(**1/2) He was the man behind the man. Martin Luther King’s chief lieutenant. Why is he only getting attention now? Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) was gay at a time in the ‘60s when he was shunned by MLK’s other associates. He regained his stature in the civil rights leader’s camp when he […]
American Fiction Wins the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival People’s Choice Award
(**1/2) The people have spoken. Amuse them and there will be acclaim. Hence the bestowing of TIFF’s People’s Choice Award on a screen adaptation that’s fueled by wit, sarcasm and tepid drama. It’s blatant cynicism. Those who aren’t Black buying Black books that are filled with tropes, cliches and stereotypes that fulfill previously conceived notions. The Black authors who […]
The Equalizer 3
(***) “Do you know who I am?!” That’s what a menacing thug bellows. “I know what you are,” replies Robert McCall (Denzel Washington). Former government assassin. Current freelance equalizer. A counterbalance to bullies and their behavior. Sometimes action/crime/thrillers cross the line into the art film world. Director Antoine Fuqua has clearly chosen that path, as […]
Blue Beetle
(***) It’s a start. One day Latino superheroes will be everyday marvels. Not a rarity. This is the beginning. Blue Beetle first appeared in a comic book back in 1939, in a story about an archaeologist who found a magical blue scarab in Egypt that gave him superpowers. It would eventually become part of DC […]
Gran Turismo
(***) Vroom. Vroom. Zoom. In his bedroom, he’s a helluva a race car driver. On the racetrack, he’s even better. That’s according to this very engaging bio/spo/dra. There’s a whole generation who know little about the outside world and more about the virtual one in their rooms. Nagging parents try to coax them out. Society […]
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
(**) If a horror film goes for the jugular it has to have fangs. Right? Taking a chapter from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula and adapting it into a fright film is a good start. Great source, good premise, legendary story and characters. The right casting, astute direction, reams of dread, lots of thrills and plenty of […]
Talk to Me
(***) Every time they hold the hand and say: “Talk to Me,” something wicked their way comes. So, you’d think they’d stop. Right? No! Hell hath no fury like teenagers left alone in a room with time on their hands. They’ll find trouble where there is none. That’s the premise of this mostly engrossing horror […]
Ruben Studdard Shares Power of Love on Luther Vandross Tribute Tour
(***) Ruben Studdard is a love ambassador and a superstar. It’s been a journey. Let him tell you… It seems like Studdard won American Idol yesterday. But that was 20 years ago. He’s grown as an artist since then. His talent as a vocalist extraordinaire is on view as he tours his Luther Vandross tribute […]
Barbie
(***) Do blondes have more fun? She does. He doesn’t. In Barbie Land, Barbie (Margot Robbie) and her posse (Issa Rae, Dua Lipa, Alexandra Shipp) run the queendom. Her boy toy Ken (Ryan Gosling) and his clones (Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, John Cena) don’t. The young women are proud to be presidents, astronauts […]
Oppenheimer
(****) “I feel like I have blood on my hands.” That admission is uttered by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who was the “father of the atomic bomb.” As director of the Los Alamos Laboratory from 1943-45, he was a key figure in the Manhattan Project. A think tank and research/development group that created and […]
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