Birth of a Nation

This is a story of the events that lead up to Nat Turner leading a rebellion of the slaves in 1831. I had heard of the movie from multiple sources, so it was time to watch it.

I enjoyed the movie. It was very informative, but I hadn’t realized that it was about an actual event. I learn more and more every day.

This movie is not the same as the 1915 movie starring Lillian Gish. At first, I thought it was a remake and I was expecting a KKK rising any minute. It’s definitely not the remake. I still don’t know that I want to see the 1915 version.

Marriage Story

I was looking over the list on the best of Netflix article. I was reading off the names of movies I’d be interested in seeing and we decided that Marriage Story might be interesting.

I was expecting more of a comedy, but it was definitely not. It was a drama, and it was sad to watch the end of a marriage.

I felt that the couple could have had a different ending if so many other people weren’t involved. I am sure that many people have had similar stories end the way the movie did. I am also sure that others had different endings, depending on the process.

I would recommend this movie, but it was a little heavy for a distraction watch. I can see why it won so many awards, though. Very good movie, just not a lot of humor.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this up for bookclub. I spent a lot of time overthinking the book.

It was a quick read, and I did enjoy the book. Because it was labeled horror, I was expecting it to be scarier. I did not find it scary at all. Maybe a little creepy, but not necessarily scary.

It was an ok book. I don’t think I’d really recommend it to anyone, but I had it recommended to me many times.

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A Short Account of the History of Mathematics by W. Rouse Ball

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I found this gem as a freebie on Audible. It was part of the set to help you relax and sleep. It certainly helped me sleep. I lasted maybe 5 minutes. I was out cold. It worked for its intended purpose. I could tell by the title that it would be a snoozer.

I feel strange giving this 5 stars when it was boring and sleep worthy. It was worth listening to for sleep purposes, which is how it is marketed on Audible. It worked great!

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Communication Between Cultures by Larry A. Samovar

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read this for my class on intercultural communications. I found that I was reading too hard into it. There were so many things that I knew were incorrect, history-wise, geography-wise, etc. Can’t someone fact check a book? I do understand that the points that irritated me were parts that didn’t have anything to do with communication, but I do think that the editor could have done a better job with updating information.

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You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain by Phoebe Robinson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! I picked it up because it was available at the library. I found that it had a lot of good information in it.

One of the things that I loved was that the author made it clear that this is her opinion, and she is not speaking for all black women. Just herself. Also, when there came a time to tell the white person part of the story, she chose to have a white person write that part, since she felt she couldn’t give it justice.

Great information was given in a humorous way. I would definitely recommend this book.

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You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain

Ruby Bridges on Disney Plus

When I read the book that Ruby Bridges wrote, Through my Eyes, this movie was mentioned. I decided that since I had Disney Plus, I might as well see what it is all about. A few things in the movie are different from the way the author told her story.

The movie was based on the book that the psychiatrist wrote. I believe he did a great job with both the book and the movie.

I would not think that this would be a children’s movie, but there’s really nothing in there that a child couldn’t see. It is definitely worth watching especially to learn about the integration of school in the 60’s.

Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys by Victor M. Rios

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had to read this for class. It had a lot of good information, but the audiobook version was awful! No one coached the narrator on how to pronounce certain things like the names of cities or the local public transportation system. Bart and San Ramon and San Leandro are not difficult! It bothered me the whole time I was listening.

I would recommend it to explain some of the things that are going on in the world right now, but definitely not the audiobook version.

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Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys

Puffs

I watched this movie as part of a weekly Harry Potter movie series. We watched 1-8, and they host announced that we had 3 more left. What? I thought we were done.

Puffs is the Harry Potter story told by a group of Hufflepuffs. It was a play that was recorded and made into a movie. It’s humorous and very silly.

I don’t know that I would watch it again, but it was fun to watch it at least one time. Snape as the Sex Ed teacher was funny enough to make it worth watching that one time.

Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I found this movie at RedBox when I was trying to find something to watch. I originally didn’t want to see it because it was not about Mr. Rogers like I had expected. It was about the reporter who interviewed him for a magazine.

It turned out that I was more interested in the movie than I had originally thought. It had a pretty decent cast, and the reporter’s wife is the actress who plays Beth on This Is Us. She did a great job in the part.

The film was a touching story about family. I would definitely recommend it. It was worth the cost of the rental.