Gloria finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. Surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength. Based on the Spanish-language film.
A woman is boxed out by the male sports agents in her profession, but gains an unexpected edge over them when she develops the ability to hear men’s thoughts.
Director:
Adam Shankman
Stars:
Taraji P. Henson,
Kristen Ledlow,
Josh Brener
A man stranded in the Arctic after an airplane crash must decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his makeshift camp or to embark on a deadly trek through the unknown.
In her much-anticipated foray into the horror-thriller genre, Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Taylor Schilling stars in THE PRODIGY as Sarah, a mother whose young son Miles’ disturbing behavior signals that an evil, possibly supernatural force has overtaken him. Fearing for her family’s safety, Sarah must choose between her maternal instinct to love and protect Miles and a desperate need to investigate what or who is causing his dark turn. She is forced to look for answers in the past, taking the audience on a wild ride; one where the line between perception and reality becomes frighteningly blurry.
The now infamous scene at the end of the first trailer, along with other scenes, had to be re-edited for test audiences due to their intense scare factor. See more »
Three girls are kidnapped by a man with a diagnosed 23 distinct personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24th.
Director:
M. Night Shyamalan
Stars:
James McAvoy,
Anya Taylor-Joy,
Haley Lu Richardson
The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.
Directors:
Anthony Russo,
Joe Russo
Stars:
Robert Downey Jr.,
Chris Hemsworth,
Mark Ruffalo
On the run in the year of 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie, on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.
Director:
Travis Knight
Stars:
Hailee Steinfeld,
Jorge Lendeborg Jr.,
John Cena
T’Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country’s past.
Director:
Ryan Coogler
Stars:
Chadwick Boseman,
Michael B. Jordan,
Lupita Nyong’o
Foul-mouthed mutant mercenary Wade Wilson (AKA. Deadpool), brings together a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time-traveling cyborg, Cable.
Director:
David Leitch
Stars:
Ryan Reynolds,
Josh Brolin,
Morena Baccarin
After pursuing Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities that reside within. David Dunn finds himself locked in a mental hospital alongside his archenemy, Elijah Price and must contend with a psychiatrist who is out to prove the trio do not actually possess superhuman abilities Written by vsuperkuns
Samuel L. Jackson said of working with James McAvoy on the movie, “As good as I like to think I am or what I do and how I do it, watching somebody transform characters in front of your eyes and have an argument with four different people is pretty amazing.” See more »
Goofs
When the guard, Pierce, comes into the office and sees the leftover sandwich and banana he is alerted to something being wrong. However, later when Dr. Staple comes into the office – the food is gone from the desk. It is unlikely that Elijah took the time to clean up whilst reprogramming the computer system. See more »
Forget folding phones, Samsung might have finally made an Android tablet you want to buy. Instead of updating last year’s Galaxy Tab S4 with a Snapdragon 845 processor and slimmer bezels and calling it a day, Samsung took a different path with the Galaxy Tab S5e, adding an “e” to its name to emphasize its lower price tag.
Just like its rumored Galaxy S10e phone, the Galaxy Tab S5e is Samsung’s version of affordable premium, bringing high-end parts and features for just $400, or $250 less than the Tab S4. And on paper, the Tab S5e doesn’t give up too much to its higher-priced sibling:
Tab S5e
Dimensions: 245.0 x 160.0 x 5.5mm
Display: 10.5-inch 2560 x 1600 AMOLED
Processor: Snapdragon 670
RAM: 4GB/6GB
Storage: 64GB/128GB
Battery: 7,040mAh
Tab S4
Dimensions: 249.3 x 164.3 x 7.1 mm
Display: 10.5-inch 2560 x 1600 AMOLED
Processor: Snapdragon 835
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB/256GB
Battery: 7,300mAh
Two things on the Tab S5e’s spec sheet stand out: Its display and thinness. Not only does the Galaxy Tab S5e have the same brilliant 10.5-inch OLED display, it’s about 25 percent thinner than the S4. It’s even thinner than the iPad Pro. Add that to its 400-gram weight, and you’ve got not only Samsung’s lightest and thinnest tablet, but one of the holdable tablets on the market.
Premium for less
Also like the iPad, the Galaxy Tab S5e’s back is made out of metal rather than glass, which should cut down on the slipperiness as compared to the S4. It also borrows the color palate from the iPad Pro, adding a gold color to the standard black and silver.
