(**) “Whatever it says, don’t listen to it. It will play on your heart. It will play on your mind.” Nice dialogue for an Exorcist kind of movie. But not enough to hold this horror/thriller together for its entirety. The setup is pretty routine: A mom, Ebony (Andra Day, The United States vs Billie Holiday), her mother (Glenn […]
Alien: Romulus
(**1/2) “This place gives me the creeps!” When a band of twentysomething scavengers sets their sights on an abandoned space station, little do they know that their search for treasure would lead to the reawakening of alien beings. A creepy feeling is an understatement. They’re gonna be ravaged and destroyed! In the 22nd century, life on […]
Daughters
(****) When you start with a humanizing premise, there’s nowhere to go but up. Documentaries that present solutions, not just observations, should be lauded and rewarded. That’s why praise has been bestowed on this heartwarming film and its mission to reunite daughters and their incarcerated dads. Bring a tissue when you see it. Maybe a […]
Deadpool & Wolverine
(**1/2) In the great pantheon of superhero movies, the original Deadpool (2016) took its rightful place among The Dark Knight, Black Panther, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Avengers: Endgame… It’s R-rated niche, visual splendor, graphic violence and potty mouth humor distinguished it. The generic Deadpool 2was a dump. Can Deadpool & Wolverine replicate the first one’s sleazy luster? Certainly, its rampant, filthy, […]
Twisters
(***1/2) It’s like you’re chasing tornados from the front seat of a roller coaster. Watching this big tent disaster movie in a cinema is fun. In an IMAX theater it’s even more amazing. But the ultimate immersion experience is viewing, hearing and feeling the whirling winds from a seat in a 4D theater. It’s a […]
Sing Sing
(****) It’s refreshing when a film poses answers to the most confounding social issues. Countless feature films and documentaries exam the plight of systems and institutions that treat Black folks unfairly. Too few offer solutions. That’s the reason this drama, which is based-on-fact and real people, is so illuminating. It offers results. Prison reform is […]
They All Came Out To Montreux –- Tribeca Film Festival Review
(***1/2) The “who’s who” of the music industry, over the last six decades, are on view in this loving tribute to Claud Nobs, the founder of the world-class, world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival. As he gets his flowers, music lovers get vivid clips of iconic musicians in performance, backstage and being casual. You can’t beat the […]
A Quiet Place: Day One
(***1/2) “You need to stop following me,” says a woman who is as terrified of the beasts as anyone else. “I’m really scared, I don’t know what to do,” confesses a man as he trembles and follows her like a scared toddler. There was a certain magic in A Quiet Place (2018) and A Quiet Place Part II (2021), […]
Thelma
(***) They shouldn’t have messed with this granny. She’s coming for them—and she’s packing heat! Writer/actor and first-time director Josh Margolin has a wild imagination. One he honed while a member of various improvisational groups. He also has a 103-year-old grandmother he loves dearly. Hence the hilarity and premise of this scorned grandma movie that is a consistently endearing, […]
It Was All a Dream — Tribeca Film Festival Review
(***) She’s brilliant. This is one of those classic cases when the person asking the probing questions in a documentary is even more fascinating than the subjects being interviewed. When East Coast/West Coast hip hop and rap culture was in its infancy, it had an archivist. That shaman-like figure was Dream Hampton, a music journalist […]
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