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Yesterday we went to see "Queen of Katwe," which the wikpedia describes as a biographical sports drama. The sport in this case is chess, but it must be a real sport because the film is based on a magazine article and book written by Tim Crothers, published by ESPN. The basic story is that of Robert Katende, who has taught hundreds of children in the very poor Katwe area of Uganda to play chess, and features one girl in particular, and her family. As is sometimes the case, we wonder about the intended audience. Middle school kids, maybe? It has not done well at the box office, despite being a Disney movie (financed and produced. Like many Disney or sports movies, it might be considered inspirational). We enjoyed it, but we were in a nearly empty room - there were only four other viewers, one of whom did seem to be the age of the some of the kid actors. The acting and cinematography were very good. It was directed by Mira Nair. Would most parents in the US want to have their children see so many scenes of poverty? Is the running time of just over two hours a problem? When we left the theater, Arthur asked if it made me want to visit Uganda. I don't know about that, but I answered that I am grateful to have many mental images of the place that have nothing to do with Idi Amin - it's been nearly forty years since the worst of his atrocities, but he has still been my main association with the country. Not any more. Also, although I won't buy any because of the problems of cultural appropriation, I really envy some of those head wraps.
At the disappointing end of media is the new (two episodes thus far) TV series "Timeless." A time travel machine has been stolen by someone who wants to change the past so that something or other happens in our time (or doesn't happen. The basic plot point is so un-memorable that I've already forgotten it). Fortunately, there is a backup machine. A randomly (or not) chosen history teacher, a military guy, and a tech person set out to fix the changes the bad guy has made. The costumes look good, and the time machine is pleasantly silly looking, but the writing overall is not impressive. Arthur and I remember fondly "Time Tunnel" from our elementary school days (it aired 1966-67) that had some similar plots. They visited some famous times and places, at least. The new MacGyver doesn't hold up to the old one either. There are many good new shows - why try to remake old ones?
At the disappointing end of media is the new (two episodes thus far) TV series "Timeless." A time travel machine has been stolen by someone who wants to change the past so that something or other happens in our time (or doesn't happen. The basic plot point is so un-memorable that I've already forgotten it). Fortunately, there is a backup machine. A randomly (or not) chosen history teacher, a military guy, and a tech person set out to fix the changes the bad guy has made. The costumes look good, and the time machine is pleasantly silly looking, but the writing overall is not impressive. Arthur and I remember fondly "Time Tunnel" from our elementary school days (it aired 1966-67) that had some similar plots. They visited some famous times and places, at least. The new MacGyver doesn't hold up to the old one either. There are many good new shows - why try to remake old ones?