Despite having the same display as the S4, the Tab S5e has a more modern look, with rounded corners that give it a sleeker, more refined aesthetic. It’s also got Dolby Atmos support and four AKG-tuned speakers for “immersive 3D sound and professionally balanced audio,” and a 14.5-hour battery for all-day streaming.
Samsung also brought Bixby 2.0 in the S5e, the first time Samsung’s assistant has made an appearance in a tablet. You won’t find a dedicated Bixby button like on the Galaxy S9, but you will get a fingerprint sensor built into the power button. A set of pogo pins are also present for connecting a keyboard, and Samsung has built in DeX support as well, so you can use it like a PC when connected to an external display.
But the Galaxy Tab S5e’s best feature might be the most surprising of all: the OS. The Tab S5e runs Samsung’s new One UI, which is based on Android 9 Pie. Samsung hasn’t confirmed whether One UI on the Tab S5e will have night mode or gesture navigation, but even without those features, it should represent a massive upgrade over the Tab S4’s Oreo interface. On Galaxy phones, One UI brings a refined aesthetic and smart interface that shifts content and menus to make apps more intuitive, and moving it to tablets is a logical and important step toward building an iOS-like ecosystem. Samsung also highlighted the Tab S5e’s ability to sync with your Galaxy phone for call and message continuity.
Samsung says the Galaxy Tab S5e will go on sale in the second quarter of 2019 in both Wi-Fi and “carrier-connected” models.
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A girl wakes up after a car crash. Her younger brother has disappeared. As she promised him, she boards a cargo ship to find a new life. Then the shady Gábor crosses her path. A surreal trip on the fragile edge of life and death.
Director:
Ricky Rijneke
Stars:
Fatih Dervisoglu,
Roland Rába,
Orsolya Tóth
On the run in the year of 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie, on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.
Director:
Travis Knight
Stars:
Hailee Steinfeld,
Jorge Lendeborg Jr.,
John Cena
A woman is boxed out by the male sports agents in her profession, but gains an unexpected edge over them when she develops the ability to hear men’s thoughts.
Director:
Adam Shankman
Stars:
Taraji P. Henson,
Kristen Ledlow,
Josh Brener
The true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights, and the early cases of a historic career that lead to her nomination and confirmation as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.
Gloria finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. Surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength. Based on the Spanish-language film.
Philip is a disabled white billionaire, who feels that life is not worth living. To help him in his day to day routine, he hires Del, an African American parolee, trying to reconnect with his estranged wife. What begins as a professional relationship develops into a friendship as Del shows his grouchy charge that life is worth living. Written by Tom Daly
Don Giovanni, K. 527: Scena Ultima: ‘Qual strepito è questo…’
(Lanterna, Maturina, Donna Elvira, Donna Ximena, Duca Ottavio, Pasquariello)
Written by Giuseppe Gazzaniga
Performed by Tafelmusik; Bruno Weil, conductor
Courtesy of Sony Classical
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing See more »
Paying your internet service provider to rent a modem gets pretty expensive as the months roll on—but it doesn’t have to. Using your own modem lets you kick those fees to the curb. Today, a discount-coupon combo brings Netgear’s CM500 modem down to $45 on Amazon from a list price of $63. With many ISPs charging around $10 per month for modem rentals, this deal will pay for itself in no time.
Netgear’s modem works with all major ISPs, so compatibility with your current service shouldn’t be a problem. It’s also compatible with any Wi-Fi router, so you won’t have to buy all-new connectivity gear unless the modem supplied by your Internet provider doubles as your router. A simple set-up process makes it easy for even the tech-uninitiated to get connected, while 16×4 channel bonding helps speeds even at peak usage times.
We haven’t tried this modem ourselves, but it seems to be a hit on Amazon, with 4 stars out of 5 across nearly 5,300 user reviews.
[Today’s deal: Netgear CM500 modem for $45 on Amazon.]
To comment on this article and other Haveaheartsavealife content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.
A woman is boxed out by the male sports agents in her profession, but gains an unexpected edge over them when she develops the ability to hear men’s thoughts.
Director:
Adam Shankman
Stars:
Taraji P. Henson,
Kristen Ledlow,
Josh Brener
Gloria finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. Surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength. Based on the Spanish-language film.
Follow Alex Honnold as he becomes the first person to ever free solo climb Yosemite’s 3,000ft high El Capitan Wall. With no ropes or safety gear, he completed arguably the greatest feat in rock climbing history.
