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Lenard (726 KP) rated The Post (2017) in Movies

Jan 16, 2018  
The Post (2017)
The Post (2017)
2017 | Biography, Drama, Thriller
9
7.1 (45 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Acting (3 more)
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Burying the Lead
Meryl Streep is an American institution. Yet again, she proves that she is not finished finding new dimensions to her characters. In "The Post," she plays pioneering publisher Katherine Graham from The Washington Post. The film itself somehow manages to bury the lead in its own story. In an early scene, Streep playing Graham is at a meeting of the Board Of Directors voting whether The Post should go public. Graham never utters a word. Her advisor/attorney makes every statement for her. This is an indictment of the times, referred to later when Ben Bradlee makes an off-the-cuff remark about why her husband was given the paper in the first place. It is also a subtle clue about the quiet authority Katherine actually had, pulling all the strings though she had no voice in her own company. A later scene in which she retires to the drawing room with the other women while the men talk politics is another sign on the backward thinking times of not-so-long-age. It is here that the obstensible plot starts. Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara pulls Katherine away from the other women to reveal a story that is about to appear in the New York Times. A classified Pentagon report was leaked that detailed how the American government knew the conflict in Vietnam was unwinnable, kept the war going as a facade, and had been lying to its constituents. Nixon and Attorney General Mitchell threatened the free press with injunctions, restraining orders, and incarceration. In the resulting Supreme Court case, Justice Black found that the press is responsible to protect the governed and not the governors. Buried within is the story of the inequality of men and women and the small strides women made to exist in this patriarchal society.
  
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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Black Panther (2018) in Movies

Mar 10, 2018 (Updated Mar 10, 2018)  
Black Panther (2018)
Black Panther (2018)
2018 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
9
8.3 (283 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Strong representation for a change
Hooray for Hollywood for finally making a film in which black people are portrayed as strong and advanced individuals, and more strikingly - an alternative vision of an Africa uncolonised.

In comparison to the other representative blockbuster @Wonder Woman (2017), Black Panther had a less two dimensional villain, and a more developed plot.

Instead of an evil Nazi general or a God of War, who have no other reason to destroy humanity but for the sake of it, Killimonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, is understandably troubled living in destitute conditions as an African American fighting an oppressive system.

His anger manifests in his sense of entitlement, of a life that was stolen from him, and feeling betrayed by those in power who could have rescued him. It is similar to the relationship between Professor X and Magneto in the X-Men series where there is still a deep respect between the two and the attempt to solve humanity's problems in differing ways. Here, Marvel continues to excel in story-telling where DC falls behind.

T'challa is also fallible, he is human after all, and so he shows his vulnerability during one-on-one combats, unlike Wonder Woman who is an all powerful weapon to fight the gods. Here, the women in Black Panther surpass other superhero movies as generals, warriors and activists with more than a love interest type role, although some characters played both.

And while I'm not actually a massive fan of the genre - it is a cultural feat to watch diversity on the screens, which is why I'll continue to like Wonder Woman, while profoundly admiring Black Panther. #WakandaForever
  
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ClareR (5674 KP) rated Lady In The Lake in Books

Jul 30, 2022  
Lady In The Lake
Lady In The Lake
Laura Lippman | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is an engrossing mystery set in 1960’s Baltimore. Madeline Schwartz has left her husband, desperate to make something of her life house and kitchen. After 20 years, she finds herself (mostly) free to make her own decisions and she decides to try and find her dream job - that of a journalist. But this is the 1960’s, and the closest she gets is as a PA at the newspaper.

Addie puts herself in the path of danger in order to solve the deaths of two women: one black, one white. The police are all in in their crusade to find the murderer of the white woman, not so much the black woman. And the newspaper centres around the white woman’s story too.

This book looks at themes of racism, classism, gender discrimination and ageing. Maddie is 37 years old, attractive, yet ageing. She’s looked down on by the men for her gender, and by the women because they think her looks scored her the job. No-one seems to appreciate her capabilities, or even give her the chance to show them.

I loved the chapters from other characters points of view - people Maddie had met in her investigation - and the way that we learn a bit more about her background. I was equally interested to see that the murders were based on real life cases from the same period, and the media coverage was the same as in the story.

An absorbing mystery that I’d recommend!