(**) Hard to respect an action/adventure/sci-fi film when all its flaws are so obvious. The un-special effects in this feeble, futuristic and shallowly written movie (Leo Sardarian, Aron Eli Coleite) are so telltale they would be laughable in a theater. But on a streaming service (Netflix), where mediocre movies are a bit more tolerable, there’s […]
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
(***1/2) Wow. It’s a rebirth. There’s a new badass rising like a phoenix. In 1979, Australian director George Miller introduced the post-apocalyptic and eerily dystopian action film Mad Max to audiences around the world. Forty-five years later he’s resurrecting the saga and has created a new storyline that’s as worthy as all the others in: Mad Max 2: […]
Andra Day Graces Opening Night of the 2024 Blue Note Jazz Festival
(***) She’s a Grammy winner. A Golden Globe winner. An Oscar Nominee. So Andra Day is the perfect superstar artist to kick off the 2024 Blue Note Jazz Festival New York City. Crowds lined up early Monday night May 2nd in the heart of Greenwich Village to grab the best seat at the Blue Note New York jazz club. Fans […]
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
(**) It’s hard to fathom who’ll go ape over this action/sci-fi/drama. Maybe those who don’t know better and slept through the previous Planet of the Apes trilogy. The bar was set very high back in 2011, after Rise of the Planet of the Apes became the grandchild of the original 1968 cult classic film. In that $481M blockbuster hit, James […]
The Fall Guy
(**) Telling someone “You have nothing between your ears,” isn’t a compliment. Telling a filmmaker and screenwriter “You have nothing between the action scenes,” is a similar diss. Read on… The trailers for The Fall Guy look exciting and certainly the premise has great potential. Stuntman Cole Seavers (Ryan Gosling, Barbie) is on hiatus after a precarious fall […]
Challengers
(***) Sometimes, three’s a crowd. Sometimes, not. Especially when a very desirable female tennis star enjoys making two male tennis players compete for her affection. “Whoever wins, gets my number.” They’ve known each other since the early 2000s. As a teenager, Tashi Duncan (Zendaya, Dune), was once the queen of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTS) juniors. She […]
The Long Game
(**1/2) Watching people beg and fight for equal access and dignity is sobering. But that’s what happened in the ‘50s before the anger and upheaval of the ‘60s civil rights movements. Gaining equality wasn’t easy back then. Life in small town Del Rio, Texas in 1955 is a microcosm of what’s going on in the […]
Civil War
(**) It’s like someone set a house on fire, then hid behind a bush to see what the crowd’s reaction would be. 28 Days Later was a shocking and terrifying zombie film. Credit director Danny Boyle and actors Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris for putting pure fright in that nightmarish, post-apocalyptic tale. But the real kudos […]
Monkey Man
(***1/2) “Every day, I’ve prayed for a way to protect the weak.” Hanuman, the Monkey God, is an ancient Hindu deity whose mythology includes heroism, strength, intelligence, love and compassion for the less fortunate. Sometimes his spirit is represented in a semidivine monkey-like form. It’s an essence that drives actor turned writer/director Dev Patel’s (Slumdog Millionaire) very impressive […]
Deviled Eggs And Jerk Lamb Chops: Black Chefs Share Their Go-To Dishes For Easter Sunday
It’s time to gather, eat and celebrate. Check out what some great chefs remember about the Easter Sunday meals they had growing up. Then discover the spring dishes they are serving up. Their memories and spring menus are in my Essence.com article. Full story on Essence.com.
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