The Best Movies of 2015

The 2016 Oscars are just around the corner, and so that means that it's time again for me to announce my own favorite films of 2015! As always, this blog reveals my personal selections for each major category, as well as a few extra categories for films that I had to have on my list but had nowhere to fit them in the categories. This also doubles as a ranked list, so feel free to scroll to the bottom and read my TL;DR if you're not feeling particularly patient, but I promise you that you won't regret reading through my miniature reviews in each category!

But first, a DISCLAIMER: I haven't yet found a way to grow money from the tree in my backyard, nor did I discover time travel, and so I did not see every movie that came out this year, or is up for award nominations, and even the ones that I did see, I did not necessarily enjoy. Therefore, these awards are limited to what I have both seen and enjoyed, but I will present both films that I didn't like and the ones that I may or may not ever see. Foreign films and documentaries will be present again this year, but no animated films even touched my favorites of the year, so that category will sadly be lacking (sorry, Inside Out fans!). And since I did SO WELL last year at predicting the Oscars (I went 16 out of 20!), I decided to do that again as well. Now that all that's out of the way, let's begin!


Movies That Were Seen But Not Heard From Again (or Remembered)

Amy (tried very hard to portray her tragically, but all I saw was a spoiled brat who blamed everyone)
Ant-Man
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Black Sea
Brooklyn (Ronan did do a fantastic job, but otherwise a very plain and boring film)
Cinderella
Everest
The Hateful Eight (Tarantino disappointed me so very, very much...)
In the Heart of the Sea
Inside Out (yeah, I didn't love it, call it the Frozen effect)
Insidious: Chapter 3
Jurassic World
Minions
Slow West
Southpaw
Spy (the insults-only humor is funny the first 20 minutes, then bottoms out quickly)
Ted 2
Trainwreck
The Water Diviner


Movies That Were SO CLOSE But No Cigar

Black Mass (Johnny Depp was terrific but the rest was just okay)
Clouds of Sils Maria
Creed
Dope
Furious Seven
The Gift
Infinitely Polar Bear (my favorite family dramedy since Chef)
It Follows
The Martian
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Mr. Holmes
Paddington
The Peanuts Movie (relies a bit too heavily on nostalgia)
Shaun the Sheep Movie
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (fun but A LITERAL COPY/PASTE OF EPISODES IV & V!!!)
Straight Outta Compton (which had surprisingly good acting!)
The Visit
The Walk


Movies That I Forgot To See, or Could Not See, or Whatever

99 Homes
Anomalisa
Beasts of No Nation
Carol
Concussion
The Danish Girl
Danny Collins
Fifty Shades of Grey (just...no)
The Good Dinosaur
Grandma
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
The Hunting Grounds
Joy
The Lady in the Van
Love & Mercy
Pitch Perfect 2
Spectre (was looking so forward to this until I saw the reviews...)
Trumbo
Youth


And finally, here are the Best Movies of 2015 according to Robert, along with Oscar predictions.




Oscar Categories That I Didn't Include But Decided to Predict Anyways

Best Animated Feature Film - Inside Out
Costume Design - Mad Max: Fury Road
Short Subject Documentary - Didn't see any soooo....
Film Editing - The Big Short
Makeup and Hairstyling - Mad Max: Fury Road
Production Design - Mad Max: Fury Road
Animated Short Film - Also didn't see any....
Live Action Short Film - You guessed it: none seen.






Best Cinematic Song: Free Bird (Kingsman: The Secret Service)

Sometimes, this world can be filled with hate, typically perpetrated by hateful people. So to see a group of these people (with a very obvious nod towards a real hate group / church) get their “overly” just desserts, while having Lynyrd Skynyrd play in the background, satisfies the viewer completely. On top of that, the action choreography is excellent, Colin Firth becomes a genuine badass, and the scene ends with one of the biggest plot twists of 2015. Most people associate this song with Forrest Gump, but I, for one, will forever associate it with my favorite scene from this spy-spoof action-comedy, which surprised in that it became one of my favorite films with its wit and incredible amounts of fun. Did I mention that it was directed by Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class head men Matthew Vaughn, who's already teased at a sequel? YES!

Feels Like Summer from Shaun the Sheep Movie was a heartwarming song, and See You Again in Furious Seven absolutely made that ending (I teared up!), but the epic action and fun of Free Bird could not be beaten. Side note: I never saw The Hunting Grounds but I really want to now after listenning to Lady Gaga's song about the documentary's subject, college campus rape.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Til It Happens To You (The Hunting Grounds)



Best Historical Reenactment: Bridge of Spies

What is one of the most reliable director-actor combinations of the last twenty years? Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal) have done it again in this incredibly interesting reenactment of a Cold War standoff where both sides had one of the others' spies and so had to bring in American lawyer James Donovan to negotiate an exchange. On top of being historically appealing, this movie features many instances of wit and humorous or intelligent dialogue, which can be credited to the Coen brothers writing the script (it makes sense!). Not only does Tom Hanks do a tremendous job, but there is a scene-stealing performance by Mark Rylance (rightly nominated for Best Supporting Actor this year) as the old Soviet spy who has been caught. Spielberg also cleverly uses this scenario to show how little our society has changed with its racism and bigoted patriotism, although the subject of which has changed. Not as serious or groundbreaking as previous Spielberg films, but still a fine gem nonetheless.

The Big Short, The Revenant, Steve Jobs and The Walk were all great films that were historical reenactments of some sort, but Bridge of Spies was the most factual as well as being supremely well done all around, including a beautiful score by Thomas Newman.



Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Winslet did such an amazing job becoming her character in this film that I didn't even realize that it was her until about halfway through. Her looks, her accent, and her body language are all far different than anything I've previously seen from her. and she really carries a lot of scenes in a very dialogue-heavy movie. Portraying Joanna Hoffman, a Polish marketing executive who was like a business wife to Steve Jobs (acted perfectly by Michael Fassbender), she nails the personality of her character and, as I said before, never really seems like she's acting. With a fast-paced Aaron Sorkin script (The Social Network, Moneyball) that follows a traditional play format of three nonstop acts, we get to see not only relationships within Apple change, but Hoffman's constant coaching of Jobs to take care of his estranged daughter, which ends up being one of the most poignant parts of this film. Hats off to Danny Boyle for directing such a great film, but also to Winslet to joining a cast of great actors and still shining brightly.

Kristen Stewart was actually excellent in Clouds of Sils Maria and was penned into this category for most of the year before I saw Steve Jobs, and I enjoyed Rachel McAdams in Spotlight and Nina Kunzendorf in Phoenix, but none did as astounding as Winslet here.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)



Best Foreign Film: Phoenix

One of the most beloved movies of all time is Alfred Hitchcock's mystery thriller Vertigo, which deals heavily with manipulation of women into what men want. I personally don't care for that movie, but Phoenix does an extremely similiar thing with its story, but in a far more heartbreaking and beautiful way. Directed gorgeously by Christian Petzold and acted masterfully by Nina Hoss, it follows a German Jew who has returned to her hometown of Berlin after a stay in Auschwitz, which she only survived because they shot her in the face while shutting the camp down. This is not shown, but the damage to her face left her alive but disfigured, forcing her to have reconstructive surgery done and rendering her almost unrecognizeable to her family and friends. The chemistry between her and Ronald Zehrfeld (playing a man wishing her to pretend to be his dead wife so they can get her inheritance) takes center stage for most of the film, and it is equal parts tragic and romantic. To see post-WWII Germany through the eyes of a wayward Jew brings a very interesting perspective as well, as we hardly think of what the country was like after a devastating time period in which friends and family turned each other in if they were Jews. This was a masterpiece and I'm sad that it didn't end up much higher on my list, but it still deserves special recognition.

Room was technically a Canadian film, but still took place in America so I couldn't include it, then Paddington was a charming British family film, but Phoenix blew all competition out of the water.

