‘Athlete A’ Film Review: Documentary About US Gymnastics Sex Abuse Scandal Is Heartbreaking and Infuriating

Identifying Features, from first-time director Fernanda Valadez, is like water in the desert for the mostly myopic genre of "la frontera" action films that depict the migration crisis at the southern border of the United States. Shot on location in rural Guanajuato, Mexico, this poignant film (which scooped two awards in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at this year's Sundance fest and will be distributed in the U.S.

For a debut feature, writer-director Charlène Favier’s powerful coming-of-age sports drama Slalom couldn't come at a more timely moment.

Peacock, NBC’s new streaming platform, “In Deep” covers the now-infamous incident at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil when the bleached-blonde Lochte — a 12-time Olympic medalist — falsely claimed to have been robbed at gunpoint.He was subsequently dropped by his sponsors and was suspended by USA Swimming for 10 months from competing in domestic and international competitions.

The timing couldn't be more fortuitous for the release of Mary Mazzio's uplifting documentary about the nation's first African American high school rowing team, which feels almost like a tonic for these troubled times. Narrated by Common and including NBA greats Grant Hill and Dwyane Wade among its executive producers, A Most Beautiful Thing, scheduled to open in theaters, powerfully demonstrates the healing potential of sports and the ways it can help bridge societal divides.

Where did the universe, humanity, our planet and chocolate ice cream come from? They were all created by a giant, all-powerful being made of spaghetti, with two googly-eyes on raised stalks and a pair of meatballs where cheeks would bulge. This is the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), and if there were any justice in the world, His story would stand as good a chance of being taught as fact in American schools as the anti-evolution narrative called Intelligent Design.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticIn “17 Blocks,” Cheryl Sanford, matriarch of a low-income African American household in southeast Washington, D.C., talks wistfully of a “parallel universe” where she and her family enjoy cookouts, vacations and gift-filled Christmas mornings. This melancholy confession comes moments after a closeup of her casually snorting cocaine.

Seth Rogen learns how to help himself in the trailer for HBO Max's An American Pickle. The trailer, which dropped on Friday, sees Rogen as a struggling late 20th century farmer named Herschel Greenbaum leaving his old country to pursue his version of the American dream.

Also Read: Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda and 'Hamilton' Cast Surprise Young Superfan With Virtual Performance (Video)That approach also mimics Miranda’s achievement here, reimagining American history and the grand project of the founding fathers through the lens of an individual story, and in particular that of an undersung founding father who achieved greatness from humble beginnings as “an arrogant immigrant, orphan bastard, whore’s son.”Miranda crafted a sung-through hip-hopera that hews closely

The recent revelation about Russia-paid bounties to Taliban forces for killing American soldiers adds an eerie and tragic timeliness to The Outpost. Rod Lurie's film depicting the real-life story of one of the bloodiest battles of the Afghan War possesses an inevitably haunting quality due to the strategic blunders that led to vastly outnumbered U.S.

but just another day.A riveting combat movie that aims to put viewers alongside American soldiers in the midst of one of the bloodiest battles in the long-running war, “The Outpost” takes the measure of what a few dozen men endured and finds heroism not in enemies killed but in compadres saved.In telling the story of an attack by hundreds of Taliban fighters on 53 U.S.

Also Read: The Go-Go's' Kathy Valentine on Stardom, Sexism and How to Handle a Pandemic (Video)The film also adds another, sad dimension to that phrase “couldn’t find the same appreciation at home,” suggesting that Quatro not only struggled to be liked by American listeners, but also by her own family.It’s not a revelatory film, except to those who know nothing about Quatro, and it occasionally skirts areas you wish it explored.

Tomris Laffly With an overdue reckoning on racism happening nationwide thanks to the renewed #BlackLivesMatter movement, it’s hard to imagine someone whose legacy would warrant a more urgent cinematic tribute than John Lewis, a true American civil rights icon. Currently serving his 17th term as a member of Congress, the 80-year-old U.S.

Courtney Howard author“No Small Matter” opens on an innovative attention-grabber, spoofing dry, outdated classroom tutorials to make its point: that a child’s early education is fundamental to their maturation into successful community members and American citizens. However, before the sequence finishes and the facts start flowing, it makes the mistake of laying down a whopping guarantee that the documentary will change how audiences think about its subject.

Larry Nassar — the osteopathic physician who in his 29 years as the USA Gymnastics women’s team's doctor u sed medical treatment as a guise for molesting hundreds of young athletes — was the only nice adult among the team staff. It's a point Dantzscher, a survivor of Nassar's abuse, struggles to say out loud.

The Indianapolis Star published a story in which former gymnast Rachael Denhollander came forward with allegations of abuse against Nassar, who was the go-to doctor for gymnasts, including the Olympic team. The situation grew from there, and became not only a legal battle but a total reckoning within the gymnastics community.

Kelly Ripa has an incredibly close family and is often sharing sweet photos of them on social media. Most recently, the Live with Kelly and Ryan star posted an incredible throwback picture of her mum Esther Ripa, who turned 79 on Tuesday.

On Sunday night, Russell Wilson Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird opened the 2020 ESPY Awards with an important message about racism in the sports industry.

Jimmy Fallon is learning about the importance of Juneteenth.