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Review of Nomadland the film

Review of Nomadland written and directed by Chloe Zhao
Rating ****

I’ve waited nearly a year to venture back into a movie theatre. Nomadland was the film I felt I needed to see on the big screen. Before heading out to the AMC movie complex, we considered the possibility that there might be an issue with seating restrictions due to covid. As it turns out, we ended up having a private showing of Nomadland on an Imax screen.

As a fan of the book and national parks, I was looking forward to this film. I think we all have a bit of nomad in us. Who hasn’t thought about how nice it would be to hit the road and see the country? The truth, of course, is that the romanticized view of this lifestyle doesn’t always jell with reality.

This film captures the reality:

  • The crowded RV parks
  • The seasonal part-time work
  • The negative impact on your health due to poor sleep and diet

What was missing for me was the grandeur of nature. There were a few scenes that captured it. There just wasn’t enough of them. I felt the film needed to show more of the beauty. 

There are tradeoffs in the nomad lifestyle. The film spent too much time on the hardships without showing the flipside, like waking up surrounded by nature.

Still, I give the director credit for making a film with a limited cast and a mostly ad-lib script. Frances McDormand held the film together. Was it Best Actress worthy? Is this film worthy of a Best Picture nomination? I would say that the answer to both is probably yes, but I believe that there are better films and performances out there.

Speaking of better films. If you want to see a movie that captures the grandeur of hitting the road, I recommend the Netflix documentary Expedition Happiness: two people, a dog, and a retrofitted bus.

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Review of The Pale Faced Lie

Review of The Pale Faced Lie by David Crow
Rating *****

Nature vs. nurture. What factors determine a person’s character and potential? Some parents do all that they can to ensure their children have everything they need to succeed. Then there are parents like the two in this story.

David Crow did not choose his parents. His father was a habitual criminal who enlisted his son to aid in some of his crimes. His mother was a psychologically damaged individual barely able to care for herself, let alone her three kids. David grew up in extreme poverty with poor nutrition and little to no healthcare, despite needing glasses and treatment for an ear infection that ultimately damaged his hearing. He was disadvantaged at every step. Even when he left home and tried to make his own way through life, his parents were there to hinder and discredit his achievements. David Crow’s memoir is a testament to overcoming obstacles.

There have been a few similar memoirs based on dysfunctional family life: Educated, The Glass Castle, and Hillbill Elegy. This book belongs in the same league. I enjoyed this one as much or more than those better-known titles, mostly because of the humor and wit.

David Crow grew up on an Indian reservation, believing that he was a full-blooded Cherokee. He learned much later that no one in his family had Indian heritage. His father was abusive both mentally and physically. David’s memoir starts with his earliest memories and follows him into adulthood. Some of the more insightful passages occur when David sees his mischievous deeds through the lenses of others, like the time he pranked a neighbor at the direction of his father.

I woke up that night with a knot in my stomach, thinking about what Mary and my paper route customers had said and how angry they were. For the first time, I saw my behavior from someone else’s point of view.

How is it that someone like David can succeed in life despite the disadvantages? I believe it has to do with reading. I learned the value of reading later in life. The George R.R. Martin quote says it all for me:

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who doesn’t read lives only one.

If you develop a love of reading, you can escape your surroundings. You can travel, learn, and experience cultures and peoples beyond your limited visual horizon. After reading a Pale Faced Lie, I now have a little more insight into what it’s like living with limited means.

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Review of The Dig

Review of the Netflix film The Dig written by Moira Buffini and directed by Simon Stone Rating *****

I usually disapprove of filmmakers who twist the truth to add conflict or embellish a story. However, I have enjoyed a few good movies that I knew beforehand or learned later contained fabricated characters and scenes: Argo, Braveheart, Gladiator. You can add this film to the list. I’d also put this film in the same category as those other movies.

The story involves the discovery of an archeological treasure buried beneath earth mounds located on the estate of a wealthy widow. There is plenty of conflict to keep the story moving: the threat of interruption from war, weather, class distinctions, disputes over ownership, the actual dig itself done with little more than shovels and trowels. It’s the characters who populate the story, though, that make it so compelling.

It all starts with the screenplay by Moira Buffini based on the novel by John Preston. She provides the blueprint for all that follows. The Dig is one of those rare films where everything falls into place: script, acting, direction, cinematography, score. I was even impressed with the editing.

The drama unfolds slowly but with purpose and consequence. There are no wasted scenes. You know you are watching an expertly crafted film when subtext is the method used for delivering many story elements, such as the underlying sexual tension present with several characters.

The acting was understated but impactful. Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan, and Lily James were exceptional. The direction by Simon Stone stood out. And then there is the cinematography by Mike Eley. Mike found a way to make digging in dirt look beautiful. One brief scene stood out for me. It’s a brief shot of Basil Brown seen in silhouette lighting his pipe. The whole scene, which lasted all of five seconds, must have taken an hour or two to set up, but it added to the overall feel of the movie. You can catch that scene in the trailer below.

As for the invented elements, I’ll give them a pass. I still want to travel to the British Museum and see the actual artifacts.

