Movie Review: "Che!" (1969; 20th Century Fox/Twilight Time)

...now, admittedly and...well, more than a little embarrassingly (...considering that I often make claim to being a respectably knowledgeable history buff), in going into this film for the very first time, recently, this reviewer quite literally knew nothing about the main protagonist herein...this (...squinting through reading glasses, at the disc's film's capsule synopsis) Che Guevara...though I do recall his artistically poignant impact on pop culture visuals, as well as his subsequent impact on the establishment-bashing youth of the time, without really knowing who he was. If anything, at that very young age, I was...at the very least...dimly aware of, and inundated with the media inklings and breaking news broadcasts of what was happening, as well as what had happened, in Cuba's rather torrent and controversial history, from the early sixties, up through the dawn of the '70's decade; at least I had something to go on...something, in an attempt to match the historical person depicted, with the history associated with him...

Movie Review: Ashanti (1979)

by Peggy Christie
   
“Based on facts.” Those three words (along with based on a true story) fill me with dread. These days Hollywood takes a lot of liberties with "the truth" in order to sell a film and though the movie I'm reviewing did take place over 30 years ago, I have a feeling La-La- Land was just as guilty then of embellishments as it is now.

That said, however, the truth of slavery still existing in Africa in the 20th century was very real. Hell, it exists in the 21st century in many countries across the globe. What surprised me is that people thought it all went away after the US Civil War.