Robert Greenwald's latest agitprop, MAKING A KILLING, takes on the NRA. Good luck, Bob!

You've got hand it to Robert Greenwald, that seemingly indefatigable maker of movies (most of them documentaries) -- 86 as producer and at least 25 as director: He does not seem to have updated his IMDB profile for a few years now -- that are dedicated to setting America back on track. His films on everything/everyone from Rupert Murdoch to the Koch Brothers, Walmart, our use of drones and one of his best, War on Whistleblowers, go after the usual suspects with anger, relish and plenty of statistics.

But the man, pictured at right, does sometimes seem to be beating a dead horse -- or in this case, one that simply refuses to die and instead goes on killing more and more of us in the process. That would be the NRA, which -- no matter how great a majority of Americans want better and firmer gun control in so many ways -- continues to keep buying off our politicians so that, time and again after each and every mass killing and individual murder or suicide throughout the USA, we are no closer than before to living in a safer, better country.

His latest doc, MAKING A KILLING: GUNS, GREED AND THE NRA, takes aim (and good aim, at that) at this behemoth of horror and venality, and shows us why and how this evil continues to rule. But so what? Will anyone who isn't already converted to Mr. Greenwald's view even watch this film? I have my doubts. I watched, because I said I would cover the film, and I hoped I might learn something more or something new. I did not. I still believe thoroughly in what Greenwald believes, but I find the experience of viewing a film like this so frustrating that it could drive me to drink. Or worse. (I am glad I have no guns in my home.)

I did meet a few folk new to me -- mostly relatives of victims of guns, each of whom has a story that will break you heart, as the event in question broke their own -- yet the stories begin to run together with others we've heard time and again over the years.

The movie is divided into several parts, dealing with individual murder and suicide, mass killings (his recreation of the Aurora movie-theater massacre is genuinely creepy and horrifying), and especially (where the poor, beleaguered city of Chicago is concerned) how weapons so easily cross state lines and wreak havoc on innocent citizens (many of whom are shown below).

What to do? The movie takes the stance that activism is the answer, and in a couple of instances shown here -- in which citizens go after certain gun stores in Indiana that have sold weapons that have killed Illinois citizens -- this works in a small and mild way. But what effect has this had upon the NRA, which, thanks to money totally controlling our politics, continues to profit, prosper and murder.

TrustMovies is at a loss to know what is left to do to counter this evil. Our upcoming election -- with one candidate so full of lies and deception that ever he cannot tell the difference between reality and make-believe (his own sanity is now being called into question) and the other so in bed with our financial industry and corporate money that no help will arrive from her -- will solve or settle nothing. Well, with global warming upon us, about which one candidate claims is fraudulent and the other pays little mind (there's just not enough profit in global warming), we're probably doomed, and more quickly that we know.

But see Greenwald's newest, if you dare, and try to come away with some real plan of action. I could not. But maybe I'm just too depressed. Seems to me that the only way change can occur is if we remove money's control of our politics (I see no hope of that from either party). Or maybe this: All those politicians who accept money from the NRA, together with all those who wield the power at the NRA, should lose a loved one, probably a child, at the point of a rifle or gun. Only then will they understand -- and take the necessary action. But where, I wonder, is the deus ex machina to make that happen?

Meanwhile, Making a Killing opens this coming Friday, August 12, in Los Angeles at the Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills, and on Friday, August 19 in New York City at the Village East Cinema. The film will hit VOD, via Gravitas Ventures, on November1.

A "don't miss" digital, DVD and Blu-ray debut: Spike & Kevin's daring and delightful CHI-RAQ

TrustMovies covered this terrific and surprising movie -- the best film Spike Lee has made in a long, long while -- when it opened in theaters for a limited run early last month. The screenplay, a treasure of smart, sassy rap poetry, is co-authored by Kevin Willmott and Mr. Lee. Now that it's out on Blu-ray, DVD and digital formats, I've seen it twice more, and can attest to its being even better than I formerly thought (my earlier review can be found here).

Yet it has been hugely overlooked by many critics, by the Academy, and certainly by audiences. CHI-RAQ is tremendously entertaining, serving both its source -- Aristophanes' Lysistrata -- and today's heavily multicultural audience supremely well. Given the chance, it will entertain white audiences (at least those non-Trump supporters who possess some intelligence), black audiences, young, old, and those who know the Greek comedies, as well as those who don't. Its theme could not be more timely, and the performances, from the leads to the small supporting roles, are lip-smackingly good. Miss this one at your peril. It will be talked about -- and enjoyed -- for years to come.

