Welcome back!
You may recall that before school was out, I made a list of movies coming out this summer. Well, your girl came through and saw 4 (four) movies:
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II This was a fun time. In what is now a signature Marvel style, this movie had lots of laughs, bright colors, and edit-heavy action scenes. And, in a massive plot twist, this movie gave us both a great villain and a great redemption story!!! I won’t spoil how that happens, but I would just like to remind the Marvel community that really, before this movie and excluding TV show villains, the only good Marvel villain was Loki. So Ego was a treasure we have been waiting for (even though he’s literally Darth Vader, it’s fine).
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Spiderman: Homecoming WOW this was a good movie. Tom Holland was predictably adorkable as the third installment of Peter Parker, but I would say that Michael Keaton’s stellar performance stole the show (the car scene had me pooping my pants). Not to mention, queen Zendaya was perfect as always and Peter’s friend Ned, despite being the person-of-color-as-comedic-relief-sidekick cliche, was a true delight.
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Wonder Woman (twice) DOUBLE WOW this movie is an experience. Honestly I am not sure if I can describe this movie, because I have so many things to say. There were lots and lots of things that I loved, and some things that I didn’t really like, but really, just watch this movie. It supersedes the superhero (or superheroine, if you will) movie genre completely and is what the kids call a game-changer. We are witnessing a revolution, my friends. It’s out on DVD now, so please just go watch it, and then come talk to me.
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Dunkirk Okay. So. I didn’t really like this movie?? Don’t get me wrong, the cinematography was beautiful (it’s Christopher Nolan, so c’mon) and all of the actors were incredible, but…I was bored. The whole movie is just men getting into boats, and then almost drowning, and then getting into a new boat? (Seriously, that exact sequence happens like five times). Let’s also not forget that Harry Styles made his acting debut in this movie, so it will go down in history either way, but I was not all that impressed by Dunkirk, I’m sorry.
But I didn’t just watch movies all summer–let’s go over what you may have missed in the wonderful world of politics:
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Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General, was put on trial in the Senate for his collusion with Russia during the election season. Basically, he repeatedly rejected any suggestion of Russian collusion for three hours straight.
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Anthony Scaramucci was hired as the communications director via a tweet from President Trump, much to the surprise of Sean Spicer (played by Melissa McCarthy on SNL), who was working as the communications director at the time. He quit in protest, giving the position to Scaramucci, who lasted only 10 days before he was fired.
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The proposed new Republican healthcare bill, dubbed “Trumpcare” since it would replace “Obamacare,” did not pass.
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Trump banned transgender individuals from serving in the military via tweet, without telling the military. The military chiefs largely ignored it since the order did not follow the proper chain of command. Trump is now proposing policy changes which would legitimately ban transgender individuals from serving in the military.
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Trump responded to threats from North Korea by promising nuclear warfare.
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Groups of KKK members and Neo-Nazis gathered in Charlottesville to riot. When Heather Heyer was killed by a KKK member, Trump blamed “both sides” and said there were “fine people” there. After being shamed for these comments by Democrats, Republicans, former presidents, world leaders, allies, his own staff, and the Pope, Trump attempted to backtrack and condemn white supremacists for their actions.
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Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist known for his involvement with Breitbart news, was fired.
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The proposed border wall with Mexico has still not received funding (remarkably, Mexico still will not agree to pay for it). Trump threatened to shut the government down–a legitimate, technical term that could very well happen, and did happen for 16 days in 2013–if he does not get funding for it.
So there you have it! You are now all caught up on this summer’s movies and politics!