The Book of Eli (2010)

As I worried about not having enough creepy movies for the month, I happened to find this DVD on a giveaway shelf. Sure, the movie's not a horror or thriller, and even "sci-fi" would be a stretch despite the future setting, but it certainly depicts a world we would not prefer to the present.

Nobody says directly, but evidence suggests that the ruins across America are due to nuclear war. It must have been religious in nature, because people subsequently destroyed every Abrahamic tract they could find. After 31 years, some regret that decision, even if literacy has become as scarce as soap or fresh water. Loner Eli (Denzel Washington) has found the only copy of the KJV to his knowledge, and he believes that a voice has told him to take it westward, where it will be duly appreciated. Gang leader/de facto mayor Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman) will stop at nothing to get his hands on it, up to and including threatening his mistress's daughter, Solara (Mila Kunis), who wants to run away with Eli.

Man on Fire (2004)

Not to be confused with Man on Wire, this title had turned me off for a long time. When I saw that I could watch it free on Hulu, I looked it up and found that it was much better received by the general audience than by critics. That gets me curious.

Since holding rich kids for ransom is rampant in Mexico, troubled ex-Marine John Creasy (Denzel Washington), at the advice of a buddy (Christopher Walken), becomes a bodyguard to Lupita or "Pita" (Dakota Fanning), preteen daughter of automaker Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony). At first he is highly standoffish, but as she urges him to be as sociable as others, he learns to like her. Of course, this wouldn't be much of a story if he never failed at his job....

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

You may think I prioritized this new Netflix release because it's popular right now and/or because it has the final role of the late Chadwick Boseman. In truth, I hadn't known about the casting. No, the main reason is that I was familiar with the title among plays and have been rather missing live theater this year. It hardly matters that I saw another August Wilson adaptation produced by Denzel Washington half a year ago.

In summer 1927, real-life singer Gertrude "Ma" Rainey (Viola Davis) and four instrumentalists gradually assemble at a Chicago recording studio to make a blues album. This is not as uneventful as it sounds. Ma is in full diva mode, upstart trumpeter Levee (Boseman) is possibly even more annoying in his cockiness, the ceiling fan doesn't work, and they are all keenly aware that social conditions aren't great for Black people even up north. Studio owner Mel (Jonny Coyne) and manager Irvin (Jeremy Shamos) show no overt racism or rudeness, unlike the glaring bystanders outside, but you can bet they'd pay White performers better and put them in a more comfortable room.

Crimson Tide (1995)

Hmm, my last submarine film viewing wasn't all that long ago. While this is certainly a time to be dwelling on spatial confinement, I really ought to space them a bit more. Nevertheless, these two are about as different as the subgenre allows.

During the Clinton Administration, just because the Cold War is over doesn't mean Russia poses no further military threat to the U.S., particularly when Chechnyan rebels get their hands on nuclear missiles. The crew of the USS Alabama is well aware of this when a Russian sub attacks them. They receive an outside order to preemptively launch ten missiles at the Russian nuclear installation, but a second message is cut short when a torpedo damages the communications equipment. Commanding Officer Ramsey (Gene Hackman) wants to ignore the incomplete transmission, but Executive Officer Hunter (Denzel Washington) insists on waiting as long as possible for clarity: It could be a retraction. Neither man is willing to compromise, and seeing as the wrong decision in either direction could lead to a nuclear holocaust, they vie desperately for control.

Fences (2016)

Once again, I saved a Best Picture nominee for last because of familiarity. I read the August Wilson play...oof, at least 16 years ago. It occurred to me that while I remembered a lot of it, some good parts might have slipped my mind. Even if not, I liked it well enough that I wouldn't say no to an unsurprising adaptation.

Sometime in the '50s, Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington, also directing) is an illiterate former Negro League player turned Pittsburgh trash collector, who resents that baseball didn't get integrated until too late for him. His experience shapes his view of the present sports scene, and he insists that teen son Cory (Jovan Adepo) not bank on a career in football. Troy exhibits an overall pattern of acting like nobody struggles as much as he does. His egocentrism leads to family tensions, not least when he cheats on wife Rose (Viola Davis).

A Soldier's Story (1984)

Uh-oh, another little-mentioned '80s drama. Fortunately in my eyes, this one came out the same year as Amadeus, which could easily overshadow something good. And most of the on-screen soldier stories I can think of aren't bad.

In World War II, CPT Richard Davenport (Howard E. Rollins, Jr.) is sent from Washington, DC, to a Louisiana army base to investigate the anonymous fatal shooting of SGT Vernon Waters (Adolph Caesar) a short way from base. Given Waters' race and the setting, the KKK is the first suspect to jump to most minds, but of course, to have the first suspicion be correct would render the movie pretty lame. The local colonel allows only three days to solve the case, and that's not the last obstacle set in Davenport's path by officers who would prefer that he not be there. Those who appear to have nothing against Black people still fear likely reactions to a Black officer investigating and possibly arresting White soldiers....

Cry Freedom (1987)

I've learned that there was a streak of anti-apartheid features in the years shortly before apartheid ended. The only one I had watched before, in high school, was A Dry White Season, which pulled no punches. This time, I thought I'd check out one about Steve Biko, whom I knew only to be treated as a martyr.

Like many films about race relations (e.g., The Blind Side), it doesn't actually give the most screen time to the main Black guy. The protagonist here is Donald Woods (Kevin Kline), '70s editor of a left-leaning newspaper who nevertheless starts in opposition to Biko (Denzel Washington in his first Oscar-nominated role), whom he sees as something like Malcolm X (how appropriate for Washington). When challenged to meet Biko, he learns that the man is more like MLK. Woods lends his support despite threats to his family.

The Great Debaters (2007)

Somehow, I hadn't heard about Denzel Washington's second directorial effort when it was new. Perhaps I just wasn't paying attention in the right circles yet, or perhaps the combination of old-time Black struggles and, well, college debates didn't lend itself to mainstream discussion, despite praise from Roger Ebert among others. But those defining attributes did pique my interest.

Inspired by true events -- too loosely for a good history lesson -- the story follows Prof. Melvin B. Tolson (Washington) and his Wiley College debate team in 1930s Texas. The team has such a successful track record that Harvard (rather than the University of Southern California as in real life) eventually accepts their challenge. Alas, Tolson's pro-union activities get him in too much trouble to be there for the team in Cambridge, and Harvard insists that the teammates write their own arguments. Difficult, but you can see the ending a mile away.