From Amazon Studios, it's available now via Amazon on digital streaming, DVD and Blu-ray -- for purchase or rental.

Spike Lee's back in form again with his--and Kevin Willmott's--Lysistrata take-off, CHI-RAQ

To get right to the point, CHI-RAQ is the most successful and entertaining Spike Lee movie to get a theatrical release in, well, decades. This is particularly good news for us fans of Mr. Lee who had pretty much given up on him in the wake of misfires the likes of his Clockers and 25th Hour adaptations or full-out disasters such as Bamboozled, She Hate Me and Miracle at St. Anna. Sure, Chi-Raq is full of those not-so-hot Lee hallmarks (it hammers home its theme from first moment to last, it's too long, and it's repetitive) but it's also so full of Lee's strengths as a filmmaker -- passion, energy and spot-on casting -- that it barrels through one's objections with speed and gusto.

TrustMovies can't claim to know for certain who did what on this film, but I would take an educated guess that Lee's (the director is shown at right) screenwriting collaborator here -- Kevin Willmott of that ace mocku-mentary, C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America -- had a lot to do with how successful Chi-raq turns out to be. First off, the film is written in, well, poetry. Now, before you start thinking "Molière, as translated by Richard Wilbur," let me puncture that balloon. The movie's mostly written as rap. But it's the words only, unaccompanied by the usual crap "beat" that beats this would-be music into mindlessly dead submission. And this is lively, smartly written rap poetry, every bit as profane, dirty and funny as the original play.

Play? As in theater piece? Yes, Chi-Raq is also based loosely (but close enough for jazz) on Aristophanes' Lysistrata -- that's right: the one where the women withhold their sexual favors until the guys stop making war -- and it takes place in today's Chicago, dubbed Chi-Raq (rhymes with Iraq), a city where black-on-black gang violence has reached a level so high that the women folk take matters into their own hands (and other body parts) to stop the carnage.

Chi-Raq is also the name of the movie's non-hero, a rock star/gang man played by Nick Cannon, (two photos up) whose woman, the knock-your-socks-off beautiful and sexy Teyonah Parris (Mad Men's Dawn Chambers), just above, has had enough. So she persuades everyone from her friends (and even some enemies) to the local prostitutes to join her No Peace, No Pussy movement.

The event that sets all this off is the gang-related drive-by shooting that kills an innocent child, the daughter of Irene, played by Jennifer Hudson, who gets a good song to sing (yes, the movie occasionally morphs, Bollywood style, into a musical). In the supporting cast pop up everyone from a strong-willed neighbor (Angela Bassett, above, center) and Chi-Raq's nemesis, Cyclops, essayed by good-to-see-him-in-a-humorous-role-again Wesley Snipes, to the local minister (John Cusack) and a terrific one-man Greek chorus, played by the indispensable Samuel L. Jackson (below).

All these actors know how to handle poetry and make it fall off their lips like dialog. Mr. Cusack's moving and vital sermon (below) is the only lengthy period in the movie -- that I noticed, anyway -- in which the screenplay in not in rap poetry. The sermon works beautifully and angrily (Cusack is at his usual best) because it's the most serious part of the film, and in fact, the very reason for its being.

Lee puts his flamboyance to mostly excellent use here, bringing his passion for this subject to full bloom in both the comedy and tragedy sections (Lysistrata's conquest of the military and the males bemoaning their fate at the local strip club are two of the movie's best comedy scenes). Lee's energy and commitment allow the comic and tragic to meld much better than you might expect. If they don't quite coalesce at all times, there's enough merit in what does work to make the movie as a whole work, too.

Funny, entertaining, moving -- and timely as death -- Chi-Raq is Mr. Lee's most daring and accomplished film in quite some years. From Amazon Studios together with Roadside Attractions, the movie opens tomorrow, Friday, December 4, in major cities all over the country. To learn the theater nearest you, simply click here, then enter your zip and you're all set (if you're near a big city, that is). Otherwise, you can probably bet that the film will hit Amazon's streaming service eventually.

The photo of Mr. Lee (second from top) is by 

Stephen Lovekin, courtesy of Getty Images.