So…um…wow! ?The World Series is packing more compelling action than the entire 2017 Movie Season! ?My Dodgers may be on the brink of losing, but that storyline is better than 90% of the crap Hollywood has force fed onto our eyeballs this year! Anyhoo…let?s get to it (SPOILER WARNING):
- Suburbicon?is a metaphor about White Flight – the practice where White families fled the big cities and headed for the suburbs to escape the *monsters* who took over the cities. ?Colored Folk were the monsters. ?The residents of Suburbicon raised holy hell to run these *monsters* out of their happy utopia. ?But, as the actions of Matt and Julianne proved, the real monsters are the ones staring back at us in the mirror. ?Reminds me of the tag line of my first professionally produced play performed over 5 years ago: ?We put it all on Satan, but the truth must be told. ?The REAL enemy…is ?IN-A-ME.?
- Thank You For Your Service😕 What a perfectly (and intentionally sarcastic) title and what a perfect time to release the film! ?As the current occupant of the White House is rooting for kneeling ‘sons of bitches’ to be removed from the NFL field for disrespecting the flag and the soldiers to defend it, this flick ?shows a whole ?nother level of disrespect shown to those very soldiers after they come home from the battlefield. Wrecked with guilt, shame and PTSD, haunted by the blood shed by their enemies and their fallen soldiers and seemingly abandoned by loved ones who can?t handle the weight of their struggles – and their very government who rewards their efforts to defend our freedom with 500 miles of red tape and ?12 week to 9 month waiting lists before their PTSD can even be diagonosed and treated – 3 soldiers take 3 different paths to deal with life after the war. ?Incredibly compelling stuff to watch.
- DING DONG, THE CASTING COUCH IS DEAD: No, that?s not a movie title. ?That?s a real life drama playing out in the entertainment world as we speak. ?Weinstein fell. ?Harry Knowles – king of the online movie discussion platform – fell. ?Agents, talk show hosts and CEO?s falling. ?And, as of this writing, Kevin Spacey is headed for a fall as well. ?The alarm has been sounded. ?Folks are being held accountable for their actions. ?For me, it?s a simple concept: DONT TOUCH THE TALENT. ? As a writer/director in my own right, we get to work with the most beautiful people on the planet. ?All shapes. ?All sizes. ?All colors. ?All BEAUTIFUL. But I can?t allow their beauty to make me lose my own self-control. ?The echoing words of James 1 come into play, here: their sin is clearly born out of their desires. ?Just like the rest of us. ?But I don?t think that desire is just sexual. ?For Weinstein, O?Reilly and others, it?s all about the power. ?Somewhere in their lives, their weaknesses were not handled with grace and mercy. ?So they turned their shame into power and abandoned self-control in the process. ? Them falling from their lofty perches is stripping them of that power and forcing them to face the shame they?re ignoring. ?May our merciful God be with them – not to shame, but to heal.
Next week, we?ll see if Thor delivers the goods and – in honor of my 17th wedding anniversary – I?ll give y?all a peek inside a world I call NERDLOVE: A world my wife and I have created. ?Do we rejoice in our quirkiness? ?Do we spazz on our love and commitment? ?Naaah…we have knockdown drag out fights about movies!
NERDLOVE: Coming soon to ScreenFish!
