Rebel Ridge

Netflix trailer (but I'd recommend not to watch it, so the plot is fresh): https://t.ly/muWoY

And here's your weekend entertainment. At least two hours and eleven minutes of it anyway.

This is a seventies movie. The kind we used to pay to see on a Saturday night, or maybe a hot Tuesday evening, when we had to get out of the house and into deep air conditioning.

But now we see these flicks at home. And the experience is not the same, but you only go out for superhero movies, the studios are afraid of making something like this, they want insurance, they want sequels. "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice"? Really?

So what we've got here is a vigilante movie. Crossed with some of that deep south stuff we saw in "Deliverance," you know, where you're out of your element, the law does not apply, and the cops rule.

Be afraid, be very afraid. Especially if you're Black, especially if you're vulnerable.

But there's another theme here, that if you work for the man you must go along with the plan. You can't be a clean cop, the rest of the force won't let you be. You've got to kiss your boss's ass, no matter what gig you're doing. And yes, as Bob Dylan sang, we've all got to serve somebody, but the game is different when you're on top of the pyramid. Get married, have a kid or two and you can't help but play the game, you've got to pay the bills. Sure, you could lack moral fiber and walk away, but not only are you going to screw your progeny but you'll pay a price down the line, you can never forget, and this one bad choice leads to a bunch more.

Now this was a trope back in the old days. Northerners in the south. Even "Easy Rider." You want to stick to your territory.

Live in the red south and good luck getting an abortion. And there's a constant disinformation campaign saying California is a hellhole, and you believe it because those in charge wouldn't lie to you, would they? It's a great con, and you're in on it. And you can't break ranks. Because then you'll have to admit you were duped and that you're the schlemiel you truly are.

And you can be on either side of the political fence and still enjoy this movie, but remember everything is political, and when you say to keep politics out of it, you can't.

So at first I thought this was going to be the story of how those rednecks killed that jogger. And there are parallels, but it's not the same story.

What do you do when you're caught up in the vagaries of the system, do you "Yes sir" or "No Ma'am" or stand up for your rights? This is the talk every Black parent has with their child, how to react when driving while Black. Then again, how many Black people even listen to Iron Maiden?

So now you can nitpick. You're Black and your neighborhood is safe, and you love "The Number of the Beast." Congratulations.

And now this is devolving into the anger I feel all day long, with people sending me their lousy self-produced tracks, sending me right wing crap from publications I've never heard of, that all you have to do is Google to find out they're biased. I know, I know, you're reasonable, but the rest of them are ruining it for all of us. Under the rubric of "free speech." Hey, you free speech fanatics, how do you feel about Meta closing out those accounts sponsored by the Russians? Huh? Should we leave those up too? Just because the line is hard to define, that does not mean we should throw it out the window. Only a nincompoop like Elon Musk who knows science but not life would think that.

And there you have my bile.

But in truth so many of us can get along.

Leave your prejudices at the door. But know the system is rigged against you. You're just a pawn in their game. Bob Dylan sang that sixty years ago, but today we have to hear about fake robbers and drug dealers in songs that are fantasies just like the superhero movies.

So, suspend disbelief at the door, when you press play.

When you find out what this is all about...it's not that it's so convoluted, it's just that it's not really that big a deal.

But we've got Snake Plissken to save the day!

Actually, I can't even remember those movies, but in truth Aaron Pierce as Terry Richmond is the great equalizer, he cannot shy away from a fight, he's got to right a wrong, even though at times he wants to leave it all behind, like Al Pacino in "The Godfather."

We used to see A level films at the brand new multiplexes, but we also went to see the AIP and New World pictures too. They were gritty. They showed the true underside of life, not the gussied-up fantasy the major studios purveyed.

So the plot unfolds. It takes you a while to find out what is going on. And then you start to plot ahead in your mind, what if the cash really is drug money and the Chinese restaurant is a front.

And then you've got the classic white woman/black guy formula. Although love is only hinted at here. And that's no longer seen as dangerous. Now all the focus is on gay and trans, but really it's all the same thing, you can't live and let live, and sometimes you've got to live and let die. Is that how this is going to end, with people dying?

And in truth, that was just a B level James Bond flick. Trading on the name, the franchise, as opposed to the plot.

"Rebel Ridge" is more serious, and looks for more gravitas, but you're not going to turn off the TV and be fearful it's going to happen to you.

AnnaSophia Robb reminds me of Mary Stuart Masterson not only in looks but intelligence, radiating a level of truth in an untrue movie.

David Denman as Even Marston is always good. There's just something about his demeanor that bugs you.

Emory Cohen as Seve Lann? You know this guy, a wimp, not the kind who turns into a school shooter, but someone who joins the force to carry a gun with authority.

And then there's Don Johnson as the police chief. So self-satisfied.

And that rings true, that is life, some bureaucrat standing in your way and proud of it. Forcing you to abide by regs that are irrelevant. Loving to see you squirm.

So you're bombarded with incoming all day. It's good to have a respite.

And I can list much better series, most of them foreign with subtitles that you don't want to watch. But if you're looking for good old American entertainment... THIS IS IT!


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