Walking into a theater to see the latest Fast & Furious episode is like saying hello to an old, well-oiled friend. Great and familiar cast, excellent script, superb production values and the direction is tight as a drum. Can’t say this is the best film of the franchise, because so many of them have been excellent. But it’s easily the most daring. Fasten your seat belts and test the airbags. This one accelerates real fast.
Movies
Movies: a space for local and national arts and entertainment stories, with an emphasis on stories pertaining to African and African Americans.
Posted inArts + Culture, Movies
REVIEW | ‘Home’ tries hard to please the kids
Smek (Steve Martin) is the ostentatious leader of the Boovs, and not exactly a fan of Oh. Gratuity “Tip” Tucci (Rihanna), is the little girl looking for her mom, Lucy (Jennifer Lopez), who has been whisked off by the Boovs, and relocated in Australia with the rest of the humans.
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Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell, an unlikely but inspired duo in ‘Get Hard’
Provided you’re open to politically-incorrect fare ranging from racist to misogynistic to homophobic, you’re likely to enjoy this inspired pairing of the relentlessly absurd Ferrell and the motor-mouthed Hart at the top of their games.
Posted inArts + Culture, Books, Movies
‘Black Male Frames,’ chronicles Hollywood’s narrow vision
“Black Male Frames charts the development and shifting popularity of two stereotypes of black male masculinity in popular American film: The shaman and the scoundrel… [The book] identifies the origins of these roles in an America where Black men were forced either to defer or to defy their White masters.
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‘Focus’: A farfetched, cat-and-mouse crime caper rich with eye candy
Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie) is an aspiring con artist who picked the worst guy to steal a wallet from when she settled on Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith). She had no reason to suspect that he was a third generation flimflam man descended from a grandfather who ran a crooked poker game in Harlem back in the day.
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‘Beyond the Lights’ DVD review: Love in the time of hip hopera!
Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) has it all, or so it seems. After years of trying to make it, the emerging pop singer is finally on the brink of super-stardom, thanks to several hit singles she recently released, duets with her famous rapper boyfriend, Kid Culprit (Machine Gun Kelly).
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Oscar Recap 2015: ‘Birdman’ soars over the competition!
Birdman won Best Picture at the 87th annual Academy Awards on a night periodically punctuated by politically-conscious acceptance speeches.
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AfroPoP, a showcase for filmmakers of color
Two DuVernay films – Middle of Nowhere and I Will Follow both were shown at the Twin Cities Black Film Festival, notes Founder-Director Natalie Morrow. The acclaimed director is just one of many Black female filmmakers who successfully produced small and big-screen cinematic pieces, which typically get exposure at annual film festivals such as Morrow’s.
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Selma: Timely civil rights saga revisits historic marches
I was born in the early 1950s, which means the Civil Rights Movement unfolded over the course of my formative years. And like the average Black kid growing up in that tumultuous era, I can distinctly recall having a very visceral reaction to the nightly news coverage, since I had such a personal stake in […]
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David Oyelowo: Selma actor goes from king of England to Martin Luther King, Jr.
David Oyelowo (pronounced “oh-yellow-oh”) is a classically trained stage actor who is working successfully and simultaneously in film, television and theater, and has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents.
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Top Five: Chris Rock directs and stars in satire of celebrity reality shows
Chris Rock recently hosted Saturday Night Live. During the show’s normal intro section, he did around 10 minutes of standup. One of the targets of his wicked humor was the new World Trade Center. He said he would never go in it. There were audible gasps, and a bit of controversy followed. Some weren’t amused that he had the audacity to say what people think. That’s the brilliance of Rock, who is a talented social satirist; he’ll say anything.
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A Madea Christmas mixes mirth and message in modern holiday parable
Mabel “Madea” Simmons is the moralizing, motor-mouthed senior citizen created and first introduced on stage by the incomparable Tyler Perry. The compulsive granny is a self-righteous vigilante who can’t help but intervene on the spot whenever she sees an innocent victim being bullied by a sadistic villain.
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Beyond the Lights
Movie Review By Raymond Jackson Contributing Writer It has been a while since I’ve seen and heard a Hollywood production with excellent and spectacular appeal. Beyond the Lights is bound to appeal to the young and the old, Black and White. It’s very versatile in its delivery. It is written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, […]
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Dear White People: Satire takes sophisticated look at Ivy League race relations
The academics are tough enough at Winchester University, a mythical Ivy League institution. It’s too bad that Black students there also have to worry about making themselves comfortable socially.
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Belle: biopic inspired by painting chronicles life of slave-turned-aristocrat
Born in the West Indies in 1761, Dido Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) was the product of the taboo union of Mary Belle, an African slave, and John Lindsay (Matthew Goode), a British ship captain. Upon Mary’s death, the concerned father brought his eight-year-old daughter to England to see whether his well-heeled aunt and uncle might be willing to take her in.