The Best Films of 2015 Pt. I

“The idea behind each one was we took a film that we like and made the title stupider.  And then made a new film to reflect the new stupid title.  It’s a formula that only produces horrible films, but for some reason we kept using it.” ~Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl.  

The 2015 year in film has finally been put to rest and I say that as the calendar turns into late February.  As one of the many lessons that the film industry gave me this year it was the fact that it has become increasingly harder to watch 2015 movies in 2015.  In the calendar year I watched a total of 33 new movies (including Star Wars five times), but in the last 45 days, I’ve needed to watch another 35 films just to catch up.  This leaves me both tired and irritated.  In the past, I would’ve loved a bingefest movie marathon, but if the last few months have taught me anything they have taught me to enjoy experiences, which makes it difficult to relish a film when you have four more to go in a day.  I have found that the movie going experience is equally as important as the movie itself and I prefer to watch any movie, every movie on the big screen.  I think in 2016, the number of films I will watch will significantly decline.  Quality up, quantity down.  

That being said, 2015 was a marvelous year in the movie business.  By November, I thought I would be writing a much different kind of year in review, but then in the past three months all the good films have come out of the woodworks.  Either that is because this year the industry rewarded more innovation or because my taste in film has become much more select.  I was surprised when I finished the list to find that only three of my top 12 were nominated for Best Picture.  In either case, I am happy once again to give my list of the Best Films of 2015.  In previous blog posts I have droned on endlessly on these films to, at best, a very small audience.  Another lesson I’ve learned as of late:  brevity helps everything (feel free to skip over the longer reviews).   Also my new movie podcast, “I Challenge You!” due out later this month is much more detail oriented.  With that in mind I give you my list:  The Top Films of 2015.  

Two Caveats:  One, I didn’t see Brooklyn (due to time), didn’t see any foreign films, other than docs (It’s hard in Iowa), and wasn’t a huge fan of The Danish Girl and Ex Machina (like so many of my friends).  The second is that I have never been a big fan of animated movies.  I believe Inside Out was a good film, just not my cup of tea.  

THE TOP FILMS OF 2015 

25.  Furious 7  24.  Ex Machina  23.  Tig  22.  The Big Short  21.  Inside Out.  

20.  The Martian - Fun film with great work from Matt Damon, but not the hilarious comedy the Globes claimed or the Ridley Scott Masterpiece the Academy claimed it to be.  

19.  Black Mass - Understandably a problematic film (Cumberbatch’s laughable Boston Accent), but a great performance from Johnny Depp made this a really fun film to watch.  

18.  Bridge of Spies - Solid Spielberg/Hanks Combo film.  A slow burn Cold War Spy movie that proves the Coen Brothers can write about pretty much any topic.  

17.  What We Do in the Shadows - A New Zealand made mockumentary about a house of vampires from the people behind Flight of the Concords.  Very funny, very well put together.  

16.  Mistress America - Not a fan of the Baumbach/Gerwig combo?  Then you’ll hate this movie.  With a good performance from relatively newcomer Lola Kirke this was a great fast talking comedy that made the 80 minute run time fly by.  

15.  Spy - Surprised even myself that this McCarthy vehicle was funny, but it has some truly hilarious beats and should’ve taken home the Globe for Best Comedy of the year.  (Thanks Brandon for forcing me to watch this film).

14.  Beasts of No Nation - Don’t let the Netflix brand fool you, this is a hard hitting looking at child soldiers in the Congo.  With an Oscar worthy performance by Idris Elba, it is worth a watch even though it is incredibly depressing.  

13.  Steve Jobs - I love Aaron Sorkin and walk and talks.  Don’t listen to the controversy around the film, although Jobs is not portrayed as a hero, it would be wrong to say he comes off as a villain.  If you love the West Wing, then you are going to love this movie.  

12.  The Revenant - A good film that let a little too much directing get in the way from it being great.  DiCaprio is brilliant and will win an Oscar for it (deservedly so) and the first ten minutes of the movie might be the best opening of a film that I’ve ever seen.  

11.  Room - Deeply disturbing and almost ruined by the trailers, this is a tense, claustrophobic film that takes the viewer to a place that is unfathomable to imagine.  Bolstered by an Academy worthy performance from my favorite young actress, Brie Larson, and a remarkable performance by nine year old Jacob Tremblay, this is an indie film that needs a viewing.  

TOP TEN

10.  Trumbo - Stars Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, & Michael Stuhlbarg

I’m shocked by how much I liked this movie.  When my friend Amy came home from Thanksgiving, she told me that this was a must watch film.  I laughed and figured that Cranston was good, but the film was mediocre.  Perhaps in reality, the film really is mediocre, but it struck a chord in me and had me riveted even through a slow paced biography.  Cranston is sublime, capturing the almost Capra-esque features of Dalton Trumbo.  In a year where Adam McKay is getting all the coverage for a comedy director taking on a much larger film, I credit Jay Roach (and the next director on my list) for subtly choosing topics with less buzz, but more nuance.  This may not be a film for the ages, but I appreciate the telling of a story that is much needed in our current climate.  

