Promised Land

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Michael's Movie Review

My movie recommendation for today is Promised Land, starring Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand, and Hal Holbrook. Directed by Gus Van Sant, it is a very well-made film with excellent writing, beautiful cinematography, and top-notch acting from the entire cast. What I found interesting is that the two lead actors, Damon and Krasinski, also wrote the screenplay. Perhaps for this reason they were more invested in perfecting their roles since they had written those very roles. Whatever the case, their performances were superb.

The plot revolves around the controversial issue of fracking. Matt Damon plays a corporate salesman who goes to the small fictional town of McKinley to convince the townspeople to let the corporation hydrofrack for natural gas that lies under the town and the outlying farms. He and his partner (played by Frances) meet intense resistance from the local high school science teacher (played by Hal Holbrook) and from a very charismatic environmentalist (played by John Krasinski). The ensuing interplay between Damon and Krasinski is what makes the movie so compelling. It takes the movie beyond the fracking controversy into profound insight into human behavior.

It's hard to talk about this movie without being a spoiler so I'll let you find out how the confrontations are resolved. No matter what side of the fence you are on in regard to the fracking controversy, this movie is for you because it clearly delineates the pros and cons of both sides and helps bring our understanding to a deeper level.

For me, one of the main elements of the film was the town and townspeople of McKinley. It was a small mostly farming community and I couldn't help thinking about McCook. Seeing how the people of McKinley reacted to controversy I couldn't help but wonder how the people of McCook would react in a similar situation. There was a strong message about community in this film and that is one reason I think everyone in McCook should see it. The town of McKinley was facing a lot of issues in addition to fracking and a lot of those issues we also face here in McCook.

I think most everyone will enjoy this movie and come away from it feeling good and with an optimism for the future and a deepened sense of community.

This movie is available to rent from Movie House, 220 West 1st in downtown McCook. 345-6000. Visit and like the Movie House Facebook Page

Book Review: The Reincarnation of Edgar Cayce

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Book Review

By M. K. Albus

Do not let the title fool you. This is an exciting, fast-paced adventure story that is very hard to put down. The center of all this action is Sarah Benson, a thirty-something Country Western singer/songwriter who is at a low point in her life. She had not written a song in over a year. She was working at a job that she hated. She and her boyfriend were drifting apart. Her life having become a treadmill, she desperately wanted change and what finally opened the floodgates of that change was a recurring dream that she began having. It was a simple dream and it was exactly the same every time. After experiencing the dream twenty-two times, Sarah is compelled to pack her car and head to the mountains of Colorado. She embarks on a quest to find what she had been dreaming about and she was almost convinced that it existed in Colorado.

Sarah's quest becomes ever more convoluted and nothing turns out as she had expected. Through her journey she deals with her creative blockage as well as her blossoming spirituality, and, after doing battle between her intuition and the left side of her brain, her transformation takes her to new levels of awareness. Through one calamity after another, she grows and gets stronger and gets closer and closer to who she really is. It is about an artist who learns to connect with the flow of source consciousness but it's also a story about a scrappy young woman who wants happiness and joy and won't stop until she gets it.

What I truly loved about this book is the characters. Author, White Feather, has given us characters that we cannot help but fall in love with. What I liked least about the book is that it ended. I did not want to say good-bye to those characters. And that goes for the animal characters as well. All the characters were so real to me that I felt I could touch them.

In terms of characterization and plot and dialogue, White Feather has outdone himself with this new "spiritual adventure novel." This new novel outshines all his other work.

As for the "Reincarnation" part of the book, it is really hard to comment on it without giving away too much. So I will just say that it did, in fact, make me think. It also made me laugh. Actually, I was laughing throughout the book. The humor is bountiful and exquisite. Overall, it was an excellent read. I want more!

Paperback edition (15.99)
Amazon Kindle edition (7.99)
All books by White Feather