"adaptation"

With the holidays approaching, my thoughts turn to parties, and the uptick in food and alcohol consumption that goes with the season. I’m girding myself for the onslaught. Drinking can be treacherous for many people, but I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy it over the years. Though technically a depressant, booze usually cheers me up and fortifies me, particularly when confronting a room full of relative strangers.

The movie industry’s triumph in the 1930s lay in giving the public what it wanted to see. Its product was therapeutic diversion for millions of Americans who needed to get away from their troubles. By providing this crucial relief, American film reached a pinnacle of influence, at a time when most other industries were suffering severely.

For those of us who are not international polo stars, or Keith Richards, travel can be a challenge during the Polar Vortex. But on film, it can be any season one wants it to be, so let’s get away from the snow, the ice, and freezing rain, and take a much-needed trip with these cinematic snowbirds.

With Martin Luther King’s birthday past us, and Black History month coming up, the time is right to celebrate those invaluable films that shed light on the black community’s long struggle for equal rights in this country.

Love it or hate it: our system of justice is a large part of what keeps anarchy at bay — and us safe. Deny that if you will. Still, there’s plenty to question and complain about. Like so many of our institutions, sometimes it works, too often it doesn’t. But no one yet has found a better model.