9.  Grandma - Stars Lily Tomlin 

Simply put: if you like Lily Tomlin then you are going to love this film.  Not a single frame is wasted in its 80 minute run time.  Written/Directed by Paul Weitz, this movie is a character study of an aging lesbian who doesn’t give two shits for the hypocrisy she sees left in the world.  People who liked Obvious Child will enjoy this dramedy centering around a bull-shit free view of “a reasonably priced abortion.”  A very funny drive along film with surprisingly deep and sobering moments like the scene between Sam Elliott (doing his best work in years) and Tomlin. For the young at heart in all of us, Tomlin at 75 proved there is always plenty left in the tank.  

8.  Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

When it comes to Oscar Documentaries most people are clambering towards Amy about Amy Winehouse (which I saw and liked), but they are missing out if they haven’t seen Netflix’s Winter on Fire.  Other than a brief introduction in English, this is a foreign language film and it had me riveted the entire way through.  Other than Son of Saul (which I admit I haven’t seen), this is perhaps the most important movie to see this year.  It unfolds like a real-life Les Miserables following the student led rebellion leading up to the Ukrainian Revolution. Director Evgeny Afineevsky doesn’t sugar coat anything and doesn’t tell you how to feel, rather he allows the bloodshed to unfold of its own accord.  A truly brilliant, important film that will make you think twice about situations such as Crimea.  

7.  Straight Outta Compton -  Stars: Corey Hawkins, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Jason Mitchell

Among the many outrageous snubs from this year’s white Oscars was the film Straight Outta Compton.  While it isn’t an unbiased film (since Ice Cube, Easy-E’s widow, and Dr. Dre helped produce it), it does give a relatively accurate depiction of the events surrounding the creation of N.W.A. and the subsequent years of the group members.  Although the film could have used some editing for length, I found it to be an engrossing look at a part of history that many white people, myself included, know very little about.  Combined with a great screenplay and fantastic casting (Ice Cube’s son looks just like young Ice Cube) this biographical film is another example of a must watch in our current social and political climate.  

6.  Creed - Stars - Michael B Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, and a whole lot of boxing. 

The fact that Director Ryan Coogler wasn’t nominated for this film is a mystery to me.  One of the best shot films of the year and by far the best shot boxing movie every made, Creed proves that you can reinvent a movie franchise without losing its original heart (take notes Jurassic World).  Michael B Jordan proves that Fantastic Four had nothing to do with him and Stallone gives his best performance, aside from Rocky I, or his life.  

5.  Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Stars - Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Adam Driver.

Do I really need to write anything?  The movie has made over 2 billion dollars worldwide.  Although in many ways it is a remake composite of the original trilogy it manages to do something very few blockbusters ever do, which is to create complete character arcs for all four main characters.  For the kid inside of me, for the Return of the Jedi lunchbox on my shelf, and for the force, which calls to all of us, thank you JJ Abrams for making us proud to be Star Wars fans again.  

4.  Predestination - Stars - Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook

In the US, Star Wars has made nearly a billion dollars, Predestination has made $68,000.  Based on the 1958 Robert A, Heinlein short Story, All You Zombies, Predestination is a time-travel movie that gets right everything, I think, Interstellar gets wrong.  Rarely can a movie surprise me, but I was so shocked by the twist that I never even imagined the second twist coming.  For those who haven’t seen it (It should still be in a redbox), I won’t say anything about the film other than it is about time travel and that Sarah Snook gives a career defining performance.  I loved this movie.  

3.  Carol - Stars - Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett

As we come down to the final three, any one of these films could’ve taken the number one slot.  The first film is Carol about a 1950’s lesbian love affair.  For some, I’m sure this was a boring movie, because very little actually happens.  Much like last year’s Boyhood, if you were captured by its charm then it’s a masterpiece, but if you weren’t, it sucked.  I was enthralled,  Directed brilliantly by Todd Haynes, who rightfully decided to shoot this on film, the tension of the film kept me on the edge of my seat, breath caught in my throat, for the entire two hours.  Just give Rooney Mara the Oscar now and Cate Blanchett proves that Meryl Streep better move over because there’s a new sheriff in town.  

2.  Mad Max: Fury Road - Stars - Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy, and iOta aka the Guitarist.  

“Oh what a day, what a lovely day.”  Fury Road is a goddamn Masterpiece.  George Miller proves that 70 is the new 30, when it comes to the vision of a director.  If there is a film God, Miller should win an Oscar for his directorial vision.  Over 80% of the film is all practical, which only enhances its brilliance.  This was the most fun I’ve had at the theater in over a decade (I can really only compare it to how I felt about Independence Day and when I first saw Star Wars).  To describe this film in one sentence:  A gasoline-guzzling heroin trip that will leave you shaking from excitement.  Forget the fact that it’s called Mad Max but really about Charlize Theron, forget the fact that the plot consists of a gigantic chase, forget the fact that there are probably a hundred lines of dialogue throughout the film, this is what innovation looks like.  As an artist, Fury Road is what we should all aspire to be.  

