Mangrove and Down Force
Nov. 27th, 2020 02:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThis week, we watched Mangrove, the first film in Steve McQueen's new anthology series. It tells the true story of the owner of a West Indian restaurant in Notting Hill, who was harassed by the police and was eventually arrested with eight other protesters after a march turned violent in the late 1960s.
It's very well put together, and highlights a part of British history that isn't often portrayed or acknowledged. I was certainly unaware of this story in particular, and generally associate such themes as being peculiarly American. But Britain is also guilty of its share of racism and this film does a very good job of bringing these issues to light in an effective way.
The rest of the series also sound really interesting, so I plan to watch them when they become available.
Down Force is a formula one style racing board game, which we played online with some friends last night. Players start out by bidding for a combined car and special power. But play then proceeds with the use of cards that usually move more than one of the cars, so you can't just focus on pushing your own car ahead. You can also bet on which car is going to win, at various points during the race - and the prize money at the end is a combination of where your own car finishes and also how accurate your bets are. So, it's possible to win the game without winning the race, and also possible to assist another player's car to win if that will get you more money from bets.
We played twice and the finishing order was almost reversed from one game to the next. I really enjoyed it and would definitely play again. There was some tricky strategical thinking required and some amusing moments where players were forced to move cars they would have preferred to leave where they were.
It's very well put together, and highlights a part of British history that isn't often portrayed or acknowledged. I was certainly unaware of this story in particular, and generally associate such themes as being peculiarly American. But Britain is also guilty of its share of racism and this film does a very good job of bringing these issues to light in an effective way.
The rest of the series also sound really interesting, so I plan to watch them when they become available.
Down Force is a formula one style racing board game, which we played online with some friends last night. Players start out by bidding for a combined car and special power. But play then proceeds with the use of cards that usually move more than one of the cars, so you can't just focus on pushing your own car ahead. You can also bet on which car is going to win, at various points during the race - and the prize money at the end is a combination of where your own car finishes and also how accurate your bets are. So, it's possible to win the game without winning the race, and also possible to assist another player's car to win if that will get you more money from bets.
We played twice and the finishing order was almost reversed from one game to the next. I really enjoyed it and would definitely play again. There was some tricky strategical thinking required and some amusing moments where players were forced to move cars they would have preferred to leave where they were.
