🎬 "Hello, boys! I'm baaaaack!"

I was planning to watch more movies this week but two things intervened: One, finally watching season 1 of Mad Men (has anyone heard of this show? it’s good); and two, this lovely live concert from 2019, in which a full orchestra performs the music from one of my all-time favorite video games, Undertale, which is celebrating its 5th anniversary.

Even if you haven’t played Undertale (and you should), you should listen to the concert. The music is incredible.

Anyway…

12 Years a Slave should be assigned viewing in schools across the United States.

This is an unflinching, nuanced, artfully directed and acted portrait of American slavery, and it directly engages with the lie which I and countless others were fed in school: That some slavers were good (enough) people. Any student of American history, young or old, needs to understand the physical and emotional torture that slave owners inflicted on enslaved people.

Based on the autobiography written by Solomon Northup, a free Black man from New York who was kidnapped in 1841 and shipped to Louisiana, the movie is powered by an outstanding cast that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor as Northup, Lupita Nyong’o, and Michael Fassbender. There are a couple famous faces in minor roles that I found distracting, including Brad Pitt and Benedict Cumberbatch, but these disturbances are brief enough.

I was rarely surprised but always moved by the story; Ejiofor does a magnificent job of making the cruelty of Northup’s situation affecting. An acting student could watch the entire film on mute, focusing only on his face, as Northup slowly untethers from his old life. And director Alexander McQueen deserved the Best Picture Oscar for this film — which he got, one of the few times the Academy got it right. Recommended. ★★★★½

I watched 12 Years a Slave on Blu-Ray, and it’s not currently streaming anywhere, but you can rent or buy it on these platforms.

And now for something completely different…

Independence Day is a big, loud movie with absolutely no pretenses of being high art or intellectually provocative — but yes, it holds up as a movie. Honestly, I’m impressed that this unwieldy movie — a special effects-driven blockbuster with a huge cast and multiple simultaneous storylines — is still comprehensible and well-paced.

There are problems, of course: The tone is all over the place, some of the special effects have not held up, and one of the subplots (the one about Randy Quaid‘s family in New Mexico) is a snooze. Plus the eventually revealed motivation for the invaders is … a giant letdown? I’ve been spoiled by too many years of more interesting aliens on Doctor Who.

Independence Day also teeters on the precipice of too dumb to be fun at times, but Bill Pullman and Will Smith, both in top form, overpower the cheesiness with sheer charisma. Recommended. ★★★½

P.S. If you have access to the extended edition, which adds 8 minutes of extra footage, watch that one. It shows more of the global impact of the alien attacks, and includes an excellent bonus scene with Brent Spiner that should never have been cut out.

I watched Independence Day on Blu-Ray, but it’s currently streaming on Sling TV.

I was surprised to find that I liked 28 Weeks Later better than its more popular predecessor, 28 Days Later, but only to a point.

The sequel starts off promising: As the title indicates, it’s set 7 months after a zombie virus devastated mainland Britain. Eventually, the “infected” died of starvation and a American-led operation has begun repatriating Brits who were traveling when the outbreak happened. I think the concept of rebuilding a society destroyed by a supernatural incident — and dealing with the associated trauma, and survivor’s guilt, and governmental chaos — would be a very cool and interesting hook for an entire film.

Unfortunately, this is a horror movie, and things go wrong very quickly. Doctors are ignored, stupid people make selfish decisions, and everyone is terrified of a group of uniformed Americans with guns … but enough about current events.

The characters here are mostly smart and likable, including Rose Byrne as a medical officer and Jeremy Renner as a sniper who has more of a heart than his brothers in arms. Their story is watchable enough, but not a must-see; my kingdom for an actual drama about cleaning up after the end of the world! Skip it. ★★★

I watched 28 Weeks Later on Blu-Ray, and it’s not currently streaming anywhere, but you can rent or buy it on these platforms.

(new additions in bold)