1.  Spotlight - Stars - Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and a whole lot more. 

It would take something pretty extraordinary to beat Mad Max.  For years the gold standard in journalism based film was All the President’s Men, about the Watergate scandal.  That standard has now changed.  Spotlight is a masterpiece.  It is a sobering look at power in Religious America.  It has the best cast (with a remarkable performance by Mark Ruffalo), one of the best directors (second to George Miller), a terrific screenplay, and tells a very important story.  I was raised on the morality of print media journalism.  My mother worked for the local town newspaper, I worked for the local town newspaper, and now one of my best friend’s is a member of the Print media (he and I saw this film together).  If you like print media, then this is the film for you.  If you like uncovering the truth, then this is a movie for you.  If you like movies, then this is a movie for you.  I applaud director Tom McCarthy’s levelheaded vision and egoless style allowing actors to just act.  This is a film for the ages.

Undecided

In the 2004 Election Cycle, Samantha Bee of the Daily Show did a quick segment on undecided voters.  By the end of the piece, she was yelling at them because none of them could make up their minds.  I laughed, because I knew there was no way I could ever be an undecided voter.  In an election cycle that plays out on TV and online you can find out a candidates opinion on anything and everything with a click of the button.  There's NO WAY anyone can be an undecided voter in 2016.  

I’m an undecided voter.  

About a month ago I went to hear Bernie Sanders speak.  I enjoyed what he had to say and then two weeks ago I went online an endorsed him for President.  I say endorsed, but it’s not like I have any power, so ‘endorsed’ really is I just said my opinion on social media.  I did it for two reasons.  The first was that I had bought in to Bernie Sander’s future and thought that he can accomplish a lot of what he says he’ll do.  The second was to get people off my back.  Since I am an Iowan, now more than ever, people care about who I’m caucusing for on Monday.  I said, “I’m feeling the Bern,” and moved on with things of importance like laundry.  However today, I am once again undecided.  

In a way I was always undecided because even when I said I would support Bernie, I didn’t even mean that I would support him first.  You see, I’m planning on caucusing for Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Senator, who I adore.  If you’re wondering is she on the ballot?  Nope.  I figured I would walk into the caucus, say my peace, have no one agree with me, and then go over to the Sanders camp.  I take the caucus very seriously, in fact, it is my favorite part about being an Iowan.  I believe a person should vote for the candidate that best represents the America that they believe in whether they have a chance at winning or not.  I like certain aspects of all the candidates, but Warren, I believe, is the best combination of them both, and since she won’t garner enough attention, there is little harm in caucusing for her and then moving on to another candidate.  The only change is that I don’t know if that candidate will be Bernie Sanders.  

My problem with Bernie Sanders is the same problem I’ve always had with him.  The majority of what he says represents empty rhetoric.  It feels like very little of what he says could actually ever be accomplished.  His ideas feel too “pie in the sky” for modern America.  And I know that Bernie proponents will quote his line on wall street or talk about how as Mayor he worked well with Republicans or his VA bill with John McCain shows real bi-partisian leadership, but none of those situations involves the United States Congress.  A congress that in the last few years has made it abundantly clear that being on opposite sides of the party line is evil.  Bernie’s America reminds me of President Santos in the West Wing and while my heart years for his future, my brain knows better.  

My problem with Hillary is that she’s packaged, bought, and payed for.  She is a true politician that runs with hypocrisy lining many of her campaign promises.  She’s no longer the Hillary Clinton of 1993 (Who I loved).  She’s become like a Nascar vehicle, with hands in too many money jars, but still part of a pastime.  I like Hillary Clinton, but my eighteen year old idealist self would’ve loved Sanders.  

My recent return to the undecided column stems from two very important endorsements.  The first was in October and was made by Howard Dean.  I love Howard Dean.  To this day I still claim that if Dean had won the ’04 nomination, he would’ve beat Bush in a landslide.  Dean’s endorsement carries a lot of weight in my mind.  The second came today with the endorsement by Gabrielle Giffords.  Those who know me don’t need me to tell you how much sway Giffords opinions have over me.  Besides the fact that she was once my boss, she still represents what I believe is the perfect American Candidate.  Giffords ran as a moderate Democrat in a red state and put personality before politics.  Her opinion matters to me a lot.  

As Democrats this election comes down to a decision between our hearts and our minds.  Our hearts believe in Sanders, but our minds know that Clinton has the best chance to beat the Republicans come November.  For me, the decision comes down to issues like Gun Control, where Clinton leads the pack and Sanders has a less than stellar background (Don’t tell me you have a D from the NRA, I think the NRA is insane so why would I listen to their grading system).  Issues like campaign finance, where Sanders is far in front and Clinton is somewhere in the PAC in the back.  And issues like education reform, where I think both Clinton and Sanders don’t know what they’re talking about and O’Malley has the only logically sound plan (my opinion).  

This is why I'm an undecided voter for the first time in my life.  I can honestly tell you that I have no idea who I will caucus for on Monday night.  For the first time in my life, I’m just the voter being laughed at by Samantha Bee, but I think I’m ok with that because whoever I decide to caucus for, I know will be the hardest political decision I’ve ever made.  And I’m proud that I take something as “silly” as one, individual vote so seriously.  

Can’t we just Draft Warren?  

God Hates the Green Bay Packers & Won't Stop the Next Mass Shooting

At the end of the Packers epic revenge victory over the dreaded Seattle Seahawks, Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was asked about the game and responded by saying, “I think God was a Packer fan tonight so he was taking care of us.”  However, unfortunately for diehard Packer backers such as myself, the Packers were humiliated this past Sunday by their old nemesis the Denver Broncos leading me to one logical conclusion:  God Hates the Green Bay Packers.

