When I was a youngster, I would watch the CBS Evening News every day. I watched the local news too. I was a news junkie. Even when my parents would take me out of town, I would always find the local news. I wanted to see what was going on in my new and different surroundings. I liked to see and hear the different anchors and their styles, but most importantly, the news had drawn me in.
I remember seeing Dan Rather report from the fields and jungles of Vietnam. I remember the Patty Hearst kidnapping. I remember Hubert Humphrey’s death and funeral. I remember the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s resignation. If you wanted to know something that was happening internationally or domestically, I knew enough to give you a short report. I was the kid in plaid pants that had an idea of what was going on in the world.
When I first saw CNN, I was knocked over… That is, once I got up from the floor after seeing MTV for the first time. I would check CNN just about every 4 hours for updates. I was thrilled that news was immediate and readily available.
But things changed when I fully discovered girls and music. Those other pursuits and interests took me away from CNN, The CBS Evening News, and the local news. It was like a switch had been flipped.
When I was in my news prime during the 1970’s, I became intrigued by a military dictator in Africa. His name was Gen. Idi Amin. I remember seeing him on the news and to me, he was a lot like Adolph Hitler. He had a certain charisma about him, but I also knew that he was crazier than an oversexed teenager with a Farrah Fawcett poster and a case of Kleenex.
I couldn’t and didn’t want to believe the news reports I was hearing. His reign was brutal and barbaric. And when he appeared in interviews, you could easily tell that the man was clearly nuttier than a box of all male porn. It was easy to laugh at his outrageous comments. It was difficult to look at the atrocities happening in his country.
I wanted to see The Last King Of Scotland in the theaters, but I never got the chance. When I would drive home after work, I could easily read the film’s title on the marquee at the Carousel Grand as it mocked me.
I wasn’t too surprised when Forrest Whitaker won an Oscar for his performance in The Last King Of Scotland. He’s one hell of an actor!
After seeing The Last King Of Scotland listed with a constant “long wait” in my Netflix queue, I was very surprised to find it in my mailbox last Thursday.
I saved it until I could fully devote my full attention to it. I could watch it without being bothered or disturbed. Although this fictional film takes great liberties with real events, I found it riveting. Whitaker truly deserved that Oscar because he grabbed the essence of the Amin’s personality and brought it to the screen.
I highly recommend The Last King Of Scotland and I gave it 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix.
One flick that I wish I hadn’t wasted my time on… Code Name: The Cleaner. Cedric The Entertainer should be stripped of the “Entertainer” title. This movie TOTALLY sucked!
It only last 17 minutes in my DVD player before I yanked it out with great disdain. I wish Netflix would allow ratings with ½ stars. Code Name: The Cleaner didn’t deserve a full star, but I had no choice.
Perhaps if I had seen a movie review on the news, I would have known better… Hmmmm?
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