Isle of Dogs (2018)

I love Wes Anderson's quirky style and evidently so do a lot of big name Hollywood actors, as he has attracted a star-studded voice cast for his second stop-motion feature. The visuals are stunning. Anderson's attention to detail in his fully controlled animated world far surpasses what he is able to do in a live-action environment. The oddity of this world is charmingly hilarious. And Anderson's witty humor is just brilliant. It's not for everyone, but I can't help but smile at how fun this is. The music by Alexandre Desplat is exciting and beautifully features taiko drums.

The big directorial choice Anderson made was to linguistically divide the dogs from the humans. The humans speak Japanese and are not subtitled. We, like the dogs, do not understand them. We rely on interpreters to give translation sometimes. Sometimes, we are just left in the dark. The dogs speak English, or rather their barks are voice-translated in real-time. There is a language disclaimer right in the beginning. I understand the separation he tries to make, putting the audience firmly in the dog world. That being said, I was not crazy about the bilingual foreign exchange student saving the day. A student movement rightfully has its place in the movie, but it doesn't have to be led by a white student. She serves as a convenient means of translation, but Anderson is clever enough to have figured that out. They could've diagrammed their plans, for example.

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. 

Capote (2005)

There's no denying that Philip Seymour Hoffman is incredibly captivating, completely becoming Truman Capote.  His Oscar was well deserved.  He nails the voice, the mannerisms, and the mindset of the man who captivated America with his true crime novel In Cold Blood.  I admit that sometimes it was a little difficult to understand what he was saying, but that just makes you listen more closely to the well written script.  While In Cold Blood gives us a little insight into the killers while the movie gives us intimate insight into the author at his height.  Capote spent six long years on this book.  Capote regularly expresses his frustration over how long it took. The film genuinely feels like six years, a little slow at times.