I, myself, am not religious.  I find organized religion to be inherently political, dangerous, and only somewhat truly faith-based.  However, I do have a very strong faith in a power greater than myself and have zero problem calling that power “God”, although a much different interpretation than many who go to church on Sunday.  Nevertheless, my faith is something that has helped me through many a rough patch in the past few years and through prayer and meditation I have found solace in both my higher power and the world around me.  With this faith in mind and the previous knowledge I have from years of higher learning I feel comfortable making a declarative statement.  God doesn’t hate the Green Bay Packers, because God isn’t a football fan.  And I will raise that statement with one more, this one directly from God’s Lips (perhaps not verbatim), “Stop praying on social media”  

Prayer is a beautiful, selfless, powerful, and sometimes healing thing.  Prayer on Facebook is hypocritical, stupid, self-centered, and worthless.  Every time there is a tragedy in this country, such as a school shooting, you rarely find out about it from the news.  Instead you find out because your news feed becomes filled with “I’m praying for the victims of _______ High School.”  That prayer is worthless and in many ways apathetic towards the actual pain and suffering of the victims.  Let me clarify that if you sit at home and pray to God for the victims that is not necessarily worthless (again dependent on your beliefs), but most important it is by no means harmful.  However, the second you post on social media that you pray for the victims, you are no longer praying, but bragging.  You no longer care foremost for the victims, but rather care foremost that others know that you think you care foremost for the victims.  Praying on social media is entirely founded on the “look at me” principle.  Prayer on social media is equivalent to the girl interviewed by CNN after a school shooting because she once knew a friend whose sister was friend’s with one of the victims.  It screams for attention and asks the public to make sure that while this terrible thing is going on elsewhere, please keep in mind how I’m dealing with this.  For those of you who are guilty of this crime (which is the majority of you and at one point or another, I’m sure myself included), don’t worry this doesn’t make you a bad person.  Sometimes in an age where most thoughts are turned into statuses saying that you pray for the victims just feels like the right thing to do.  Like when you find out your friend’s mother died and say “I’m sorry.”  Being sorry doesn’t matter, but it feels like the polite thing to do.  

The problem with this prayer status reaction is that it can lead to inaction.  We all say our thoughts and prayers and then go about our regular lives and wait for the next terrible atrocity.  When given the opportunity to “Facebook pray,” we must instead turn to action.  I had written this post weeks ago and was about to post it online when the France attacks occurred.  If the aftermath of that terrible tragedy I was afraid that I would receive backlash for my writing (because of course I expect everyone to read this and not just the regular 50 +/- that actually do).  I was wrong and now I’ll even go a step further. One, God is not a football fan and two, God will not stop a mass shooting.  If God wanted to stop atrocities, he/she/it would’ve ended the Holocaust.  God will not take the guns out of a mass murderers hand.  It’s our job.  

There have been 355 mass shootings this year in America, there have been 336 days.  Do you have enough time to say thoughts and prayers for each one?  DO SOMETHING. If changing gun laws can save ONE life, just one, and the only ways it can affect you is by making you wait a little longer for purchase and certain extremely dangerous weapons won’t be able to be purchased, then I am all for it.  You should too, because it's part of the American credo.  We are the United States of America, not the Isolated people who only care about their own liberties of America.  It's the people who hide their ignorance behind the second amendment who make me ashamed of this country.  My biggest reason for shame is that those of you who hide behind the amendment, I can guarantee pick and choose which other amendments to follow by the letter of the law.  Many of you are also the same people who say we must follow the Bible directly, but pick and choose which parts to live by.    

Stop praying on Facebook for the victims.  Call your Congressman/woman.  Start a petition.  Join a Political Organization (I am a member of the Americans for Responsible Solutions run by my former boss and friend Gabrielle Giffords).  Do something rather than bragging about your feelings.  God doesn’t care if my Green Bay Packers win the Superbowl and God won’t stop the next shooting or the one after that.  Maybe we can.  

If you are wondering where I got my information for this blog, just go to the bible.  Matthew 6:5-6: “And when thou praise, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men...when though praise, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret..."

Bold Predictions: The Time for Unbridled Optimism

September: Tis the season for unbridled optimism.  September is the time for a new semester, for new loves, for new chances, for new opportunities to break into the administration building to plant a pirate flag (surely not personal experience).  For sports fans, September is the beginning of football season, both college and professional, and for baseball fans it represents the final push for the playoffs.  The lazy dog days are over and its back to work.  For me, September represents two things I have almost never been witness to before.  The first, for someone who is not in school and not employed, September looks a lot like August (I hate it) and second, the Chicago Cubs are in contention and are, in fact, good.  The first needs to be fixed, but the second is a godsend.  Finally we have a good team.  Despite injuries, the Packers look good.  The Irish may be in contention for the College Football playoff.  The Hawkeyes look mediocre, but I still have hope..  Plus, I’ve got enough projects planned that I might be unemployed, but soon I’ll be busy again.  So in the week that I have before my unbridled optimism fads, I present my Bold Predictions for Fall 2015, the year, and beyond:

Sports:  Football

College:  The Iowa Hawkeyes will go 8-4, Kirk Ferentz will keep his job, they will play in a bowl game on January 1 in Florida, they’ll play an SEC team and probably lose, and if Jeb Bush is still in the race, he will magically put on a Hawkeyes hat and say he’s always been a fan.  The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will finish the season 11-1, make the playoff, and Malik Zaire will be a Heisman finalist.  The College Football Playoff will include Ohio State, Alabama, TCU, and Notre Dame (In that order).  The Heisman Award finalists will include Trevone Boykin (TCU), JT Barrett (OSU), Malik Zaire (ND), Leonard Fournette (LSU), and Cody Kessley (USC).  The National Championship will be won by Notre Dame, but when my magical world doesn’t happen, TCU will win the National Championship behind their Heisman Winner Trevone Boykin.  

