Todd Field’s Tár begins, essentially, with the end credits: dozens of names in white scrolling over a black background. It could be taken as an indication that it’s time to go home. Once the credits are done, things don’t pick up. The first third of the movie is belligerent in its boringness. It sets up the titular, successful orchestra conductor […]
Movies
Seventy-Five Years Later, How Wonderful is It’s a Wonderful Life? by Dante A. Ciampaglia
Art that endures is art that evolves, that speaks to us across time and experience, that fully reveals itself only when we mature into its sensibilities. As Anthony Lane wrote in 2012, “The Portrait of a Lady that I read in my late teens bears the scantest relation to The Portrait of a Lady that I read today.” A book […]
Colin in Black & White – Makings of an American Icon – By Roderick Thomas
The Knee When Colin Kaepernick took a knee (Knelt down) in support of racial equality, he faced national outrage and criticism. The backlash surrounding his choice to kneel in solidarity with the Black community was roaring. Some white football fans burned his jerseys, posting videos on social media expressing their disdain and disappointment in his views. Politicians and media personalities like […]
The killing of a Black Revolutionary
“War is politics with bloodshed, politics is war without bloodshed.” Fred Hampton’s words are profound and captured perfectly in the new movie about the real Black Panthers, produced by Ryan Coogler, who brought forth 2018’s Black Panther. Judas and The Black Messiah follows the life of the dynamic teen activist Fred Hampton, who rose to become the Chicago Black Panther […]
Pu-239, an unexpected gem, by Gene Bray
Scanning the menu button on the remote is like panning for gold. Rarely is any found. But sometimes a nugget appears. H.B.O. movies on demand P. U. 239 is not a gold nugget. It is the Hope Diamond. The story of a father and husband whose life is shattered. Through no fault of his own. He knows he is doomed. […]
