Crisis and Babette's Feast

I can't understand why I've never seen or heard of "Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment." It should be shown in history classes. Talk about "the room where it happened." This documentary has incredible, intimate access to the players in the integration of the University of Alabama, when Gov. George Wallace vowed to personally bar the door, and the National Guard came in to make sure the students weren't stopped. It's fascinating, nowadays, to see politicians with principles and backbone and how they made decisions - and I'm talking about JFK and Bobby Kennedy, not Wallace, who was a stupid, scheming blowhard. It feels like it's happening in real time and the different film styles are interesting. It's all black and white. Robert Kennedy is filmed in this gorgeous silver. It truly gives you the sense of being there. The students were so brave. This was a great documentary and I'm not usually a documentary person.

"Babette's Feast" is one of my favorite movies and it was a pleasure to see it again. It's gorgeous looking, a paean to art thriving in the heart of an artist no matter the circumstance, and just a wonderful movie that manages to be deep but also simple and even funny at times. In a way, it is the anti-multiverse movie. Basically the opposite of "Everything Everywhere All at Once," despite having a couple of similar ideas. The cooking scenes are incredible too.

Man, in his weakness and shortsightedness, believes he must make choices in this life. He trembles at the risks he takes. We do know fear. But no. Our choice is of no importance. There comes a time when our eyes are opened and we come to realize that mercy is infinite. We need only await it with confidence and receive it with gratitude. Mercy imposes no conditions. And lo! Everything we have chosen has been granted to us. And everything we rejected has also been granted. Yes, we even get back what we rejected. For mercy and truth have met together, and righteousness and bliss shall kiss one another.