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Trumbo (2015)
A Very Important Film
I give this movie an 8 out of 10. I think, technically, it deserves a 6 or 7. It hinges on the modern notion that a biopic isn't complete unless we see all the nuances regarding the protagonist's family life. That is not necessarily the fault of the filmmakers. I don't think a picture can get funded if it doesn't adhere to these modern foibles. I give it an 8, however, and, for its purpose alone, it deserves a 10.
It takes guts to make a movie like this today.
In the United States, we tend to get comfortable and forget that the concept of freedom of speech is the most important idea any human being has ever put forth. We tend to forget that the powers that be don't like that idea.
They really, REALLY don't like that idea.
They want us lowly masses to be good little sheep and do what we're told and think exactly the way they want us to think. We tend to forget that fighting against that tendency of power is a struggle, a painful, sometimes lethal struggle. Folks in other countries know about it. They know all too well. That's why, in spite of all the other problems they may have with the U.S., they still want to live here.
But we've gotten lazy. Not only are there forces on the extreme right that would like to dictate how we live, think, and even breathe--now we have a warring faction from the left, seen most prominently on college campuses, that embraces censorship and the "shutting down" of alternative opinions like little McCarthys on methamphetamine. The concept of a "safe space," where no "offensive" opinions may be heard, is nothing short of censorship. Defenders of this nonsense often make the claim that the government is not getting involved, therefore, it's not a violation of the First Amendment. Here's what's wrong with that argument:
1. Remember our old friend Katherine Hepburn in Adam's Rib? In her closing arguments, she says the law has two parts--the letter and the spirit. It's true, by the letter of the law, students harassing and banning speakers on campus they don't agree with does not equal the federal government censoring those speakers. But it does violate the SPIRIT of the First Amendment. The government, as the film Trumbo clearly shows, cannot always be trusted to safeguard the LETTER of that particular law. It is up to us, We the People, to safeguard the SPIRIT of that law.
2. Trumbo shows us the horrific world where the government trampled on the First Amendment from the top down. What is happening on college campuses today is that violators of what is deemed "politically correct" (a phrase originating from Mao's Cultural Revolution, which should raise several alarms on that basis alone) are subjected to kangaroo courts on the campus, away from legitimate, LEGAL courts of law. They are harassed and humiliated (just as dissenters in the Cultural Revolution were) with no legal recourse. If this practice becomes accepted in normal society, we will have a political environment no different from the times depicted in the film. The only difference--this time, it we have started with the people and spread to a government ready and willing to enact "speech codes" for its own purposes.
By now, those who still, stubbornly, cling to the notion that there is nothing wrong with what is happening on college campuses today will have dismissed this review. They might even leave typical ad hominem attacks on the message boards to make what attempts they can to silence me (to kill the messenger, if you will). This should very well indicate that what I've said is true.
The sane people reading this, no doubt, are asking what the heck this all has to do with Trumbo.
Answer:
Everything.
Having been subjected to a kangaroo court on a college campus where I was called in to the Title IX office for teaching Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," I couldn't help but think, as I watched Trumbo, of the horrific witch hunt I was subjected to. That the film so easily earned my empathy is a testament to how well it's made.
I wish everyone involved a long, healthy career in the movies. We need more stories like this, stories that remind us the struggle to survive as individuals in a world that so stubbornly clings to collectivism is a never-ending battle. It's happened before. It's happening now. If we don't speak up and resist, it will continue happening in the future.
Mississippy Missippi Tu-Polo (2015)
Conversational film--A lost art
If you dig French movies and Jim Jarmusch (s.p.?) movies, chances are you'll dig this. A writer has come up with a great title for a book and now must write the actual book. Sounds like the way Roger Corman used to make movies. Except, of course, Corman actually made those movies. I wasn't too clear on whether or not the protagonist in this film ever actually writes the book. I like to think he doesn't.
This is not a typical American narrative film. If you're looking for easy to spot plot points, you'll be disappointed. The film is set up as a series of conversations the writer has with various people about various subjects. Each scene is filmed from two angles. The camera never moves. While the shots are static, the camera is often placed in ways to make the shots interesting and, often, unsettling. This is D'Stair's first film in color and he uses it to good effect. The film has a somewhat retro quality, sort of mimicking old 16mm film.
This is the definition of an art film, so if you're looking for something different and entertaining, this should do the trick.
The Sore Losers (1997)
Low budget, bizarre, what independent film-making is all about!
The other person who commented on this movie is absolutely correct. This is a low, LOW budget production that manages to be entertaining despite its economic handicaps. I've watched it three times (I got that same deal with the three other movies because a former friend of mine was in one of the "Witchcraft" atrocities) and I'm still not sure what it's all about. It is difficult to watch if you are hypnotized by the gloss of big budget Hollywood nonsense. If you can appreciate some kids going out with a few thousand dollars and a lot of crazy ideas, I suggest this as a nice alternative to the crap at the local movie theater.