On Demand Weekly

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: THE LOTTERY (Gravitas).
Email Cynthia Kane

THE LOTTERY is a story of education in America – it’s a tough, unapologetic look at the case for charter school.

THE LOTTERY, which can be seen now on On Demand, offers a look at what should be the biggest issue in this country, but continues to fall between the cracks and egos of far too many adults: public education. Here we jump intimately into the debate in Harlem, New York City between charter schools verses regular unionized public schools – and that debate is as ugly as it is shocking.

Threading this together is the stories of four children whose parents have entered into the lottery, hoping against hope that their name is pulled as one in the class roster for kindergarten at the Harlem Success Academy. Over three thousand names are entered with less than 500 admitted in the fall.

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home.  Today's review:  THE CARTEL (Gravitas Ventures).
Email Chris

I like my rabble roused as much as the next guy and few things can do that like a good documentary.  Whether it's HEARTS AND MINDS, THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE, or HOOP DREAMS, I look to a documentary to outrage me, instigate me, drive me into high dudgeon -- just don't bore me.  Subject matter is less important to me than the passion of the filmmaker. Whether you're onboard with Michael Moore, a showboater whose docs are much more about the messenger than the message, his films are nothing if not provocative.  

So when I heard about Bob Bowdon's THE CARTEL, an investigation into the wasteful spending practices of state education boards and the vise grip that teachers' unions have over school districts, I salivated.  As a professional educator in suburban New York, and a taxpayer who sent two kids to public school, I have a unique view of the issue of school budgets and the teacher tenure imposed by unions.  From where I sat, THE CARTEL had the potential to be an explosive look at a sensitive and very current topic.