Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

Tiger King:Murder, Mayhem and Madness

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I had been hearing about this show for the last couple of weeks, and decided to give it a try. After all, in these pandemic times, I had no where better to be. What I was expecting was a fictional movie with cheap special effects and bad acting, a Sharknado if you will. If only! What I got instead was a documentary about some sleazy people who have no redeeming qualities. The story follows Joe Exotic (you will not be surprised to hear that is not his real name) who owns, well, owned, a big cat park in Oklahoma. You might describe him as a mullett wearing, gun toting, gay polygamist. He exploits these big cats shamelessly. Since people love to be photographed with the cats’ babies (you can pay 100’s of dollars to get your picture taken with one), I wondered almost immediately what happens to the cats as they get older and are no longer able to “pull their weight,” so to speak. He is surrounded by a gang of the most skeevy people you’d never want to associate with, including a pervert child sex abuser. And the people visiting his ‘park,’ and attending his shows are nearly as bad. Low lifes is too kind a description of the whole bunch. On the other side of the coin, we find Carol Baskin. She purports to be an animal activist who wants to shut down Joe Exotic and keep him from exploting the tigers. Good intentions; but as the documentary progresses, it is easy to put her in the same unscrupulous category as Joe himself. Not only that, but it is more than likely that she had something to do with the murder of her first husband (the millionaire whose estate left her the money to carry on her crusade). These are both evil and reprehensible people. So you may be wondering, why did I watch all 7 episodes? Partly out of boredom, but mainly because I was hoping that somewhere in this mess were good people. I am a hopeful kind of person. I honestly believe most people are truly good at heart. Despite the people depicted in this series, I would like to believe that most animal sanctuaries are indeed just that. Next up, good people who rescue tigers. It might not get stellar ratings – but I will be there watching!!

Farhenheit 11/9

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SPOILER ALERT:  If you are a fan of Donald Trump, you are not going to like this movie.  You may as well stay home and watch Netflix.  Award winning film maker Michael Moore has done it again, taking an unrelentingly harsh look at how and what political America has devolved into.  He pulls no punches in this very informative look at how and why America has become so divided today – and there’s plenty of blame to go around.  He also explores why he thinks President Trump was able to get elected the way he did.  But Trump is not the only focus of this film.  As I say, there’s a lot to blame, and Democrats and Republicans are equally culpable. It gets a little uneven as he shifts to cover several different issues.  The water crisis in Flint Michigan gets a lot of play.  I learned some things I didn’t know and Moore clearly explained to me what this crisis is all about.  He also shines a light on the student protesters of Stoneman Douglas High School, and how the massacre fueled their activism and involvement.  As a teacher, the highlight of the movie for me was the teacher strike movement that hit many states this past year.  I loved seeing these teachers standing up for and demanding what they should have been given all along.  Richard Ojeda, a West Virginia Democrat and Veteran was my favorite character in this movie.  Look him up on Google – he is a fiesty and combative first time congressional candidate.  Not everyone enjoys Michael Moore movies, but no matter what you think of him, he will make you think, if you’re open minded enough.  I feel you will come out of this movie with a little hope that our country can be turned around!

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

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If you only have time to see one movie this summer, I beg you to make it  “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” the gentle documentary about Fred Rogers, the kindly and compassionate human being and host of the long running children’s show, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.  In these polarizing times, we need someone like Mr. Rogers to bring us together, and I think that may be the  point of this film.  Mr. Rogers started his show in the infancy of television, where he saw comedians throwing pies into each other’s faces.  He thought that the medium had such potential and wondered why it was only being used in such a fashion.  He sought to change things. This documentary includes interviews with Fred’s wife (she is just too cute), his two sons, and various people he worked with on the show, including Yo Yo Ma. If you are looking for dirt or something that rings false about the man, you won’t find that here.  To tell the truth, he was a genuinely nice man and cared deeply for the well being of children.   Did you kow he was a life-long conservative Republican and an ordained minister?  Many people thought he was a liberal democrat because of his preaching of inclusion.  The film clips that are shown by film maker Morgan Neville will make you want to search for episodes on Youtube.  What I liked the most were the quiet moments he had with others. I dare you not to cry when he is talking to a boy confined to a wheelchair or when he meets Koko the gorilla, who wants nothing more than to take off his shoes like she had watched him do so many times on his show. The highlight to me though, was when Fred Rogers went before Congress and convinced a very jaded congressman to not cut funding for public televsion.  Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood dealt with deep social issues in a way that helped kids to understand and to not be nervous or afraid.  I was especially moved when  Betty Aberlin (in character as Lady Aberlin) tries to expalin the assassination of Robert Kennedy to a puppet.  Another part that really got me was when Francois Clemmons, who is African American and gay, tells his story about playing Officer Clemmons for over 20 years.  It is as poignant as it is revealing.  You will not leave this movie with a dry eye, but you will leave with a new appreciation of the number 143!!