UpdatedSun, Jan 17, 2021 at 8:53 am CT
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By Tom Siebert
I could have driven last month from my home in Illinois, where the theaters are closed due to the worsening COVID-19 crisis, to see News of the World in adjacent Indiana, where they are open.
But no movie is literally to die for. This one, however, comes pretty close.
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Following a pandemic-limited theater release on Dec. 25, this late Christmas gift opened today on several streaming services including Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Vudu where I watched it for a pricey-but-well-worth-it $13.99. News of the World is an epic, broad shoulder of a film bulging with wisdom, gravitas, and goodness.
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Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel appear in a scene from “News of the World.” (Bruce W. Talamon/Universal Pictures)
There was an era – and that era was the 1970s – when a Time magazine poll named news anchor Walter Cronkite as “the most trusted man in America,” and Watergate investigative heroes Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were largely responsible for the occupation of journalist regularly charting near the top of the rankings of most admired professions in the USA. (Even today, 99% of mainstream American journalists remain committed to delivering the truth, despite the delusional cries of “Fake news!” popularized by certain public figures.)
Film Shorts // January 13-19, 2021
American Skin (R) Nate Parker (The Birth of a Nation) stars in and directs this drama as a Black man seeking revenge on the white cop (Beau Knapp) who killed his unarmed teenage son. Also with Omari Hardwick, Theo Rossi, Vanessa Bell Calloway, AnnaLyne McCord, Shane Paul McGhie, Tony Espinosa, and Wolfgang Bodison. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Image courtesy of YouTube.com
OPENING
American Skin (R) Nate Parker (
The Birth of a Nation) stars in and directs this drama as a Black man seeking revenge on the white cop (Beau Knapp) who killed his unarmed teenage son. Also with Omari Hardwick, Theo Rossi, Vanessa Bell Calloway, AnnaLyne McCord, Shane Paul McGhie, Tony Espinosa, and Wolfgang Bodison. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
CST
Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Paul Greengrass and written by Greengrass and Luke Davies, based on the novel by Paulette Jiles. Rated PG-13 (for violence, disturbing images, mature thematic material and some strong language). Running time: 118 minutes. Available Friday on demand.
If we were to conduct a poll of the most trusted actors in America, I’d argue Tom Hanks would be near the top of that list and Hanks is perfectly cast as an 1870 news anchor of sorts in Paul Greengrass’ gritty and visceral and deeply resonant “News of the World,” a rough-and-tumble Texas road-trip movie that plays like a hybrid of the John Wayne movies “The Searchers” and “True Grit” and even reminded me a little of George Clooney’s recent epic “The Midnight Sky.”