Focus on Film & Television Reviews and writings about these subjects. As well as Pop Culture at times. With a bit of an edge and some color
Written & Directed By: Prentice Penny
Cinematography: Eliiot Davis
Editor: Sandra Montiel
Cast: Mamoudou Athie, Courtney B. Vance, Niecy Nash, Sasha Compere, Matt McGory
Elijah must balance his dream of becoming a master sommelier with his father’s expectations that he carry on the family’s Memphis BBQ joint. Seeing African american characters as successful business owners and treated as classy. Is rare in modern cinema. So it is a Welcome change and sight.
Directed By: Craig Brewer
Written By: Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski
Cinematography: Eric Steelberg
Editor: Billy Fox
Costume Design: Ruth E. Carter
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Snoop Dogg, Craig Robinson, Wesley Snipes, Keegan Michael Key, Mike Epps, Tituss Burgess, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Kodi-Smitt McPhee, Ron Cephas Jones, Chris Rock, Barry Shabaka Henley, Tip T.I. Harris, Leunell, Tasha Smith
Eddie Murphy portrays real-life legend Rudy Ray Moore, a comedy and rap pioneer who proved naysayers wrong when his hilarious, obscene, kung-fu fighting alter ego, Dolemite, became a 1970s Blaxploitation phenomenon.
Directed By: Mick Jackson
Written By: Barry Hines
Cinematography: Andrew Dunn & Paul Morris
Editor: Donna Bickerstaff & Jim Latham
Cast: Karen Meagher, Reece Dinsdale, David Brierley, Rita May, Nicholas Lane, Jane Hazlegrove, Harry Beety
Documentary style account of a nuclear holocaust and its effect on the working class city of Sheffield, England; and the eventual long running effects of nuclear war on civilization.
Directed By: Abdellatif Kechiche
Written By: Abdellatif Kechiche & Ghalia Lacroix
Adapted from: the comic book “Le Bleu est une couleur chaude” by: Julie Maroh Cinematography By: Sofian El Fani
Editor: Sophie Brunet, Ghalia Lacroix, Albertine Lastera, Jean-Marie Lengelle & Camille Toubkis
Cast: Lea Seydoux, Adele Exarchopoulus, Salim Kechiouche, Aurellen Recoing, Catherine Salee, Benjamin Siksou, Alma Jodorosky
*Please note that some trivia and facts have been republished from imdb among other sources In this review
Adèle is a high school student who is beginning to explore herself as a woman. She dates men but finds no satisfaction with them sexually, and is rejected by a female friend who she does desire. She dreams of something more. She meets Emma who is a free spirited girl whom Adèle’s friends reject due to her sexuality, and by association most begin to reject Adèle. Her relationship with Emma grows into more than just friends as she is the only person with whom she can express herself openly. Together, Adèle and Emma explore social acceptance, sexuality, and the emotional spectrum of their maturing relationship
Written & Directed By: Chris Kelly
Cinematography By: Brian Burgoyne
Editor: Patrick Colman
Cast: Jesse Plemmons, Molly Shannon, Bradley Whitford, Maude Apatow, June Sqibb, Paula Pell, Matt Walsh, Paul Dooley, Kerri Kenney, Zach Woods, Mike Mitchell, Lynne Marie Stewart, Nicole Byer, Lennon Parham
Follows David as he moves back home to be with his mother for the year between her giving up her fight against cancer and slowly dying. David’s relationship with his family is, at best, strained (especially in regard to his father) because of an apparent difficulty in accepting his homosexuality. Although the subject matter is genuinely distressing, his mothers death ultimately helps restore his familial bonds and become an integrated part of the family unit again.
Written & Directed By: Tayarisha Poe
Cinematography: Jomo Fray
Editor: Kate Abernathy
Cast: Lovie Simone, Jharrel Jerome, Celeste O’Connor, Ana Mulvoy Ten, Jesse Williams, Gina Torres, Nekhebet Kum Juch, Evan Roe, Francesca Noel, Henry Hunter Hall
Five factions run the underground life of the prestigious Haldwell boarding school. At the head of the most powerful faction – The Spades – sits Selah Summers. By turns charming and callous, she chooses whom to keep close and whom to cut loose, walking the fine line between being feared and loved.
Written & Directed By: Numa Perrier
Cinematography: Brent Johnson
Editor: Brittany Lyles
Cast: Tiffany Tenille, Numa Perrier, Stephen Barrington, Bobby Field, Zoe Tyson, Rockwelle Dortch, Charlie Taylor
In the last days of her mother’s life, 19 year old Tiffany crashes with five family members in a Las Vegas studio apartment. In order to make ends meet, her older sister, a phone sex operator, introduces her to the world of internet fetish cam girls. Tiffany becomes popular as the only “live black model” at the new adult site and soon becomes too close to one of her frequent callers. Dynamics shift in the sister relationship as each woman explores and exploits their sexuality, using their created fantasy worlds as an escape from the realities of their challenging real life circumstances. This bizarre coming of age story depicts sisterhood in a most unusual way.
Written & Directed By: Barry Jenkins
Based on the Novel By: James Baldwin
Cinematography: James Laxton
Editor: Joi McMillon & Nat Sanders
Music By: Nicholas Britell
Cast: Stephen James, KiKi Layne, Regina King, Michael Beach, Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, Aunjaune Ellis, Diego Luna, Dave Franco, Brian Tyree Henry, Ed Skrein, Emily Rios, Finn Wittrock, Ebony Obsidian
African-American teen sweethearts Fonny and Tish are ripped apart when Fonny is wrongly arrested for the rape of a Puerto Rican woman because of the machinations of a racist cop. While seeking justice for Fonny, a pregnant Tish relies on her Harlem community, including her sister, mother Sharon and future mother-in-law.
Written & Directed By: Jason Orley
Cinematography: Andre Huebscher
Editor: Waldemar Centeno
Cast: Pete Davidson, Griffin Gluck, Emily Arlook, Jon Cryer, Sydney Sweeney, Machine Gun Kelly, Thomas Barbusca, Oona Laurence, Omar Brunson
A suburban teenager comes of age under the destructive guidance of his best friend, an aimless college dropout.
Written & Directed By: Cynthia Mort
Cinematography By: Mihai Malaimere Jr.
Editor: Josh Rifkin, Mark Helfrich & Susan Littenberg
Cast: Zoe Saldana,David Oyelowo, Keith David, Ella Joyce, Mike Epps, Ronald Guttman, Ella Thomas, Michael Vartan, Matthew Hoffman
The story of the late jazz musician and classical pianist Nina Simone including her rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson.
Cut To The Chase 