“I can't help it,” says Ella Al-Shamahi. “It reminds me of The Lord of the Rings!” It’s not easy to make prehistory accessible, but a comparison with Tolkien works for the time before Homo sapiens dominated. Al-Shamahi’s five-part documentary traces the rise of humanity, beginning with the era when Homo neanderthalensis, Homo floresiensis, and Homo erectus each claimed their own territory. Before written history, when our story was “written in our bones and DNA,” some early humans lived in Europe and Asia and had adapted to the cold. Some were learning to harness the power of fire. Some were only 1 meter tall. Others wore helmets and polo shirts. Wait, no, that’s one of the archaeologists excavating in Morocco, where a skull called Jebel Irhoud 1 holds many secrets about our earliest ancestors. It's the beginning of a journey that, in a revelatory first episode, will take Al-Shamahi to spectacular locations in Africa and the Middle East. Stars: Ella Al-Shamahi, Melissa Massyn,...
“Freedom: when you have it, you don't appreciate it, but when you miss it, it's lost.” These words are spoken by Benicio del Toro about halfway through the film. And these words, which lingered in my mind long after I finished the film, clearly refer to the United States today. One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson's most overtly political film to date. And his stance is no surprise. It's the most anti-Trump film since Mickey 17 was released earlier this year. And while I quite liked Mickey 17, this one is much better. Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Writers: Paul Thomas Anderson, Thomas Pynchon Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro One Battle After Another is in tune with current events. There are ICE-style police raids. There are also white supremacists who detest the idea of sanctuary cities. But there's also a clip from The Battle of Algiers (1966), perhaps the most influential resistance film of all time. There's so much going o...