(***) It’s a Tom Cruise kinda movie, but it stars Brad Pitt. He’s the protagonist in this tale about an ageing, washed-up race car driver who everyone’s counted out. Except for a dear friend and the driver, himself: “If the last thing I ever do is drive that car, I will take that life man, […]
28 Years Later
(***) Waking up in a hospital bed and discovering the world has been devastated by a Rage virus is an opening scene that’s hard to beat. That set of images from the 2002 film 28 Days Later‘s intro passage may make some film fans eager to see this third chapter’s beginning. With that in mind, you wonder […]
Wizkid: Long Live Lagos Premieres at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival
If Afrobeats music has a king, it’s Wizkid. He wasn’t self-anointed. It’s just that his music has crossed over worldwide in a way that’s made him part of the genre’s royalty. This insightful bio-documentary, which leads up to an historic concert, corroborates that notion. Karam Gill directs this exploration into the Grammy-winning singer’s life, career […]
The 2025 Capital Jazz Festival Welcomed Music Lovers
(***1/2) And so, they gathered. From near and far they came to Columbia Maryland for the 32nd Capital Jazz Festival. Music lovers. Musicians. All seeking great performances and good spirits. The 20,000+ participants at the fest roamed around 36 acres in Symphony Woods Park. Some holding tickets for the roof-covered, 19,000+-seat Merriweather Post Pavilion amphitheater, a […]
October London is the Rebirth of Cool
(****) “Make me, make me wanna get down tonight….” October London sang what was on the minds of his audience during his entire performance at the Beacon Theatre. On New York’s Upper Westside, on May 25, 2025, that’s what his aura did to them. London’s path was created by Marvin Gaye, Teddy Pendergrass, Luther Vandross and […]
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
(***1/2) If there’s one thing that we’ve learned over the 30-year history of this franchise, it’s that the missions aren’t so impossible when Ethan Hunt is in charge and Tom Cruise takes the wheel. Frankly the last chapter, Dead Reckoning Part One, was good but not great. So, this, possibly the final episode, needs to be […]
Hurry Up Tomorrow
(**1/2) There’s something beautiful and intriguing about what you’re watching. What you’re hearing. Hard to put your finger on it. Hard to ignore the imperfections, too. Music video? No. Traditional feature film? No. This is a hybrid. Something new. Something fans of The Weeknd, the film’s central character, may eat up. Especially if they stop […]
Black Tea has NYC premiere at 2025 New York African Film Festival
(**) Even master auteurs have an off day. A premise that doesn’t pan out. A vision that others can’t see. But because they’re so talented, often film buffs find some kind of gold in whatever they do. Legendary writer/director Abderrahmane Sissako, who was born in Mauritania and raised in Mali, has built a solid reputation on classic African […]
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