Black in Latin America

Henry Louis Gates is well known for the documentaries that he produces for PBS television. The latest one is called "Black in Latin America". In this series, Gates explores the history and roots of Black African slaves in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Mexico and Peru. This documentary is about 240 minutes long but is well worth viewing. Gates poses the question in each country, "Who are we first and foremost?" Is racial identity more important than national identity? For some the answer is yes. For others the answer is no.

Whip It

No, this post is not an ode to Devo (though I do love that song), but rather a look at the world of roller derby. I attended my first bout the other night and had the opportunity to see Bloomington's Bleeding Heartland Roller Girls win. Afterwards, I was inspired to pick up the feature film Whip It, a look at one teen's coming of age through the roller derby.

Bigger, faster, stronger.

When it comes to focusing on body image and self esteem the media often discusses how this impacts women in negative ways. There's not a whole lot out there that focuses on men and their self image. Bigger, stronger, faster is a documentary that tries to do exactly that. By talking to various body builders, weight lifters and athletes we find that there exists this childhood yearning in some grown men to become the superheroes that they read about and admired when they were children. But what if those superheroes became number one by injecting themselves with anabolic steroids?

The Apostle


ImageThe Apostle is one of the first of a small genre of films that I sometimes call "Christian Films for non-Christians." I define this genre as films that are well written, well acted and well produced. They are willing to accept a PG-13, or even an R rating, but have at their base a message of faith while showing both the best and worst in people they feature.

For Colored Girls

Our library had a few copies of this on our BSE shelves. In case didn't know, the library now has Best Seller Express or BSE dvds available for checkout for three days and limited to one per person. The BSE dvds are new dvd's that the library purchases to make available to the public for walk-in customers only. They can not be held or transferred. After their newness wears off, the BSE dvds are put into regular circulation with all the other feature films.

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