Professional:  Fantasy Football I will win at least two of my leagues and Agents of Sam Shields will be secretly thought of as a clever name in my league.  AFC Division winners:  Patriots, Bengals (Don’t let me down), Colts, Broncos, Chiefs (WC), Dolphins (WC).  Dolphins top Bengals, Patriots top Chiefs, Broncos top Dolphins, Colts beat Patriots, Peyton Manning comes up short again, Indianapolis Colts win the AFC.  NFC Division Winners:  Cowboys, Packers, Panthers (God the NFC South Sucks), Seahawks, Eagles (WC), Giants (WC).  Wild Card Rules Eagles beat Cowboys, Panthers get destroyed by Giants, Packers beat Giants, Seahawks beat Eagles, Packers beat Seahawks in Lambeau, Green Bay Packers represent the NFC.  Packers win the Superbowl (I’m a Packers fan, so if this doesn’t happen Colts win the Superbowl).  League MVP:  Andrew Luck.   

Extras:  Roger Goodell makes another error when handling a disciplinary action, he keeps his job, but announces he’ll be stepping down in 2018.  After nine teams make valid arguments for the College Playoff in March 2016, the NCAA announces the Eight team playoff.  Peyton Manning gets injured in the latter half of the season, which ends up costing him the AFC Championship.  A Manatee will accurately pick 9 out of the 12 playoff teams and make the news for two weeks.

Baseball:  MLB

American League:  The Blue Jays win the division and millions of people in Montreal claim they liked the Toronto team all along, Royals, and Astros also take their divisions with the Yankees and Rangers playing in the Wild Card Playoff.  Royals dispatch the Yankees in four,  Astros upset the Blue Jays in five, Royals take the Pennant in Six. National League:  In a massive miracle, the imploding Nationals turn their season around and beat the Mets for the division.  The Cardinals and Dodgers win with the Pirates and Cubs playing for the Wild Card Playoff.  Cubs Win and play the Nationals destroying them in four, Cardinals take out the dodgers in four.  Cardinals play the Cubs and all of my dreams come true, the CUBS win the Pennant and take out the Royals…Or it turns out their isn’t magic and the Cardinals win the Pennant in five.  World Series:  The Cubs win…Or the Missouri World Series goes Seven Games and the Royals upset the Cardinals.  Royals win.  Joe Maddon wins Manager of the year.  AL MVP:  Josh Donaldson (Blue Jays) and NL MVP:  Bryce Harper (Nationals).  

This predictions thing is fun so I’ll keep going…

Politics:  

The Republican Nominee will not by Donald Trump and his running mate will not be Sarah Palin, although he will win more than one primary/caucus.  The Republican Nominee will be Marco Rubio and he will choose John Kasich as his running mate.  Bernie Sanders will win one caucus/primary but will not be the nominee.  Joe Biden will enter the race (And I will caucus for him), but unfortunately will not garner enough support to beat Hillary Clinton.  Clinton will suffer another two months of email problems, but then get on track after New Hampshire.  The election will be Rubio/Kasich vs. Clinton/Patrick (Deval Patrick of Massachusetts).  

Movies:

Best Picture: Ten movies will be nominated for best picture including one overwhelming crowd favorite: Inside Out, Steve Jobs, The Hateful Eight, Joy, The Revenant, Suffragette, Trumbo, The Danish Girl, Spotlight, Brooklyn, and Bridge of Spies.  In the weeks leading up to the Oscar nominations people will hold out hope for crowd favorite Mad Max, but alas it won’t happen.  No Idea who will win, but I predict I will love Spotlight.  Best Actor:  Michael Fassbender(Steve Jobs), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant), Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), Johnny Depp (Black Mass), Michael Caine (Youth).  I will hold out hope that Joseph Gordon Levitt gets the final nom for either Snowden or The Walk.  Michael Fassbender will win Best Actor. Best Actress:  Cate Blanchett (Carol), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn), Lily Tomlin (Grandma), Carey Mulligan (Suffragette), and Charlize Theron (Mad Max).  Lily Tomlin will win best actress.  Best Supporting Actor:  Someone from The Hateful Eight, Jason Segel (The End of the Tour), Benicio Del Toro (Sicario), Someone from Spotlight, Tom Hardy (The Revenant).  Best Supporting Actress:  Rooney Mara (Carol), Julie Walters (Brooklyn), Meryl Streep (Suffragette), Lara Linney (Genius), Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs).  Rooney Mara Will win.  

Bonus:  Jon Hamm will finally win an Emmy.  His speech will be cute and funny.  I love Jon Hamm.   

