Today is the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks that hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, along with the downing of United Flight 93. Anniversary is not the right word since that indicates celebration and this is more about remembrance. September 11, 2001 changed the United States forever.

Peacock streamed a documentary on their streaming service called Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11. Responses from survivors, family members, first responders were recorded a year or more after the events of the day. These people were given the opportunity to speak about their experiences and their feelings dealing with 9/11, talking to a camera inside a small plywood booth video box.

Directed by David Belton and Bjorn Johnson, some of the original interviewees returned now to reflect on what their lives have become and how the world has changed.

Narrating the events of the day through the words of the real people involved brought a power to the stories that are already one of great impact.

Living in the Midwest, the effects of 9/11 were still felt, but they were modulated by distance. I remember the day clearly, as I was substituting at the Middle School in computer class. A co-worker had come in and told me about the first plane striking the building, and it was surreal. We spent the day watching the news in the classroom, including seeing the second plane strike the tower. The day was wild and chaotic, even in the little town of Iowa where I lived. I can’t imagine what it was like in New York City or in Washington D.C.

This documentary really shows the world what it was like on that day for real people. In their own words, it allowed us to understand just a little but more about the pain and tragedy of the day.

The reflection on how the country has split over the last two decades since the attack is another powerful moment of the doc.

It is sad how our country has squandered the connection that our country had after the attack. We were all Americans and we were all New Yorkers. Now, we are so divided that some are in fear for our democracy. How can we get back to the memories of how we once were.

The ending of the doc brought us some hope, some acknowledgement that we can survive the pain or the loss and still be okay.

“Make your life extraordinary and fill it with passion,” -Donn Marshall, husband of Shelley Marshall, a victim of the Pentagon attack.

I watched a documentary tonight on Vudu that featured a look at the life, mainly during his adult life in entertainment, of Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, famed comedic actor from Happy Days, Sanford and Son and, most notably, The Karate Kid series of films where he portrayed the iconic karate master Mr. Miyagi.

The first half of the documentary focused on Morita’s young life, including his time in the Japanese internment camps during World War II. The doc then started to examine his early days in Hollywood, with his appearances on variety shows and his stand up comedy. The film told the story of how Pat Morita became the owner of the diner on Happy Days, Arnold. Some of the prejudice of the entertainment industry was shown, including the difficulties of a person of Asian culture getting jobs on television and the movies. The film showed clips of Mickey Rooney’s desperately stereotypical, leaning towards racist, role in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, one of the most infamous performances of all time as well as the portrayal of Genghis Khan by, of all people, John Wayne.

Overcoming these stereotypes to join Happy Days, Morita’s career continued on with some choices that may not have been the best choice made. We saw interviews featuring Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, Anson Williams, Donnie Most, Larry Miller, Tommy Chong and James Hong.

However, everything led to the role that would change his life, that being the Oscar nominated role of Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid films. They cover the story of how Morita earned that role and they went into specifics about the way it was filmed. We saw interviews with co-stars Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Sean Kanan and Martin Kove.

Even more interesting was the struggles Morita faced later in his life with alcoholism and the battle he eventually lost with the disease. There were several powerful moments in recollection by his third wife Evelyn Guerrero. I did not know much about the actor’s personal challenge when come to drinking, something that he had done his entire life.

Pat Morita was loved by his family and friends and he left a huge legacy with one of the great characters of the 1980s cinema. He had a life of pain and struggle, but he still was able to find success. He seemed to be a kind man, and wouldn’t it be nice to say that about all of us?

Disney + has a wide variety of entertainment options on the streaming service. And Marvel makes up a huge section of the site. So it only makes sense to do a documentary on the background of the comic titan.

Behind the Mask is the story of Marvel, specifically with their attempted history to increase diversity. The doc is slight, but there are some cool facts featuring many of the breakout characters from Marvel Comics including Spider-Man, Black Panther, The Fantastic Four, Luke Cage, Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales and Captain Marvel.

The idea that Marvel was a leader in pop culture embracing diverse characters of color was part of the hour plus doc. They spoke with some of the greats in the history of Marvel, including some archived footage of Stan Lee that I had never seen before, talking about how these characters are relevant and relatable to the readers they are.

The film talked with such notable creators such as Chris Claremont, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Joe Quesada, Darryl McDaniels, Larry Hama, Gerry Conway, Ann Nocenti, and Christopher Priest.

Though the doc does not shy away from some of the more controversial parts of the time, it does not focus too deftly on it either. It is basically what you would expect from Disney + when talking about it current top cat in way of IEP.

The doc ends with the reading of one of the more famous Stan’s Soapbox columns that would appear in the Marvel Bullpen Bulletins every month. Stan would write about all sorts of relevant material and civil rights was one of Stan’s deepest held beliefs.

The documentary was enjoyable and a comic fan, especially a fan of the Marvel style of comics, can’t go wrong with this film. It is not a giant time commitment and it gives voice to some of the most powerful comic creators available today.

This is the latest documentary from the Oscar winning director Bryan Fogel. It tells the dramatic story from 2018 about the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey by agents of the Saudi government.

This documentary was extremely powerful and disturbing. The film presents its story much like a political thriller, with mood-inducing music and dramatic interviews of the people involved.

The main arc of the tale is told through the eyes of a couple of the major people involved. First , there was Omar, a Saudi national and activist, who had befriended Khashoggi. Together, they had engaged in an effort to counteract the Saudi’s propaganda techniques on Twitter and other social media platforms.

Second main person, bringing this murder plot its human connection, is Khashoggi’s fiancé Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting outside of the consulate for Khashoggi on the fateful day. Khashoggi had gone to the consulate for paperwork allowing the pair to be married and Hatice waited hours outside for him to return. He never did.

The most difficult part of the movie was the audio transcript that had been uncovered that spelled out the murder in specifics, including the record of the use of the bonesaw to cut up the body. Even in written word, this created a horrid picture of what had happened that will stick with a viewer.

This documentary feels very relevant in the world today. Not only because of the alleged involvement of the Saudi government and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, but also for the attempt from the Saudi government to silence the free speech of a journalist. It is important to understand how easily freedom of speech can be removed, especially when you have attacks on the media designed to undermine what the media said or to dub them as “enemies.” It feels as if it is a short step from that to this.

And after all of the film is over, the text at the end that tells you where everything stands is infuriating. It makes you wonder what the important things in the world truly are.

The Dissident is an important story told in a engaging and professional manner. It has a powerful, human story that should move right thinking people emotionally. Fogel has another substantial and forceful doc.