In 1968, you couldn’t turn on the television, listen to the radio, or read something in print without seeing a White face. Even during the Civil Rights Movement, any presentation of the Black experience was almost always presented through a… Read More ›
“Coming 2 America” is a serotonin-filled blast from the past.
To paraphrase a line from director Craig Brewer’s (Dolemite Is My Name) Coming 2 America, Hollywood is nothing but superhero films, remakes, and sequels no one asked for. Without getting into the numerous ways that’s an oversimplification that ignores the… Read More ›
Documentary “Dear Santa” showcases the magic of the season and the people who keep it alive for others.
From the director of Batkid Begins (2015) and Pick of the Litter (2018) comes a joyous and heartfelt exploration of Operation Santa, an initiative within the U.S. Postal Service that works to answer letters of children and adults sent to… Read More ›
Reaction-inducing stunts & kinetic cast chemistry pull up a predictable plot in Netflix’s “The Old Guard.”
The list of films that deserve a theatrical release grows longer the further into 2020 quarantine goes. April brought the kinetic and pulse-pounding Extraction; May offered up the colorful escapism of The High Note and comedic hijinks of The Lovebirds;… Read More ›
The world must have turned upside down because “Hamilton” is coming home via Disney+.
In case you’re coming to this unclear on what actor/playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is about, the play follows significant moments of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton’s (Miranda) life from surviving severe illness as a child; coming to American from the Caribbean;… Read More ›
Musical dramedy hits “The High Note.”
In times of great stress like these, it’s important to remember what gets us through: art. Art, of course, can be anything from clothes, food, movies, projects, music, and more. They are the things which bring us joy and help… Read More ›
Looking for some old fashioned family fun? Answer “The Call of the Wild.”
A story of any kind — adaptation, original, or otherwise — that features an animal, usually sparks one specific question: does the animal make it?! To quell this particular concern, the dog in director Chris Sanders’s (How to Train Your… Read More ›
Writer/director Stella Meghie’s “The Photograph” asks her audience to look beyond the frame and love completely.
Writer/director Stella Meghie’s (Everything, Everything) new film, The Photograph, is a drama/romance depicting two love stories (one in the past, one in the present) connected by a picture. That description just scratches the surface of Meghie’s tale which examines not… Read More ›
Director Melina Matsoukas’s directorial feature debut “Queen & Slim” is a time bomb disguised as a powerhouse drama.
Director Melina Matouskas’s directorial debut, Queen & Slim, is a devastating drama about a couple thrust into the spotlight after a traffic stop gone wrong. At least, that’s one way to read it. Another way is that the screenplay from… Read More ›
Charming, beautiful, and absolutely magical, “Abominable” is fun for the entire family.
DreamWorks Animation is no stranger to crafting stories while pushing reality and tickling the imagination. Thanks to this studio, audiences around the world know how to move it move it, train a whole host of dragons, and that plans can… Read More ›
Large in style, but small in scope, “Ad Astra” is a visually stunning journey through the solar system within an existential drama.
Some look at the stars and see infinity swirling before them. A smaller portion look upon existence stretching out before them in a sea of black littered with bright specks and feel a pull, a pull to explore, to quest,… Read More ›
Dramatic thriller “Luce” plays your expectations against you at every turn.
Audiences cultivate a certain expectation depending on the film distributor. With Warner Bros. Pictures, odds are you’re getting something fairly mainstream; whereas A24 almost always releases genre-pushing indies. In the middle lies Neon, where it handles mainstream documentaries like Apollo… Read More ›
“Ready Or Not,” here comes the bride.
Every family has their traditions, the little things that they do in order to carry forward to the future the notions of the past. Where things tend to get tricky is when someone marries in. Suddenly it’s not about one… Read More ›
“Spider-Man: Far From Home” is an adventurous conclusion for the MCU’s Phase 3.
Audiences and MCU characters alike don’t know what to expect in the wake of Avengers: Endgame. Loss of any kind takes time to properly heal from and, while audiences didn’t get much (barely three months between the release of Endgame… Read More ›
Strong performances and a tight script make “Late Night” resonate.
As theaters ramp up for animated animal adventures, alien invasions, and yet another zombie apocalypse, there’s a small work-place comedy executed by an incredible cast of comedic actors offering up something different. Written by Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project), directed… Read More ›
“Booksmart” blends the real with the hyper-real to create absolute magic.
Watching Booksmart, the new teen comedy from Annapurna Pictures, you would not know that this is the directorial debut feature film for Olivia Wilde (Life Itself/House, M.D.). Nuts to bolts, Booksmart is a heat-seeking rocket of a film. It’s precise,… Read More ›
When times are hard, faith can help us “Breakthrough”.
January 19th, 2015, John Smith (portrayed by Marcel Ruiz) was playing on an iced-over lake in Missouri with some friends when the ice broke underneath them. While the other two got out, John remained in the water for 20 minutes… Read More ›
While a lot of fun, “Captain Marvel” relies too much on the past in establishing its present.
First teased during the post credits sequence of Avengers: Infinity War, the 21st Marvel Cinematic Universe entry Captain Marvel fully introduces audiences to a character MCU producer and mastermind Kevin Feige described as “…the strongest character [the MCU’s] ever had.”… Read More ›
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” once more captures the imagination in a surprisingly emotional finale.
When audiences attend a children’s film, they don’t expect much: a few laughs, some sort of adventure, and perhaps a moral or two tucked in to give the adults something to discuss with the kids. Generally, expectations are pretty low…. Read More ›
Director Peter Jackson’s “They Shall Not Grow Old” brings the past to life like nothing before it.
Roughly four years ago, the Imperial War Museum began working with director Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) to develop a documentary focused on World War I. His only directives: make it fresh and original. As a self-professed… Read More ›