OSCAR PREDICTION: I haven't seen any of the nominees, so I can't make a prediction.



Best Music: Sicario

If you ever see Sicario, one of the first things that you will notice is the atmospheric and tense music that drives the film through its many intense sequences. From the falling bass of the drive into El Paso to the dead silence of a house raid, Jóhann Jóhannsson has proven again to be a rising star in cinematic scores, following up his celebrated work in The Theory of Everything. He combines again with director Denis Villeneuve (having worked together in the excellent thriller Prisoners) to produce a haunting tone that fits the film's serious depictions of a violent and immoral border war, on both sides of the fence. The collective sigh of release at the end of this film can be attributed as much to Jóhannsson's music as it can to the edge-of-your-seat plot of one of the best films this decade.

I absolutely adore Ennio Morricone and his work in both Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns and John Carpenter's The Thing, and so I loved the music in The Hateful Eight. However, I was far too disappointed in the movie overall to include it in my best movies of 2015, but I fully expect the Academy to do their "let's award the old person who doesn't have an Oscar" thing and give it to Morricone anyways. Room, The Revenant, and Ex Machina also had great atmospheric scores, and Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck and The Big Short had awesome jukebox playlists, but none could top Jóhannsson's mastercraft.

OSCAR PREDICTION: The Hateful Eight



Best Ensemble Cast: Spotlight

Apparently, Michael Keaton has become the king of leading ensemble cast films. After last year's fantastically well acted cast in Birdman: or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, Keaton returns to lead the cast of Spotlight in another dialogue-based film with an excellent story. It's safe to say that at this point, he has revitalized his career, and as a dramatic actor at that. His determined and witty portrayal of Walter "Robby" Robinson, the editor of the Spotlight section of the Boston Globe, perfectly corrals the many other characters and helps them to focus. Liev Schreiber also deserves credit for his reserved role as the new editor of the Globe who puts the team on the case of a very corrupt Catholic church. Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and Brian d'Arcy James round out the Spotlight team of investigative journalists, and all three have great moments in the film, from Ruffalo's hounding of lawyer Mitchell Garabedian (played wonderfully by Stanley Tucci) to James' realization of how real their story is when he recognizes an address from down the street from his own house. John Slattery, of Mad Men fame, plays his typical character role (of the show mentioned) but he excels at it and it fits in with everyone else, so you enjoy it. This was the best acted film this year in my opinion, but it was hardly a sure thing.

The Revenant had great turns from Leonardo DiCaprio, Domnhall Gleeson and Tom Hardy, who was the best villain of 2015. Steve Jobs was another dialogue-heavy film with a great cast, featuring Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet (who I already mentioned), as was The Big Short, with Steve Carrell, Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling. Room and Sicario also had an ensemble of great actors, but none could quite top Spotlight this time.



Best Cinematography: The Revenant

After last year’s Birdman and now The Revenant, I think that we can officially label Alejandro González Iñárritu and Emmanuel Lubezki as the best filmmaker pairing currently operating. Lubezki may just get himself a third Oscar in a row (Birdman, Gravity) for his work here, as it is as beautiful as you could ask for while remaining extremely visceral and realistic. The choice to only use natural lighting in this film made the shooting of it excruciatingly difficult (they went months over schedule), but it really adds to the film’s grittiness and natural beauty. On show here is also Lubezki's mastery of the long shot, making for an incredibly immersive film filled with harrowing scenes, including a raid with brutal violence and a bear attack that goes from walking through the woods all the way to the final gunshot without breaking once. To say that I cannot wait to see more Lubezki films is a vast understatement, as he has shown himself to be the greatest cinematographer of the last two decades, and perhaps of all time.

Roger Deakins did excellent work in Sicario with the framing of several scenes (including the night raid), Masanobu Takayanagi emulated Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu with the static cameras or slow zooms in Spotlight, and Danny Cohen produced paranoia and enclosure in Room, but Lubezki is THE master.

OSCAR PREDICTION: The Revenant



Best Leading Actress: Brie Larson (Room)

To say that I loved Larson's role in Room would be understating her case. If Patricia Arquette was a shoo-in last year for Best Supporting Actress as a single mother, Larson is an absolute etched-in-stone kind of shoo-in this year for a similar role as the leading actress. Although this film has several very well done minor roles, the focus is squarely on Larson, playing 24-year old Joy, and her 5-year old son Jack, played tremendously by Jacob Tremblay. The beginning of this film is pretty rough, showing Joy as a victim of serial rape, Jack being a product of that, and somehow managing to raise her son as best as she can under terrible circumstances within a confined room that is all he has ever known. We see her struggle with accepting their fate, finally taking matters into her own hands and having to risk the life of her son in order to earn their freedom, and the harrowing events thereafter tear you apart as you understand the complex emotions behind Joy's face: maternal instinct and survival instincts fighting each other. Then we see the misery of PTSD and the effect of rape on her psyche, as well as very serious social disorders that she must fight through with her son, who helps her in ways that are so very real that it's hard to describe the emotional power of the actions without having seen it yourself. Larson has shown incredible range in this film, and I hope she has many, many roles sent her way after this.

Nina Hoss was excellent in Phoenix, as I previously mentioned, and Emily Blunt (Sicario) and Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) deserve mentioning as well, but none were even close to Larson's powerful role.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Brie Larson (Room)



Best Screenplay: The Big Short

Wanna know one of the most controversial yet rarely understood events of our time? The economic collapse in 2008. Some films have been made on the subject (such as the well-done Margin Call), but they often are so thick with jargon that most of us simply don't understand it. It'd be like me trying to describe the details of a propane refrigeration cycle to someone who hasn't taken thermodynamics, while using industry jargon. Enter Adam McKay, best known for his comedies, such as Anchorman or Talledega Nights, who decides to make another comedy but in a much more serious manner, akin to The Wolf of Wall Street or Birdman. The movie is very funny, quirky, and often breaks the fourth wall, including a scene where characters explain that the circumstances that they just acted out weren't exactly how it actually happened. It explains the crash in such an accessible and fun way (a la Geico commercials where a celebrity helps to explain something) that you find yourself just able to keep up while still being incredibly interested. The cast was perfect, especially Christian Bale as an eccentric hedge fund manager and Steve Carrell as another manager with deep personal issues, which are expressed onscreen in an incredibly dramatic way, moving this film into more of a dramedy genre. Do yourself a favor both educationally and funwise and go see this gem, which was also easily my favorite comedy of the year (suck on that, vastly overrated The Martian!).

Spotlight, Room, Bridge of Spies and Steve Jobs all had great scripts as well, but I didn't feel that any were as clever or well executed as McKay and Charles Randolph's work.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Adapted Screenplay - The Big Short
OSCAR PREDICTION: Original Screenplay - Spotlight



Best Documentary: Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck

When people hear the name Kurt Cobain, two things immediately pop into their head: him blowing his own off, or his music-altering band Nirvana. Forged from the many collections of video recordings kept by Courtney Love, Cobain's longtime girlfriend then wife, this documentary seeks to show Kurt Cobain the person, as well as the many life events that influenced his music. We follow him from broken home, to rising rock star, to heroin addict, and to husband and father. This is an incredibly personal documentary that really shows him as he was, as well as showing us Love's influence on the final days of his life. The music is also incredible, of course, but they typically juxtapose it with an explanation of the meaning behind it, making it that much more poignant. There are also several animated scenes where the style is based on his own doodlings that would be tremendous in any film, and so this EASILY should have been nominated, but regardless, I name it the winner in my book this year.

