The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival roared back to its splendor with in-theater premieres and showings. Thousands upon thousands of international film lovers flocked to cinemas, viewed the latest wave of diverse voices and watched Black films that reflected Black life. Devotion (**1/2) Back in the ‘50s, pilot Jesse Brown made history as the US Navy’s first Black aviator. […]
Tyler Perry’s A Jazzman’s Blues Premieres at Toronto Film Festival 2022
(***1/2) Writer/director Tyler Perry had never had a movie programed at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. He said as much on the night of his latest film’s premiere. On stage he revealed that the script was written 27-years ago, and he was proud to have A Jazzman’s Blues open at TIFF. The audience seemed […]
The Woman King Crowns the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival
(***1/2) The mighty women of the Agojie were warriors. From the 1600s to1800s in the West African Kingdom of Dahomey this all-female military regiment gallantly fought their empire’s enemies. Film fans first glimpsed the Dahomey Amazon legacy in the Marvel movie Black Panther, where the Dora Milaje special forces in the fictional nation of Wakanda were modeled after those […]
Jose Feliciano: Behind This Guitar
(***) He came before them… Before Jimi Hendrix and Whitney Houston took creative license with “The Star-Spangled Banner” and before Marc Anthony and Bad Bunny sang salsa and reggaeton, José Monserrate Feliciano Garcia blazed a path. And now this nostalgic scrapbook of his life catalogues his trials and triumphs. Born blind in 1945, he lived […]
Beast
(***) If the job of an act/thr/hor is to scare the daylights out of you, Beast gets the job done. The success of this film’s eye-catching, ear-grabbing hocus pocus can be traced back to smart direction, near seamless visual/sound effects, tight editing and the supremely talented Idris Elba. “Cujo as a lion” was the goal. Screenwriter Ryan Engle (Rampage) set the stage, created […]
Day Shift
(**) He works hard for the money. Hunting, killing and extracting teeth from vampires for a living, in the hot San Fernando Valley, is no joke. Bud (Jamie Foxx) acts like he’s just an innocuous pool cleaner in SoCal. But on the downlow, he’s hunting bloodsuckers for cash. He just got kicked out of the international vampire hunters […]
Easter Sunday
(**1/2) He’s the talk of Netflix. Streaming audiences watch Filipino comedian Jo Koy bring the house down as he headlines shows in L.A., Hawaii and the Philippines. This edgy, urban comic loves his Asian culture and now he’s sharing that joy in movie theaters. In Easter Sunday, screenwriters Ken Cheng and Kate Angelo keep Koy in […]
Bullet Train
(***) “Fate will do what it wills,” says The Elder. But what happens when fate turns out to be a series of unpredictable and ultra-violent events aboard the world’s fastest train? The basis for this cutthroat railroad trip is a book by the very popular Japanese novelist Kôtarô Isaka. Hence the setting and situation. Ladybug (Brad Pitt) is an operative who’ll steal […]
DC League of Super-Pets
(***1/2) Somebody really put their paw in this. Humans are credited for writing and directing this fun-filled ani//act/adv, but don’t be surprised if a four-legged friend ghostwrote and directed the whole thing. The dialogue, jokes and storyline are so pet friendly and perceptive it seems that way. Krypto the Super-dog (voice of Dwayne “The Rock” […]
Nope
(**1/2) It came from outer space. Or somewhere. Something’s hovering over Otis Haywood’s (Keith David, Barbershop) ranch in SoCal’s parched Santa Clarita Valley. Otis comes from a long line of horsemen and is a noted animal wrangler for TV and film. His son OJ (David Kaluuya, Get Out) works beside him and his stallions. That thing in […]
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