Several years ago I read attorney Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy: A Story of Redemption and Justice. It resonated deeply with me. I grew up just outside Montgomery, Alabama, the place where, in 1989, Stevenson formed the Equal Justice Initiative, a resource center and death penalty defense organization. But it wasn’t just the common geography …
Continue...“The most important thing to me right now is talking to Lloyd Vogel.” That particular line may not have much significance to you now, but it’s a crucial part of an introductory phone call between a jaded journalist and Fred Rogers (played by Tom Hanks) in the new film, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” …
Continue...When we first meet 22-year-old Zak (played by Zack Gottsagen), he is in a nursing home cafeteria, sitting with an elderly lady and plotting an escape. Not the lady’s escape, mind you, but his own. This is the endearing opening scene in the recent indie film “The Peanut Butter Falcon” (rated PG-13, mostly for language). …
Continue...It’s the time of year for getting together over the holidays with friends and family; a time to reconnect and reminisce; a time for sharing the love; and a time for giving. In a day and age where we are incredibly disconnected, these instances of being together with each other might be more important than …
Continue...Each year, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences offers up nominations for what it believes to be the best work in film from the previous year. This year’s upcoming ceremony looks to be particularly interesting after last year’s debacle in which the film “La La Land” was mistakenly named Best Picture only to …
Continue...The idea of home is a well-worn theme in stories and in movies. For many, home is a place of comfort, safety, familiarity, and respite. Home is never more desirable than when we have been away from it for a long period of time or have dealt with the difficulties of life. For those who …
Continue...I was young when I first saw the Academy Award-winning film, “To Kill A Mockingbird” on VHS. I certainly didn’t understand every aspect of what was happening in the story, but what I picked up on had me in tears. It was my first encounter with real injustice. The book has since become my favorite …
Continue...Based on the 1966 Shusaku Endo novel of the same name, Silence is the story of two Portuguese Jesuit priests who travel to Japan in the 1600’s to find their mentor and spread Christianity. In remaining faithful to its source material, director Martin Scorsese’s film offers no easy answers but begs many great questions. The …
Continue...Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus is quoted as saying, “Change is the only constant in life.” And indeed, the idea of change is one of the key themes of the new film, Loving, from writer/director Jeff Nichols. A quiet, steady love Loving is the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple living …
Continue...This fall movie season Hollywood offers up the stories of two little-known American heroes from two controversial filmmakers. In “The Birth of a Nation,” director and star, Nate Parker, tells the story of Nat Turner, a slave who longs for justice and leads a bloody rebellion. Mel Gibson’s “Hacksaw Ridge” recounts how Desmond Doss went …
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