• November 1, 2019
• At Home, Drama

In the trailer for Harriet, there is a tease of a visually arresting climactic scene showing abolitionist Harriet Tubman (Cynthia Erivo) cocking a rifle and firmly ordering, “Ready?” to...

• June 30, 2017
• At Home, Drama

Spanish moss. Oak-lined plantation roads. Shimmering lazy heat. A white columned mansion. Genteel young Southern ladies in white dresses practicing their French verb conjugation. It seems idyllic, except it...

• June 17, 2016
• At Home, Drama, Television

When Roots originally aired over 8 nights in January 1977, I was six years old. I remember being aware that it was on TV, because my brother and I...

• February 20, 2016
• At Home, Drama, Television, War

The premise of the show is truly interesting, and should be ripe for an excellent drama, if in the right hands. It’s 1862 Alexandria, Virginia, which is smack on...

• November 22, 2013
• At Home, Drama

Told with an unflinching eye by director Steve McQueen (Shame, Hunger), the story centers on Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor, in a riveting performance that has Best Actor written all...

• July 17, 2013
• At Home, Documentary, Drama, War

Based on a book by Bill O’Reilly (yes, THAT Bill O’Reilly), Killing Lincoln focuses on the event that has been a pop culture obsession since 1865, and I’m not...

• November 28, 2012
• At Home, Documentary, War

There are many enduring images of the Civil War–the siege of Vicksburg, Sherman’s burning of Atlanta and his destructive march to the sea, the sickness and starvation, the pillaging...

• November 6, 2012
• At Home, Drama

You need get no further than the opening scene in Lincoln to see a Spielbergism. Abe Lincoln sits on a throne of a chair, on a platform at a...

• November 20, 2009
• At Home, Drama, Romance, War

I know plenty of people that consider Gone with the Wind a snooze-fest (for its almost four-hour running length), or find it unwatchable because Vivien Leigh’s Southern belle Scarlett...