Hand in Hand

I am proud of the country that I live in, but I am also equally scared by it.  We live in a country that could possibly see Donald Trump as its Republican Nominee for President.  A country that celebrates Women’s Equality Day while only giving women 77 cents on the dollar compared to men, a country where police beat and kill black men and women, a country that has the highest rate of gun deaths, and a country where its leaders can barely agree on a lunch order let alone a budget.  This being said, we are still an amazing country and we have come a long way since our beginnings.  We are a country based on sacrifice, pride, hope, and dreams.  Our foundations are built on the core principles of liberty and freedom, but are also built on the backs of people we owned.  America as a whole is great, extremely flawed, but great.  We can never forget where we come from, both good and bad, because if we do we immediately forget where we are going. 

One of our biggest problems as a country is race relations, which is really just a catch all that white people (like I am doing now) use because we can’t think of anything else to say.  The most recent attacks on black Americans by white police officers has sparked a whole new round of anger and thank God it did.  The internet has brought some terrible things (Josh Duggar had it coming), but one of the best things it has created is a forum for discussion that our parents couldn’t have even dreamed of.  Where people from across the country can argue and debate topics that hid away in southern textbooks and behind words like “pride” and “American right”.  Today, we are still an incredibly unequal society, but we can never forget where we came from.  One of my mentors was eating lunch with me back in February and the topic of “race relations” came up.  My mentor, an African American man 30 or so years removed from his childhood in the slums said to me, “I understand all of these protests, but anyone born today needs to remember that they aren’t lynching my family anymore.”  Now I know that a lot of people would say that we have replaced a rope noose with a policeman’s barrel, but the point he was trying to make was that even with our major problems today, they aren’t as bad as they were yesterday.  Within our own parent’s lifetimes the mass population went to segregated schools, there was no equal rights act, and black kids were met with water hoses just for sitting in a cafe.  We have come a long way, but we still have an awfully long hill ahead.  We can’t climb it alone.  

I have seen a lot of people talk about the #blacklivesmatter movement and fight back with things like #policelivesmatter.  I have seen the students for life campaign #CallhimEmmett trying to compare the brutal assassination (and yes it was an assassination, not just a murder) of Emmett Til for hitting on a white woman to modern day abortion.  I have also seen arguments from both sides of the debate (I hate that people in the media still call it a debate) that see the opposite position as demons.  This type of narrative doesn’t help anyone.  Yes, police lives do matter, but #blacklivesmatter doesn’t negate that.  The purpose of the movement is to shine light on a massive issue.  Police lives do matter and when an officer is gunned down in the line it is a tragedy.  But the movement is trying to make a point of the disenfranchised, of the people who are being innocently murdered by the dozen.  I saw a great meme the other day (I cannot believe I just wrote that), it is the picture on your left.  I think it is an apt stereotype representation of some of our current perception issues, but I would add another picture.  One of a police officer murdering a black teenager and the other of an officer working the beat, protecting and serving.  One is how many of us see them, the other is how they actually are (again I understand this goes against the purpose of the meme but I am just trying to prove a point).  On the left we see the small population and on the right we should see regular people going about their lives.  We need to fix this meme.  However fixing the meme will take a lot more work than just an hour on photoshop.  It will take all that this great nation has to offer.  It will be hard and it won’t come easy.  It cannot be done by a hashtag on twitter.  It must be done by the black teenager and by the white police officer.  We must join hands to fix this problem together.  It sounds like a difficult road.  It sounds like a dream.  

On this date, fifty-two years ago, Dr King was right when he told us of his dream.  When he said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” he was speaking about the very fight that stands in front of us today.  “I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists…one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers”  Take out the words “Alabama” and replace them with Ferguson.  Take out little black boys and black girls and put in Black American Citizens and take out little white boys and white girls and put in the police department.  It sounds incredibly hard, but that’s why it's a dream.  I still have hope; perhaps you do as well.  So on this day of memory let us look back on yesterday and salute those who have paved the road from which we must continue their struggle.  “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.  And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.  It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”  

Americans are Stupid

I woke up this morning to use the bathroom and I threw up.  I actually threw up because of something I watched on the news.  Today a reporter and her photographer were shot dead on morning television while doing a puff piece on a local waterpark.  The reporter, Alison Parker was 24 and the photographer, Adam Ward was 27.  This morning I was reminded of another shooting that happened four years ago when a gunman shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords & thirteen others, some of them my friends.  It also reminded me of a night in Aurora, a morning in Newtown, a college in Santa Monica, a mall in Iowa, a family in Virginia…..THIS doesn’t happen other places.  Could all of these events have been avoided if we had stricter gun control laws?  No of course not, but what about a few of them?  I am physically sickened.  When a soldier goes into battle, he walks in knowing the risk that his life could end at any moment.  This is evil, but this is necessary evil, not that our American soldiers die, but that they understand the parameters and risks of their jobs (this is also why every time you meet a service person you should thank them).  I am a teacher and on no comparative scale to a soldier, the risk of my job is poorly educating young, impressionable minds; playing educational roulette with a student’s well being.  I know my risk.  Do I really live in a country where a reporter or a Congresswoman or a first grader should understand that they have the same career risk as a soldier?  That is the America I currently live in.  Why?  Because people think gun control is the same as gun abolishment.  Because people believe so blindly in the second amendment that they have no problem forgetting about the first, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, or the majority of them when it comes to issues like immigration or terrorism or religion.  Because it took until 1865 to abolish slavery and until 1920 to allow women the right to vote.  Because people think that #blacklivesmatters means #killthepolice.  Because Donald Trump is winning in the polls.  Because the American public as a whole is incredibly stupid.  They all have to do with each other.  

