Seeking cinematic comfort in the Movie Trailer Park

In times of great strife and turmoil in our country, movies have been our emotional mainstay, providing relief,comfort and hope to get us through the tough times. From the Great Depression to the Great Recession, the magic of movie storytelling has become an essential tool in our self care skill set. 

 Regardless of how you feel about the results of the presidential election this week, we can all agree that the road ahead of us is going to be hard to say the least. With that in mind, I thought it might help to ease our troubled spirits by finding something to look forward to at the movies.

To start, Rogue One will be arriving in theaters soon. This Star Wars story, set in the middle of both trilogies, has much to offer us with it's determined heroine who joins a ragtag group of rebels in order to steal those all-important plans for the Death Star to save the day. Not to mention it looks like Darth Vadar will be playing a significant role and possibly a major throwdown scene to boot:

If an old fashioned romance is what you're in the mood for, La La Land sounds like your golden ticket. Emma Stone stars as Mia, a struggling actress who is a waitress at a coffee house in between auditions. One fateful evening, she meets Sebastian(Ryan Gosling), a jazz pianist who hopes to finance his dream of owning a night club by playing at swanky parties.

The two of them fall in love yet have differing goals that threaten to tear them apart but not without a song and dance number or two there. This movie has been doing well on the film festival circuit and will be getting a widescreen release soon, just in time to put a little love in your heart as well as a spring in your dance step:

For something to share with the family, Disney brings us a another amazing animated heroine with Moana. The title character is a Polynesian princess who,despite what some think, is destined to save her people from an oncoming danger.

She heads off across the ocean,which happens to be an ally of hers, with the demigod Maui by her side and battles the elements, pirates and other obstacles to find a hidden island that holds the key to protecting her home. Yes, there are songs, some of which were written by Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda, and since Dwayne Johnson is the voice of Maui, you will hear what The Rock is singing, that's for sure!:

Also, if you want to take inspiration from a true story, Hidden Figures is the right entertainment equation. Based on Margot Lee Shetterley's nonfiction account of three of the top female mathematicians at NASA in the early days of the Space Race.

Thanks to the persistence and intelligence of such ladies as Katherine Johnson,Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson(played by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae), John Glen was able to be the first American astronaut to successfully orbit the earth.

For such capable women to have to deal with sexism and racism in order to do their jobs as well as serve their country, such a story is a sad yet vital part of our history. The movie will have a Christmas Day release and then enter more theaters in January, which will be quite the cold month in more ways than one to be sure:

Granted, going to the movies isn't going to make up for what's happened or what is to come. However, they can be a way to find common ground between us all and at the very least, give us a renewed sense of hope.

What I hope to do with this blog is to provide folks with a little break from those daily challenges by showcasing art and entertainment which, when done well, can remind us of our better natures along with encouraging our rights to think,read and imagine independently. Every little bit helps, so they say, and I want to do my part.

While life and the movies can disappoint at times, things can and do change for the better if you keep the faith and wait long enough. Having a Wonder Woman movie that may truly honor our most legendary woman warrior right is a small step but one that I'll eager to take towards the future: