(***) She speaks her mind. Unfortunately for family, friends and strangers, most of her rants are aggressive, accusatory, abusive and petty. Hard to believe anyone could be so irascible. Hard to believe she can change. Can she? Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) has a bug her up her crawl. She belittles her twentysomething-year-old, overweight and aimless son […]
Bird – 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Review
(**1/2) She’s got a thing for birds. They’re like the guardian angels she needs to watch over her. Bailey (Nykiya Adams) has it rough. As the 12-year-old daughter of a wacky rocked out dad named Bug (Barry Keogan, The Banashees of Inisherin) and sister to a teen half-brother named Hunter (Jason Buda) who’s an amateur vigilante, […]
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found – 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***) So many artists struggle. Often never recognized for their contributions until after their death. Ernest Cole is one. An archetype. In one way, this humble, enlightening documentary is an ode to a brave South African photojournalist. In another, it’s a salute to those who create works of art and never get the flowers they […]
The Fire Inside – 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***) “What do you think about girls boxing,” says coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry). His wife Mickey (De’Adre Aziza) calmly replies, “Don’t see no reason why she can’t. She got hands.” As a young girl in Flint, Michigan, Claressa Shields keeps stopping by Crutchfield’s boxing gym. Since female pugilists are frowned upon, she can […]
Anywhere Anytime – 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Review
(**1/2) It’s an immigrant’s story. Specific to Italy, but universal in scope. Iranian-born director/screenwriter Milad Tangshir and co-writers Giaime Alonge and Daniele Gaglianone, tell a simple tale about the immigrant experience. They’re better at building the foundation than completing the project in a way that would make it memorable. Issa (Ibrahima Sambou), a twentysomething Senegalese immigrant, was lucky […]
The Piano Lesson wows crowds at 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
(***1/2) The legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson is being kept alive by Denzel Washington and his family. Their archives of his genius and plays are movie adaptations, e.g. Fences (2016) and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020). The latest, The Piano Lesson, directed by Washington’s son Malcolm, was showcased at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. In […]
Blink Twice
(**1/2) She sold her soul to the devil. Now she wants it back. It was too good to be true. Frida (Naomi Ackie), a clumsy cocktail waitress at a classy fundraiser for rich folks, eyes the main attraction. It’s tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum). Think Elon Musk, but handsome. They flirt. He seems attentive in a […]
The Deliverance
(**) “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 […]
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