Month: October 2020

All the President’s Men (1976)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date October 30, 2020
No Comments on All the President’s Men (1976)

In the classic 1994 film Forrest Gump, there is a brief scene where the titular character is spending the night at the Watergate hotel in Washington, D.C. He calls the front desk, informing them of people with flashlights in a room outside his window “keeping him awake.”

While that is undoubtably not what happened, it was my introduction to the Watergate Scandal. Even nearly half a century later, the events that would lead to President Nixon’s resignation is still regarded as one of the biggest political bombshells the world has ever witnessed, yet it was not as if Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein volunteered knowing what it would eventually lead to.

Tags 1976

4 Stars Movies

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date October 23, 2020
3 Comments on The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

It has always been at the same street corner, across the street from the water tower and a few blocks from the local mini-golf course of my childhood. To this day, I have seen groups of five or so people with signs, protesting against abortion. It has been so common to me (it still happens to this day) that I find it odd when I don’t see anyone in lawn chairs at that spot.

While I am not sure if that qualifies as a “peaceful protest” (I have never heard of any of them being arrested or anything), I was thinking of it a bit during The Trial of the Chicago 7 (streaming now on Netflix). It focuses on the true story of the men who were brought to trial after being charged with the intention of starting riots during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, even though the protests were meant to be peaceful in their opposition against the Vietnam War.

Tags R, The Trial of the Chicago 7

5 Stars Movies

Nosferatu (1922)

“Lisa, vampires are make-believe, just like elves, gremlins, and eskimos.”

— Homer Simpson

While they are indeed fictional (unlike the very real eskimos), that does not make vampires any less fascinating. For over a century, we have seen Vampires as not only monsters, but charmers, cereal mascots, teen heart throbs, superheroes (it was announced not long ago that Blade would make his appearance in the MCU), and muppets that helped us count as kids (“Von!” “Two!”…)

Tags Classic, Homer Simpson, Horror film, Nosferatu, Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs

5 Stars Movies

Psycho (1960)

It was a spine tingling time as a 13 year old on a Tuesday in June of 2001.

The American Film Institute was revealing their annual Top 100 list that they would do every year. That year’s was entitled 100 Years, 100 Thrills. As the countdown was concluding, I had made a $5 bet with my dad (the most I could afford at that time) over which would be number one. He was going with Jaws, while I was rooting for Psycho. By the end, Jaws was number 2, and I had won five dollars, bragging for some time afterwards.

Tags Classic Movies, Film Friday, Film Reviews, Psycho, R, Rated R

4 1/2 Stars Movies

Boys State (2020)

In my junior year of High School, the most I remember getting up close and personal to government was a one day field trip with my intro to law class to the nearby county court house. We spent about twenty minutes talking to a judge in his chambers, which ended with him catching me off guard as looked at me at the end of his mini-lecture saying something to the (humorous) effect of “So don’t break the law!”

I can’t imagine myself at the age of 17 doing what the 17 year old boys in Boys State do, yet it has been happening since 1937. In that time, the American Legion has sponsored a week long camp in each state for High School Juniors, with each state having their own certain separate rules and guidelines (even though most have separate camps for boys and girls).