Intimate portraits of young siblings are rarely this raw and authentic. There is something special and magnetic about the relationship between this orphaned 18-year-old black girl and her supportive 10-year-old sister. Actress turned director Jordana Spiro (best known for Netflix series Ozark) co-wrote the script for Night Comes On with Angelica Nwandu. Their story follows […]
Bigger. Better. Badass. By now you know what to expect from Mission: Impossible movies. Daredevil action scenes. Breakneck speeds. Cunning espionage. Inventive direction. Top production quality. Spot-on performances. Mission: Impossible — Fallen doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It just ups the ante, intensifies all the elements and makes everything look bigger—like you’re looking at life through […]
There’s something infectious about their eccentric friendship: Two boyz in the hood of Oakland, California. One black, a tortured sensitive soul and a magnet for suffering. One white, who tries to act black and attracts trouble from miles away. Their odd relationship, which is based on a deep emotional connection neither can explain, puts them […]
He likes to play the hero (Rampage). He does it all the time (San Andreas). It’s what his fans expect (Hercules). His films made him the second-highest grossing movie star of 2017. So, can Dwayne Johnson continue his mojo with this retro feeling (The Towering Inferno) but modern styling (Deepwater Horizon) disaster movie? The Pearl, […]
Young people can’t jump! In your face, Millennials! Step back, hipsters, because black Baby Boomers are taking the court in Uncle Drew. The genesis of this heart-warming sports comedy was a Pepsi Max commercial that evolved into a YouTube series that has been viewed 100M times. The webisodes starred Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie […]
Back in 2015, every element of the first Sicario was perfect. That murderous tale about the drug wars on the USA/Mexico border was impeccably orchestrated, even including the timing of its release. Emily Blunt played honorable FBI agent Kate Macer who sought to bring down a drug cartel that killed members of her unit. […]
Lions and tiger and bears, oh my. Tyrannosaurus, velociraptors and brachiosaurus—run for your lives. The cloned dinosaurs from the theme park Jurassic World are in trouble on the volcanic isle of Isla Nublar, which is erupting, spewing hot lava and emitting a deadly ash cloud. If they aren’t rescued, they will die. That’s the premise […]
If mood were an actor, it would get top billing in this poignant ode to veterans of the Iraq war who suffer from PTSD. The feeling of sadness that prevails is even stronger than the solid performances by Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Tye Sheridan (Mud, X-Men: Apocalypse), Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses), Jack […]
The 26thAnnual Capital Jazz Festival beckoned thousands of music lovers to the Merriweather Post Pavilion in downtown Columbia, Maryland. Since 1993, it’s become a tradition that has several givens: 1.) Stellar musical lineups. 2.) African American adults gather for the artists and the camaraderie with elaborate picnics, tents and tailgating—without the cars. 3.) Iffy weather […]
Two things hit you over the head once this 2hr 15m Star Wars edition finishes: 1.) It’s cool that it coyly pulls together characters, in their younger selves, that will know each other in the future. 2.) Given so much goodwill and creative capital, why did the filmmakers squander the moment with a weak script, dull […]