Max’s View
Now Playing at the Savoy Theater
Won’t You Be My Neighbor: **** Because I write this column, I’ve watched plenty of movies over the years that I didn’t really want to see. I even break down and watch a family movie from time to time even though they are terrible. I didn’t even enjoy the kiddie movies that everyone else liked – like “Toy Story” and “The Incredibles” and “Coraline.”...
Now Playing at the Savoy Theater: American Animals: ***1/2
We tell boys in our society that they are special and that they should reach for the stars. I’m not sure we should be doing that, though. First off, we’re not special. The little white lie that is meant to improve a young man’s self-esteem has the opposite effect of causing feelings of entitlement and disappointment. Second, we are not doing young...
Max’s Views: Freeway: Crack in the System **1/2
There is an Urban Legend that claims that the crack epidemic of the 1980s was intentionally created by our government. According to the conspiracy theory: the CIA invented crack, illegally smuggled it into inner cities, and successfully destroyed black communities. At first glance, the theory seems paranoid and preposterous. When San Jose Mercury N...
Now Playing in Select Cities: First Reformed: ****
Environmentalism is a religion. I don’t mean that as an insult, just an observation. “First Reformed” is the first time I’ve seen an Environmentalist make this observation, too. Environmentalism has a deity: Mother Earth. It has a devil: Corporations. It has a clergy: Scientists. It has a story that explains how the world began: the Big Bang. And i...
Pope Francis: A Man of His Word:**1/2
In this hyper-partisan era, people on both sides are way too eager to embrace a celebrity who seems to share their opinion about the President. It was understandable that people on the Right wanted to watch the Rosanne reboot. It was the first time that a scripted TV show presented Trump supporters as regular, sympathetic Americans. But Conservativ...
Solo, a Star Wars Story: ***
When Walt Disney Corporation paid George Lucas $4 billion for the rights to Star Wars, I thought that it had a simple plan. I thought the company was going to produce Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, sell some toys and lunchboxes, and try to make a modest profit on its investment. That was stupid of me. Somewhere, Mickey Mouse is laughing so hard that h...
Max’s Views: Now on Video: Hostiles: **1/2
When my parents were children, they were taught that cowboys and American lawmen were the good guys and Native Americans were savages to be defeated. Now, children are taught that the Natives were the virtuous victims and white men were the blood-thirsty villains. There’s truth to both of those perspectives. But they are both outrageous oversimplif...
Max’s Views: Tully: ****
When my first marriage was coming to an end, I made a list of the worst-case scenarios that could happen in order to keep things in perspective. Here’s what I thought were the bottom five most terrible things that could happen to me: 5. Die 4. Get Divorced 3. Get severely injured in an accident so I can no longer walk or be active. 2. Have kids 1....
Max’s Views: The Irish Famine and What It Means to Us
School kids are taught that the United States was founded on freedom and Enlightenment ideals. That’s partially true. But at its heart, the American Revolution was a colonial uprising. The rich guys in the States thought of themselves as respectable Britons. The problem was, actual British people thought of them as mere colonists. Americans thought...
Now on Netflix: Take Your Pills: *1/2
At the turn of the 20th Century, people had a way of staying up when they were tired, focusing on tedious tasks, saying no to food they didn’t need, and feeling up when they were down. It was an all-natural health elixir: cocaine. Cocaine worked as advertised. But it had the troubling side effect of extreme addictiveness. For some, cocaine turns yo...
