Author: Mark A. Lester

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4 Stars Movies

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.

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5 Stars Movies Vintage

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!”…)

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5 Stars Movies Vintage

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.

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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).

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5 Stars Movies Vintage

Mr. Smith goes to Washington (1939)

I am old enough to remember the days when, as an elementary school student, the wheeling in of a TV on a cart meant a change in mood for the day (and sometimes, the whole week). Sadly, most of those times were dedicated to very below the bar forms of entertainment focused on just learning certain material (unless it was The Magic School Bus TV series).

My first real encounter with watching an actual movie for educational purposes came at the age of 13 in Mr. Russell’s 7th grade Social Studies Class in Middle School. I can’t remember if I had seen Mr. Smith Goes to Washington before then, but I had definetly heard of it. So much of this movie can seem lost on today’s youth, mostly that a political film can actually be entertaining (not to mention, as Mr. Russell let my peers know, that black and white movies are not all boring.)

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Movies

Why I will not be cancelling Netflix

When thinking of companies that have been thriving during the tumultuous year of 2020, very few (if any) come to mind before Netflix. 

While others like Hulu and Disney Plus are indeed doing well, it is Netflix that is undoubtably the name we think of first when we think of streaming movies (as well as TV shows) at home. This was until they got a big hit in culture last week when they released the French Indie film Cuties.

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"Top Tens", and others Movies

May I have the (pushed) envelope, please? My response to the Academy’s new change for future contenders

“Well, I could be wrong, but I believe diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era.”

– Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell)

This Anchorman quote would be followed by Ron’s boss Ed (the late great Fred Willard) making sure Ron knew what the word actually meant, that times are changing. This indeed was the message sent to the world by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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3 1/2 Stars Movies

Tenet (2020)

In short, if you were confused too much by Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010) a decade ago, then his new film Tenet is not for you.

Watching the first hour or so of Tenet is like walking slowly into the ocean, unaware that the floor beneath you is not as flat or reliable as you would like (such as in a pool). 

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4 1/2 Stars Movies

Black Panther (2018)

Note: This review was originally written in February of 2018. I decided to bring it back (with some added content) in memory of the late Chadwick Boseman.

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3 Stars Movies

The New Mutants (2020)

A lot of slack should be given to The New Mutants.

While a film’s release date getting pushed back would most likely be due to the film being overall bad, this film has its released date pushed back for a number reasons.

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