I honestly didn't see many other documentaries this year, but I did see Amy and thought that it was garbage because it spends the entire runtime showing a spoiled brat then trying to explain that it was everyone else's fault but her own. But hey, the critics loved it, so I'm sure it will win the award. But here, it doesn't even remotely come close to Montage of Heck.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Amy



Best Leading Actor: Jacob Tremblay (Room)

That's two, count 'em, two Oscar snubs in a row that I decided to rectify in my own awards. The Academy has a longstanding history of almost never nominating children for any kind of acting award, but this easily should have been done away with this year for the heartwrenching performance by Tremblay. As I described in my piece about Brie Larson, Tremblay's role as Jack becomes the anchor around which the film becomes based, especially since we get to follow his childish wonder at the outside world once they leave the room that he's only ever known. There are so many interactions that he has with other people that left me in tears, including when he's waiting in a police car for his mother to return to him, and you understand that he feels trapped again like when he was in the room. When he finally is reunited with his mother and they embrace, their love is so real that you instantly forget that you're watching two actors. All that you see is a mother and her son. In addition to his emotional appeal, Tremblay never missteps or ever acts like anything other than naturally, and shows tremendous talent as an actor, which SHOULD have been recognized but wasn't. Alas, I am here to tell you that his performance was hands-down the best of any actor in 2015.

Michael Fassbender did excellently in both Steve Jobs and Macbeth, playing the titular character of both films, and I expect him to take home the Oscar, since having two excellent performances usually strengthens the one nomination (see Matthew McConaughey in 2013, nominated for Dallas Buyers Club but also doing great in Mud). Shameik Moore burst onto the scene in Dope, and I expect to see more of him, while Leonardo DiCaprio decided to take a chance and go mute, relying on visual acting and body language for his excellent performance in The Revenant. But none were as impacting or skilled as Tremblay was.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)



Best Sound Effects: The Revenant

One of the best things about this film is its immersion, not only with its camerawork and visual effects, but with the sounds and aural omnipresence. From the babbling brooks to the roaring grizzly bears, everything sounds like being right in the middle of nature, and it can be downright terrifying at times. During a raid sequence, the whistling of arrows by your ears or the fleshy thud of them into the bodies of men bring the scene to life, and this mixing of the visual and audio works perfectly together. Bravo to the men who worked so hard on this soundtrack of the wilderness.

Room, Sicario and Mad Max: Fury Road also had many instances of great sound effects, but none struck me as better than The Revenant's. For the sake of my predictions, I feel like Mad Max will take home Sound Editing because of its ability to maximize car engines and other loud noises without ever being overwhelming, but The Revenant will definitely take Sound Mixing for my aforementioned reasons.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Sound Editing - Mad Max: Fury Road
OSCAR PREDICTION: Sound Mixing - The Revenant



Best Paranoid Closed-Room Thriller: Ex Machina

I bet that most of you would figure that I'd have my fanboy director Quentin Tarantino in this category with his newest film, The Hateful Eight, but his dialogue and story pale in comparison to this tense and taut tale. This was the first movie that I ever saw Domnhall Gleeson or Alicia Vikander in, and they both deliver great performances that are sure to get Vikander some nominations and Gleeson some more roles. Oh, look at that, they both got what they deserved! This sci fi thriller focuses on only three characters: a software employee (Gleeson) who wins a trip to meet an eccentric billionaire programmer (Oscar Isaac with a great performance that deserves praise) who wants him to test his newly created AI (Vikander), which leads to a simple plot on the surface that quickly becomes complex and full of tension. Can any of them trust each other while in complete isolation? These kinds of movies are why I love giving directorial debuts a shot (with Alex Garland's steady hand here), despite lesser known actors and a story shrouded in secrecy. Tarantino, take notes; maybe you can SUCCESSFULLY recreate the tension of Reservoir Dogs that you failed to do in H8.

The Gift, with its Hitchcockian stalker vibes (also from a first-time director, Joel Edgerton) and Clouds of Sils Maria, with its sexual tension and isolated scenery, deserve praise for their paranoia-inducing scenarios, but neither can match the two hour slow-burn thrills of Ex Machina.



Best Director: Denis Villeneuve (Sicario)

And for my third and final snub, I want to bring up the incredibly talented yet perpetually overlooked director that is Denis Villeneuve. Perhaps it's because he's Canadian? Regardless, Villeneuve has proven to be one of the top five directors of the past ten years. Polytechnique was a shorter yet incredibly tense and socially accurate commentary about the shootings during the Montreal Massacre, and gave us many of his directing tropes: amoral characters, complex stories with no clear good and bad, and a mastery of atmosphere through both camerawork and music. He also knows how to build suspense perfectly, as well as keep you guessing throughout his films, and this was on full display in his Oscar-nominated film Incendies, which has one of the best commentaries on the Middle Eastern region that I've ever seen. Then he teamed up with Jake Gyllenhaal to create the mindbending thriller Enemy as well as the dark and twisting Prisoners, both of which have made my previous Best Movies lists. Then, to top all of it off, he blew away my expectation with Sicario and made the best movie of his career, which would have been my favorite of the year if not for one other transcendent film.

Sicario follows an FBI agent named Kate, played wonderfully by Emily Blunt (mainly known for Edge of Tomorrow), who wants to do more to end the drug war on the Mexican border, and so joins up with some sketchy CIA personnel in order to do so. Their actions are grey, their characters are grey, and although Kate tries to stick to the book or keep everything black and white, she just cannot do it without sacrificing the victory. Villeneuve plays on this greyness perfectly, creating a narrative that makes it difficult for even us to make decisions, and setting up several powerful finales that leave you both on the edge of your seat and totally unknowing of what will happen next. In addition to this, the paranoia dominates in this film, from a tense highway traffic scene to a nighttime raid with limited visibility. Villeneuve gets the most out of his actors, including a phenomenal turn from Benicio del Toro, and out of his scenery, putting us into the action when necessary, but also bringing his environments to life. I've never seen a film pull off this border war narrative so well before, and, of course, it took a non-American to do it, and Villeneuve did it with aplomb in creating his best film yet.

Alejandro G. Iñárritu once again showed incredible talent in his work in The Revenant, as I mentioned in Best Cinematography, and then I have to give shoutouts to Thomas McCarthy (Spotlight), Danny Boyle (Steve Jobs), and Lenny Abrahamson (Room) for their excellent work on their films, but none could match the perfection of Villeneuve's directing in Sicario. As for my Oscar prediction, this will, once again, be another "old guy gets the award" situation where George Miller will be recognized for his many contributions.

OSCAR PREDICTION: George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)



Best Visual Effects: Mad Max: Fury Road

Sometimes, the most astounding things that we see on the screen have nothing to do with a computer. Just look at Jurassic Park, Mary Poppins, or Alien for examples of films with practical effects that made their onscreen glory last throughout the years and feel more realistic for that. That’s exactly what director George Miller brings with this epic post-apocalyptic film that features the greatest action sequences of 2015, not to mention the best (and longest) car chases in years. The fact that everything was so well done with painstaking and time-consuming effort, with attention to detail throughout in the costume and set designs, makes this film go to a whole new level of eye candy that was never matched, resulting in a very one-sided victory. Plus: that flaming guitar guy!

The Revenant deserves special recognition here for its recreation of wildlife in the film, since real animals cannot be used in violent scenes, and especially for the bear attack scene. Other than that, no movie even came close to Mad Max's dazzling effects.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Mad Max: Fury Road



Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

It takes a determined person to get people to tell the truth when they are hiding it, and Ruffalo played a man like that perfectly in Spotlight. Here we see a lapsed Catholic who seems to be only out to tear the church down, but during a moment of anguish over the findings of the Boston Globe’s investigation, we hear his cry of, “I always thought that I would eventually go back, but now I can’t!” and see a very real person who never wishes for evil, and finds despair in the brutal reality that he has discovered. Ruffalo covers all the quirks and twitches that real life reporter Michael Rezendes has, making him eccentric but yet very human and likable. His own determination often drives the film, and the lack of a true leading actor does not matter between all of the great work done by the cast, especially Ruffalo. On a side note, he was also a tremendous lead actor as a bipolar father in Infinitely Polar Bear.