A young man is on the road to visit is girlfriend, when he stops to give a man a ride, but this man is a serial killer in disguise, while driving through a forest, Silva starts a weird … See full summary »
Quiet family man and hard-working snowplow driver Nels is the lifeblood of a glitzy resort town in the Rocky Mountains because he is the one who keeps the winter roads clear. He and his wife live in a comfortable cabin away from the tourists. The town has just awarded him “Citizen of the Year.” But Nels has to leave his quiet mountain life when his son is murdered by a powerful drug lord. As a man who has nothing to lose he is stoked by a drive for vengeance. This unlikely hero uses his hunting skills and transforms from an ordinary man into a skilled killer as he sets out to dismantle the cartel. Nels’ actions ignite a turf war between a manically unpredictable gangster known as Viking and a rival gang boss. Justice is served in one final spectacular confrontation that will leave (almost) no one unscathed.
In the final gun battle, many of the guns exhibited muzzle flashes, but there was no action in the gun, i.e. hammer did not release, gun slide did not move, etc. See more »
Crazy Credits
The cast credits are displayed “in order of disappearance”, as a reference to the original film of this title. See more »
Let’s Fly
Written by David Jeremy Ball and Annabella Short Logan
Published by Universal Music Publishing Ltd. on behalf of Atlantic Music Corp
Performed by Johnny Mercer and The Pied Pipers
Courtesy of Capitol Records LLC.
Under licence from Universal Music Operations Ltd See more »
Sweet holy moly the prices of SSDs just keep on dropping! Right now, Amazon is selling a Kingston A400 240GB 2.5-inch SSD drive for $30. This deal has been around for a few weeks now, but we still love it simply for its ultra cheap price. It’s the nearly the same price as a 120GB Kingston A400 we spotted for $28 in July—a price we called ludicrous at the time. (That drive is $20 now. Ludicrous.)
240GB isn’t great for capacity, but it’s an awesome option as a boot drive on a desktop PC, or as a hard drive replacement on a secondary laptop that doesn’t require much storage space. We haven’t reviewed this particular SSD, but it seems to be well reviewed on Amazon—and for $30 how can you go wrong, really?
The drive uses a SATA III interface. Kingston says it has a 500 megabytes per second read speed, and a 350 megabytes per second write speed. That’s not incredible performance. Our favorite SSD for most people, the Samsung 860 EVO, has promised read speeds that are slightly faster at 550MB/s and significantly faster write speeds at 520MB/s. Still, the improved performance of the Kingston SSD over a hard drive will be massive, and immediately noticeable.
[Today’s deal: Kingston A400 240GB SSD for $30 on Amazon.]
To comment on this article and other Haveaheartsavealife content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.
Ian is an independent writer based in Israel who has never met a tech subject he didn’t like. He primarily covers Windows, PC and gaming hardware, video and music streaming services, social networks, and browsers. When he’s not covering the news he’s working on how-to tips for PC users, or tuning his eGPU setup.
A woman is boxed out by the male sports agents in her profession, but gains an unexpected edge over them when she develops the ability to hear men’s thoughts.
An ordinary LEGO construction worker, thought to be the prophesied as “special”, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing the LEGO universe into eternal stasis.
A cooler-than-ever Bruce Wayne must deal with the usual suspects as they plan to rule Gotham City, while discovering that he has accidentally adopted a teenage orphan who wishes to become his sidekick.
When Hiccup discovers Toothless isn’t the only Night Fury, he must seek “The Hidden World”, a secret Dragon Utopia before a hired tyrant named Grimmel finds it first.
Director:
Dean DeBlois
Stars:
Jay Baruchel,
America Ferrera,
F. Murray Abraham
Teen Miles Morales becomes Spider-Man of his reality, crossing his path with five counterparts from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.
It’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: Lego Duplo invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.
During the first part of the second half of the main-on-end credits, the winning entries of LEGO’s “The Awesome Building Buddies Contest”, which held online through most of July 2018, is shown aside from some of the credits. It features actual siblings pairing together to create the unique LEGO model either on the white background or on a off-white background. If the second picture is here, the panel flip itself to reveal the actual LEGO model. See more »
President’s Day honors the combined birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, in the hopes that we will all continue to remember them and the values they instilled in our country.
To celebrate, we’ve chosen a few movies that focusing not just POTUS #1 and #16, but also a handful of other presidents, from John Quincy Adams to Barack Obama.
