Norman Rockwell’s iconic painting “The Problem We All Live With” was on my mind as I started out to write this post. You know the one. It depicts six year-old Ruby Bridges, escorted by US Marshals as she arrived at the formerly all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana. Rockwell explained the structural injustice of public school segregation through a harrowingly intimate depiction of Bridges, schoolbooks in hand, dodging tomatoes and racist slurs.

"Not me. I’ve got no choice. I’m not superstitious and I don’t believe in jinxes, but that stone’s jinxed me and it won’t let go. I’ve been damn near bitten, shot at, peed on and robbed. And worse is gonna happen before it’s done, so I’m taking my stand. I’m going all the way. Either I get it, or it gets me!" That's a line of dialogue from "The Hot Rock"

Female versions of Frankenstein’s monster may not be new to cinema, but director Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things is a contender for the most controversial. With its steampunk backdrop, the film follows a suicide victim reanimated with the consciousness of an unborn child, whose cognizance rapidly develops to match the confines of her adult body. This woman, named Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), goes on a journey of self-discovery, defying all the ways the men in her life attempt to control and confine her.

The feel-good movie of the year just might be a golf movie. “The Long Game” is coming to theaters Friday, April 12. The movie is based on a book, “Mustang Miracle,” a true story about five Mexican-American kids who caddie at a swanky local country club in 1957 and fall in love with golf. Due to racial discrimination at the time, the junior golfers — Joe Trevino, Gene Vasquez, Felipe Romero, Mario Lomas and Lupe Felan — have no place to play and only a few second-hand clubs.

A few years ago, I interviewed Asmir Begovic for the first time when he joined me and Luis Miguel Echegaray on our old weekly video show for Sports Illustrated. That was an enjoyable experience, so it was nice to catch up with Asmir again this week as his Everton team arrives in the United States for preseason. The entirety of the written interview below is reserved for paid subscribers. As always, you can still get the entire free audio version of my podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to go for your pods.