daily stream: the ethics of war on a nuclear-armed planet
2003’s The Fog of War is on Prime and Apple TV on both sides of the Atlantic.
Vietnam War
classic film virgin: Top Gun (1986)
Cold War propaganda that is weirdly apolitical. Sunny, breezy homoeroticism that is surely unintentional. What a hoot this is! Mostly not in a good way, but its impact on pop culture cannot be denied.
MLK/FBI documentary review: suppressing dissent, American style
Beautiful in its style, enraging in its substance, this skewering of the FBI’s surveillance of the civil-rights icon is essential for understanding the near-term roots of white supremacy in America.
The Post movie review: printing truth to power
Crackles with life and energy, depicting a grand adventure in journalism from almost half a century ago with vigor, suspense, and an urgent relevance for today.
Kong: Skull Island movie review: ape-ocalypse now
Boiled down to its bonkers essence, Skull Island is a Vietnam war movie with monsters, a retro analog vibe, and a dash of both Moby-Dick and The X-Files.
Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts (88th Academy Awards) review
“A Girl in the River” masterfully portrays a culture that justifies killing women, its rage subsumed by a dispiriting account of how its customs are perpetuated.
feel-goodest movie ever (The Sapphires review)
You’ve seen this story before, but never pulled off with so much joie de vivre.
Streamers (review)
It’s almost impossible to watch this 1983 Robert Altman film today with the mindset of the time in which it was created. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…
The Fog of War documentary review
Or, as the subtitle explains it, Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. Oh, how I wish we could force the current administration to experience master documentarian Errol Morris’s latest miracle…
Apocalypse Now (Redux) (review)
There are some serious gaps in my film education, I’m sorry to admit, but one of those gaps was recently filled when I saw *Apocalypse Now* for the first time.