Tom Hardy in The Revenant was phenomenal as the villain, while Benicio del Toro also was showstopping in Sicario, but neither could quite match Ruffalo's excellence. However, I once again think that the "older person without an award" will win yet again here....

OSCAR PREDICTION: Sylvester Stallone (Creed)



Best Picture: Room

What begins as a claustrophobic scene within a small room that a woman and her 5-year old son live in becomes a psychological and emotional film that had me crying almost nonstop for long stretches of time. Jacob Tremblay is easily the best child actor that I’ve gotten to see, and Brie Larson plays his young mother perfectly as they deal with a very disturbing situation. Tremblay shows us the wonder of a child discovering the outside world for the first time, and charms you every step of the way while remaining completely believable. Larson has a much more complex role that involves the loving tenderness of a mother, the hysterical paranoia of a mother, and the psychological trauma of a rape victim. One of the most touching moments (one of many) in the film comes when Tremblay asks his grandmother to cut off his hair and send it to his mother in the hospital, believing that it has strength (like Samson) and says that "She needs the strong more than I do."

This movie moved me more than any film since 12 Years a Slave, and really elevated itself far above the most celebrated films in this year’s awards; Spotlight, Sicario, Mad Max: Fury Road, Phoenix, Steve Jobs and The Revenant don’t even hold a candle to the perfection of this film. I will have to let it soak in and age a bit before I can fully declare it, but I'm almost 100% certain that this film will appear in the top ten of my next best movies of all time. Lenny Abrahamson has directed a masterpiece worthy of recognition, and well deserving of a viewing from everybody who did not see it. Do yourself a HUGE favor and watch this film as soon as you possibly can!

Like I said, no film even came remotely close for me, but Sicario, Spotlight, The Revenant and Phoenix all deserve recognition for being great films this year as well. I feel like Mad Max and The Revenant aren't serious contenders for Best Picture, leaving me to agonize between Room and Spotlight for the Academy to award, and in the end I decided to go with my heart and pick my own favorite, since I DIDN'T do that last year and missed the mark.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Room



TL;DR

1. Room (Best Picture, Best Leading Actress, Best Leading Actor)
2. Sicario (Best Director, Best Music)
3. Spotlight (Best Supporting Actor, Best Ensemble Cast)
4. The Revenant (Best Cinematography, Best Sound Effects)
5. Phoenix (Best Foreign Film)
6. Mad Max: Fury Road (Best Visual Effects)
7. Steve Jobs (Best Supporting Actress)
8. Bridge of Spies (Best Historical Reenactment)
9. Kingsman: The Secret Service (Best Cinematic Song)
10. Ex Machina (Best Paranoid Closed-Room Thriller)
11. The Big Short (Best Screenplay)
12. Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (Best Documentary)

Thank you so much for reading through this list and reviews, and good luck to all contestants in the Oscars this year. As for myself, I always enjoy doing these and I'm glad to have had such a fantastic year for movies last year. Until next winter!

Fruitvale Station: The Should, the Could and the Empty

I haven't written a movie review in a few months, but sometimes, a film comes along that knocks you over and wakes you up. And without a doubt, Ryan Coogler's masterpiece Fruitvale Station is one of those films.





Let me preface this realization:





I'm looking forward to the upcoming Rocky sequel, which instead casts Sylvester Stallone in a supporting role for the main protagonist, Adonis Creed, who is Apollo Creed's son and is played by Michael B. Jordan. I've never seen anything with the young actor (having avoided Fant4stic this year), so I looked up his filmography and found a highly rated film from 2013 called, of course, Fruitvale Station. I like to see who is involved with the creation of a film, primarily the actors, directors, and screenwriters. Jordan was the lead actor for Fruitvale Station, like he is for Creed, and I noticed that the writer and director of Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler, was also the writer/director for Creed. Whenever you see directors and actors pair up constantly, that typically means that they bring out the best in each other (see Robert DeNiro/Leonardo DiCaprio with Martin Scorsese, or Michael Fassbender with Steve McQueen). A quick search showed me that the movie was (and still is) available to view on Netflix, which I happen to have, and so I added it to my list and forgot about it until recently.

That was my first mistake.

My second mistake was to go into this film expecting more anti-police / heavily-slanted racism messages, akin to what we've been bombarded with from the media regarding Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and of course, Oscar Grant (whom this film is about). Instead, I watched a film that focuses on who Grant was as a person. We see his days in prison, his struggle to stop dealing dope and maintain legal income, what his persona and speech was like, and most importantly, his relationships with his long-time girlfriend Sophina Mesa (portrayed well by Melonie Diaz), their daughter Tatiana, his mother Wanda Johnson, and the many people (family, friends, and even strangers) that he interacted with in his life. Coogler chose to use the film as a quasi-documentary, which creates an hyperrealistic tone that will either enthrall you or bore you, in a similar way to Boyhood. Unlike that 3-hour film, however, this one is 97 minutes long and spends only an hour of it to show Grant's life before progressing into the inevitable final act, which is both tense and emotional. While I understand that Coogler took some creative liberties with his film (adding and omitting to the overall story), I feel that he did it so as to make the story flow a bit better while also helping us to get to know this short-lived young man.

Jordan has mesmerizing hold of the camera without ever overacting or overselling his character. He simply portrays the young ex-con like a young ex-con, and has drawn many comparisons to Denzel Washington's strong-yet-silent persona. But it wasn't the stoic personality that made me look past the actor to see the man: it was Jordan's complete lack of self. He became Oscar Grant (or at least, Coogler's Oscar Grant) so that we could see that person and fully understand him. There are so very few films with this capability to engross you in the protagonist: I can think of two off the top of my head, which are The Godfather and 12 Years a Slave. That's very esteemed company indeed, and although I do not think that Fruitvale Station quite reaches their level, it doesn't miss the mark by much.

Coogler has constructed a film and semi-fictional environment that is brutal with its honesty, yet artfully recorded as if by a simple onlooker of Grant's life, which we become. The complete lack of bias immediately drew me into the story and its characters, since that is so rare to find nowadays. Almost all films now have some sort of message, whether it be simple (Captain America: The Winter Soldier with representation of NSA and surveillance) or much more powerful (12 Years a Slave with the cruelly accurate portrayal of slavery as it was). But Coogler follows in the footsteps of directors such as Kathryn Bigelow or David Fincher where they simply tell the story how it happened, more or less, and leave all judgment and subjectivity to the viewer. Obviously, being both the writer and director, Coogler can only be so objective while being human, and so he definitely portrays the events in such a way that we are sympathetic towards Grant, but I'd argue that simply happens when you get to be in a person's footsteps for an extended period of time, such as with Walter White in Breaking Bad, who you root for despite his monstrosities.

Oscar Grant was not a perfect person. Fruitvale Station is not a perfect film. But I'll be damned if it isn't one of the best I've seen in a long time, and fully capable of drawing emotions out of me that I have reached with a select few films, most recently being the aforementioned 12 Years a Slave.


So, it's really quite easy for me to say that you SHOULD see this film as soon as you can, which could even be tonight if you have a Netflix subscription. I can guarantee that you will enjoy it, and will introduce you to the combined power of Michael B. Jordan and writer/director Ryan Coogler.


P.S. - Now I want to try to find Rocky somewhere to fully prep me for Creed. Planning to see that on either Tuesday or Wednesday!

A Cruel God

INTRODUCTION

Christianity nowadays hyperfocuses on the aspects of how to be a Christian. How to act, what to say, what to do, and what to believe, of course. More and more often, political and religious views are mixed together and the terms become interchangeable: liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. The laws of the land become governed by personal convictions, and debates spiral downwards into calling each other idiots or immoral. Nobody wins and everyone feels like the other party gets too much. Middle ground is nonexistent.

Therefore, I have decided to preface this article by first stating that this is not an attack on Christianity. I grew up in a Christian home, and I have very few complaints about my upbringing. However, as Paul stated so eloquently (in 1 Corinthians 13:11):

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, and I reasoned like a child. But when I became a man, I set aside my childish ways.”

