Government is handling youth unemployment with: 1. student loans––which financially hobble recipients 2. the Peace Corps––which exposes volunteers to criminal attack 3. the military––which risks life and limb. Destroying and rebuilding are big businesses with political clout. 4. prison for victimless crimes––which cripples economically and socially. Incarcerating fellow citizens is another lucrative business with political clout. All require extorting from taxpayers money they might otherwise have used to hire youth.
Charles Ferguson’s award-winning documentary on the economic Depression that has stunned and devastated many in our generation, and blighted our descendants’ hopes, dreams, and opportunities. The major players are old enough for their character (or lack thereof) to be written on their faces. Watching the guilty being interviewed, I was reminded of vermin caught in a spotlight, evading, side-stepping, hemming and hawing, scurrying for cover. I’m grateful not to have the nauseating job of being… read more →
BRIDGE OF SPIES, 2015, screenplay by Matt Charman and the Coen brothers. A suspenseful true story with excellent characterization and dialogue. During the Cold War, American lawyer James Donovan, played by Tom Hanks, is recruited to defend arrested Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, played by Mark Rylance, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers, played by Austin Stowell.
WINGS OF THE DOVE, a 1997 film from Henry James’ 1902 novel, was nominated for four Academy Awards. Sandy Power won a Satellite award and BAFTA nomination for best costume desire, John Beard a Satellite Award for best art direction and production design, and Eduardo Serra a British Society of Cinematographers award. The beautiful locations include Venice’s St. Mark’s and Palazzo Barbaro. Kate Croy, played by Helena Bonham Carter, is an impoverished woman who has… read more →