BEFORE: Nancy Pelosi carries over from "John Lewis: Good Trouble" - and it seems that there's something of a lag when it comes to documentaries, after covering Michelle Obama's 2019 book tour, I'm now on the 2018 midterms. This makes sense, it probably takes two years minimum to make a proper documentary, and then maybe longer if the news changes during the production period and makes the subject matter irrelevant - so the good documentaries about the pandemic and the 2020 election are still in the works, I guess maybe I'll get to them in a year or two. TV moves faster, of course, so I've watched two docu-series about QAnon, one of which ended with the Capitol riots, that's probably about as current as could be where docs are concerned. But my whole relationship with movies is about playing catch-up, and I guess it's always going to be that way.
If you're catching up on classic Oscar-nominated films, here's the TCM line-up for tomorrow, Friday, April 23:
8:00 am "Rachel, Rachel" (1968)
10:00 am "Random Harvest" (1942)
12:15 am "Rashomon" (1950)
1:45 pm "Rasputin and the Empress" (1932)
4:00 pm "Rear Window" (1954) - SEEN IT
6:00 pm "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955) - SEEN IT
8:00 pm "Red River" (1948)
10:30 pm "The Red Shoes" (1948)
1:00 am "Rhapsody in Blue" (1945)
3:30 am "Romance" (1930)
5:00 am "Romeo and Juliet" (1937)
Jeez, just two seen today, out of eleven, taking me to 106 seen out of 267. 39.7% - and I know, I know, I should have seen "Rashomon" by now, it's near the top of like every classic film "must" list, but I've been focused on other filmmakers, most recently Bergman, so cut me some slack, I just can't be everywhere at once.
THE PLOT: A look at the people involved with various political campaigns during the 2018 U.S. congressional election.
AFTER: Well, unlike the other documentaries that have been part of this week, it looks like someone did a very thorough job of keeping track of who appeared in this film - and also the director did not rely heavily on archive footage, so there's really nobody for me to add to the IMDB listings today, what's there already seems very accurate. This solidifies my decision over which two documentaries to drop from my line-up, which became overfilled after I added "All In: The Fight for Democracy" on Monday. Sure, I could double-up and still hit Mother's Day on schedule, but I'd have to double up three times, so dropping the two films that are the least election-oriented makes more sense. (I figured today's film would PROBABLY have uncredited footage of Obama, Trump or both, but it just doesn't. So that limits my options a bit, if I want to keep the chain unbroken.)
Like many people, I've been watching MUCH more news than usual, starting in April of last year, because what else was there to do last year, with everything closed down, people out of work and no new movies and fictional TV shows getting released? I made the choice to ride out the pandemic with MSNBC, usually with the repeats of "The 11th Hour with Brian Williams" and "All In with Chris Hayes", each night after my movie ended. That's what turned me on to the John Lewis documentary, and also tonight's film. But I somehow kind of got the wrong idea about this film, I thought it was about "The Squad", those four female freshman congresswomen, some of whom are people of color or Muslim, and therefore rubbed the right people the wrong way (or vice versa) just by their presence. Nope, this is a film about four women running in the primaries for the 2018 elections, all progressive Democrats, all endorsed by two groups, Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress, all challenging other Democrats who were entrenched and perhaps not living up to what was expected from them.
Only one young Democrat here is a member of "The Squad", and that's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC for short. She's from New York City, and her district covers part of The Bronx and part of Queens, only not the part I live in, so she's from my state but not my direct representative. (The district I live in includes bits of Queens, Brooklyn and also Manhattan, which seems quite ridiculous...but that's gerrymandering for you.) There was something about AOC that rubbed me the wrong way for quite a while, I think part of it was her voice, she sounded like an entitled teenager to me at first, and she used to say "like" and "umm" a lot, but I think she's gotten over that, to some degree. Seeing her in this film, challenging long-time do-nothing Democrat Joe Crowley, I've gained some respect for her at last - Crowley didn't even live anywhere near his district, which I thought was illegal, and couldn't even be bothered to show up to debate AOC, not until she started gaining on him in the polls, anyway. After running unopposed for several elections, Crowley finally learned, just a bit too late, that if you don't listen to your constituents, they may (eventually) vote for someone who will.
Formerly a political activist, also a waitress and bartender, AOC went on to win the 2018 election for New York's 14th District, thus becoming the youngest woman to ever serve in Congress, at age 29. Before that, she graduated cum laude from Boston University, with a double major in economics and international relations, and then in Congress became the proponent of the "Green New Deal" legislation, and I swear I didn't plan this tie-in with today's Earth Day festivities, but I'll take credit for it nonetheless. Then during the recent Texas power crisis in February, AOC ran campaigns for the Texas food banks that raised $5 million in funds, plus she traveled there to volunteer with recovery efforts, so I think I've come around, she's growing on me.
The other candidates seen in this film aren't so lucky, as you might expect, a political campaign is an uphill climb, just getting your name out there and your opinions heard might be easier now thanks to social media, but it's often not enough. Cori Bush failed in her first try in 2018, as seen in this film, but she tried again, and as I learned when she was interviewed on MSNBC last night, she succeeded in 2020 against Lacy Clay, and is now the U.S. Representative for Missouri's 1st Congressional District. She joined "The Squad", which rose from four members (AOC, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib) to six. Paula Jean Swearingen from West Virginia tried again in 2020, but lost to Shelley Moore Capito by more than 40 points, and I guess Amy Vilela from Nevada gave up.
But they all led noble efforts, as with "John Lewis: Good Trouble" I'm impressed that some people who feel strongly about issues get out there and try to DO something about it, most days I can't even be bothered to do laundry or go grocery shopping, it's just too much effort. Or it's raining, and I don't want to leave the house. I swear that I really am applying for part-time jobs, three or four a week, but I'm just not getting any calls for interviews, so I don't know what's up. But to other people it probably looks like I'm not applying myself at all, just going to the office three days a week, and the other days I'm still sleeping late and trying to trick myself into doing a few chores. I'm thinking maybe if I had another part-time job I'd be more motivated, but it's also possible that then I'd be so exhausted all the time that I'd be even less productive at home. Either way, I've got to get out of this funk, maybe watching political activists campaigning for a better tomorrow will spark something. Probably not, if "Top Chef" or "The Masked Singer" are on.
Which is a valid point, the four women seen here had prominent motivations - AOC worked double shifts to save her family's home from foreclosure, Amy Vilela lost a daughter due to a medical condition that didn't get diagnosed because of lack of insurance, Paula Swearingen watched friends and family suffer from the environmental effects of the coal industry, and Cori Bush was moved to take action after the police shooting of Michael Brown and the Ferguson riots. So that's something of a common theme here, from tragedies comes the need to take action, and these are the events that drove these women to politics. I'm not entirely convinced at the end of the day that things are that simple, just because the story is ongoing and continues beyond the scope of this film - but at least it's an interesting look at the nuts and bolts of the process, even if it feels unresolved.
Also starring Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (also carrying over from "John Lewis: Good Trouble"), Cori Bush, Paula Jean Swearingen, Amy Vilela, Joe Crowley, Isra Allsion, Sagar Deshpande, Jo-Ann Floyd-Whitehead, Darryl Gray, Keenan Korth, Joe Manchin III, Blanca Ocasio-Cortez, Gabriel Ocasio-Cortez, Riley Roberts, Joz Sida, Patric Taylor, Shannon Thomas, Corbin Trent, with archive footage of Errol Louis, Joe Scarborough (last seen in "David Crosby: Remember My Name")
RATING: 5 out of 10 campaign brochures
Before you watch Rashomon, I suggest you watch Hidden Fortress.
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