For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots (2010)

Starring: Colin Powell, Halle Berry, Avery Brooks
Director: Frank Martin

Ever heard of a James Roberts? Peter Salem? Phyllis Wheatley? Freddie Stowers? No? Neither had I.

Frank Martin in this epic documentary tells a story of American history little told in grade school history classes. The invaluable contributions black Americans have made is both inspiring and a thing of wonder. Why? I keep wondering. Why do they continue to serve and die for a country and government that has consistently rejected them?

An objectivist, however, quickly sees the irrelevance of this question. More important is the spirit of humanity and the immortality of good hearted men that lives on.

Ah, the everlasting thirst for that strange thing that always seems to be ever so evasive. We know from history government cannot be counted on to protect this curious thing for us: liberty.

"In every human breast, God has implanted a principle, which we call love for freedom. It is impatient of oppression, and pants for deliverance." Fight on, brothers and sisters.


A for narration.
A for directing.
A+ for photography/videography content.

Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts
Director: Mike Nichols

Like most of the films we have reviewed on our blog, there are a number of things you can take from this film. But if you're objective, you'll see beyond the perspective of Congressman Charlie Wilson, from which this film is presented. What you'll take from this film is how US interventionist foreign policy has failed, with the backdrop being the conflict with the Soviets in Afghanistan.

Whether you are a supporter or critic of US imperialism (oh come on, don't show me that bewildered look!), the film shows Charlie Wilson for the ballsy, don't-fuck-with-me, witty Congressman that he was. But dispositions aside, he was in the minority when he realized there was something terribly wrong with the exit strategy, or lack thereof, of the "proxy" war that the Soviet conflict in Afghanistan really was.

A- for acting/screenplay.
B+ for directing.
A for plot.

New York City Serenade

Director: Frank Whaley
Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr, Chris Klein
Year: 2007

**

I gave this film a chance... and I finished it. But the sad thing is it didn't get any better...

That is all I have to say.

**

Rate: 2/10

The Kite Runner (2007)

Starring: Khalid Abdalla
Director: Marc Foster

I believe the value in this film derives almost exclusively from its plot. We're not used to seeing many examples of modern film like these, but it is certainly welcomed surprise.

You can take a variety of things away from watching this film. This is, however, a product of insightful directing powered by the intriguing story of a young Afghan writer who escapes the chaos of Soviet invasion and the subsequent extremist Taliban oppression, and later returns to his ravaged homeland to save a young life...

What a beautiful example of realism: snippets of a rich Afghani culture, boyhood friendship, father/son relationship, and manhood, all in the backdrop of a souring Afghanistan that was once a free and peaceful nation.

But forget about reading any further about Kite Runner. Just go and see it.

A- for acting.
A+ for plot.
A for directing.

Munich

Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds
Year: 2005

**

This film finally quenched that thirst you sometimes get for intelligent action movies. Unlike Ironman and others of that genre which are, in their own ways, spectacular to see and enjoy, Munich offers a shovel too so you can dig into the character as deep as you'd like to.

It tells of the aftermath of the 1972 Israeli massacre and the secret operations led by the Israeli government to assassinate the Arab individuals thought responsible for it.

But what struck me most was the... technology! The world before the Internet! It was SO refreshing... The tensions of not having things be signaled in a millisecond... it's wonderful to watch on screen.

Acting remains top-class, as does direction. Watch it on a rainy day... it'll make you forget it, or listen to it more!

**

Rate: 7/10

American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein (2009)

Starring: Norman Finkelstein
Directors: David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier

Ah, the power of the human mind, and what can become of an impassioned spirit.

This is a story of a remarkable scholar who holds his extremely controversial views on the state of Israel with such conviction, he costs himself his job, and likely any future employment in the academic ranks.

The purpose of this documentary, in my opinion, is not to make the case for or against any nation, or to deliver its fundamental arguments one way or another. What this documentary film presents is that although Dr. Finkelstein's academic research and publications are extensive and acknowledged by a large number of scholars and organizations worldwide, his controversial remarks and academic feud with Alan Dershowitz at Harvard University culminated in the denial of tenure and subsequent termination from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. The directors portray these events as an outrageous violation of his academic freedom and right to the free dissemination of ideas.

No matter what side of the coin you're on, this is an inspiring and noteworthy documentary of a thinker who fights passionately for human civil rights and the right of self-determination to the point where University and professorship status mean nothing to him in the grand scheme of things.

B+ for directing.
A for acting.
A for plot.

Thirteen Days (2000)

Starring: Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood
Director: Roger Donaldson

Donaldson has packaged a politically thrilling piece of American history and delivered it as it was: a time of intense drama, deep-running tensions, internal conflict, and even a bit about the grotesqueness of human nature.

A time of incredible uncertainty amid a fullscale arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union, President John F. Kennedy is thrown into a rock-and-a-hard-place situation. As the CIA discovers the Soviets are building a massive military base with offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba, JFK needs to make a decision whether to strike these targets and possibly provoke a declaration of war, or if he can go the route of peace through negotiation.

Bigger than the historical facts of the Cuban Missile Crisis, however, was the little-told story of the internal conflict in JFK's mind between following the recommendations of the majority of his staff and the CIA for going the route of offensive action, and his own conscience revealing to him the common sense simple truth: an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

Fantastic acting, superb cinematography, and above-average directing earns this film my nod of approval.

A- for acting.
A- for directing.
A for plot.