Opinion

Alabama Armchair Critic: September Streaming Options Include Warriors, Explorers, Suspicious Girlfriends, and a Sadistic Nurse

BY JERRY ROBERTS

With movie theaters still closed, streaming is still the place to be. Most of you know by now that Bill & Ted Face the Music debuts on demand on Sept. 1 – but here are some other top suggestions for your September streaming pleasure.

Mulan is the Disney live-action remake that was supposed to debut in theaters in March but was put on hold due to COVID-19. Disney+ has decided to put the film on their steaming service for a price of $29.99. Will the movie be successful at this price? We’ll know soon. (Sept. 4, Disney+)

Ratched is the new project from American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy. Murphy regular Sarah Paulson plays young Mildred Ratched – the cruel, passive-aggressive head nurse from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – as she joins the staff at a mental hospital in Oregon. (Sept. 18, Netflix)

I’m Thinking of Ending Things is the newest confection from Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich). This psychological horror film is about a woman who travels with her new boyfriend to his parent’s secluded farm. Uh oh. (Sept. 4, Netflix)

Away is yet another attempt by Netflix to put together a successful space show after the lackluster reception of Space Force and Another Life. This one stars Oscar winner Hilary Swank as a leader of a team struggling to be the first to Mars. (Sept. 4, Netflix)

Jerry Roberts is an Alabama movie critic and historian for armchaircinema.com, armchairoscars.com. He has a blog at overthinkingoscar.wordpress.com.

OPINION

Lake Living: Respecting Differences Makes Us Stronger

BY ALLISON ADAMS

September usually brings thoughts of the changing leaves of fall and football, gatherings, and good times.

But as I write this from the Appalachian Mountains, summer is still going strong at home – and I’m awaiting the final ruling on whether we’ll have SEC football.

We’ve taken a little break in Cashiers and Highlands. It reminds me of the things I treasure in a tiny little town, sort of what Tuscaloosa once was before the sprawl of progress. I grew up in Livingston, and even in the 80s, Tuscaloosa was the “big town.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love the things growth brings. Tuscaloosa is immersed with diversity, educational debates, historical discussion, art, music, and theater that seeps into its southern culture from across the world.

We’ve loved serving real estate clients from Germany, Saudi Arabia, India, China, Brazil, and Mexico, often entertaining them in our home and sharing those cultures with our children through music and food.

This has taught me that all need is to understand each other, to do our best to extend compassion while also respecting that we will never all be the same. But really, isn’t that the thing that makes the world go round?

If we were all the same, where would we be? Perhaps on a Truman Show of life? Who really wants that?

Our diversity and differences are exactly what makes America the place that people throughout the world the world want to experience. Blessings,

Allison

21 OPINION

Give Life to Your Story: Too Many Choices

BYMIKE GREEN

Recently, I was looking for a few tunes to lighten my day. I typically return to the same few bands and styles of music I know best. Needtobreathe and 80s classic rock get steady rotation. But that day, I wanted to break from routine. A quick glance into Spotify showed me no less than 48 (!) music genres. Now multiply that by the number of artists (and songs) in each genre and well, my mind began swirling. With so many options, I was frozen. After what seemed like an eternity of indecision, I found myself back in the familiar.

Because we have every song ever produced just clicks away, every piece of merchandise an Amazon search away, and more ways to personalize our phones, cars, clothes, and hairstyles than ever, we have what psychologists call “decision fatigue.” With so many choices, we just don’t know what we want anymore.

WE WASTE SO MUCH OF LIFE ON TRIVIAL DECISIONS, WE’RE LEFT WITH NO EMOTIONAL ENERGY TO MAKE THE REALLY IMPORTANT ONES.

I recently read something strange. Some of the greatest thinkers, athletes, and business innovators of the past 100 years did something countercultural. They put some decisions on autopilot. Some ate the same meal for lunch every day. Others wore the same clothes every day. Bizarre, right? But their reasoning was that life was just too important to waste on the trivial. I waste too much of life on the trivial.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

Mike Green serves as Executive Director of Tuscaloosa Youth For Christ. He and his wife, Laura, have two grown kids, and two really cool grandkids. Reach Mike at mike@tuscaloosayfc.com.

Mike and Laura Green Photo: Mike Green