Movies That Make You Think: Part 35



Four films about what happens when control slips away: a political family’s worst nightmare, a dad discovering how much work keeps a home running, a world overtaken by disaster, and a campaign that tests the limits of idealism.

Animals (Netflix)

Ben Affleck and Kerry Washington play a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and his wife whose son is kidnapped. Raising the ransom forces them into choices that threaten to unravel the life they’ve built. A thriller about the collision between public power and private desperation, and what people are willing to sacrifice when their family is on the line.

Animals (2026), English theatrical poster



The Breadwinner (Netflix)

Nate Bargatze plays a father of three who takes over at home when his wife’s business takes off and sends her away on a work trip. Mandy Moore co-stars in a family comedy built around the gap between bringing home a paycheck and actually keeping a household running. Beneath the chaos is a familiar question: how much work do we take for granted when somebody else is doing it?

The Breadwinner (2026), English theatrical poster



The Day After Tomorrow (Netflix)

Dennis Quaid plays a scientist trying to save his son, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, as catastrophic storms push the world toward a new ice age. It’s big-screen disaster spectacle with a father-and-son story at its center. Beyond the destruction, it invites a conversation about collective responsibility and how quickly the things we treat as permanent can disappear.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004), English theatrical poster



The Ides of March (Netflix)

Ryan Gosling plays an idealistic press spokesman working for a presidential candidate played by George Clooney. As the campaign turns ugly, loyalty, ambition, and dirty tricks put his principles under pressure. A political drama about the distance between believing in a cause and protecting the people who claim to represent it, and what gets lost when winning becomes the only measure that matters.

The Ides of March (2011), English theatrical poster

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Movies That Make You Think: Part 34



Four films about people facing forces bigger than themselves: killers closing in through a wildfire, a threat at an airport checkpoint, a surveillance system operating out of public view, and the remnants of an empire.

Those Who Wish Me Dead (Netflix)

Angelina Jolie plays a smokejumper carrying the weight of past trauma who finds herself protecting a boy from two assassins. With a wildfire spreading around them, getting out alive means confronting both human violence and a landscape that offers no safe hiding place. A survival thriller about responsibility, second chances, and choosing to protect someone when walking away would be easier.

Those Who Wish Me Dead



Carry-On (Netflix)

A Christmas Eve shift becomes a nightmare when an airport security officer is coerced into letting a dangerous item through his checkpoint. Taron Egerton faces off against Jason Bateman in a thriller built around an ordinary worker being forced into an impossible decision. Underneath the race against time is a question about how much a security system depends on the person being pressured to look the other way.

Carry-On



Snowden (Netflix)

Oliver Stone dramatizes Edward Snowden’s decision to expose the NSA’s surveillance programs, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the title role. It’s a story about the personal cost of whistleblowing and the conflict between loyalty to an institution and responsibility to the public. The questions it leaves behind are bigger than one person: who watches the watchers, and what does meaningful consent look like when surveillance is secret?

Snowden



Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (Disney+)

The Empire has fallen, but its warlords haven’t disappeared. The New Republic turns to Din Djarin and Grogu to help defend what the Rebellion won. Pedro Pascal returns as the bounty hunter in Jon Favreau’s big-screen adventure, with a premise that raises a familiar question: what does it take to keep an old order from coming back after you’ve defeated it?

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu



One on One with James Talarico | The Texas Tribune (Video)

One on One with James Talarico, from The Texas Tribune. The video below starts at 11:26.

Watch on YouTube from 11:26

How to Help Talarico Right Now

An editorial portrait of James Talarico with the Texas flag in the background

This image has been edited.

Want to help James Talarico win? Here are a few things you can do right now and keep doing between now and Election Day.

The spending against Talarico is out of control, and we all need to contribute to fight back! Whether you can give money, volunteer your time, or help spread the word, there’s a way to pitch in.

Share his latest posts each day

Follow these accounts, check in daily, and repost the latest stuff. Share a clip to your story, send a good interview to a friend, or pass along a campaign update. Help more people hear him in his own words.

Visibility helps him raise money and reach voters, including both people who vote in every election and people who rarely turn out. Someone has to hear about him before they can decide to donate, volunteer, or vote for him. Even if you only have a handful of followers, sharing helps: you may reach someone who doesn’t follow him or see much political news. You don’t need a huge audience to introduce him to a few more people.

Grab a handful from my TikTok and Threads, too

I’m reposting a lot of Talarico’s stuff on my TikTok, @thelibertypear and my Threads, @thelibertypear. Browse my videos and reposts, pick a handful you like, and repost them too. Keep coming back for more clips and posts to share. Make it a regular habit!

Register to vote

If you haven’t registered to vote yet, visit I Will Vote to get started. You can also check your voter registration there.

If you can chip in, donate directly to his campaign. If you have time to give, sign up to volunteer.

Read, watch, and share my Talarico posts

I’ve put together these posts on Talarico, too. Take a look, watch the interviews, and share a few with friends or on your socials, especially with someone who’s just getting to know him.