1. Air Force One: I might get a lot of flack for this, but this might be my favorite Harrison Ford film ever!  Ford plays a great butt-kicking president.

2. Independence Day: The aliens invaded again, but the original invasion was far superior with an outstanding speech from Bill Pullman.

3. W.:  I really want to watch this film and see Josh Brolin's attempt at playing President George W. Bush.

4. Lincoln: This Oscar-winner is full of talent with method actor, Daniel Day-Lewis taking the lead role as Honest Abe.

5. Lee Daniels' The Butler: Forest Whitaker brings the role of a leader-spanning butler as the audience gets to see multiple actors as different presidents.

And finally, the featured pick of the week:

6. Election: Considering how crazy this year's election has become, this might be a more fitting film.  Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick wage war over a school election, as their teacher has to deal with the fallout.  The film is directed by a brilliant writer and director who brought us The Descendants and Sideways.

Image credit: ​By VectorOpenStock - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50393387

What really happened?  How did this University of Washington student get arrested and then set free for a crime that has no evidence of her involvement?  Amanda Knox answers most of the questions for the Italian court case with facts that never cease to astonish throughout the whole film.  The film has a stark tone for the case that created so many mixed emotions among the public.  Different sides of the story are constantly revealed as justifications for the case outcomes are created by many different parties.  With a story this complex, it is amazing to see it masterfully handled by the direction of Brian McGinn and Rod Blackhurst.  The two directors attract the audience's eyes with clear visuals in a fuzzy situation.

Crime documentaries need multiple perspectives in order to grant the full story to the audience.  Amanda Knox makes sure that all sides of the story are told.  This is hard to do in the short 1 hour and 32 minute runtime of the film.  Still, we get to hear how the original court case was blown out of proportion by the media through the retelling by a journalist.  We get to hear how the original court case was justified by a public prosecutor named Giuliani Mignini.  And of course, we hear from Amanda Knox and her boyfriend at the time of the crime.  All of these perspectives mesh together to give the audience a full view of the crime case.  I can gladly say that I learned a lot from this documentary.

The writers choose to tell the story in a well-done chronological order.  It is hard to retell a story that lasted about a decade.  Yet, I never felt overly rushed through the documentary.  A part of the credit must go to the beautiful shots throughout the film.  Found footage combines with new clear imagery to maintain a fresh view for the film.  The color palette maintains the dark tone that often comes up in modern crime documentaries.  Yet, flashy headlines scatter across the screen to make sure that our eyes are always on-target.  These types of innovations create a quick-paced film that feels short, but well-rounded.  

The Bottom Line:  Amanda Knox covers a lot of quantity in its story, yet maintains its quality through superb visuals and multiple perspectives. 

Score: 9.6/10

Image credit: ​By Scott335 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17217794

1. Where'd Your Weekend Go? by The Mowgli's - I have had the pleasure of seeing this band live two times, including this past spring in anticipation of this new album.  The new album is a solid Mowgli's album, full of joyful songs and fun pop.  In my opinion, Kids in Love stands as their best album still, but Where'd Your Weekend Go? shares a lot of similar style with their second album.  Nothing about this stands out as an amazingly unique album, but it gives the listeners the moment to realize that music can be about jamming with friends and having a good time.  Sometimes it is nice to step back from innovative Pink Floyd albums and Kanye rants to just have a good time listening to people that love to play music as a hobby.  That is exactly what encompasses the spirit of The Mowgli's.
Notable Tracks: "Automatic", "Freakin' Me Out", "Monster"

2. 22, A Millon by Bon Iver - Bon Iver do what they do best, relaxing the audience and bringing them straight into a dream world.  This is definitely my favorite Bon Iver album thus far, considering that the other ones never really took off for me.  You have to be in the right state of mind to listen to Bon Iver usually, but this album starts off with a great track to put you into that state of mind.  Bon Iver's beauty comes from high vocals and experimental instrumentals.  I love the innovation of the band, creating their own genre that rests between experimental and soft rock.  Some songs give me chills as others push me back in my chair to concentrate on everything going on in the layered backgrounds.  
Notable Tracks: "22 (Over Soon)" and "8 (circle)"

3. Atrocity Exhibition by Danny Brown - Danny Brown caught my attention with his great single, "Grown Up".  Ever since then, I started to get hooked on his fresh and brutal rap style.  This is not an album for your grandma, but your grandma probably doesn't listen to rap anyways so we shouldn't have to worry about that.  Brown reminds me of Childish Gambino's fast and high rhymes.  Yet Brown seems a lot rawer, with no self-control and so much explicit content.  Danny Brown will continue to release whatever he wants, but now he should be able to get more collabs in.
Notable Tracks: "Rolling Stone", "Really Doe", "Ain't it Funny"   

Image credits: 
By Sam Prickett - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51576765
By Moses - Bon Iver 2, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45231886
By ArizonaGeek - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32628404​

The Girl on the Train starts of as an intriguing mystery, but quickly loses momentum as the story derails into a completely unsatisfying ending.  At the very start of the film, it is clear that Tate Taylor (The Help) is trying to be innovative with her direction.  The story is told in a very disorganized way, but for no effective reason.  Constantly jumping around in time, the audience is thrown into different character's shoes, none of which are that hard to figure out.  The disorganization saturates the story as the viewer is constantly trying to remember what time period they are in during the story arc.  This is an innovative convention for Taylor's filmography, but unfortunately it is less than ideal.