And so I have now found, after nearly five years removed from my own childhood, that I cannot blindly accept things that I had before. I have questions that want answering, or at least discussion. I have thoughts that haunt me and keep me awake, in the most real sense of that condition, as I have had bouts of both depression and insomnia for the last two years. The very real fact is that I do not think I am capable of accepting Christianity as it is anymore. Why? I want to explain that to you in as clear terms as I can without letting this deteriorate into another slugfest between atheism and Christianity, which helps no one and discourages any sort of productive discussion. This is by no means the final word on the subject of belief. Neither is it a declaration against belief. Rather, it is an observation of the foundations of Christianity which I have personally found wanting.

BUT

My entire presentation will take place within the context that EVERYTHING in the Bible is fact. Everything is true. Nothing is incorrect. I want this to be on a middle ground of sorts. I feel that most people who state nonpositive things about Christianity often begin by attacking its very existence and its veracity. I want to show what I think, while remaining on the foundation of Christianity so that no one can say that I misrepresented or demeaned its content. That being said, let me begin with a most basic question.

WHY DID GOD COMMAND DEATH?

A major argument against God has always begun in the Old Testament with the many cruel things that he commanded. For making fun of a bald man, children were killed by bears in 2 Kings 2:23-25 (for the sake of article length, I will leave the verses here but refrain from quoting so you can peruse your own favorite version for translation). He turned Lot’s wife into salt for looking back at a city’s destruction (Genesis 19:26, which also seems harsh that an entire city must be destroyed for some of their citizens’ sins), tested Abraham by commanding him to kill his own son (Genesis 22:1-12, which, regardless of God’s “psyche!” moment, was cruel), and tested Job by allowing his entire family to be slaughtered (Job, which was “made better” by giving him a new family, because our relatives are that easily replaceable). Not to mention, he ordered the complete genocide of the Amalekites and the Canaanites, including “every man, woman and child” (1 Samuel 15:2-3 and Deuteronomy 20:16-18), which I guess pales in comparison to when he did not like how the human race was going and wiped everyone out in the Flood (Genesis 6-9).

All of this begs the question: why did he do these horrible things? They are all recorded biblically, and all evidence of cruelty. I have seen two arguments regarding these actions, however, the first of which being that Moses would often speak or write claiming to be the voice of God but actually adding his own words. Since Moses wrote Genesis and Deuteronomy, that explains those books, but what of the two books of Kings? Are those falsely worded through their scribes as well? But then, the entire validation of the Bible as fact and being inherently God-breathed falls apart, as you are now allowing the existence of fallacies and lies within the writing of its text. How can we trust any of Moses’ writing if he lied about these parts? How can we accept the entirety of the Bible as truthful if some of its God-breathed contents are stained by human error or translation? And if you do not question Moses’ honesty, then you freely admit that these despicable actions are factual and real, and they are commands from God. That is a difficult pill to swallow.

The second argument I have seen against these actions is that the Old Testament is little more than history for the modern Christian, since our new covenant, established in the New Testament through Jesus Christ, changed everything. This is a valid argument, but opens a whole new can of worms.

DOES GOD CHANGE?

If we accept that the new covenant has replaced the old one of the Old Testament, then that means that God completely changed his tactics. The Old Testament was all about works and rituals, doing your best to be good enough to be accepted into heaven. The New Testament shuns this and states that only through accepting Christ as your savior will you be able to enter heaven. So, what gives? Did God cry uncle? Why did he go from being a solemn, cruel god who demanded much of his people (while playing favorites) to becoming an open-armed god who accepted anyone as long as they accepted his son?

God has very obviously had a change of heart, resulting in a new religion that has now grown alongside the two older ones (being Judaism and Islam). But this now calls into question another fundamental aspect of Christianity: that God is omniscient, omnipresent, all-powerful, and never changing (Malachi 3:6 for OT, Hebrews 13:8 for NT). If he never changes, then why did he change? And if he did not change, but rather altered his tactics, why did he use the failing ones of the Old Testament in the first place? He is supposed to know everything that was, is or will be, so why would he use a method that he knew was doomed to fail? And in this paradox, we come to the most crucial point of this article.

GOD CANNOT CLAIM BOTH FREE WILL AND AN ULTIMATE PLAN

When God created human beings – or even angels, for that matter – he allowed them to have free will; that is, the option to either love and follow him, or go their own way and become selfish and evil. By allowing us free will, he gave the ultimate test of loyalty (which we promptly strayed from). But if we are allowed free will, then why does he have an ultimate plan (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28)? What is the point of free will if our ultimate destinations have already been established long ago? An equivalent would be scientists breeding (“creating” if you will) mice then placing them inside of a maze that they designed, and then allowing the mice to run around within the maze. Sure, there is the illusion of free choice since they must make decisions at each turn, but they are all ultimately going to exactly where the scientists want them to. That is not true free will; it is a lightly disguised puppet show.

If you are capable of explaining how we can have free will while God has a plan, then explain this conundrum to me: within both halves of the Bible, and within modern life as claimed by many, God performs miracles and interferes with our lives. HOW CAN THAT BE POSSIBLE? He created Lucifer, allowing him free will (and leading to his choice to become Satan) but then immediately punishing him, but only after Lucifer had tainted God’s newest creation. Why did he allow that to happen? When he created the angels, he knew immediately what they would do with their free will, but allowed it to happen then promptly punished them (Hebrews 12:22). When he created humans, he already knew exactly what was going to happen, all the way down to when Jesus would have to die on the cross for our sins. Since he had given us free will, we could choose what we wanted to do, and he would allow the consequences of our choices to hurt us (e.g. Adam and Eve eating the fruit). But why did he even go through all of the ineffective religion of the Old Testament before deciding to start the new covenant? Why did he CHOOSE to make the only way to righteousness incredibly difficult, and above all else, why did he decide that THE ONLY WAY for him to save us was to incarnate a part of himself as Jesus Christ, then sacrifice himself? Could he not have done it any other way? Did this all-knowing, all-powerful being have no control over the situation at all?

Once again, you can argue that he did it that way to encourage us, once again, to exercise our free choice in order to choose to accept him through Jesus Christ. But our free will means nothing when the hand of God can touch us at any time. He stopped the sun for Joshua (Joshua 10:13), he broke the chains of Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16:16-40), and as I already stated, many claim that he performs miracles even nowadays. This means that, although he allows us to choose poorly and suffer the consequences of our actions, he will sometimes (or frequently, depending on your viewpoint) interfere with these natural consequences in order to favor someone.

WHY?!

If he can reach out and part the Red Sea for Moses and the Israelites, why could he not save them when Hitler had over five million of them murdered? If he can heal an 80-year old man of cancer one day, then allow a 4-year old girl to die of leukemia the next day, then what is he thinking? Oftentimes, Christians will state that, “it’s all a part of God’s plan,” or “we can’t understand the way God thinks,” or “the Lord works in mysterious ways.” So, somewhere, written down in heaven, or within the massive expanse of God’s brain, it says “Jenny will be allowed to die today because it will make Mike a better person.” Or perhaps, it said, “Over two thousand people will die on September 11 because it will unite the nation to attack the Middle East.” Seriously? Is that how God operates?

The most common argument I hear at this point is that God does not cause these things: the Devil does. Alright, but who created the Devil? Who allowed him to do these horrible things? We have proven that God is fully capable of preventing these events, and completely competent at rendering the Devil’s works useless. So why does he still allow it? The next reason given is because it is part of his allowing our free will, once again. We have now completed the circle. So does God have a dartboard, where he decides at random whether he will help us or not? Does he have an infinitely-sided dice with which to make his decisions regarding our well-being or mortality? Can our free will even exist within such a finite space in comparison to God’s enormity and all-knowing plans?

