PodBill Just what I expected

Executscan Expected more

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The Couchpotatoes This documentary is well-made even though it made me really angry and sad. Not that I didn't know how things are handled in America. I've been enough to that country to know how people think and are over there. Not that everybody is the same, far from that, but besides the beautiful country it is for nature, the uglier it is for their white patriotism and racism against everything that is not white as them. The negative reviews this documentary gets are for 100% sure coming from those same white patriots, or the richer republican bourgeoisie, people with no feelings about real life. I've traveled a lot in my life and I never been in a country with more patriotic flags attached to their house. Patriots that think they know it all and need to teach the rest of the world how you should live. Well they couldn't be more wrong about the standards and morals of life. America, land of the free, it's just the most absurd thing to say. Free for the rich yes, but the rest are seen as pariah. If you are rich and guilty of a crime you get away with in America, but if you are innocent and poor your chances are as good as non-existant to be judge a free man. I'm married to an American, and she's my true love, but I will be damned if I ever set foot again in that biased country. That people vote for a racist sexist like Trump says enough about that country. You can think of me what you want, I couldn't care less, I live in the real land of the free, where all people are equal. It doesn't matter what color they are. Justice is here the same for everybody. This documentary should be mandatory in every school and household in America, maybe then people will open their eyes. Even though the vast majority of the patriots will never change their redneck mind.

Movie_Muse_Reviews If anyone tries to tell you we live in a post-racial society, or tells you to put aside the past when discussing race, this is where you send them. "Selma" director Ava DuVernay's Netflix documentary "13th" homogenizes a lot of discussion and history into a profound resource on the black experience in America with an emphasis on the post-Civil Rights era. To use the most relevant terms, it explains why, in fact, black lives matter.DuVernay and her "Selma" editor Spencer Averick have crafted an extremely efficient overview of this subject matter. Despite its purely educational purpose, the stringing together of facts and footage of so many troubling moments over the last 50 years creates an unavoidable emotional resonance. When shown in contexts where it will matter most, "13th" will undoubtedly be politicized, but the documentary reveals decade by decade that no single political party is to blame for what we today refer to as the mass incarceration epidemic. From Nixon and Reagan's War on Drugs to Clinton's "Three Strikes," politicians posturing to be tough on crime created laws that disproportionately affected people of color to the point that today, one in every three black men is expected to serve jail time.At its most fundamental, the film suggests that the wording of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery "except as a punishment for crime," has allowed for modern-day systems of oppression to go unchecked. The film assumes no intentional wrongdoing – no cries of a conspiracy among any person or group of persons to enslave black people through disguised means – but rather it shines a light on the racial animus that many people claim no longer exists, which underpins those means. To say that fear, mistrust and hatred of "the other" has nothing to do with the enactment of laws and policies that hurt people of color is to be willfully ignorant of history. The way these attitudes manifest themselves has simply gotten less direct.The educational framing of "13th" puts a limit on the film's creativity, but techniques such as motion graphics, incorporating relevant music and lyrics and the thoughtful environments where DuVernay interviews the film's many commentators help elevate the material where possible. Nothing about "13th" breaks ground or reveals something that wasn't being told at all, but few can argue that there's a documentary more necessary right now for the education of the American people than "13th."~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

Screen_Blitz The title refers to the 13th Amendment, which was passed back in the late 19th century following the end of the Civil War. This reform was set to put an end to slavery, and when it passed, many thought it marked the end of racial discrimination that tattered our country (especially the South). Regrettably so, the unfair treatment against African-Americans still lingered, and it's a problem that still remains active to this day. While many influential figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. contributed to such political movements such as the Civil Rights of 1964, many African-Americans are struggling to find for their freedom in various areas. One of which involves the law enforcement, and how the prison system has continued to react reasonable towards crime committed by the white community, while given an unfair treatment towards the black community. Directed by Ava DuVernay who last took charge of the MLK biopic 'Selma', this thought-provoking documentary focuses on the history of the mass incarceration of African-Americans, and how it shed light on America's corrupt practice of racial inequality in the prison system. With the mass incarceration rate growing rapidly year by year, this film offers a deep intake of on how African-American have fallen victim to unfair treatment by the legal system.Ava DeVernay's purpose for this documentary is not to offer a bias sentiment on our country's legal system but to open the spotlight of an issue that has put racial tensions and the law enforcement into bitter collision. Embarking on the history of the 13th Amendment, this film pedals on the harrowing history of unethical conduct against the African-American community including lynching and hate crimes such as the murder of Emmett Till. DeVarnay powerfully supports the material with interviews of college professors and archive news footage of protests, beatings, and police brutality -- all of which are very haunting to watch. DeVernay also gears in the effort of touching on various policies the government's attempts on passing policies in reaction to the epidemic of prejudice treatment against the colored community. A vast majority of this material leads to the vital commentary of our country's prison system which has exhibited an alarming amount of imprisonment of wrongly accused black citizens. The further the film goes on, the more heart- stirring it proceeds as it grows more and more evident on how our society has fallen shallow in justice against the historically underprivileged demographic. Most importantly, it touches firmly on an issue that still remains wildly relevant to this day, especially when you turn on the news. Although some will argue the film plays on their emotions, it only offers a unpleasant truth of a controversial issue.13th is a harrowing, thought-provoking documentary that makes an enthralling delivery of a haunting issue that has affected our society in many decades, while offering a crucial historical lesson on the clash between race and law enforcement. It is not pleasant to sit through nor does it offer a bias agenda. But most importantly, it is a documentary that deserves your attention.

Michael_Elliott 13th (2016) *** (out of 4)Extremely well-made, if one-sided, documentary that takes a look at the 13th Amendment and the mass incarceration that many claims is haunting this country. The documentary takes a look at the prison system in America and we see how the populations in prison have gone up through each of the last five decades. We see the political punches that were thrown by Reagan, Bush and Clinton and how people hope things can be changed.In today's day and age it's hard to find a documentary that is fair or balanced because filmmakers have a cause when they make movies and they want to throw all of their opinions and facts into what they're trying to push. 13 is an extremely well-made movie and for the first hour it's an extremely balanced movie. With that said, the final half hour goes completely off the mark but we'll get to that in a bit.As far as the film goes, it does a terrific job at showing the prison system and how so many more people are now behind bars. The documentary did a great job at going decade to decade showing the various laws that opened the prison doors including the "Three Strikes and You're Out" policy and why many people are serving life sentences for minor crimes. All of this is brilliantly told and the way the evidence is laid out was wonderfully done.With that said, the final portion of the film turns into a more Liberal documentary where the likes of Michael Brown and others are brought up. We're told about how awful this country is and how people of color are being terrorized. Well, we know Michael Brown never had his hands up. Yet that is never mentioned here. We're constantly told about how crime rates are falling yet this documentary never talks about the locations where crimes rates are going sky high. There's no mention of Chicago. The film also fails to really make a point that if you didn't commit a crime to begin with then you won't have to worry about the system. It seems this documentary wants to take away any punishment for those who commit crimes.