A happy good morning to y'all on this last Monday in April. How was the weekend?
As an inveterate moviegoer, 2013 has started off a bit rocky, to say the least, which is why I can happily say I saw two very strong films over the past couple of days that I'm happy to recommend to everyone.
One is Mud, which quite simply is the best American film of the season. Directed by 34-year-old Arkansas native Jeff Nichols. I had high expectations for this film after his brilliant, apocalyptic Take Shelter was released in 2011. And Mud delivers. Go see it.
I also saw The Company You Keep, the Robert Redford vehicle about 70's radical on the run, which has a definite point of view about the state of journalism in America currently, a subject that I'd like to revisit in a subsequent post. Though this film has received rather mixed reviews, trust us, this story is quite engaging, though it could have used about 15 minutes of trimming. Long known as an idealist throughout his lengthy Hollywood career, this film has something to say about decades-old friendships and trust that struck a chord in me.
Now back to the news of the week: There's a major bill that will be voted on in the state Senate today in Tallahassee that could speed up the appeals process for the more than 400 people on Death Row in the state. However despite some momentum to change a part of the law that requires a bare majority of a 12-member jury to recommend a death sentence, this legislation does not touch that controversial provision.
Over the weekend there was a health care fare for kids out in Tampa's Curtis Hixon Park we checked out. And in national/international news, what does the Obama administration, and the U.S. do, if anything, about the fact that Syria has used chemical weapons in its civil war? That's what D.C. lawmakers debated yesterday on the Sunday talk shows.
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2013.