One other convention that is constantly used by Taylor is an odd slow-down of the film.  This creates a dreamy visual that detracts from the serious tone that the storyline strives for.  Some reviews have called this film "Lifetime-esque", probably in reference to this convention.  The Girl on the Train uses slow-motion flashbacks to add more suspense to the thriller.  The problem is that they are filmed so oddly that they feel extremely inauthentic.  Drinking clearly affects our vision, but I have never had the sort of experience that Emily Blunt (Sicario, Edge of Tomorrow, Looper, The Devil Wears Prada​) is constantly seeing when she drinks.  It is a nice attempt to add horror, but adds a cheesiness to the film instead of terrifying the audience.

The first twenty minutes of the film were not great, leaving me with the impression that the poor early buzz was understandable.  However, the middle portion of the film is well-made, grabbing my attention and giving me the thought that maybe the early reviews were a bit harsh.  Then, the last half-hour arrives ruining any hope that the film had of getting a good review from me.  The ending of the film turns into a complete trainwreck of over usage of already seen footage and a really cringeworthy action taken by one of the characters.  Leaving this review spoiler-free is hard because I want to reveal the horrible ending.  I will not reveal the horrible ending, but I will repeat that it ruins every good thing that precedes it.  The audience at the pre-screening I attended laughed at the scene, which was supposed to be serious.  If you want a solid story, it sounds like you will have to read the book instead!

The Bottom Line:  The film falls from being a serious attempt at solving an intriguing mystery, as the characters become more and more muddled in their own actions.

Score: 4.5/10

September 26th
Herschell Gordon Lewis (b. 1926) - Two Thousand Maniacs!
Ioan Gyuri Pascu (b. 1961) - Occident

September 27th
Sebastian Papaiani (b. 1936) - Pacala

September 28th
Gary Glasberg (b. 1966) - NCIS
Larkin Malloy (b. 1954) - Big Daddy
Agnes Nixon - Another World

September 29th
Terence Brady (b. 1939) - Yes, Honestly
Ann Emery (b. 1930) - Wednesday
Ashok Pai 
Laura Troschel (b. 1944) - Four Flies on Grey Velvet

October 1st
Edda Heiorun Backman (b. 1957) - 101 Reykjavik

October 2nd
Gordon Davidson (b. 1933) - ​The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald

Back in 1970, two of the most important people alive met in secret to discuss pressing matters.  Elvis Presley was the biggest rocker of his time, and quite possibly the biggest rocker of all time.  Nixon served as the President of the United States, holding control over the military and foreign relations.  Liza Johnson's (Return) film revolves around the awkwardness of these two completely unique individuals meeting.  Often times, the tone is humorous to portray how odd this occurrence was for the president.  

The film is a period piece that subtly thrives on style and fashion.  All of the costuming reminds us of the seventies, full of old-fashioned jackets for Presley's crew and formal garb for Nixon's White House workers.  Johnson uses the costuming considerably well, fitting the audience into the 70s without forcing cliches into their eyes.  Still, we remember that things were a lot different back in the day!  Smoking and gun laws are constant topics throughout the film, furthering our knowledge of the time period.

The casting choices are quite interesting, originally shocking me in the trailers.  Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects, House of Cards) once again portrays a POTUS, but this time he plays one that is unexpected.  Nixon was a very traditional guy, and Spacey portrays him well.  The even more iconic role of Elvis Presley is played by Michael Shannon (Man of Steel).  This casting choice looked like a miscast role from the trailers, but Shannon proves that he is a flexible actor.  Shannon is capable of playing Elvis, but this is not the flashy Elvis that we have come to expect.  The mannerisms are there, but the enthusiasm is lacking a bit.  Still, I was impressed that Shannon was capable of playing such a different role than his usual castings provide.

The Bottom Line: The story is interesting and subtly stylish, even if Michael Shannon is an odd choice to play the King of Rock n' Roll.

Score: 6.5/10

1. Stranger Things: Get on this show if you haven't yet!  It is one of Netflix's finest attempts at creating a genre specific television show that is perfect for binge-watching.

2. Luke Cage: I am currently watching this one and so far I am impressed by how relevant the topics are in each episode.  Definitely a good reflection on race relations in the United States.

3. Designated Survivor: I am happy that this show is finally running because I was getting quite tired of seeing the same ads every night that I watched anything on ABC for the past two months.

4. The Exorcist: I hear this one is pretty good, even if it doesn't quite stand up to it's preceding classic film.

5. Son of Zorn: Hmmmm, mixing live action and animation might break through in television if this show turns out to be a hit.  However, the early reviews state otherwise!

And finally, the featured show of the week:
​
6. Westworld: I really liked the first episode of this new HBO show.  It stood up to my expectations and left a lot of room for depth and expansion in future episodes.  Hopefully, this will be HBO's new Game of Thrones, considering that winter has come and GoT is almost done.  The soundtrack for this show certainly stands out, with original and classic hits to command the ear's attention.  I cannot wait for more of the awesome cast to guide me through the diabolical amusement park that seems to be on the edge of total chaos.