I have a good friend of mine.  He is a hardcore conservative, likes Scott Walker, and disagrees with me on almost every issue.  Right now he is going ballistic, and rightfully so, that his party is supporting Donald Trump.  His complete disbelief that his party could be endorsing Donald Trump is the exact same one that I have when I think about his opposition to gun control.  This friend is smart, kind, and has a gigantic heart, and despite his political leanings I still love him, but I am sickened by some of his views.  I am sickened by so many of my friends views such as my friend, who in response to the Confederate flag issue held a “protest” and watched re-runs of The Dukes of Hazard, saluting whenever the car drove in.  Or my friend who “threw up” when she learned that SCOTUS had made Gay marriage legal.  Or the fact that my alma mater sees nothing wrong with printing “Straight Outta Richmond” shirts.  

Donald Trump held what was essentially a white power rally in Alabama.  30,000 people came.  He throws a reporter out of a press conference.  People cheer.  He answers a debate question about misogyny with MORE misogyny.  People laugh.  The majority of his views are racist, bigoted, show a lack of common sense, and are morally ambiguous at best.  He leads in all the polls.  People are stupid.  

Atlanta has the same gun homicide rate as South Africa.  People vote to lower gun restrictions.  There are over 300 million civilian guns.  People vote to lower gun restrictions.  Over 10,000 Americans die every year because of guns.  People vote to lower gun restrictions. People are stupid.  

Adam Ward was my age and he was in love.  Guns don’t kill people, Americans do.  

End of rant.  

A Dandelion Head: Why the flag should keep flying

Symbols are important.  The Jewish Star, the Sign of the Cross, the door marked Do Not Enter; each carries a level of significance depending on historical and cultural backgrounds.  Some symbols once stood for something good and have since been turned into something evil.  The Swastika comes from Hinduism and Buddhism (to name a few) and in Sanskrit means “good fortune.”  The Nazis co-opted the symbol and made it the sign of one of the greatest atrocities the world has ever seen.  The skull and crossbones now represents either poison or pirates, but in Spain they were first used to mark cemeteries.  Symbols can be born with one meaning but through their historical appropriation they can easily be changed.  Something that was meant for hope can be a cause for pain.  So is the case with the Confederate Battle Flag.  

I decided to put thought to word document when I saw statuses on Facebook saying, “this whole flag debate has taught me which of my friends are racist,” and “If you disagree with me on the flag debate then I will de-friend you.”  When I see comments like that all that comes to mind is a palm to my forehead.  No, no, no, don’t say that.  You are part of the problem.  The flag should come down, yes, that’s true, but the flag itself is just a dandelion head, when you cut it off it will grow right back.  The issue at hand isn’t a symbol of hatred, but rather why the symbol was allowed to exist for so long.  And the problem with the flag debate is that it is based in social media, it is based in the consumer culture’s desire to satisfy their own morality as quickly as possible, but none of that deals with the real issue.  This form of 21st Century activism is the core of the problem because rather than dealing the issue, we sidestep it in order to get to the juicier story which is a broken binary between what is socially “good” and “morally ok” and what is repugnant.  We seek to satisfy our hearts with the quick fix rather than an actual solution.  

The flag is just a flag.  The real problem is our education, but no one wants to talk about that because it diverts from the superficial, easy to process buzzfeed or twitter language.  We sign a petition so that we can feel morally superior and then go about our regular business.  The flag debate is nothing more than the hot topic of the day, rather than a cultural issue that has infested our country since its creation.  We applaud the President for “talking tough” about Charleston, but then don’t pay attention to him when he is out supporting early childhood education, because if it didn’t occur to you, one of the fixes for this problem is early childhood education.  Racism is a disease, but rather than a common virus there are only two ways for racism to infect the host; through their eyes and through their ears and it needs to be relatively constant and begun at an early age.  A person is not born a racist, but a person can be raised as one whether it is through the teachings of their parents, their

siblings, their schools, or their societies.  Today, in America, this racist educational background is no more prevalent than in the South.  Why is that?  Is it because of a flag?  Is it the Dukes of Hazzard or redneck intellect? Well, yes, but it isn’t the things themselves but rather the culture that has allowed them to exist.  The problem isn’t the flag, the problem is a group of people who think the flag stands for Southern Heritage.  The problem is in the mouth of a white kid who thinks saying the “N-word” is okay.  The problem lies in every time you make a redneck joke.  The problem is in college kids who think the Civil War was about state’s rights.