A CRUEL GOD

And here we are. Or perhaps, here is where I am. Limiting myself purposefully to arguing within the logic and confines of Christianity and its beliefs, I have come to the conclusion that if such a god exists as within these beliefs, I want no part of him. I still hold onto the belief that something did create us, but I have very little reason to believe that this god which has been presented to me is that being. This is a malicious and rabidly selfish being that literally created us so that we would choose to love him. That is the whole purpose of our being according to Christianity: to exist only to worship him. Think about that. If I stumbled upon the secret to artificial intelligence tomorrow, what would people think of me if I created a small race, capable of breeding, then told them to do as they wished, but if they did not choose to love me, I would destroy them. Only if they chose to love me, their creator, would I allow them to live.

I refuse that life. If such a god exists, then I want no part of him. He is Charles Foster Kane: a being incapable of feeling or giving love, only performing actions which he hopes will turn us towards him. He wants us to love him… or else. He created the entire universe and everything in it for the sole purpose of our existence, whose sole existence is to worship him?

That would be one of the emptiest lives I could ever live.

Ginseng for the Soul #16

Fingers tap plastic, then initiates circuit. Electrons zip along a line. Photons fire out from screen. I appear to make light. c) RDB #twiss

— Robert D Beltran (@Pathos103) June 4, 2013

Actually, I Cannot Tell When It's Sarcasm or Ignorance

Some more British examination answers like last week....

Q: What does “varicose” mean?
A: Nearby.

Q: Give the meaning of the term “Caesarean Section.”
A: The caesarean section is a district in Rome.

Q: What is a coma?
A: A coma is a punctual mark a bit like a period or full stop.

Q: What is a seizure?
A: A Roman emperor.

Q: What is a terminal illness?
A: When you are sick at the airport.

Q: In a democratic society, how important are elections?
A: Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election.

Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q: What should be done if someone has been bitten by a dog?
A: Put the dog away for several days. If he has not recovered, then kill it.

Q: What has to be established before giving a blood transfusion?
A: If the blood is affirmative or negative.

Q: What is an enema?
A: Someone who is not your friend.

Q: What is a morbid state?
A: A stage in a take-over, when a bigger offer is made.

Q: What can be coloured red, pink, orange or flamingo?
A: The rectum.

Q: Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature?
A: Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and so they look like umbrellas.

Q: Describe how flowers are most commonly fertilised.
A: 1. The pistol of a flower is its only protection against insects.  2. Germination is the process of becoming a German.  3. Fertilisation is the fussing of the male with the female garments.

Q: What is a supersaturated solution?
A: A super-saturated solution is one that holds more than it can hold.

Q: What is momentum?
A: What you give a body when they are going away.

Q: What is a vacuum?
A: A large empty space where the pope lives.

Daata: The Writer Within #5

This short story comes from when I was taking a course in creative writing at college, and follows a father (I wrote a lot about fatherhood during that class). I have more to say about this story but will write it in a footnote. A warning: this may be disturbing so stop reading if it bothers you.

Daatâ

“Wake up, ikibondo! You are only dreaming, my child.”

Her bright green eyes open wide, shimmering.

“Daatâ! Oh, Daatâ, I was so scared!”

He wraps the small girl in his large, dark biceps and holds her. She sobs softly into his chest.

“What is wrong, my lovely daughter?”

“I saw the shadow again, Daatâ, it followed me into my dreams again. It won’t leave me alone, Daatâ, it won’t leave me alone.”

He waits for her sniffles to subside.

“Isabelle, there’s no reason to cry. It was only a nightmare, yes? So how about we head to the kitchen; Mama is almost finished with breakfast.”

Sniff.

“Okay, Daatâ, I’ll go, but only if you carry me.”

His deep chuckles calm her fears.

“Alright, I’ll carry you, my dear, yet again.”

She braces herself as his strong hands wrap under her back and lift her over his shoulder like a bag of onions. She giggles uncontrollably as he lugs her down the hall and into the small kitchen. With a groan, he drops her into her chair. The mother turns from the pot to roll her eyes at the two, then focuses back on the meal.

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.

The boy’s knife hits the board over and over as he slices more avocados and bananas for the breakfast. His father rushes over to check his progress.

“Well done, Nicolas, I shall make a chef out of you yet. However, try to make thinner slices, so there is more for everyone.”

“Yes, Daatâ, I’ll slice those thinner.”

The father smiles and heads towards the petite cook, still stirring the clay pot.

“Are we ready yet, Ghislaine? I think your daughter wants to fill her tummy with your delicious umutsima.”

“In a minute, dear, almost finished.”

The boy corrals all of his yellows and greens into a wooden bowl and carries it over to the table. The starchy smell of the cassava mixes with the sweetness of the fruits. Isabelle bounces in her seat, licking her lips at the scent.

“My love, grab those bowls on the counter and I’ll dish everyone’s food out. Say, what’s that buzzing sound? Is there a beetle in here?”

“No, I’m sure it’s nothing, dear. I’ll get those dishes.”

He brings the bowls over to her and hands her one by one, placing each filled bowl on the table. Wiping the sweat from her brow, Ghislaine removes her apron and sits down in the chair opposite her husband. The small wooden table holds the meal for four, and as they spread their hands to clasp in prayer, she looks over their faces.

Nicolas holds his head overly high, trying so hard to posture like his father next to him. His brown eyes blend in with his face, still a lighter shade than his father. Isabelle gazes at the food with an ear to ear grin, eyes dancing over the feast. Her tight, black curls and mulatto skin match her mother. Meanwhile, the head of the house bows his head solemnly, awaiting the blessing. His large structure dwarfs the others at the table, misplaced in humble accommodations. He raises his hands to clasp them, scars shining along his forearms, disappearing up his sleeves.

“My lovely wife, will you not bless the food?”

 “Yes, Habimana, I will now.”

Ahem.

“Our Father in Heaven,

hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done,

on Earth, as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation,

and deliver us from Evil.

Amen.”

Murmured amens give way to a mad dash to fill mouths. The food disappears and a sated family begins to clear the table of the few dishes. After the children have brought theirs to the sink, Habimana quickly ushers them out of the kitchen, telling them to “go play, have fun, kubari!” He then continues to help his wife clean.

“Habi, have you heard what they have been doing to the women?”

He stays solemn as he dries the dishes that she hands to him.

“Well, have you? They are raping them, Habi, raping them right in the middle of the streets! I can’t even go out to get food anymore for fear that they’ll get ahold of me.”

He sets down the towel and dish and stands behind her, placing his hands on her waist.

“You know that I would never let them do that, umukunzi. I’ll always take care of you.”

He plants a soft kiss at the base of her neck, but she is still not placated. Not so easily again.

“But, Habi, it’s getting worse. I haven’t been out of the house in two weeks!”

“It’s better this way for now, my dear, until I can get us and the children into France. We almost have enough money; then we can go live with your sister.”

“I know, darling, but… those two weeks ago, I found a baby. A baby! Right there, in the middle of the street. No mother anywhere, and the poor thing couldn’t even cry anymore because it had been out there so long. It was less than a day old! It just laid there in its blood and gâchis and no one even cared… I picked it up and embraced it, trying to will it to continue, but… it just stopped fighting and crying and… became completely quiet…”

She sets down the pot and lays her head onto his chest, letting the tears flow out. He shu-shushes her and strokes her hair.

“That happens now, my love. The women are raped, the men are uncaught, and the children are destroyed. No one wanted them; that’s just how it is, dear.”

“I-I know, but… I could just n-never do that. I could never leave my babies behind me to die, I c-could never just abandon them…”

“I know, umukunzi, I know. How about you just relax here in the kitchen, and I’ll go get Isabelle cleaned up from whatever dirt she’s gotten into, okay?”

“Okay, Habi, thank you.”

He smiles and kisses her forehead, then heads out of the room. She sits down in the chair again and places her head in her hands.

