Historical

Quiz Show (1994)

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Well, the sponsor makes out, the network makes out, the contestants see money they
probably would never see in a lifetime, and the public is entertained! So who gets hurt?

 

When a champion of the game show Twenty-One , is asked to throw a match for the newcomer, a chain of events is set off that will change television game shows for decades.  Herb Stempel, played by John Turturro, is persuaded to throw the match against Charles Van Doren, played by Ralph Fiennes by the shows producers.  The behind the scenes deception results in a slow deterioration of the trustworthiness of the television industry and the dignity of the players.

 

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Detroit (2017)

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In 1967, a deadly riot in Detroit turned the city upside down.  With city and state enforcement accompanied by the National Guard, an attempt was made to restore order. When local police and National Guard respond to gunfire from around a nearby motel, a terrible incident unfolds between Detroit police and guests at the Algiers motel.  This dramatization of the events are accompanied by contemporary footage from the riots that both emphasize the story of the individuals involved as well as the climate and civil unrest experienced in Detroit at the time.

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Darkest Hour (2017)

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Only 8 months into a global war that would last 6 years, Britain reached a pivotal point that almost led to the end of the empire.  Darkest Hour focuses in on May 1940 as Neville Chamberlain, played by Ronald Pickup, resigns as prime minister and Winston Churchill, played by Gary Oldman, takes over the premiership.  While Churchill’s war council is pushing for peace negotiations, he is forced to stand alone for the fight against Hitler.  At least, that is how the situation is portrayed in Darkest Hour.

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Dunkirk (2017)

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In May 1940, between 300,000 and 400,000 British troops were trapped between German forces and the ocean.  As they attempted to evacuate the beaches of Dunkirk they fell victim to German Luftwaffe, the German equivalent of the American Air Force.  German planes focused on bombing the evacuating ships and gunning down men on the beach.  British battlecruisers were nearby the beach, however, they were unable to land on the  shallow beach to carry the men to safety.  The smaller ships used to shuttle men back and forth between the beach and the battlecruisers were dwindling and this led to the deployment of civilian vessels from England.  This historic endeavor was codenamed Operation Dynamo.

Christopher Nolan’s new film, Dunkirk, follows the struggle of a few groups of men.  The primary group is comprised of a band of men trying to get off the beach by any means necessary, portrayed by Fionn Whitehad, Aneurin Barnard, and Harry Styles.  The second group is a civilian boat on the way to Dunkirk to rescue troops.  The boat’s crew is made up of Mr. Dawson, played by Mark Rylance, his son, Tom Glynn-Carney and his son’s friend, Barry Keoghan.  The third group we follow is a pair of spitfire pilots, Collins, played by Jack Lowden, and Farrier, played by Tom Hardy.  The intertwined storylines conceived by Nolan provides an intense and immersive look at the historic evacuation of Dunkirk that was a pivotal moment of World War II.

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