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Review of A Thousand Cuts

Review of A Thousand Cuts written and directed by Ramona S Diaz Rating *****

What if Donald Trump had won a second term? What if, feeling emboldened and surrounded by loyalists, he started to round up his opponents and have them sent to prison on trumped-up charges? That is what happens with authoritarian leaders who have no checks and balances. Putin has his political opponents assassinated or jailed.

Trump’s ascension coincided with a wave of authoritarian leaders: Putin, Kim Jong-un, Jair Bolsonaro, Bashar al-Assad, Nicolas Maduro, and Tayyip Erdogan to name a few. But none of those narcissistic leaders compare to President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. Here is a man whose solution to the drug problem is to murder anyone tied to the drug trade, including users. More than 27,000 Philippians have been murdered. No trial. No arrest. No opportunity to defend oneself.

Duterte is Trump times ten. He is a misogynistic, narcissistic psychopath. Yet, he remains popular in the Philippines. That is not to say that he does not have critics. The problem is that those who criticize him face repercussions ranging from imprisonment to assassination.

One such critic is journalist Maria Ressa. Maria is the head of a news site critical of Duterte and his policies of fear. She has published stories about the killings and the spread of disinformation on social media. As a result of her efforts, she has faced death threats via social media and condemnation by Duterte.

The documentary follows Maria as she travels around the world, warning about the rise of authoritarian leaders and the spread of misinformation through social media. A parallel story covers the election of Senate candidates, including the political rise of Duterte’s daughter.

The film shows the dire effects that fear and misinformation have on the daily lives of Filipinos. The streets at night are mostly vacant. That’s when most of the murders take place.

The filmmakers finished the film before the pandemic. The Philippines currently have the second-highest number of Covid cases in the region.

The film ends with Maria being tried and convicted on charges of an attempted coup. She is currently serving a six-year prison sentence.

Donald Trump’s defeat may give hope to people under authoritarian leadership. We have shown that democracy can work. Duterte will eventually be held accountable for his disastrous policies. He will be tried and convicted for human rights violations. Perhaps his successor will be Maria Ressa.

You can watch the entire film, if not taken down by Youtube, below.

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Review of The Winter Fortress

Review of The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb by Neal Bascomb rating ****

From the subtitle, you might assume that this book tells the story of a single sabotage mission. That is not the case. There are three separate missions made by different saboteurs.

Two of the planned attacks are successful. One goes terribly wrong. As compelling as each planned attack is, the book suffers from too many characters with hard to pronounce names and a lack of images that would have helped enormously.

I listened to most of the book, reading on my Kindle between what I played on Audible. The Winter Fortress in the title refers to a manufacturing plant in Norway that produced heavy water. The author explains in detail what heavy water is, the production process, and how the Germans were using it in their attempts at building an atomic bomb. If I read that section ten times, I probably still couldn’t fully understand it.

While the sabotage attempts are engaging, much of the book dwells on different characters struggling to survive in Norway’s mountains awaiting orders. Men who have family a day hike away instead decide to rough it in the mountains. Supply drops go unrecovered. There is poor planning in almost every phase of the initial action.

The first attempt at sabotage involved men crammed into large gliders who were supposed to land in a hastily prepared landing spot. The mission was doomed from the start. Pilots towing the gliders navigated by beacon, which only got them into the general vicinity of the landing strip. It was at night. It was mountainous terrain. The men waiting for them on the ground had only crude signal lights that went unseen. It ended in tragedy for all involved.

This book is a perfect example of how images would have made the story easier to follow and appreciate. No matter how well the author tried to describe the fortress, a character, a ferry, a plane, or a ship, it didn’t match a simple picture’s power.

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The speechwriter who saved Donald Trump

I’m no fan of Donald Trump. He absolutely is culpable for the riot on the capitol building. But he will not be convicted or impeached by the Senate thanks to one word inserted into his speech the day of the riot.

Anytime you hear President Trump say something that sounds cogent and rational, it’s not him. It’s a speechwriter. That last video he put out where he said he was going to be focused on a peaceful transfer of power, that wasn’t coming from him. As one person described it, that was Trump making a hostage video. Trump can’t make an intelligible speech. Even at his rallies, which consists of him airing his many grievances, even those speeches are delivered mostly by him reading from a teleprompter. Don’t believe me? Just watch him. He turns from side to side, his gaze never leaving the teleprompters. That’s why all of his speeches sound like a fifth-grader forced to speak in front of the class.

In order for Trump to be criminally liable for what took place at the capitol, you have to show that he knew that a riot would ensue. For all the nonsense about how the election was stolen from him, there was nothing in his speech that even hinted at an insurrection. In fact, his speech contained one word that will ultimately save him. At one point in his speech, he said the following (I’m paraphrasing): “We’re going to march down Pennsylvania Avenue peacefully and have our voices heard.”

That’s it, folks. You can’t say that he incited a riot when you have him on tape encouraging his supporters to act peacefully. Now the same can’t be said about Trump Jr. and Rudy Giuliani. Their speeches were done without a teleprompter.

So here is an example where Trump’s reliance on the teleprompter will ultimately save him. Congress may vote to impeach him. He still may be removed by the 25th amendment. But he will not be convicted in any Senate hearing.