Every semester I begin by talking about educational relativity and how what one group of students learned in first grade another group of students might have never learned.  This can be taught by asking a few simple questions like:  Who is Franklin Delano Roosevelt?  When did the Civil War start?  Who has listened to the I Have a Dream speech?  One of the scariest questions to ask, especially in a place like Richmond, Virginia:  What was the cause of the Civil War?  For me, I don’t ask this question, probably because it has nothing to do with Business Speech, but based on what I have heard and seen, I can guarantee that if I did ask the question in a class of 18 students I would get back at least nine different answers.  Slavery would be the minority reason and state’s rights would be the majority.  By the way, although the answer “state’s rights” is scary it isn’t nearly as scary as the three students who would say, “I don’t know, we never learned about the Civil War.”  It is time we start changing the narrative on how we teach the Civil War.  The Civil War’s main cause was slavery.  Plain and simple.  The South required slavery to keep their economy intact and they went to war over it.  That’s how much the South valued African American lives, the war was about slavery, but it wasn’t even about slave’s rights.  It was about the economics of slavery.    The description of the war being about state’s rights comes from the “lost cause” narrative of the war.  Why does this narrative exist?  How can so many people believe in it such as in the case of the 2011 Pew Research Center study.  In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the Pew Research Center asked “What is your impression of the main cause of the Civil War?”  While 38% responded that the main cause was the South’s defense of an economic system based on slavery, 48% said the nation sacrificed some 650,000 of its fathers, sons, and brothers over a difference of interpretation in constitutional law (39% of black respondents believed this latter interpretation). (Lies of the South)  THIS ISN’T TRUE.  This is the problem.  How has this educational lie been allowed to exist?  You need to only look at the facts: 1) At least 188 schools, not just in the South, are named after Confederate Leaders.  2) Fort Hood, Fort Lee, Fort AP Hill, Fort Bragg, Fort Picket, Fort Beauregard, and Fort Stewart to name a few are all named after Confederate Generals.  3)  The states of Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia all celebrate Confederate Memorial Day.  Louisiana and Tennessee celebrate Confederate Decoration Day.  Texas celebrates Confederate Heroes Day.  4) In Georgia, Confederate Memorial Day is considered a state holiday and all state offices are closed.  5) Some celebrate Robert E Lee’s Day like Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi.  

Someone I know recently was upset by the fact that someone was calling for a Richmond bike race to be moved from Monument Ave in Richmond.  Monument Ave is home to monuments including J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E Lee.  This student was sickened because “Robert E Lee who actually contrary to popular belief did not support slavery, who was a leader in the early

reconstruction days who you know just so happens to help fund a college oh and throw in one of the most gifted strategic minds as well as one of the most intellectual minds America has ever seen.”  In response to this, I went on a short historical field trip.  “Lee's history has been drummed up in the Antebellum South to support the "Lost Cause" narrative of the war in order to better shine light on his nobleness and bravery, but Lee did own slaves (at one point 196), he did torture slaves leading one of his slaves to proclaim that he was "the worst man we ever saw,", he did not free them until January 1, 1863 (Same day as the Emancipation Proclamation) ignoring Virginia orders to free his slaves. Yes it is true that in multiple letters, namely one to his wife from 1856, Lee discusses the evils of slavery and his distaste for it, but he owned slaves, he beat them, and he kept them longer than legally required so that he could enhance the property value of his estate.”  Now is this person wrong, yes, but is this person dumb and racist?  No.  I know them and I know that they have goodness in their heart, but on this topic they are misinformed.  This is how we help fix a problem, through education, not through taking down a flag.

We need to change our educational narratives in this country.  The American Civil War is a

fascinating subject because in large part the losers have helped write the history of the war.  After the war ended, in the South, the Daughters of the Confederacy helped re-write many of the text books that were used in school districts throughout the South.  One of the major Civil War historians was Alexander Stephens, better known as the former Vice President of the Confederacy.  In describing the war he said, “it was a noble and doomed effort on the part of the South to preserve self-government against federal intrusion, and it had little to do with slavery.”  In other countries, losers of a Civil War would be labeled as traitors and executed, but in this country we have built them statues.  After the Civil War, Robert E Lee was neither arrested nor punished, he served as President of Washington College (Washington and Lee University) until his death.  General Beauregard returned to Louisiana and served as a railroad executive and became wealthy working with the Louisiana Lottery.  Former President of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis, was arrested as a war prisoner but released after Presidential Amnesty given by President Johnson in 1868.  The government couldn’t figure out how to convict him of treason due to the difficulty in proving the unconstitutionality of secession.  He later went on to become rather wealthy and write two books.  Did you know that?  When we change this narrative we don’t need to condemn.  We don’t need to cast these men as anything more than what they were.  Robert E Lee can be a strategic and intellectual mind and he can be a man who owned and beat slaves.  We need to commemorate this history rather than continuing to celebrate it.

A flag is just a flag and I believe that the flag should remain flying high, as an intellectual reminder, until we actually figure out a plan to deal with the root of the weed.  We need to fix early childhood education.  We need to change the narrative of the Civil War and we need to stop social media morality activism.  We need to actually get our hands dirty and deal with the real problems.  Taking down the flag is a band-aid that conceals a much deeper wound.  It is a wound that idolizes men that not only owned people but sent other people to fight and die in order for them to keep owning people.  It is a wound that believes Southern Heritage and Southern Pride must be seeded in hatred.  It is a wound that has never understood the George Santayana quote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  It is time for us to stop trying to solve 150 year-old problems with 24-hour solutions.