Good morning Columbus:
In between the chemical chaos on Interstate 65 and the icy interstate chaos the Weather Gremlins are expected to bring early Friday morning, I need a break and I am talking movies.
I confess that my watching-a-movie-at-the-theater intake is way too low. Maybe one or two a year.
In fact, before my very late-2017 movie marathon, I recall only seeing one movie in a theater for the entire year — and that was “Columbus,” which I adored so much I saw it twice at YES Cinema.
With my nieces and nephews in tow the last week of last year, I upped my flick fleet by seeing three movies in three days — “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” and “Pitch Perfect 3.” A week earlier, it was “The Greatest Showman.”
The three nieces and nephews movies were not my picks, but I was trying to be a really good aunt. Frankly, I didn’t mind one bit. There’s no movie snob here — give me “Darkest House” (about Churchill) and give me “Caddyshack.”
But this weekend, I am heading back to YES Cinema to see a movie I that I know will give me the feels — “The Post.”
Yes, this is a movie about journalism so it is smack dab in the middle of my wheelhouse. But it should be in yours too.
The Post movie-makers bill it like this: A cover-up that spanned four U.S. presidents pushed the country’s first female newspaper publisher (Katharine Graham played by Meryl Streep) and a hard-driving editor (Ben Bradlee played by Tom Hanks) to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government.
The relevancy of this movie to this very moment in America is off the charts. The principles that are the very foundation of our democracy seem to be under assault with talk that denigrates the First Amendment and free speech, with wild ideas of preventing the publishing of books, with labeling people enemies of the state and with batting down of the bedrocks of our constitution.
In my darkest moments, I wonder if our messy and frustrating and beautiful democracy is no longer understood and becoming a quaint notion we are letting slip through our hands without even a fight.
I am counting on this movie to bring me out of that funk as it touches on the themes of truth and transparency and holding the powerful accountable — all of which are vital to a healthy and thriving democracy.
Here is a link to a review of “The Post.” Click here.
See you at the movies.
Here’s what else you need to know today —
The aftermath of a messy day on the interstate.
All lanes of Interstate 65 in Jackson County are open, but the pavement is rough where a fire burned for more than five hours on Wednesday. We’ve got all the details about what is happening next and photos, video and a map at this link: Fire on the interstate.
This is a big deal: People took action when someone needed help.
Columbus police are crediting three bystanders who verbally intervened in a domestic battery incident with quickly getting help to a woman being attacked in a store parking lot. Click here for the story.
She’s coming home to Columbus.
We’ve touched based with Columbus East graduate and speedskater Taylor Wentz. She did not make the Olympic team and says: “I think I’m done. I haven’t missed it yet, and I haven’t really felt like going back to training.” Wentz and her husband, Michael Burdekin, recently bought a house in Columbus.
Columbus lawmaker pushes NFL kneeling-refund bill.
Last week, House speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, pooh-poohed the idea. But that hasn’t stopped State Rep. Milo Smith, R-Columbus. Read the latest here. And folks are offering their thoughts about it all on our Facebook page.
East vs. North on the mat.
We saw some first-period pins, and some elite wrestlers. Click here to find out who came out on top.
And about that weather …
Outlook: A wintry icy mix will begin tonight.
Hazards: Slick roads and surfaces.
Timing: Beginning in central Indiana around 4 a.m.
Keep on top of the all the weather details here: Wintery mix.
Have a great day. Click here to send us your story ideas.
