DON'T LOOK DOWN

I have to admit, didn't know much about Richard Branson other than the fact he owned Virgin America Airlines or how he came to acquire that except for an interview I saw on The Oprah Show some years back.  Neither did I recognize he was  the dude who signed major rock stars ranging from the Sex Pistols to the Rolling Stones, making Virgin Records the biggest independent labels in the world.  To date, there are more than 100 Virgin companies worldwide, employing approximately 60,000 people in over 50 countries.  Can you say over-acheiver...lol??

After screening Don't Look Down, I surmised Richard Branson is fascinating.  He's a ridiculously rich man, who wants nothing more than to be an explorer and get credit for those accomplishments.  To say that he is a daredevil or one who takes great risks is an understatement.

Were his thrilling desires really work the risks?  Branson has challenged himself with many record-breaking adventures, including the fastest ever Atlantic Ocean crossing, series of hot air balloon adventures and kite surfing across the English Channel.

Daniel Gordon’s documentary Don’t Look Down, which screened at Tribeca,  centered on Branson’s daredevil balloon flights across the Atlantic and the Pacific.  In regards to the Atlantic trip, Branson says, “Six tried before us. Five had died,” and what “could go wrong, went wrong on that flight.”

Don't Look Down will give you a bird's-eye view of this dramatic untold story straight from his collaborators, family, never seen archival footage from inside the hot air balloon capsule and the most intimate thoughts on all of this from Branson himself.

The capsule footage is fascinating, as you learn that although being in a hot air balloon may look like a beautiful and etherial it made me personally never want to attempt that adventure ever in life!

What is even more fascinating is the fact that his collaborators on this adventure Don Cameron has a heart of gold and nerves of steel, which made him the perfect dude to be thousands of feet in the air with Richard Branson.

“We shouldn’t be here to tell the tale, but it tells for a gripping film,” says Branson. Submarine Entertainment is handling both U.S. and foreign sales for Don’t Look Down.

Abortion: Stories Women Tell

Review by Carla Renata for UBNRadio.com and The Curvy Critic.com

As the child of a military family, we traveled for most of my life.  However, in between moves, we always went back "home".  Home for me is St, Louis, Missouri.  Both of my parents were born and raised there.  My relatives on my maternal and paternal side still live there.  I went to the prom, fell in love for the first time, had my first date, learned to drive, got my first job, became a beauty queen and attended my first college...all in the state of Missouri.

My memories are vast and fond of my life there.  However, as magical and warm the memories are that I have growing up in Missouri, I also remember Missouri for being one of the most racist states in the union.  Some residents of the state can be so full of judgement that some of my friends growing up there who were gay knew that "outing" themselves was never an option.  To do so would result in isolation from friends and family and being labeled and attacked,  Being a young, gifted and black was not celebrated.  To the point, that in 2016,  we are still witnessing young men like Michael Brown being harassed, shot and murdered.

Needless to say, when I learned of the documentary Abortion:  Stories Women Tell screening at the Tribeca Film festival around Missouri becoming one of the many states to make abortion illegal, I was not surprised.  I was, however, extremely annoyed.

In 1973 the US Supreme court decision Roe Vs. Wade gave every woman the right to have an abortion. Since 2011, over half the states in the nation have significantly restricted access to abortions. In 2016, abortion remains one of the most divisive issues in America, especially in Missouri, where each year sees more restrictions.

Award winning director and Missouri native Tracy Droz Tragos sheds new light on this controversial  issue, with a focus not on the debate, but rather on the women themselves. Women who are struggling with unplanned pregnancies, the providers who show up at clinics to give medical care, as well as the activists on the sidewalks hoping to save one more child.

Abortion: Stories Women Tell portrays an intimate portrait into the lives of these women through their personal stories, which come to life brilliantly, through the gentle and respectful approach by director Tragos.   Some are heartbreaking and tender, some are bleak and frightening, while others simply inform us of the strength and capacity of young women to overcome and persevere through often-tragic circumstances.  Take a listen to a recent interview I did with Tracy about her doc...

[audio mp3="https://carlarenatascorner.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/tracydrozetragos_abortionstories.mp3"][/audio]

Abortion:  Stories Women Tell also shows us how organizations like Planned Parenthood are being targeted for abortion procedures and allegedly accused  of selling fecal organs for medical testing.  My newly divorced mother (who is also a Registered Nurse) took me to Planned Parenthood as a teen to be educated on birth control and the services provided to young girls like me.  That Planned Parenthood location on Lindell Avenue in St. Louis has been shut down and the nearest location  is two hours away in Columbia, Missouri.

With young girls being sexually active as early as 10 years old, where will those mothers who don't take their daughters to be educated?  Especially now, that sex education has been slowly forced out of the public school system.

I employ each and every one of you reading this to think of all these concerns and facts as your state contemplates making a decision that affects thousands if not millions of American women.

Watch for this powerful doc to show up on HBO, but if you can't wait until then it had its theatrical release August 12th..  You will angered, educated,  but most of all moved to make a difference.

Abortion: Stories Women Tell trailer