The Wire (2002-8)

David Simon landmark series holds up in the waning years of the Golden era of television. The technology may be outdated by now, but the drama is timeless. Simon pioneered bingeable television (along with the Sopranos, I suppose), plotting a mystery to unfold over the course of a whole season. And today in the streaming era, every TV show worth its salt has an overarching plot. Some may criticize him for being slow, but it's a methodical slow burn that allows for deep characterization of even secondary characters. We come to know not just the cops, not just the head honcho drug dealers but even the street level kids (a very young Michael B Jordan). His sense of realism comes through in his unknown actors, character actors, non-actors, and many real Baltimoreans. The show is about characters who are trapped by the institutions (a set of rules) that plague the city.

The Wire is Simon's love letter to Baltimore. It may not always seem that way given all the crime and corruption he highlights but indeed it is. No city has ever gotten such a thorough treatment on TV, exposing its underbelly. He doesn't do it out of malice or hatred but he genuinely believes that it can do better. Despite the specificity, it could have been about any city because in general terms it is about the decline of the American city. Other cities also have drug problems, docks, corrupt city government, schools, and print media. He would give post-Katrina New Orleans a similar treatment in Treme, but Simon has a personal connection to Baltimore. He (and writer Ed Burns) have first hand experience about the things they write (the Baltimore Police and the Baltimore Sun).

Seasons 3 and 4 are the strongest. Simon's analysis on the flaws in our education system is brilliant. I thought season 2 at the docks was kind of weak while watching it but in retrospect it was also very good. There are so many characters and by the end I felt like we got satisfactory closure on each one. It was kind of weird that McNulty doesn't feature much in season 4, but honestly, it's all the better without him. His twisted story line in season 5 is probably the weakest, most cynical (most ironic).

Molly's Game (2017)

Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut is very Aaron Sorkin. It runs 140 minutes, and that's with Sorkin-speed speech. Acting in a Sorkin film requires skill. You must memorize your lines by heart so you can spit them back at rapid speed without thinking. That's acting. And it's never easy dialogue. It's brainy. There are unfamiliar words. You gotta become familiar with poker terms and American law. Even for a generally educated person, it can be a little difficult to follow at that pace. But that's what's so great about Aaron Sorkin. He doesn't talk down to you. He pulls you up. He's a smart guy that makes the audience keep up with him. The narrative structure in this movie is a little weird, with Chastain narrating her story in her book being read by her lawyer preparing for court. But it works. Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba are both great Sorkin-actors. Everything comes around full circle. Nothing is forgotten, everything is deliberate. I appreciate that Elba is cast as her lawyer, an smart and articulate and influential black man--the only black man in a story almost exclusively populated by powerful white men. It's tight writing about a strong female lead that doesn't require sex to tell an interesting and intense story. I have a feeling Sorkin will be doing more directing in the future.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Taika Waititi's first foray into the superhero world of Marvel is one big joke. That's not necessarily new for Marvel, think Guardians of the Galaxy. But the action really takes a backseat to the unrelenting, self-aware comedy. Overall, it is an enjoyable movie. It's just fun. Cate Blanchett must have been paid a ton of money to do a superhero movie, much less a comedic one. She is superb as always. But I think the real star here is Jeff Goldblum. I personally think he is one of the funniest actors in Hollywood. He has this nonchalance to his delivery that is so disarmingly funny. The premise of the plot, which mostly takes place on a bizarre lost junk world run by Jeff Goldblum, is kind of wonky. It is totally irrelevant to the Avengers storyline and even Thor's storyline, an awkward diversion from the main battle. But the actual Asgard part of the arc is rather clever. That is where Ragnarok comes into play. There is a brilliant resolution of mythological proportions. I won't give it away, but the serious part of the plot is actually quite well done.

The Jungle Book (2016)

I feel like this film is the next era in computer graphics. Disney did it in 1946 bringing the animated characters in Song of the South to the live-action world. Here, they place Mowgli in a computer-generated jungle full of computer-generated animals and wonders. Nothing else in this movie is real, but you wouldn't be able to tell. In that respect, The Jungle Book is very impressive.