And to add to your streaming fun, we’ve included a few movies about fictitious presidents, both super-cool (Harrison Ford) and not-so-cool (Donald Pleasence). Happy streaming!
Air Force One
★★★☆☆
On Crackle
Columbia/Tri-Star
President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) attempts to outwit terrorists in the air in Air Force One.
Wolfgang Petersen’s summertime hit Air Force One (1997) is a slick, adrenaline-pumping popcorn muncher, and a fine afternoon-killer. Harrison Ford plays President James Marshall, who is riding on the title presidential plane when terrorists, led by Ivan Korshunov (a great, scenery-chewing Gary Oldman), hijack it. But as with similar titles like Die Hard and Under Siege, the bad guys underestimate how resourceful and how well-trained our hero is, and he’s able to hide out and pick off the bad guys, little by little.
The movie is notable for featuring a female vice president (Glenn Close), who takes charge of the situation from the ground. William H. Macy, Dean Stockwell, and Philip Baker Hall are also on board. Petersen keeps the suspense grinding effectively, even if the movie goes on a bit too long and goes a bit over the top in the final stretch. It offered—and still offers—a pretty decent fantasy about how potentially cool an American president could be.
Amistad
★★★★☆
On Vudu (with ads)
Dreamworks
Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) helps a shipload of slaves against a charge of murder in Amistad.
Amistad (1997) was Steven Spielberg’s attempt to shed the same sort of light on slavery as he did for the Holocaust with Schindler’s List (1993) The film is earnest and well-intentioned, but somewhat clueless in terms of cultural representation. It also has some very big Spielbergian moments that never played well and have aged even more poorly. It is a powerful film nonetheless, with Anthony Hopkins providing a memorable, showboating performance as the former sixth United States President John Quincy Adams.
A proud slave called Cinque (Djimon Hounsou, in his breakout role) leads a revolt against his captors on a ship, but the surviving crew directs the ship toward America, where the slaves are arrested and tried for murder. President Martin Van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne) is the slavery-supporting bad guy, campaigning for re-election, while slavery abolitionist (Morgan Freeman) and a real estate lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) recruit former president Adams for the good guy side. Anna Paquin co-stars as Queen Isabella.
Elvis & Nixon
★★★☆☆
On Amazon Prime
Amazon Studios
President Nixon (Kevin Spacey) takes a famous photograph with Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) in Elvis & Nixon.
Based on one of the slenderest movie ideas imaginable, Elvis & Nixon (2016) is almost a novelty item. But somehow, director Liza Johnson’s gentle, earnest, and humorous approach brings it together in a diverting, pleasant way. A 1970 photograph of the U.S. President and the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll became the most requested item in the National Archives, and this movie tells the story of what might have happened that day.
Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) decides he wants to be an agent-at-large for the Narcotics Bureau, complete with a badge, so he writes a letter to President Richard Nixon (Kevin Spacey). After the manipulations of Elvis’s pals (Alex Pettyfer and Johnny Knoxville) and Nixon’s aides (Colin Hanks and Evan Peters), Nixon reluctantly agrees to meet. Weirdly, the two men have more in common than anyone could have guessed, making that bizarre meeting a little less bizarre and more human. Even at 86 minutes, the movie still feels a bit padded, and it was a mistake to give the bland actor Pettyfer his own subplot, but overall, this is a delightful little treat. Actor Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) was a co-writer.
Escape from New York
★★★★★
Rental: Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, etc. from $3.99
The master genre filmmaker John Carpenter—who only recently has begun to find the recognition he deserves, followed up two of his classic horror movies (Halloween and The Fog) with this great, tough, futuristic sci-fi story. In Escape from New York (1981), New York of 1997 has become a deadly war zone run by gangs. Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is caught during a robbery and the Commissioner (Lee Van Cleef) makes him a deal. The President of the United States (Englishman Donald Pleasence) bailed out of a hijacked Air Force One and landed somewhere inside the city. If Snake can get him out, he will go free.
Inside, Snake’s reputation precedes him (“I thought you were dead!”), and he meets a wonderful array of colorful nasties and low-down types (Ernest Borgnine, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau, et al), teaming up with the better ones to help fight the worse ones. Filmed on a surprisingly low budget, the movie looks fantastic with its widescreen compositions and ruined cityscapes, enhanced by the sinister sounds of Carpenter’s electronic score. A young James Cameron worked on the visual effects.
