Howdy,
I can’t recall a movie that moved me the way The House I Live In did. We can go on and on about guns. I think the issues are much deeper. Consider watching this movie, then perhaps you’ll agree.
she makes me want to be a better man. she's given me everything.
Howdy,
I can’t recall a movie that moved me the way The House I Live In did. We can go on and on about guns. I think the issues are much deeper. Consider watching this movie, then perhaps you’ll agree.
Finally sat down & watched this film this week. It’s pretty phenomenal: disturbing on many levels, particularly when you consider how many of our citizens apparently thought the “War On Drugs” ended sometime in the early 1990’s (great montage segment). The use of diverse stories and different locales – from big cities like NYC & Miami to the heartland from OKC to Iowa – shows how thoroughly screwed up our policies have become and how insidious the diseases of not just addiction but of poverty and hopelessness have become. I think this should be required viewing for every 10th grader in the nation who takes US History & the MCAS.
Yet the person who impressed me most in this film was David Simon; critically acclaimed journalist, author and creator of “Homicide: Life on the Street,” HBO’s “The Wire” & “Treme.” He is one of the centerpiece interviews woven throughout the film – anytime Jarecki wants to either give a history lesson or have someone “lead the witness” (ask a really intelligent question the viewer may not know enough to ask) – he uses Simon.
If you haven’t watched “The Wire,” [AHEM, PAULIE] you’re missing out on probably the best editorial about the state of our union written in the last 20 years. He is, in many ways, a modern Mark Twain with a Howard Zinn streak. Mr. Simon usually just let’s his work – particularly “The Wire” – speak for itself, but he has also given a number of speeches & even testified before Congress as an authority on both journalism & crime. He gave an interview with Bill Moyers a couple of years ago, mainly I think to promote “Treme’s” premiere.
If you haven’t seen it, this will be the best 54 minutes of your week. Guaranteed or your money back: http://vimeo.com/33232856
Here’s a piece from today’s NYT Opinion page that backs up what the movie is saying:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/unfair-punishments-of-ex-offenders.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
“Congress embraced a destructive policy when it decreed in 1996 that people convicted of drug felonies would henceforth be banned for life from receiving food stamps or cash assistance unless they lived in a state that expressly opted out of the ban”.
“People who have served their time face the hard task of establishing new lives in the world beyond prison. They need all the help they can get feeding and clothing their families and themselves”.