Weekend Update

The Miracle at St. Anna

Last night, we went to see the new Spike Lee movie, "The Miracle at St. Anna". It is a World War II drama about four black soldiers caught behind enemy lines in a small town in Italy and their interactions with each other and the towns people. It's a fascinating human study about the horrors and inhumanity committed by both sides in war.

It also deals with the racism these black soldiers faced from the very people they were supposed to be fighting for and the Nazi's exploitation of it in their attempts to divide the American troops. They had a comic version of "Radio Free America" (that I called "Racist Free Europe") in the middle of the film that you just have to see to believe.

It is an incredible human story with very complex characters. This could possibly be the very best Spike Lee film ever. I've been a big fan since "She's Gotta Have It" and I've watched each film he's made since then get better and better. He has finally learned how to get out of his own way.

I'm glad he made this film and I'm equally glad he chided Clint Eastwood about not including any blacks in his two World War II films last year. My father and uncles fought in World War II and the Korean War. As a child, they thrilled me with stories of their time in the military and photos of all the many places they visited. Yet, if you look at all of the movies made about both of those wars, only "The Dirty Dozen" and "A Soldier's Story" shows any black soldiers.

John Wayne certainly didn't have any black troops and he must've fought in every U.S. war from The Revolutionary War to the Vietnam War in his movies. In spite of that, I found out that black soldiers fought in all of those wars. I guess Hollywood just forgot about us.

The Bridge: Cinema De Lux, Philadelphia PA

Is it me or are movies just too damn high? We went to a very beautiful movie complex called "The Bridge" here in Philly. It not only shows 12 movies at a time but, it has a restaurant and a lounge in the back with wide screen TVs and a DJ that spins the latest in Neo-Soul and Hip-Hop on Friday and Saturday Nights. It also has a screening room where you can sit while you're waiting for your movie to start and watch the previews of up and coming attractions.

So granted, this is a pretty hip ultra-modern establishment but, is that justification for charging $12.00 a ticket and $9.00 for parking? It hasn't been THAT long since I've been to the movies... just a few months. Where did these prices come from? All the more reason to appreciate cable and Netflix.

R.I.P. Paul Newman
January 26, 1925-September 26, 2008

While I'm on the subject of movies and such... I just heard that an icon of American cinema, Actor Paul Newman, has died after a long battle with cancer. We've lost a lot of icons this year (Bernie Mac, Isaac Hayes, George Carlin, Tim Russert, Ike Turner, etc.)

I'll always remember my favorite Paul Newman film, "Cool Hand Luke". It was made when I was 9 years old but, I didn't see it until I was about 35 years old on video. The tagline still remains with me to this day... "What we have here is a failure to communicate." Paul Newman never failed to communicate excellence on the silver screen. He will be missed.

Red Light, Green Light

On our way home ,we witnessed a horrific automobile crash. I was behind a young woman in a white 2008 Jetta (who had two small children in the back seat) and she ran a red light. A black Lexus SUV plowed into her and sent her car spinning, while it ran into the stoplight on the pavement.

Miraculously, nobody appeared to be seriously injured. There was glass everywhere and the Jetta was totaled. The SUV was bent up and airbags were going off all over the place. Some bystanders got the girl and her two kids out of the car and the guy driving the SUV came running over to her and screamed, "Didn't you know you ran a red light?" The girl who looked all of 23 years old said, "I did?" He just slapped his hands together and shook his head.

The man appeared to be fine... that is, until the police arrived. Then, you know how WE do... it's showtime! He appears to be faint and sits down near the traffic light. "Ohhh, I feel kind of faint... ohhh..." I'm standing across the street (with my little validated parking ticket) taking all of this in and scratching my head. An ambulance came and actually took him to the hospital. In the words of Bugs Bunny, "What a Jamolke."