Head of State
★★★☆☆
Rental: Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, etc. from $2.99
DreamWorks
Mays Gilliam (Chris Rock) finds himself an unexpected presidential candidate in Head of State.
Chris Rock’s directorial debut, Head of State (2003) might be a little dated in some ways, but in other ways it’s still right on the money. Rock, who also co-wrote the screenplay, stars as Mays Gilliam, a Washington alderman who is chosen to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee after the previous one dies in a plane crash. He’s not expected to win, but he’ll at least make the party look good. But when Gilliam begins to speak his mind on real issues that affect everyday people, he starts rising in the polls.
Bernie Mac co-stars, and is perfect, as Gilliam’s brother, and eventual running mate. Rock’s direction goes more for jokes than for visuals, and not every joke hits, but the ones that do are immensely satisfying. Nick Searcy plays the Republican opponent who says things like “God bless America, and no place else.” Lynn Whitfield and Dylan Baker are members of Gilliam’s campaign team, and Tamala Jones is the hero’s love interest.
Hyde Park on Hudson
★★★★☆
Rental: Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, etc. from $3.99
Focus Features
President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Bill Murray) prepares to meet with the King of England in Hyde Park on Hudson.
In 2012, Daniel Day-Lewis won every award imaginable for playing a former U.S. president in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, but Bill Murray was just as good playing another former U.S. president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in Hyde Park on Hudson (2012). Rather than disappearing into the role, Murray brought his Bill Murray-ness to it, finding ways to incorporate the comedian’s command of a room and his inner sadness. The movie takes place over a weekend, during an auspicious visit by the queen and king of England (that’s King “Bertie,” made famous by Colin Firth in The King’s Speech). In one great scene, Bertie and FDR talk about life and their supposed deficiencies (the king’s stutter and the president’s polio).
It’s all viewed through the eyes of FDR’s distant cousin Daisy Suckley (Laura Linney), with whom he has a sweet, tender (possibly sexual) extramarital relationship. Linney also gives a terrific performance, looking at the president with awe, and showing the slightest hint of disappointment when he isn’t able to bestow his attentions on her. Roger Michell directs, focusing on longing rather than payoff, with an appealingly gentle touch.
Jimmy Carter Man from Plains
★★★★☆
On Amazon Prime
Sony Pictures Classics
Former President James Carter goes on a troublesome book tour in the documentary Jimmy Carter Man from Plains.
Directed by the late Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs, Rachel Getting Married, etc.), Jimmy Carter Man from Plains (2007) quietly follows the 39th President of the United States on a book tour, promoting the controversial Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid in late 2006 and early 2007. Some have joked that Carter has made a career out of being ex-president; he comes across as an awesome diplomat, knowledgeable and capable of speaking compellingly on just about any subject. His discourse on religion and not letting it cross with science is especially enlightening. When journalists and interviewers challenge him on his book, he holds his ground, but as the controversy grows, he shows tiny signs of becoming flustered.
The movie’s major flaw is that, though Carter is on camera all the time, he is accompanied by his publicist, and remains in control, in “performance mode” throughout; Demme can’t quite get to the “real” Carter. Even so, Demme’s scrutiny leaves us with the picture of a very respectable and admirable man.
Lincoln
★★★★★
On Netflix
TouchStone
Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) attempts to pass the Emancipation Proclamation in Lincoln.
Astoundingly, Steven Spielberg’s two-and-a-half-hour Lincoln (2012), a biographical drama with all kinds of educational stuff in it, was one of the biggest hits of the year. Rather than telling the life story of Lincoln, the screenplay—written by Broadway legend Tony Kushner—takes place over the course of a few months in 1865. In short, Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) has just been re-elected and is determined to pass the 13th amendment, abolishing slavery. It’s almost all talk and very little action, with a great deal of complex, convoluted information to get across, and yet Spielberg shows his astonishing skill by making it not only fascinating, but dynamic as well.
The setting doesn’t feel like a setting; it feels like the filmmakers time-traveled and merely started filming. This goes for Day-Lewis as well, whose performance is already the stuff of legend; under tons of makeup, research, and acting, he makes the heroic president into a relatable human. Among the huge cast, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones also received Oscar nominations, and David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley, and Tim Blake Nelson co-star.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
★★★☆☆
Rental: Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, etc. from $3.99
DreamWorks
Sherman (Max Charles) and Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell) meet many historical figures in their time machine in Mr. Peabody & Sherman.