Habimana pops his head into each room.

“Isabelle! Nicolas! Where are you two?”

He finally finds them out in the street, playing football with the other children. A little boy kicks the football to Nicolas, who maneuvers it through the crowd of youth, shouting aloud.

“And Romário dodges the defenders and shoots for the goal!”

With a firm plant on his left leg, Nicolas kicks the ball towards a sideways trash can. The football clangs inside the makeshift goal.

“He scores! And Brazil has won the 1994 World Cup! Ahhhh!”

“Hey! Both you two, get back in the house! Merde! Kick that ball back to the others.”

Nicolas passes the football and runs inside with Isabelle, fearing a father’s wrath.

Knowing no such fear, Isabelle quickly interjects.

“Hey, what’s wrong? We didn’t do anything!”

Sigh.

“I know, Isabelle, I’m sorry for being so harsh with you. But it’s dangerous right now to be in the streets without me or your mother. So, please follow me to your room so I can clean you off. Nicolas, since you think Brazil will win the Cup this year instead of Argentina, why don’t you go ask your mother how you can help her.”

“But, Daatâ, I want to help you with the cooking for today.”

“I don’t have much to do today, son, but as soon as I am finished with your sister, I’ll come get you, okay?”

Nicolas’ frown reveals his displeasure at being sentenced to women’s labor, but he nods and walks briskly towards the kitchen. Habimana takes Isabelle to the small room that she shares with Nicolas. He stands in front of the single window while he helps her change out of her now-dirty dress. She slips into a comfortable outfit of shirt and pants, since she has no more dresses and is “glad to have no more to have to wear.” He smiles and kisses her forehead.

“I’m tired now, Daatâ. I dunno why; I haven’t even been up very long.”

“Haha! That’s because you have a belly full of that yummy umutsima, and you probably wore yourself out with all that running around with the big boys!”

“Hey, that’s not fair! There were plenty of small boys too. And I was doing really good!”

Her pretty little voice tugs at his heart, creasing his face along those worn crow wrinkles.

“I’m sure you were, ikibondo.”

“Oh, Daatâ? Is there thunder outside?”

“Well, there could be a storm coming, Isabelle.”

“Really? I don’t see any clouds.”

She runs over and looks out the window at the sky.

“Sometimes there doesn’t have to be clouds for a storm to be on the way, Isabelle. Say, before you crash into your bed again, would you care for a treat?”

Her eyes light up. “Ooh, what treat, Daatâ?”

“Only the best for my little girl: papaya!”

She claps her hands and jumps.

“Hourra, hourra, hourra! I love papaya, Daatâ!”

“I know you do, baby. Here, I’ll go get it and bring it in here for you, okay?”

She nods vigorously as he heads over to his room to find her papaya. He walks around the small bed that he shares with his wife and finds his beaten leather bag in the corner. He reaches in and finds a small brown bag with a drawstring. His smile fades away as he pulls it out and lays it on the bed next to him. He stares at it for a minute, far gone in thought.

Reaching back into the bag, he grabs the papaya and pulls it out. He gazes and studies it while he dips back into his bag and grabs his large machete. He eyes the machete, turning it in his hand. Nodding abruptly, jaw set, he stands up and carries the bag, fruit, and machete back into her room. Her eyes brighten at the sight of the papaya.

“Here you go, baby. I’ll cut it open for you.”

With a sudden slash, he slices the papaya in half. She applauds as he hands her the two halves. Setting the machete down, he sits at her bedside and grasps the small bag.

“Hey, want to try something new? I brought you this new spice from the shop. It’s supposed to be really good on papaya fruit.”

Her mouth drips as she attempts to eat the fruit in her mouth and speak.

“Weely? Lemme trit, Daatâ!”

He nods grimly and opens up the bag. He empties the spice bag onto her fruit and then pulls the drawstring shut quickly. She eagerly takes another bite.

“Eh, I think they lied, Daatâ. It tastes too bitter for papaya!”

He forces out another chuckle. “I agree with you, Isabelle, but I thought that you might like it better than I had.”

“Well, you shoulda known better!”

Another laugh. He helps clean off her face then lies her down on her side. Having nestled her into the bed, he kisses her once more before beginning to walk towards the door.

“Daatâ?”

“Yes, Isabelle?”

“You aren’t gonna send me and Nicolas away, are you? ‘Cuz I don’t want to be anywhere that isn’t with you! Or Mama.”

Sigh.

He walks back over to her.

“I might have to, baby. It’s getting very dangerous here. You’d be much safer far, far away, like in those fairy tales that you read. Maybe you’ll even find a Prince Charming!”

“Well, I don’t want a Prince Charming, Daatâ. All I need is you, and I’m happy.”

Tears flood his eyes as he embraces her tightly.

“All I need is you too, ikibondo.”

“I love you, Daatâ.”

“I love you too, Isabelle.”

He blesses her forehead one more time with his lips.

“Now get some sleep, my child.”

She nods and lies down in her bed. He knows that once he walks out the door, she’ll already be asleep. He heaves himself off of her tiny bed and heads back towards the kitchen.

Nicolas stands abruptly as soon as Habimana enters the room.

“Daatâ! Can we go cook now?”

“Yes, son, we can go cook now. Grab the wires and some wood. I’ll get the food and tools. Meet me on the roof so we can smoke some chicken.”

Nicolas races off to find his items as Habimana collects his own. They reconvene on top of the small house. Nicolas notices his father’s materials spread across the roof next to a large iron pot.

“Whoa! I haven’t seen that pot before! Why do we need it?”

“Oh, this? I use it at the shop. I brought it so we could better contain the fire and better smoke the meat.”

“Oh, okay. Hey, what’s that sound? Keeps getting louder, now.”

“Probably just those kids still playing football farther down the street. So, you want to get cooking or what?”

Habimana lays a cloth down on the roof and spreads out the cassava, peanuts, chili peppers, and plantains. He places the pot away from the vegetables and dumps the wood in. Nicolas grabs his father’s machete and begins chopping the vegetables. Habimana starts a fire inside the pot and places the wires across it for a grill to place his large skillet onto.

“Now, this time you want to cut them bigger, so we can mix it in with the chicken.”

“I know, Daatâ. So, do you think I’ll ever be as good a cook as you are?”

“Well, if you keep practicing like you do now, you should easily pass me. Especially once we get you guys to France, where you can train with experts! Les chefs d'élite!”

Nicolas carries the vegetables over and dumps them on a cloth next to the heated pot. He hands the machete back to his father, who places it down his belt then throws a few ingredients into the skillet to flavor the chicken.

“I don’t really want to train with chefs, though. You do just good enough for me here.”

“Even if that were true, you and your sister deserve better than this. We could have done so much more for you, had we only acted earlier…”

“Aww, don’t be like that, Daatâ. You and Mama have done great for us. Especially Isabelle. She gets pretty much everything she wants. I’m not complaining, though. I do fine with what you and Mama decide to give me.”

Sigh.

He grabs a poker and prods the burning cinders.

“I guess you feel unimportant sometimes, huh?”

Nicolas nods silently, still staring into the embers.

Habimana turns his attention away from the chicken engulfed in a small pillar of smoke. He pulls a root from the pile of vegetables.

“Do you know what this is?”

“Yeah, that’s a cassava.”

“What’s it for?”

“I dunno… To add extra body? It doesn’t have much flavor.”

“This, Nicolas, is much more than that. We use the cassava root in just about every dish. We make bread, cook umutsima, mix it into stews, and create gravies with it. The cassava is one of the most important plants in our country because we substitute for wheat with it. We choose the cassava because it is strong: it holds the food together and bonds incompatible flavors with each other. We build almost our entire diet on the cornerstone of the cassava.”

He lays the root back on the cloth.

