BlacKkKlansman is an awakening, a reminder that we can be more like Ron Stallworth, that he is not exceptional, until, perhaps, the very, very end, depending on how you read it, when Lee elevates Stallworth to
As someone on the margins of her own middle school society, Kayla possesses a keen awareness of who around her is being fake and who is being genuine. Even so, she herself is not immune to the desire for acceptance and struggles through several instances of identity crisis.
Most documentaries of entertainment people follow a familiar arc—the innate talent, the singular devotion to craft and rise to fame. Then, the fall from grace and public favor, and the final esteemed place in art and culture, voiced by colleagues, artists, and frustrated spouses and lovers. Neville’s film reveals that Fred Rogers’ path was so very different, but equally fascinating.
Most movies are fantasies, not in the genre sense, but in the descriptive. Movies present a condensed, idealized version of people and the world. They tip easily into the realm of metaphor and symbol, creating and incarnating icons to which audiences can attach their own hopes, fears, desires, even prayers.
The energy of the film is angry, but it is, after all, Juvenalian Satire in general, and, with respect to the individual characters in the story, Menippean Satire, so the judgement is real. It’s disturbing by design.
We believe Ethan Hunt’s relentless passion to save the world because we see it reflected in Tom Cruise’s insane passion to entertain the audience at extreme risk. Tom Cruise will attempt any stunt to entertain an audience.
While it is heartening to see the family pull together when the catastrophe comes, it is more heartening to see each of them recognize when another family member is in a moment of personal crisis.
That’s not to suggest that O8 is without its twists. The surprises have more to do with the characters than the plot though.