Favreau creates his own enthralling world such that he doesn't need to hearken back to the original. It is all his own, though he sometimes tries to remind us. This Jungle Book is a lot scarier and less fun than the one I remember. And Mowgli is a lot more annoying than I remember, too. I kind of couldn't get over it. The iconic Bare Necessities sequence was strange to put it plainly with Bill Murray as Baloo. Actually, his portrayal of Baloo and his relationship with Mowgli reminded me of St. Vincent. Don't think that was intentional, but Murray sort of plays it the same way.

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

It was not as mind-blowing as the two previous installments of the reboot, but this is still a very good effort. JJ Abrams can do no wrong. The writing was excellent. It was quite humorous (thanks to Simon Pegg) and also really complex. Being a student of international relations, I have been taking Theories of International Relations. And the plot of this film is essentially the classical debate between realism and liberalism. Of course, the Federation is an interplanetary institution meant to reduce conflict between planets. They are the liberals. That interplanetary organization (and the intricate leadership structure of each starship) is my favorite part of Star Trek. And Idris Elba is the realist. He believes that power is everything. The Federation doesn't work. What's more realist than that?  Spoiler alert: the liberal galactic order wins.

Zootopia (2016)

On the surface, it is an animated buddy cop comedy (helmed by a strong, dominant female lead), but there is so much more to it. Zootopia is a brilliant allegory that is funny, relevant, and witty. Predators and prey live together in harmony, or so they believe. But stereotyping and discrimination run abound. It is not a perfect analogy to the real world. Nor can it be expected to capture all of the complexities and intricacies of our society. But Disney creates its own world with its own imperfections, a utopia that cannot reach the high bar it sets for itself. It is very thoughtful and thought provoking. It preaches a message of tolerance that falls upon American ears that need to hear it. But the message is never too blatant--it is balanced well with genuinely funny jokes (including references to The Godfather and Breaking Bad) and modern animation. 

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

This film is notable for being Netflix's first foray into original fiction films. And it is an excellent first go.  The director of the first season of True Detective helms this movie and adds his personal touch.  Many of the shots are reminiscent of the dizzying panoramic and birds-eye shots from True Detective.  He paints a vicious, uncompromising portrait of the toll of war.  The acting is also exceptional.  Idris Elba plays the warlord Commandant who leads an army of child soldiers in an unnamed African country.   He nails the accent, and he plays the father figure to these orphaned children. But the star is the young Abraham Attah who plays Agu.  The movie explores the damaging psychological effects of war on child soldiers.  One of the most devastating scenes is one in which the children have difficulty adjusting from the only thing they know: war. Attah is this season's Quvenzhane Wallis--young, fierce, gritty, and starring in a movie that coincidentally also features the word "beasts."  Attah is less likely to get an Oscar nomination, but he is deserving of any acting award he can get attention for.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

The Avengers seems to get more and more confusing with each film in the series. This is mostly because they keep adding more characters. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The movies are trying to get closer to the source material comic books, which are quite convoluted. There are so many characters in the Marvel universe, and by that standard, the movies actually only feature a small fraction of them. And Gwyneth Paltrow and Natalie Portman weren't even in this one.

The Avengers has always been about action first and comedy second.  Compare that to last year's Guardians of the Galaxy which is just one long joke.  The Avengers does have its comedic moments. The best is Hawkeye acknowledging his uselessness.  That is a brilliant moment of self awareness, and the joke is ongoing.

The central plot of Age of Ultron revolves around artificial intelligence.  Artificial intelligence is interesting because it isn't just a technology/engineering feat, but there are philosophical and ethical issues that are addressed as well.  Avengers doesn't dive very deep into these debates, but it is an interesting plot point that provides for a formidable foe for the Avengers.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)

Idris Elba plays one of the most important figures of the twentieth century.  He is given lots of monologues to showcase his acting chops, including the very famous "It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die" speech.  Elba is very good, but, in my opinion, not as good as Morgan Freeman in Invictus.

U2 redeems itself with an Oscar-nominated original song, after the disaster that was Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark.  Ordinary Love has the authentic U2 sound that we know and love.  Had it not been for the infectious Let It Go, U2 likely would have won.

Mandela lived a very full and eventful life.  The fight against apartheid was very long.  Consequently, the movie tries to squeeze in too much, moving very quickly without going into much depth or explanation.    In that respect, the film does not strike an appropriate balance.  The movie already runs nearly two and a half hours and it still moves too fast.