Last night, Rich and I enjoyed watching to flicks from Netflix. The main attraction was “The Wrestler” with Mickey Roake. I can see why he was nominated for an Academy Award. His acting is superb, especially in the scenes where he’s trying to fit into society and not the artificiality of the ring.

My favorite few minutes was his working the deli counter at a super market. He realizes that he has the aptitude to become more than a gladiator, paid to entertain the masses with blood, theatrics, and physical pain. I had to turn away when he participated in a horrific match where props – barb wire, staples, broken glass, bug spray, and furniture – become the third, and most barbaric and unpredictable combatant.

The ending left me ambivalent. I recognized that the character was a gentle and caring soul, but too far gone to do anything other than accept the adulation of the audience, even if it meant his ultimate demise.

Following a quick break for coffee and See’s chocolates, Rich popped in another movie – Taking Chance – and commented that he didn’t think it would be very good. Then premise of the story is simple. Chance Phelps, a 20-year old Private First Class Marine, is killed in combat in Iraq. His body is flown to Dover Air Force base. Lieutenant Colonel (LTCol) Michael Strobl volunteers to escort the body back to the Chance’s family in Dubois, Wyoming. During the trip, LtCol Strobl writes a diary about the trip.

With the permission of the family, he turns his diary entries into an article, which in turn became the movie “Taking Chance.”

The movie is straightforward, taking no political side. It is a fact-based, brutal, heart-breaking, and the type of movie that can stick with you for the rest of your life. I cried through the entire movie. Even as I write this article, my eyes are watering.

EVERYONE, especially hawkish Republicans, should see “Taking Chance.” No other movie, in my opinion, comes to chiseling away extraneous happenings and forcing you to experience the agony of war, the despair and grief of losing a child, spouse, relative, friend, or acquaintance.

Every quarter, my group has an off-site. On Friday, we went to an Alamo Drafthouse, which are combination theater/restaurants, primarily located in strip malls. In other words, third rate McMenamins. Although, Alamo Drafthouses have larger selections of imported and domestic draft and bottled beers and wines than McMenamins; the latter focuses on serving their own and local microbrews and wines.

It was the first time I’d been to an Alamo Drafthouse and since I’m extremely partial to McMenamins, I didn’t go with an open mind. Nevertheless, it was an afternoon off from work and the chance to a see a movie – Hot Fuzz.

Released this year and featuring British comedian Simon Pegg, Hot Fuzz was so good that I rushed home and convinced Rich to see the 10:15 showing that evening!

The first two-third of the movie is humorous with the actors taking their parts very seriously. The big-city police officer goes by the “book,” interpreting the law and seeking out suspects in a picture-perfect English village with a cast of colorful and congenial shopkeepers and professionals. But everything isn’t storybook perfect and when the truth is revealed, the flick turns into a shoot ’em up, super-cop spoof.

It was hysterically funny, fast paced with twist-and-turns and subtle British humor that turns ordinary words like “hag,” “grasshopper,” and “swan” into memorable punch lines. Curious? Check out where it’s playing in your area!

Last night, we saw The Constant Gardener. I didn’t want to see it, but since it arrived from Netflix and it was Saturday night – our big movie-watching night – I obliged. Rich is in charge of ordering movies from Netflix. He goes through various phases. For a couple of weeks, he ordered instructional videos on sailing and nautical flicks. He’s now swinging back to Indies and edgy drama.

I knew The Constant Gardener was an exceptional film that dealt with disturbing materials… something about Africa and corruption. I was hoping, however, to see something cheerful after suffering through an episode of Horatio Hornblower along with Master and Commander the night before. With a bad attitude, I curled up on the sofa to see The Constant Gardener.

It was unexpectedly absorbing, deeply disturbing and magnificently acted and directed. In a sentence, it’s about an English diplomat (who’s constantly gardening) and his activist wife who discovers that a prominent drug company is testing a new, often fatal drug on unsuspecting natives in Kenya. Throughout the movie, you wonder whether it’s really fictional. Conceivably, in countries where regulatory bodies like the FDA don’t exist, drug companies could be doing experimental testing, causing detrimental side-effects or high death rates.

It happened in the United States for 40 years. Between 1932 and 1972 (just 35 years ago!), the U.S. Public Health Service conducted an experiment in Tuskegee, Alabama, on 399 black men in the late stages of syphilis. Instead of treating them, they allowed them to degenerate and eventually die. Their bodies were then autopsied to determine how syphilis affected blacks as opposed to whites. According to a news report by news anchor Harry Reasoner, the experiment “used human beings as laboratory animals in a long and inefficient study of how long it takes syphilis to kill someone.”

Even more heinous was that 40 of their wives were infected with syphilis and 19 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis. Even when penicillin became widely available to treat syphilis, the men were discouraged from seeking treatment. During World War II, 250 of the men registered for the draft and were consequently ordered to get treatment for syphilis. The Public Health Service, however, exempted them from treatment, allowing their disease to further progress.

Watching The Constant Gardener, I can’t stop myself from thinking that corporate profits and corrupt governmental policies are always going to supersede people’s rights.