Dull suspense/thrillers are most often mired in formula. Example: Woman in distress. Man stalks her. Confrontations and narrow escapes. Big do-or-die finale. The Perfect Guy (Sanaa Lathan is hounded by Michael Ealy) stuck to those basics. Fatal Affair does too and adds nothing new to the mix. Director/writer Peter Sullivan and co-writer Rasheeda Garner stay on the path most […]

If history classes were this entertaining, there would be lines around the block to get in.  For many, Hamilton is an enigma. It was the toast of Broadway. Attention-grabbing scenes were performed during the Tony Awards Show. But if you weren’t willing to spend a fortune for tickets, you‘ve probably never seen this groundbreaking musical.  What many […]

“She’s not coming to take you away.” It’s a hollow promise. An 11-year-old black boy is snatched away from his white foster mom. The life he knew ripped out from under him. It causes a bitterness that lasts well into his teenage years in this thoughtfully and emotionally charged coming-of-age drama.  Writer/director Shola Amoo’s semi-autobiographical portrait recaptures […]

A small black neighborhood in the Fort Worth, Texas metro area. A former teenage beauty queen whose opportunities never panned out. It’s a microcosm. A blip on the radar. Just big enough to provide strong underpinnings for an earnest character-driven story. Juneteenth, aka Freedom Day, Jubilee Day or the Black Fourth of July, is an […]

He’s the poster child for his generation. Tatted on the outside, emotionally scarred on the inside, aimless. Smoking a lot of weed for the duration. Millennials who are set adrift can relate  There’s something about Pete Davidson that’s weirdly endearing. The self-deprecating humor, his pride for blue-collar Staten Island, losing his firefighter dad in the […]