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Reviews
We Own This City (2022)
Could and should have been better.
Loved The Wire, and seeing David Simon involved with another Baltimore police drama I assumed (wrongly) that this would be 5*, 10/10, TV at its finest.
Story jumps all over the place and is almost impossible to follow. The most annoying thing though is that it has succumbed to the woke brigade. The opening credits are essentially an advert for the BLM movement, and rather than just sticking to the facts of the corruption case and the people involved, the writers felt the need to invent a character, a civil rights lawyer, who does nothing except bang on about Freddie Gray.
A lot of the cast of The Wire make appearances in this, and I found myself reminiscing about their characters in that, rather than trying to follow this garbage.
The only thing I could recommend this for is a drinking game. Take a shot every time someone mentions Freddie Gray. You'll be so drunk after half an hour you'll forget how bad this show is.
Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story (2020)
Brilliant!
I didn't know anything about Willy T. Ribbs before watching this and very little about American motorsport (oval tracks to an Englishman are generally scoffed at), but by the time I reached the last 20mins of this documentary I was rooting for that man like I have never rooted for anyone before.
Willy isn't a household name with multiple world championships to his name (although in a colour-blind world he might well have been), but his story/career is one of the most inspiring in any sport.
Whether motor racing is your thing or not this is well worth watching.
Traffic Stop (2017)
Making an issue where there isn't one.
The clear motive of this documentary is to make you believe a huge racial injustice has taken place. The problem with that theory is that the entire confrontation between the woman and the officer was caught on a dashcam and the officers microphone. As soon as she was confronted with the information that she was being pulled for speeding, she became angry and belligerent. At no point was she cooperative and the resulting tussle was entirely her own fault.
It's the kind of documentary that you might expect from an independent filmmaker with an axe to grind, but for HBO to get involved with this nonsense is quite disappointing.
Only half an hour so worth a look for a giggle, but if you are looking for a serious insight into police brutality, racial injustice etc, you won't find it here.
Strong Island (2017)
Only one side of a story.
While being a well made and emotionally charged documentary, I completely failed to see the racial injustice in the story. A white man killed a black man, that much is true. However the testimony of his best friend who was present, the detective, and even the maker of the documentary, clearly state that the deceased had twice confronted the accused in an aggressive manner, causing the fear necessary for a clear case of self defence. I am fully aware that instances of racial injustice are an everyday occurrence in the U.S, however the only way you will see one in this film is if you want to.