Kanopy is a library-provided movie app I have on many devices. I have it on my phone, Apple TV, and our iPad, but it’s not an app I’ve used very often… until now. One of the things I enjoy the most about Kanopy is what it offers breaks me out of my comfort zone. Kanopy also recently offered movies that are credit free viewing so even more incentive to give something new a try.
I recently watched Some Freaks, starring Thomas Mann from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and Lily Mae Harrington, who was amazing to watch. She blew me away. “A charming romance develops between a boy with one eye and an overweight girl, though when she loses her weight after going to college, their relationship is tested in devastating ways they never dreamed would happen” (Kanopy). Multifaceted and real, it went well beyond the idea of a “teen film.”
This past week my husband and I watched Skin, which to be honest, was intense. “A man makes the dangerous choice to leave the neo-Nazi gang he joined as a teenager. He is determined to start a new life–if he can make it out alive” (Kanopy). This is based on the true story of Bryon Widner featured in the MSNBC documentary Erasing Hate. Philadelphia-based anti-racist activist Daryle Lamont Jenkins, founder of the One People’s Project and Bryon’s wife, Julie were the biggest help in turning his life around.
Megan Leavey has
also been a film we enjoyed watching together. “A film based on the true life story of a young marine corporal, played by Kate Mara, whose unique discipline and bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq. When she is assigned to clean up the K9 unit after a disciplinary hearing, Leavey identifies with a particularly aggressive dog, Rex, and is given the chance to train him. Over the course of their service, Megan and Rex completed more than 100 missions until an IED explosion injures them, putting their fate in jeopardy” (Kanopy). Even though I cried, it was incredibly heartwarming.
And as someone who is obsessed with all things New Orleans, I plan on watching the credit-free documentary The Sons of Tennessee Williams featuring Bianca Del Rio. “Mardi Gras, drag royalty and a glittering civil rights revolution – where else could these elements come together but in New Orleans? Interweaving archival footage with contemporary interviews, The Sons of Tennessee Williams tells the story of New Orleans’ gay Mardi Gras across five decades and uncovers the history of the first civil rights for gay Americans” (Kanopy).
Happy watching, everyone! And stay safe.
~posted by Kara P.
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