Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

Wreck-It-Ralph was a great movie that didn't really need a sequel but I'm quite satisfied with this. The underlying plot is deeper than a little kid could comprehend. The movie ruminates on finding meaning in life. Ralph is content doing the same thing everyday. But Vanellope is looking for something more. More familiar to children will be the internet. Kids who have grown up with the internet have an inherent understanding of what it is that the rest of us had to learn on our own. Disney visualizes cyberspace with much humor and cleverness that people of all ages can appreciate. It's hard to overlook the nonstop product placements that we are bombarded with. I'll make a small distinction between the Internet product placements and the Disney "synergies" that are written into the plot, like the Disney princesses. But it's so obvious and shameless. Despite this, the movie is fun. And the voice cast is fabulous, especially Sarah Silverman.

Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)

Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes is a series of 9 random vignettes centered around the theme of characters--some top notch actors--chatting over coffee and cigarettes, which look good in classy black-and-white. The conversations are abundantly awkward, and that it makes it hilarious and cringy at the same time. Very little happens in some of them (No Problem) and you just wait wanting more. There are some recurring topics of conversation, but the scenes are otherwise unrelated. Some of the best segments are Twins, Somewhere in California, Those Things'll Kill Ya, Cousins, Cousins? and Delirium. 

Show Me a Hero (2016)

This miniseries from the master David Simon is gripping. He exceeds at crafting and developing characters on all ends of the spectrum. He depicts life in Yonkers from the upper-class white side to the lower-class black side in public housing and then the integrated neighborhoods with the new contentious public housing. It matters that Simon's stories are inspired by real life. He is depicting a real slice of life in America, at times mundane but always real. When people want to see raw everyday America, they would do well to turn to Simon.

The choice of music is very fitting. For the most part, it's not performed music (diagetic) like in Treme. But it features lots of Bruce Springsteen in the Oscar Isaac scenes. And period hip hop in the projects scenes.

It is a timely story about race. They always are about race, actually. But this is very explicit. It is a true story about opposition to building federally mandated public housing in Yonkers, NY in the late 80s. Yes, recent racism in NY. It existed and exists today. You are made to see everyone's side of the story. Oscar Isaac plays the young mayor. He is always excellent, really inhabiting the life of this "hero." My favorite were the first few episodes with the nitty gritty local politics. But the development of Catherine Keener's character was also really engaging. The opening scene is also the ending scene, and while I kind of saw it coming, I was genuinely shaken by it.