Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021): The 4 hr director's cut. A quest to keep 3 "Mother Boxes" (not "Infinity Stones") from uniting and destroying the universe. Lots more characters than dialog. Lots of hand-to-hand combat. Can't superheroes plan any more complicated strategy? C+

Sound of Metal (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Sound of Metal (2020): Rock drummer must deal with sudden deafness. It's not a punk-metal movie. Riz Ahmed's acting brilliantly captures the five stages of grief. Movie's sound brilliantly captures the experience from drummer's perspective. Some nice supporting roles, too. B+

TIL: The Conservation of Religion

The political theorist Samuel Goldman talked about what he called "the law of the conservation of religion." In The Atlantic, Shadi Hamid defines the law as, "In any given society, there is a relatively constant and finite supply of religious conviction. What varies is how and where it is expressed."

Here's where it gets interesting. Shahid makes the case that religious conviction in America is being replaced by political conviction.

Review: Caste

From Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson:

I'd been writing about a stigmatized people, six million of them, who were seeking freedom from the caste system in the South, only to discover that the hierarchy followed them wherever they went, much in the way that the shadow of caste, I would soon discover, follows Indians in their own global diaspora."
	Amazon

Americans think they know what caste is. It's the social stratification of society in India. Isabel Wilkerson compares and contrasts with its American cousin (slavery, Jim Crow, racism) and German Nazism. This work offers a new way of seeing an old evil.

Small Axe: Red, White and Blue (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Small Axe: Red, White and Blue (TV 2021): British-Jamaican joins London police in attempt to fight police racism from the inside. John Boyega tries, but does he only alienate family and community? It's infuriating to see racism in authority and feel powerless to stop it. B-

See my review of the previous movie in this limited series: "Small Axe: Lovers Rock".

Minari (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Minari (2020): Korean family moves from California to a farm in Arkansas, seeking a better life. Movie avoids the predictable plot devices in favor of letting us watch the struggles of a typical American family. Quiet, touching, life-reaffirming without being over-sentimental. B+

Miss Scarlet & the Duke (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Miss Scarlet & the Duke (TV 2021): Victorian era woman takes over father's detective agency when he dies suddenly. She faces sexism and professional jealousy from the Duke. Of course the woman is smarter than any man. Mysteries satisfy. Good job at refreshing an old genre. B-

The Dig (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Dig (2021): A love story of sorts based on real life. In 1939 Suffolk, a widow hires an excavator to dig up mounds on her farm, finding Anglo-Saxon treasure. That leads to more people and two love triangles, plot details that detract from this understated and lovely movie. B-

Chief Spivey Should Go

It seemed like a routine traffic stop, so Neco Bonham asked the officer why he wanted him out of the pickup truck.

Instead of an answer, the 18-year-old received an electric jolt from a Taser, punches to the head and handcuffs during the December 2018 incident, court records show.

It took the Richardson police officer about 15 seconds to escalate the encounter into a violent use of force, said Bonham’s lawyer.

Source: Dallas Morning News.

Small Axe: Lovers Rock (TV 2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Small Axe: Lovers Rock (TV 2020): One night at a house party in London in 1980, where Jamaicans slow dance to a reggae blues beat. Short, at 68 minutes. Not much plot beyond girl meets boy, but a whole lot of mood. It's enchanting as camera weaves among dancers and singers. B-

See my review of the first movie in this limited series: "Small Axe: Mangrove".