By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic There are certainties in life. We live. We die. All of us experience the loss of a loved one, and what better setting for a laugh-out-loud comedy than a funeral? Everyone can relate to the universal stress of this end-of-life ritual, which is only compounded by the tension in […]
Mother and Child (***1/2)
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child…” The gift of life is examined through the eyes of three women. Three disparate souls haunted by their past, living life today teetering on emotional eggshells and apprehensive about their future. History binds them. Destiny sets them on a precarious course, falling […]
The Karate Kid (*1/2)
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic Sometimes it’s best just to leave a classic film alone… 26 years have passed since Ralph Macchio played a transplanted teen from New Jersey who relocated to California with his single mom, encountered some bullies, was taught how to fight and win a karate competition by a noble handyman/martial […]
Get Him To The Greek (**1/2)
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic “The artist is the worst person on earth. Turn your back on him at your own peril.” Rock stars have a bad rep. Temperamental. Self-absorbed. Reckless. Sex-crazed. Addicted to anything that isn’t tied down. So what was junior record executive Aaron Hall (Jonah Hill, “Superbad”) thinking when he agreed […]
Brooklyn’s Finest (***1/2)
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic There are only a few authentic, high-quality New York City cop films: “Serpico,” “French Connection,” “Prince of the City,” “Narc,” “Training Day.” Now “Brooklyn’s Finest,” a thoroughly engaging, nerve-fraying ode to wayward cops, can be added to that rarefied list. Graphic script, instinctive direction, engaging acting, superior production quality, […]
The Book of Eli (* 1/2)
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic It’s the end of the world, as we know it… Road Warrior, Waterworld, The Postman, The Road, I Am Legend… Post-apocalypse films are a dime a dozen, so what makes The Book of Eli so different? Not much, except an evangelical subplot that is not strong enough to be […]
Ten Best Films of 2009
By Dwight Brown Film Critic NNPA In this sweeping year of change, good films have remained a constant. Looking back on the high-quality movies of 2009, there are memorable stories, outstanding performances, high-drama, romance, lots of laughs and wild thrills. Certain films stand out and will vie for OscarÆ awards. Some may never win a […]
The Princess and the Frog
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic “When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are.” For decades Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures has been the king of animation, going back to Snow White (1937) all the way up to WALL…E (2008). It has made the world safe for young kids who want […]
Passing Strange: The Movie
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic “Life is a movie starring you,” says Stew. Over the years, film (Why Did I Get Married), TV (The Cosby Show) and theater (Love in The Nick of Tyme) have portrayed the black middle-class. What they’ve yet to do is capture the antics of adolescent rebellion within this social […]
The First Grader (***1/2)
By Dwight Brown NNPA Film Critic In this fact-based story about an 84-year-old former Mau Mau warrior who desires an education, the human spirit gets tested, ageism goes on trial, tribal conflict reigns and Kenyan history is made. In 2002, after years of strife the Kenyan government promised a free education to all its citizens. […]