“Nicolas… you are our cornerstone. We could never get by without you. Who takes care of Isabelle when we aren’t here? Who would I rely on to take care of our family if something were to happen to me? You, Nicolas. You’re the most important person in our family. When I’m old and grey, you’ll have to take up the family business and take care of us.

You’re becoming a man, Nicolas. A man I very much wish I could see right now. I regret never sending you two away… Then you might have already learned enough to be a man. Then you both might never have had to be here during this time in our country…”

He stares into the fire.

“Daatâ, what do you mean? Is there something big going on? My friends keep saying ‘It’s coming’, but I don’t know what ‘it’ is.”

“Don’t worry about that, mwene banjye. Just know that I love you, and I am so proud of you.”

“What’s that, Daatâ? Sorry, I can’t hear you well. It’s getting so loud!”

Habimana leans over and hugs Nicolas closely.

“I said: I love you, and I’m proud of you, son.”

Nicolas pulls his arms tighter around Habimana.

“I love you too, Daatâ.”

He leaves his father’s embrace to turn around.

“Is that shouting?”

He peers over the edge of the roof, looking in the distance. Habimana walks slowly behind Nicolas and places his hands on his son’s shoulders.

“Daatâ, I think I see—”

Habimana shoves hard into Nicolas’ shoulders, sending him careening towards the ground. Nicolas yells before his back slams to the ground, sending dirt up into the air. The powdery earth softens and mutes his landing, but his head cracks onto a stone. He lays still, groaning and eyes dancing.

Habimana walks back to the pot and sniffs as he removes the skillet and wires, tossing them aside. He strains to push the large, heavy cauldron to the end of the house. Nicolas starts to move again, focusing his eyes on the top of the building beside him.

With one final heave, Habimana pushes the cauldron over the side.

A sickening crunch signals its landing. Trembling, he peeks over the edge, tears pouring down his cheeks.

The black iron sits at the top of the slender body. A bawl echoes from inside the house.

Ghislaine.

He runs back over to the trapdoor and drops in. Screaming comes from the far side of the house. The agonized, piteous wailing of a small girl pierces his heart. He sprints into Isabelle’s room.

She lies on the bed, contorting horribly. Her possessed state writhes and wriggles as she shrieks, eyes glued open. He runs over to her and grabs her head, holding her close and sobbing.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry, oh, my umumarayika. They told me it would be quick and painless, they never said you would do this, oh, my ikibondo…”

Her eyes stare straight into nothing, strained with immense fear.

“It’s here! The shadow’s here! Daatâ, it’s staring right at me! It can see me! It knows who I am! It knows my name! It knows me! Daatâ, save me! Save me!”

He rocks her back and forth, cursing those men who sold it to him in every language he knows. She finally stops speaking, then moving, then breathing. He rocks her a little longer, her body with the eyes still staring.

Another shriek from outside. Footsteps as she runs back into the house. He wipes his tears as best as he can and lifts the blanket over Isabelle. Running back into the kitchen, he finds Ghislaine in a panic.

“Oh mon dieu, there’s screaming and shouting! I can hear them coming! They’re already on the roof, I think, because… Oh, Nicolas…”

She collapses. He catches her. She struggles to regain her breath as he stands her back up.

“Where’s Isabelle? We need to… hide her. Somewhere. There’s… nowhere to go out there. They’ve blocked… all the streets, that’s what people are saying… the ones fleeing…”

“Ghislaine… we’re in the middle of the city. Where can we go?”

“I don’t know, anywhere… Wait, where’s Isabelle?”

“She’s asleep in her room.”

“Asleep?! How can she be sleeping with all of this noise? Let me get her…”

She runs drunkenly through the house, bumping into every other corner. He follows her every step with wandering eyes, slowly pulling his machete out of his belt. She reaches the bedroom and shakes Isabelle’s body.

“Isabelle, wake up. Baby, we’ve got to go…”

He slowly approaches her from behind, eyes already beginning to water.

Forgive me…

She gasps.

He pulls the blade slowly out of her back from between her ribs. She collapses immediately to the floor. He drops the machete and falls to join her, caressing her head against his neck. She closes her eyes slowly.

“Merci, mon amour.”

“W-whatever for?”

“For… not leaving… my babies… behind me… I… love you.”

“I-I love you too, umukunzi.”

Exhale.

His bitter cry pierces the empty house.

“Mon amour…”

He strokes her hair softly while the tears continue to fall.

But the sound of angry men soon drowns his sorrow. They storm the house and find Habimana, loosing war cries as they grab ahold of him. He shouts and protests as they break him away from Ghislaine’s body.

“No! Mon amour! NO!”

They drag him out into the street, whooping and jeering. A massive mob begins to surround him. A large man dressed in a military uniform walks over with his rifle, preparing to speak.

“Today, inshuti, we continue our purge of the filth of Kigali, with this intati! Our people will always remember this day; this glorious sixth day of April!”

They cheer his words. Someone spits in Habimana’s face.

“We will execute this Tutsi-lover here in the street! Then we will rape his Tutsi bitch, and then kill her and their little half-breed ikinyendaro! First, let’s teach this con what happens when you betray your country! When you betray the Hutu tribe for the Tutsi shit!”

The crowd lets loose a cry.

“For Rwanda!”

A man comes out of the house, yelling about the whole family being already dead. The officer turns to stare at Habimana in disgust.

“You murdered your own umuryango?! Bâtard!”

The officer smashes the butt of his rifle against Habimana’s face. Habimana spits up blood as the soldier nods to the men holding Habimana, who release him. One man runs over and hacks at Habimana’s shoulder with his blade. He cries out in pain and falls to the ground. The rest of the crowd closes in and attacks Habimana with all of their machetes.

His screams join the cacophony of the city, lost amidst the cries of men, women, and children alike.

Footnote

Now that you've finished my story, I want to take this opportunity to remember the men, women and children who were slaughtered during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. It lasted from April 7th to July 15th, decreasing the population by 20% and nearly driving the Tutsis into extinction. Although I am posting this on July 4th, when we typically celebrate the United States' freedom with fireworks and food, I want you to realize that there are still places in the world where the color of your skin or a difference in belief can mean death, not just bias and unfairness.

In memory of the dead, fallen twenty-one years ago and still falling.

Revisiting the Movies of 1957: The Bridge on the River Kwai

David Lean made one of the greatest war films in history when he teamed with stellar actor Alec Guinness (of Obi-Wan Kenobi fame) to make The Bridge on the River Kwai. The movie follows a British colonel (Guinness) and his company as they deal with living in a Japanese POW camp during World War II. The men form relationships with their captors, some escape, some die, and a bridge is built despite the poor conditions. Many, many themes are covered that deal with issues handled in war, such as patriotism, honor, individualism and the fog of war. But the ending is easily one of the best and most complex that I have ever seen.

The final act presents the viewer with an impossible morality judgment after we have gotten to know both sides of a very complicated conflict. By showing us the extremes of militarism and libertarianism, then a man who becomes a mixture of the two, Lean has presented us with the ultimate example of how country pride and honor, though commendable, cannot be allowed to rule, or otherwise we will lose all individuality and forget what morality truly is. I do not want to go into details here, but I can HIGHLY recommend that everybody watch this film, then be on the lookout for an essay I wrote about the ending being posted in the future.

The acting, directing, cinematography, music, and screenplay are all equally tremendous, resulting in an instant classic that make this film appear on many lists as one of the greatest of all time. It does not bore, has several intense standoffs and action sequences, and connects every little detail together so that you can understand how it feels to be in their situation. So see it already!



P.S. - Always remember the local library, then try Amazon to:

1) Rent digitally for $3.99.
2) Buy on DVD for $8.49.
3) Buy digitally for $12.99.


P.P.S. - Although 12 Angry Men gave us great ethical and moral debates, Paths of Glory opened up discussion of military command, and The Seventh Seal pondered on the silence of God, The Bridge on the River Kwai still takes the cake as the greatest discussion film in a year of great discussions in cinema.