An itchy trigger finger shoots a gun. Someone gets hit and now there’s blood on the streets… Writer/first-time feature director Ladj Ly masterfully pays respect to the most crucial elements of cop/crime/thrillers. And though, in his first feature film, he respects genre norms he also exceeds expectations, using lively characters and true events from his past to […]

It’s lyrical. Like an extended poem with waves of emotion, heady rumination, love proclamations and lost souls gathering around a common issue. Some will recollect the true-life story of Bonnie and Clyde, but they gained fame for crimes and robbing banks. A closer comparison is Thelma & Louise, two feminist icons who were pushed into rebellion. […]

Combine their ages and these legends, Mavis Staples (80 years old) and Buddy Guy (83), have 163 years’ worth of living to sing about. And when they do, it’s a music and history lesson extraordinaire.  Staples built a reputation for her rugged R&B chops, social activism and fame as the lead singer of the classic […]

Recreating the aura of the historic Battle of Midway isn’t an easy task.  In the early 1940s, after the tragic Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had zapped America’s spirit, Midway became a turning point in World War II. And though this screen adaptation of that event has a very commercial and slick feel, credit it […]

Black and Blue, a very modern dirty cop movie, is blessed with a tough-as-nails protagonist, set in a town where locals don’t trust police and told in short succinct scenes that have a steady rhythm.  B&B doesn’t have the pedigree of a Sidney Lumet crime drama (Prince of the City), the blistering sadistic peril of an Antoine Fuqua movie (Training […]