We can learn a lot from movies, especially the short ones

Rockwell Falls Library is open for business, but faces new board election

The Chapman Museum posted an awesome 1945 photograph on Thursday of the Rialto Theater in downtown Glens Falls.

It was the golden age when movies were the king in small towns.

With the Oscars coming up on Sunday, the Chapman asked folks what was their favorite movie of all time.

It is impossible to choose just one, so I mentioned several before settling on Casablanca.

The Rialto Theater in downtown Glens Falls in 1945.

The Academy Awards are a big event in my house and I try my best to see all the nominated films.

In recent days, I've been scrambling to see the nominated shorts.

I often find the shorts the most memorable movies of the year.

Directors Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) and Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon) should take notice you don't need three hours to tell a good story. Sometimes, 15 minutes is fine.

Here's something even more important to consider: You can learn a lot more from the documentaries and the documentary shorts than from any super hero movie. And they can be just as entertaining.

While watching Nai Nai & Wai Po, a documentary short about two elderly Chinese women, the 94-year-old woman, Nai Nai, credited one specific daily routine with her longevity.

"My spiritual fuel comes from reading the newspaper every day," Nai Nai said while holding a Sherlock Holmes-sized magnifying glass in front of a newspaper front page. "As long as I have the newspaper, I can live."

It's something we all used to believe.

Earlier Thursday, I read some polling results from the marketing company YouGov. It said nearly half those surveyed "did not know" or were "not sure" what were the charges against Donald Trump.

I believe Nai Nai and Wai Po could have illuminated them.

Another YouGov survey asked a more specific question about how much they heard about each of the indictments against Trump. The results in that case showed that independent voters knew even less about the charges against Trump than Republican or Democratic voters.

I couldn't help but wonder if that had something to do with the erosion of newspaper coverage throughout the country.

We all have to do the work to be good citizens.

Each year, I've learned so much by watching international and documentary films that were nominated for Oscars.

How Argentina saved its democracy from a corrupt dictator in Argentina 1985.

How Ukraine ended Russian control in its country the first time - Freedom on Fire: Ukraine's fight for freedom.

How Alexei Navalny became an existential threat to Putin in Russia in Navalny.

I worked 40 years in journalism, so I'm a big fan of non-fiction like Spotlight, stories based on fact that are often inspirational. It's why I look forward each year to the multiplex in Saratoga showing the Oscar-nominated shorts.

This year they did not show any of the shorts.

To give it context, I understand why. In one showing last year, I was the only patron. In the other showing, there were three of us. I guess it was a business decision. We need to support important movies like this. You can still find them streaming online.

The four documentaries I saw this year provide essential insight into the world around us.

Bobi Wine: The People's President shows how difficult it is to unseat a dictator and the cost it comes to those seeking democracy .

Four Daughters gives us insight into Islamic radicalization after the two oldest daughters of a Tunisian family are kidnapped by Isis.

The Eternal Memory shows the heartbreaking reality of Alzheimer's.

And 20 Days in Mariupol shows the horrors of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. It should be a must see for any politician not fighting for more Ukrainian aid.

Closer to home, The Barber of Little Rock puts the stark economic realities of the poor in Arkansas into a context easy to understand in just 30 minutes.

The Island in Between gives us a crash course in the history of Taiwan and why it is so afraid of China.

Then there is the 2020 Palestinian short The Present that gave me a greater understanding of the conflict between Israel and Palestine than any previous reading.

The documentaries, the shorts are all streaming somewhere. All have value that will make you smarter.

So read a newspaper.

Watch a documentary.

And for god's sake, pay attention to current events.

Glens Falls improved its record to 24-0 Tuesday night and will face Westhill at Hudson Valley Community College on Saturday at 5:15 p.m.

One game away

Glens Falls' unbeaten boys basketball team is one step away from a return trip to the New York State Basketball Tournament and a chance to play before the Hometown, USA crowd.

Glens Falls takes its 24-0 record against Syracuse's Section III champion Westhill (23-2) on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. at Hudson Valley Community College. Westhill had an easy time on Wednesday with an 81-47 victory over Massena.

Glens Falls has not been to the state tourney since its state championship in 2019 when Joe Girard III led the team. The public high school tourney was played in Binghamton that year, but Glens Falls got to come home to win the Federation tourney.

Two other regional teams have a shot at the state tourney as well.

Stillwater beat Northeastern Clinton 71-34 to advance to Saturday's regional final at SUNY Potsdam against Canton.

North Warren will play Schroon Lake on Saturday at Clinton Community College in Plattsburgh.

If Glens Falls wins Saturday, it gets the 9 a.m. game on Friday in the state tourney.

If North Warren wins Saturday, it gets the 9 a.m. game on Saturday in the state tourney.

If Stillwater wins Saturday, it gets the 6 p.m. game Thursday night in the state tourney.

Open for business

The Rockwell Falls Library, which has been closed since last Fall, reopened on March 1 and has been operating all week.

Board President Ted Mirczak reports that all is going well so far, but there is still work to be done.

The terms of three board members appointed by the state board of regents last year will expire on June 30 and it is unclear whether they will run for another term. Four seats need to be filled.

Stay tuned.

Book Banning

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof pointed out in his column this week that a Florida school district removed a book from its library because it showed an illustration of a "goblin's bare bottom." Apparently, school officials tried to save the book by coloring in a pair of pants on the goblin.

Kristof wrote that he believed that censorship had gone too far, but, "The peril for America’s children is not bare goblin buttocks, nor is it goblins being clothed. The central problem is simply that too many kids aren’t getting the education they need" while pointing out that just 32 percent of America's fourth graders re proficient in reading.

That's really what parents should be protesting about.