If an audience can relate to a protagonist and her plight, they’re hooked. If a character is fascinating in some way—even diabolical—viewers will pay attention. Relatable? Fanciful? No. Sibyl is puzzling. That’s it. Sibyl (Virginie Efira) is bored with her life as a psychotherapist. As her patients lie on a couch revealing their deepest fears, checkered pasts and testy problems, their doc is M.I.A. Physically she’s in the room. Mentally she’s focused on herself. Surprising her husband and leaving her […]
Tenet
Warner Bros delayed the release of Tenet during the pandemic until it could open it in theaters. It was a wise decision. The film belongs on a big screen. In fact, for maximum effect, viewers should consider experiencing the movie in an IMAX theater. Director/writer Christopher Nolan is nearly unequaled when it comes to giving audiences unimaginable, spellbinding visuals: The Dark Knight, Inception, […]
The 2020 American Black Film Festival – Going Virtual
In the age of COVID, film festival directors are finding creative ways to screen movies for audiences without gathering large groups at indoor venues. Hence the 2020 ABFF Online Edition. For those who tuned in, the array of films for the 24th festival by black artists was vast. These movies will do the film festival circuit […]
The 24th
Audiences can learn so much from historical events that are inspiring and sometimes just profound. When filmmakers choose the latter and decide to recreate a tragedy, it’s a risky endeavor. One that doesn’t always reward its audience. The third Battalion of the all-black Twenty-fourth United States Infantry Regiment consists of 156 soldiers and is stationed in Houston in 1917 during WWI. The troops are often harassed […]
Project Power
Move over Molly. You’ve got competition! Folks in New Orleans are downing potent capsules dubbed Power that can give them superpowers. What’s the catch? The energy rush only lasts for minutes and it’s very unpredictable. Who in the world could think up such a novel premise? Point your finger at screenwriter Mattson Tomlin (upcoming The Batman). […]
Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn
Decades ago, long before BLM protestors marched and chanted “George Floyd—I can’t breathe,” demonstrators shouted “Yusuf. Yusuf. Yusuf. No justice, no peace.” Racially motivated crimes that ignite outrage have a long history. One of the most heinous felonies provides a back story to today’s struggles. On August 23, 1989, Yusuf Hawkins, a 16-year-old Brooklynite from East New York, traveled to the unfamiliar Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhurst with friends contemplating the purchase of used 1982 Pontiac. Unbeknownst to him the largely Italian/American community was hostile to Blacks. Some […]
Out Stealing Horses
When the title of a film is more vibrant than anything you’ll see on the screen, it’s an issue. The source material for this meandering and overly sentimental coming-of-age drama is the bestselling novel of the same name by Norwegian author Per Petterson. The focus is on a 67-year-old man named Trond (Stellan Skarsgård, Chernobyl) who relocates to rural Norway, a trip that […]
Radioactive
Rosamund Pike makes a lot of good choices. Check out her filmography and some of her very impressive feminist roles: A courageous war correspondent in A Private War, gusty widow in Hostiles, stoic wife in an interracial marriage in A United Kingdom and cunning spouse in Gone Girl. Now this. Pike portrays world-renown physicist and chemist Marie Sklodowska Curie. She […]
Fatal Affair
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 […]
ESSENCE 50th Anniversary Issue
Happy to say I was one of the contributors to Essence’s 50th Anniversary Issue. My Essence Eats column charted the history of some classic restaurants that were around when Essence began in 1970. It also highlighted new eateries that are breaking ground and continuing to support the African American community.
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