Welcome to the second installment of Tom’s Take. Our first episode dealt with the theme of resiliency in the face of various forms of societal prejudice and oppression. This theme continues with our current reviews of three new films: All the Way (2016), Queen of Katwe (2016), and The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019). Each is a setting for Black struggle and resilience, whether in the halls of American political power during the passing of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, to an impoverished neighborhood in Uganda, to present day San Francisco, a city whose racial makeup has been reshaped by economic forces. For this episode Frank and Tom are joined by Najee Brown, a playwright, performer, and Artist in Residence at Green Acre.
My name is Tom Grasty, and I have worked in the food service department at Green Acre since 2012. While the culinary arts are my current passion, I have also had a lifelong love of movies, probably from growing up around the corner from a long-vanished neighborhood movie theater. For over twenty years I owned and operated Atlantic Video in Portsmouth, New Hampshire during the glory days of VHS movie rentals. The store was a focal point for area cinephiles looking for classic, foreign and hard-to-find titles. Though the store has been gone for almost two decades, I would like to continue to make movie recommendations as I once did, by selecting some of the best—and sometimes underappreciated—films available for streaming today. Each episode of Tom’s Take will present noteworthy streaming options based on a corresponding theme.