By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic What do you get when you mix cop/thriller elements with a paranormal film? Dread, fear, anguish, action, suspense anxiety, curiosity, disbelief, demons, thrills… At first, you might think that this creepy crime movie is just another excuse for a The Exorcist rip-off-but it’s better than that. Better. Sergeant Ralph […]
Jersey Boys
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic Four guys stand under a street lamp, singing their hearts out. That’s the iconic vision of Doo-wop/pop groups like The Four Seasons. The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Jersey Boys puts a name and face to that image. Clint Eastwood’s screen adaptation, triumphantly for the most part, makes their tale […]
22 Jump Street
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic The film 21 Jump Street was a hip, focused, comic homage to the 1980s TV series. 22 Jump Street is an unfocussed potpourri of physical humor, sight gags and shtick that is shamelessly uproarious. In this sequel, undercover cops, Officer Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Officer Jenko (Channing Tatum), who […]
Edge of Tomorrow
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic Day after day. Over and over again. He can see his demise. But no on else can see theirs. Until…. In Hiroshi Sakurazak’s 2004 military science-fiction novel “All You Need Is Kill,” Mimics (vicious, crustacean-looking aliens) invade Japan. Keiji Kiriya, the book’s protagonist, is a young recruit who is […]
Wild Tales (Relatos Salvajes)
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic Back in the day, The Twilight Zone did it right. Each episode started with an everyday routine, then it added a couple of wicked twists, and before you could say, “Rod Serling” things went completely askew. Argentinean writer/director Damian Szifron has that same knack, which he exhibits masterfully in […]
Grudge Match (***)
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic This is a charming and disarming geezer sports movie. Somewhat formulaic, but a lot of fun regardless. In fact, you may get so caught up in the moment you’ll celebrate your gray and throw your Grecian Formula away. The genesis of this AARPish story came from screenwriter Tim Kelleher […]
Mandela Long Walk to Freedom (***1/2)
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic You’d think the life and times of Nelson Mandela, the man who saved South Africa from the evils of apartheid, had already been thoroughly documented. However, that’s not the case. Sure the media covered the interminable prison sentence ended by worldwide economic/political pressure, the inauguration of South Africa’s first […]
Black Nativity
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic “When a mother bestows a name on her child, it reveals her hopes.” Black Nativity, a celebrated “gospel song-play” by acclaimed poet/novelist/playwright Langston Hughes, was first staged in the 1950s with Alvin Ailey and Carmen De Lavallade. Director/writer Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou) adapts that piece into a modern, urban […]
The Best Man Holiday (***)
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic Running into old friends often brings up mixed feelings. Fond recollections. Unfinished business. Bad memories. Petty rivalries. Insecurities. Unrequited love. That’s the range of emotions and dynamics in this follow-up film to the 1999 romantic comedy The Best Man. Fourteen years later this gaggle of educated, bourgeoisie friends still […]
An American Promise Shines at the 2013 New York Film Festival
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic As the New York Film Festival kicked off its 51st year, African heritage films were few and far between, but exceptional. 12 Years A Slave stole the spotlight as it leads the Oscar race for Best Picture. The thought-provoking documentaryAmerican Promise is the modern-day bookend to a movie like […]
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