The Weight of Gold is a documentary that seeks to explore Olympic athletes and what going for gold means for their mental health. When the film premiered in July 2020, it came at a time when we should have been watching athletes compete in Tokyo. However, the pandemic meant delaying the games until the following summer. The film brought mental health into the conversation just one year before the same subject would dominate the Summer…
"The Weight of Gold: The Olympics and Mental Health"Author: Danielle Solzman
Danielle Solzman
Ice Princess, while underrated over 16 years later, is an inspiring figure skating movie showing that girls can be intelligent and athletic. The Winter Olympics have me in the mood for movies about winter sports. This past Sunday night had me tuning into Ice Princess for the first time in several years. The thing I love about this movie is that there isn’t necessarily a villain. Tina Harwood (Kim Cattrall) does come off as an…
"Ice Princess: An Underrated Figure Skating Film"
During a debate about the recent ban of Maus, Whoopi Goldberg discussed the Holocaust on The View and got the facts wrong in doing so. Goldberg said the following about the Holocaust: “The Holocaust isn’t about race. No. It’s not about race.” It gets further infuriating shortly thereafter when Goldberg said: “Well, this is white people doing it to white people. So, this is y’all go fight amongst yourselves.” Whoopi Goldberg is wrong, wrong, and,…
"Whoopi Goldberg Is Wrong About the Holocaust"
Awards season used to kick off with the start of the fall film festival season but things have changed to where it feels fifteen months long. Every now and then, a film will breakout at Sundance, get acquired, and then held for the fall festival season. I have no problem with this. What I have a problem with is the non-stop discussion that starts during Sundance and then plays all the way through Oscar Sunday.…
"Awards Season Should Not Be 15 Months Long"
Friends and stars will pay tribute to the late Betty White in the new NBC special, Celebrating Betty White: America’s Golden Girl. During her career, White was known for being an animal activist as well as the star of various series, including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Golden Girls, and Hot in Cleveland. The latter series only came following the renaissance that was kicked off with her scene-stealing role in 2009’s The Proposal, SAG Lifetime…
"Celebrating Betty White: America’s Golden Girl"
Aubrey Plaza delivers a career-best performance in Emily the Criminal, which marks the feature directorial debut of John Patton Ford. Ford had been to Sundance some twelve times earlier with a short film. It was fate that his feature directorial debut would debut during the January film festival. However, it’s just unfortunate that said debut was unable to premiere to a packed theater in Park City due to the pandemic. Produced in the heat of…
"Emily the Criminal – Sundance 2022"
Peter Bergson’s name might seem forgotten to history but Against the Tide shows his efforts in trying to save European Jewry. Rabbi Stephen Wise held a press conference in Washington, D.C. on November 24, 1942. It followed the State Department’s confirmation that Jews were being killed by the Nazis in Europe. You would think it would be major news, right? I mean, it was also the first time that the Nazi’s plan for the Jews…
"Against the Tide: How Peter Bergson Saved Jews"
The Long Way Home follows the years in the aftermath of the Holocaust in which Jews are displaced and have nowhere else to go. The film starts with a quote from Exodus 13: “When Pharaoh let the people go, G-d did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near…But G-d led the people round by way of the wilderness…” Per the film’s on-screen text, the voices are taken…
"The Long Way Home: From WWII to Israel"
Genocide is known for being the first Holocaust documentary to win an Oscar and remains essential viewing in teaching about the Shoah. Simon Wiesenthal briefly introduces the film before we get into the nuts and bolts. From there, it is non-stop. If you’re looking for entertainment, you will not find it here. What you will find is the bare minimum when it comes to Holocaust education. How did it happen and why? When one thinks…
"Genocide: An Oscar-Winning Holocaust Doc"
The United Nations designated January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day to mark the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. When the resolution was passed in 2005, it also rejected any form of Holocaust denial. There has been different themes during every year. In 2022, the day’s theme is Memory, Dignity, and Justice. Going into April 2020, I knew that I lost an aunt, uncle, and a number of cousins during the Holocaust. What I did not know…
"International Holocaust Remembrance Day: Movies"