For some reason, there are few outstanding feature films about George Washington, but, happily Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) pays homage to the first U.S. President in a fun way. This animated movie is based on the 1950s television cartoons by Jay Ward, who helped re-invent the format by relying on quick, cheap animation buoyed by sharp writing and voice acting. Now with a big Hollywood budget, the time-traveling dog Mr. Peabody (voiced by Ty Burrell) and his boy Sherman (voiced by Max Charles) get to have slick, colorful, fluid, fast-paced adventures through time, with subplots about the space-time continuum, school bullies, and the government trying to take Sherman away from Mr. Peabody.
Though the jokes range wildly from silly, subtle, and funny, to vaguely off-color, the voicework (especially by Patrick Warburton as King Agamemnon) is terrific. Veteran voice actor Jess Harnell (Animaniacs, Transformers, Rick and Morty) provides the voice of Washington, as well as two other presidents. Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) directs.
Selma
★★★★★
Rental: Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, etc. from $3.99
Paramount
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo, right) tries to convince President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to sign the Voting Rights act in Selma.
Far from just another dull, historical drama, Ava DuVernay’s Selma (2014) is an extremely well-made, highly intelligent, powerful, and gripping movie, done without annoying biopic clichés, about a key moment in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo). DuVernay’s smart rhythms and choices of camera placement constantly play with power relationships, often using empty space to achieve a kind of restlessness. English actor Oyelowo is remarkably good as Dr. King, who leads a march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery to protest the treatment of blacks at the polls.
DuVernay treats King as a human being, full of doubts and flaws, but also a commanding, impressive leader; the film’s focus on small things, one step at a time, makes it seem less “important” than it might sound. Among the great performances are Carmen Ejogo as Coretta King, Nigel Thatch as Malcolm X, Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon Johnson, and Tim Roth as Alabama governor George Wallace.
Southside with You
★★★★☆
Rental: Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, etc., from $3.99
Roadside Attractions
Michelle (Tika Sumpter) and Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) enjoy a day-long early date in Southside with You.
Writer/director Richard Tanne’s remarkable first-date movie Southside with You (2016) takes place in the summer of 1989 in Chicago, as a young Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) works as an intern in a law firm and boldly asks out his co-worker Michelle (Tika Sumpter), not on a date, but to a meeting. They spend the day talking and eating and driving around in Barack’s car with a hole in the floorboard.
Michelle witnesses Barack’s remarkable speaking powers at the meeting. They discuss painter Ernie Barnes and Stevie Wonder records, and they see Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. Issues of sex and race come up, and are handled intellectually; everything flows naturally, without preaching. The final result is the feeling of getting to know two people, stripped of whatever labels might be applied to them nowadays, and leaving off with a feeling of unfettered hope.
W.
★★★☆☆
Rental: Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, etc. from $3.99
Lionsgate
President George W. Bush (Josh Brolin) and Karl Rove (Toby Jones) weigh the implications of a war in Iraq in W.
Known for incendiary, accusatory political movies such as Salvador, Platoon, and JFK, Oliver Stone’s soft, unremarkable biopic W. (2008) came at the tail end of George W. Bush’s presidency and fizzled at the box office. But it’s still surprisingly interesting and sympathetic. Josh Brolin gives a fine performance as Bush, shown as a simple, baseball-loving guy—a hellraiser in his early years—who really just wanted to impress his father, George H.W. “Poppy” Bush (James Cromwell), and got in a little over his head.
An amazing cast makes up the rogues gallery: Dick Cheney (a sneering, reptilian Richard Dreyfuss), Donald Rumsfeld (Scott Glenn), Karl Rove (Toby Jones), General Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright), Condoleezza Rice (Thandie Newton) and Paul Wolfowitz (Dennis Boutsikaris). Additionally, Ellen Burstyn is Barbara Bush, Elizabeth Banks is Laura Bush, Ioan Gruffudd is Prime Minister Tony Blair, while Stacy Keach takes top acting honors as Bush’s harelipped minister, Earle Hudd. Third-hand sources suggested in 2010 that Bush himself saw the movie and “liked it very much” but “thought there were sad moments.”
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Columbia/Tri-Star
Dreamworks
Amazon Studios
Shout! Factory
DreamWorks
Focus Features
Sony Pictures Classics
TouchStone
DreamWorks
Paramount
Roadside Attractions
Lionsgate
Rayden Reviews 