what has gone before, but the sense is there that events are moving toward some ultimate conclusion, but apparently not before two more somewhat abbreviated seasons, one of which has been filmed and the other contracted.

Seed: The UntoldStory – 2016 (2.9). There are activists worldwide dedicated to preserving as many heritage seeds as possible for future use before the profit driven greed of corporate monoliths contaminates or annihilates all seeds except the ones the corporation have placed under patents.  This documentary uses archival footage and interviews and fields trips with some of these activists to explain the history of seeds and of the battle to monopolize seed stocks. The movie does not include specific advice for viewers to become personally involved nor does it provide much information on legal battles being waged for protection of heritage seeds.

Snowden – 2016 (2.9). Oliver Stone personalizes Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower in this movie drama, giving us a better understanding of the patriotic geek who becomes a civil libertarian when he learns that our intelligence agents have gone rouge. The film manages to give enough technical information to impress without making eyes gloss over. The DVD special feature question and answer session including Snowden via the Internet is a useful postscript.

Bridget Jones's Baby – 2016 (2.8). Though it is actually the third film about these characters, the second one was so forgettable that this new one, with the original director, seems like the real sequel. The romantic comedy plot about a 43 year old with no active sexual relations bedding two men within a couple weeks is expectedly [pun intended] predictable and it is fun to pretend it is difficult to figure out which one is the father to be, her stuffy Brit former love or the exciting new American. Renee Zellweger embodies the appealing character and the sound track is a dynamic mix of good music.

Grand Coulee Dam [American Experience] – 2012 (2.8). This straightforward documentary uses some interviews and much archival footage to tell the story of the envisioning and building of the enormous dam on the mighty Columbia.

The Hoodlum Priest– 1961 (2.8). Maybe because of the documentary background and style of the director and the earnest drive of young actor Don Murray to bring it to the screen, this true life drama about a Jesuit priest who works with ex-cons and sets up an early half way house in St. Louis holds up pretty well. The debate over criminal justice and capital punishment continues and this movie is still relevant. As with most movies of this age, the musical score is often loudly annoying.

National Bird – 2016 (2.8). Not eagles, but US military drones are the featured flyers in this documentary which follows three analysts whose job was to pore over live video from the drones in the Middle East and make the decision whether to authorize the firing of weapons to kill the people seen on the screen. They each suffer from PTSD. One has trouble getting help from the VA, another travels to the scene of the killings she authorized and a third becomes an activist against the faults of the drone system thereby incurring government action against him. No expert commentary or great insights are included, but the close following of these three people and seeing the impact the program has made on them raises serious questions.

Newtown – 2016 (2.8). A documentary that checks in on the Newtown community a few years after the terrible school shooting could have taken various directions. This one essentially concentrates on intimate visits with individuals who were directly involved as they recall that horrific day and tell about how they have been coping with the aftermath which will last the rest of their lives. What happened at that school was too horrible to comprehend and this movie does not help overcome that. Maybe that is the point as we learn as we see the people in the film continue struggling to cope.

Florence FosterJenkins -2016 (2.7). This movie is based on a true story of a woman with money who mistakenly believes she can sing opera. Her costumes and terrible voice are so hideous as to be funny. Her second husband enables her as she financially supports him and enables him to maintain a mistress. An expected farce takes a script turn as we are given reason to feel sad for Florence and develop some admiration for the husband and for her young piano man. Probably intended from the start as a Meryl Streep vehicle, her appropriate acting cannot overcome the unfocused nature of the script.

Manchester by the Sea – 2016 (2.7). A slow paced movie that tells a downer story is not made better by a script that intersperses flashbacks in a way that is more distracting than revealing, supposedly to create an element of mystery. It may have been better if just told from start to finish, because seeing how tragedy affects future lives is more honestly felt by living the lives straightforward. There are exceptions to this, as for example where a character learns something from someone else and the audience is shown that via flashback, or when a character hiding from his past suddenly lets that part of the story come through via flashback. Maybe a bit of the latter is what was intended here, but it did not come across effectively.

Moonlight – 2016 (2.4). This may be a really good movie as many critics and the Best Picture Oscar say, but it did not connect with me. A black boy born in 1967 is raised in the Miami ghetto by a crack addict single mom and struggles to find out who he is, complicated by the likelihood he is gay. We see him at age 11, 17 and 26. He is quiet and unexpressive. He has a friend who is forced to turn on him at 17 after they had a sexual encounter and then initiates reconnection at 26. The mom is a continual mess. The local crack dealer and his motherly female partner become de facto parents but the man is dead by the time the boy is 17. In high school the boy finally fights back against a bully and is arrested. In stage three he has become a crack dealer in Atlanta. This movie is acclaimed for its quiet nuance in struggling with black gay masculinity, which certainly makes it different. Though that subject is not high on my interest list, I could have appreciated a script that had more to say literally and included more drama and story. One has to wonder whether years from now the film will be more remembered for its artistic merit or for the mistake that the Best Picture Oscar was at first erroneously announced for a different movie.