New Releases for Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Spotlight

Genre: Drama Directed by: Tom McCarthy Run time: 129 minutes Rating: R Format: Blu-Ray The Lowdown: The Academy Award-winning Best Picture Spotlight is a movie that you need to see.

It’s not just the best movie of the year, hands down, it’s the most impressive testament to the enduring power and importance of newspaper reporting since “All the President’s Men.”

Going into Spotlight, I was unaware of the details of exactly how The Boston Globe began and executed its exhaustive investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by more than 80 priests in the metropolitan area.

The meticulous and gripping adaptation of how those reporters did their job and persevered against a monolithic establishment that historically prevailed in discounting and diminishing any and all criticism was both mind-blowing and inspirational.

As a former professional journalist, even as the credits rolled at 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning, I wanted to leap out of reporter retirement and go immediately to work.

Spotlight is just that – a shining beacon illuminating the danger posed by an all-knowing, omnipresent online Internet that has consistently downgraded the perceived need for unbiased, informed newsgathering about timely, serious issues impacting a local community. No other media format could have done this story the justice it deserved.

Kudos to the filmmakers for recognizing the need to showcase the work of the Globe staff and for presenting such a thoughtful and accurate portrayal of how reporters actually work and the significance of what their findings can accomplish.

The Stuff You Care About:

Hot chicks – Yes, but that’s not what this is about. Nudity – No. Gore – No. Drug use – No. Bad Guys/Killers – Complicit silence. Buy/Rent – Buy it.

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Secret in Their Eyes Racing Extinction Scream Factory Double Feature: Millennium/R.O.T.O.R. Transformers Rescue Bots: Adventures in Time and Space Scream Factory Double Feature: The Curse/Curse II: The Bite