“You can not own a child of God,” proclaims a slave named Moses (Mahershala Ali, HBO’s Treme). “We don’t got no country on either side. We’re our own Country,” says Confederate Army deserter Newton “Newt” Knight (Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyer’s Club). Those poignant bits of dialogue sum up the rebellious spirit in this rousing […]
The 2016 San Francisco Jazz Festival Hits a Cool Vibe
For years San Francisco has been the West Coast playground and refuge of jazz musicians. Since 2013, those artists have had a permanent home at the SFJAZZ Center, the first-ever standalone structure in the country dedicated to jazz. Think of it as a cool opera house, where the beats get funky, the music is […]
Presenting Princess Shaw
She, Samantha Montgomery, is a 39-year-old who works a 9-5 at a nursing home in a rough section of New Orleans. On her own time, she takes on the persona of Princess Shaw, a singer/songwriter who posts a cappella performances of her songs on her YouTube channel. It’s a shot in the dark. Will […]
X-Men: Apocalypse
It’s the best of the bunch. In a season of crime fighter against crime fighter, super power vs. super power films, this mutant-on-mutant spectacular has the most depth, innovation, majesty and visual wonder. Compared to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (a convoluted snore) or Captain America: Civil War (bombastic and contrived) X-Men: Apocalypse […]
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
Somewhere in this raunchy, bawdy comedy of errors is a young feminist story trying to get out. By the time this follow-up to Neighbors worms through 92 minutes of belly laughs and sight gags, the die is cast. Young women should follow their own path and thirtysomething-year-old parents should stay in their own lane. Message […]
Keanu
They’re 50% black, 50% white. 100% Nerd. Go figure. Left to their own devices and dull lives, not a lot of excitement comes their way. Until that fateful day when a lost and forlorn kitty shows up at the door. Then all hell breaks loose, and Rell (Jordan Peele) and his cousin Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) […]
Nina
If you haven’t picked up a copy of I Put a Spell on You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone, now is a good time to read it and let Simone reflect on her life, with her own enlightening words. If you haven’t seen the Oscar-nominated, bio-documentary film What Happened, Miss Simone?, it’s on Netflix […]
The Jungle Book
Start the great debate right now. Is The Jungle Book the best kid’s action film ever made? Possibly. Expect to hear both sides of that argument waged by millions over lattes at Starbucks after they exit theaters. Performances. Direction. Script. Production Elements. Special effects. They all blend together seamlessly into a visual wonder and an […]
Demolition
When a loved one dies the normal dynamic is that the friends and family left behind go through a grieving process, each in their own way. The premise of this offbeat, meandering and not so believable movie is centered around what would happen if a wayward soul went on a mourning path that was antisocial, […]
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Director Christopher Nolan, gone. Oscar-winning actor Christian Bale, gone. There will never be another The Dark Knight Rises. That iconic, once-in-a-lifetime action film is over. If you can wrap your head around that, and get past the first sluggish minutes of this Batman derivative, you just may find some instances of wonder in between […]
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