When a young man inherits a failing shoe factory, he discovers that the only way to save it is to abandon its traditional product and manufacture…custom boots for transgenders?! Based on a true story. [ Kinky Boots credits: Dir: Julian Jarrold/ Chiwetel Ejiofor, Joel Edgerton, Sarah-Jane Potts/ 107 min/ Comedy, Drama/ Creator-as-hero, Individualism, Social … [Read more...]
Ghostbusters (1984)
An entrepreneurial ghost-removal service runs into opposition from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- and other creatures of evil. [ Ghostbusters credits: Dir: Ivan Reitman/ Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis/ 105 min/ Comedy, Sci-Fi Fantasy, Horror/ Creator-as-Hero, Anti-Regulation, Pro-Capitalism] "Personally, I like the university. … [Read more...]
The Death of Stalin (2017)
When socialist dictator Joseph Stalin dies unexpectedly, a chaotic power struggle between surviving Soviet officials ensues. [ The Death of Stalin credits: Dir: Armando Iannucci/ Jason Isaacs, Andrea Riseborough, Olga Kurylenko/ 106 min/ Comedy, Drama/ Anti-socialism/ 2017] External Reviews "This delightfully silly movie is an intelligent, hilarious circus crammed full of … [Read more...]
Shin Godzilla (2016)
Godzilla returns to attack Japan, but this time with an unlikely ally: a sclerotic Japanese government that is disastrously slow to respond. [ Shin Godzilla credits: Dir: Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi/ Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara/ 120 min/ Action-Adventure, Sci-Fi/ Incompetent Government, Individualism/ a.k.a. Godzilla Resurgence/ Japan] Mary … [Read more...]
Good Bye Lenin (2003)
A young man in newly liberated East Germany tries to hide the fall of communism from his enthusiastically socialist mother because doctors say the shock would kill her. [ Good Bye Lenin credits: Dir: Wolfgang Becker/ 121 min/ Comedy, Foreign/ Anti-socialism] This German-made comedy captures, in its own ironic way, the fall of communism far better than any straightforward … [Read more...]
The Stranger (1946)
A post-WWII war crimes official hunts down a little-known escaped Nazi: the man who secretly planned and managed the Holocaust. [ The Stranger credits: Dir: Orson Welles/ Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young/ 95 min/ Drama, Thriller/ Democide] What makes Hitler’s extermination of six million Jews “The Holocaust” isn’t just the sheer number murdered, horrifying … [Read more...]
Key Largo (1948)
A convicted mobster plots to return to his former glory by bringing back Prohibition, and the profitable criminal enterprises it spawned – but he will have to get past a WWII veteran to do it. [ Key Largo credits: Dir: John Huston/ Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall / 100 min/ Drama, Romance/ Legalize Drugs] “I bet you two or three years, we get … [Read more...]
Loving (2016)
A married interracial couple’s determination to reside in their home state of Virginia, in violation of Virginia laws against interracial marriage, leads to the legal overturning of all such laws in sixteen states. Based on a true story. [ Loving credits: Dir: Jeff Nichols/ Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton, Will Dalton/ 123 min/ Drama, Romance/ Government as Bigot, Sexual Liberty, … [Read more...]
Little Pink House (2017)
Susan Kelo, a small-town nurse, fights against the eminent domain seizure of her home -- all the way to the Supreme Court. [ Little Pink House credits: Dir: Courtney Balaker/ Catherine Keener, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Aaron Douglas/ Drama/ Eminent Domain] External Reviews "Little Pink House brings urgency to a fascinating, underexplored theme." --Hollywood … [Read more...]
The Bleeding Edge (2016)
When a young tech wiz discovers that the heart transplant he got in China was taken from a prisoner in a forced organ "donation," he risks his life to save the next victims of China's organ harvesting program. [ The Bleeding Edge credits: Dir: Leon Lee/ Jay Clift, Anastasia Lin, Tony Bai, James Yi / 90 min/ Thriller/ Government as Torturer, Democide] The Bleeding Edge is … [Read more...]