“The Flash” is one of the most spectacular and frustrating mixed bags of the superhero era and at the same time thoughtful and clueless, challenging and flattering. It offers some of the best digital effects work I’ve ever seen, and some of the worst. Like his sincere, but often unhappy hero, he continues to exceed…
Supervised and conceived by the Russo brothers of Marvel, the “Extraction” films are an example of a dwindling race: the big-budget and super-powered adventure. Whether the main character’s name is John Rambo, Jason Bourne or John Wick, he is a variant of a type: the prolific finisher who would rather not finish anymore, but is…
At its best, Pixar is unbeatable, making intelligent, charming and original films that touch the heart and stimulate the imagination. And so, it was disheartening to see how the animation studio behind emotional triumphs such as “Toy Story”, “Ratatouille”, “Up” and “Inside Out” — among the best films of their respective years, without exception —…
To be black is to recognize the inherent impact that roughness has and continues to have on our culture and our history. To be black is to see your identity relentlessly caricatured for propaganda, but to claim your power in the face of the deniers. Yet the cycles of grief imposed on Black communities lead…
“We can’t all die first “is a great slogan, which is perfectly filled with Tim Story’s” the Blackening “, an ode to horror parodies like”Scary Movie”.”The comedy, the characters and the comments in this movie will be hilarious to all viewers, but will scratch a familiar itch among black viewers. Of all the customs of…
Mo Washington (Letitia Wright) is a liberated woman. Since the end of the Civil War, she has been free for five years, even if she has nowhere to exercise this freedom. She has a charter for Colorado lands, but when her stagecoach is ambushed by marauders, her Plan and her possessions are in limbo. Posing…
“God Is a Bullet” is like a mallet to the back of the head. It’s never subtle, demanding that you know its presence while knocking the taste out of your mouth (none of this, unfortunately, can be counted as a compliment). The film attempts to marry the movements common to grisly road movies and grimy…
R-rated studio comedy hardly ever appears in the theater these days, especially in the age of streaming. The only mature comedies usually come from Universal Pictures, which likes to bend genres (“Cocaine Bear”, “Renfield”), mix concepts for children, but with a touch of maturity (the upcoming” Strays”) or bet on a comedian closely associated with…
From a producer of “Spring Breakers” and “The Virgin self-destructions,” “Heroes” by writer/director Jordan Gertner takes us into the lives of four robber friends who visit Thailand for a hedonistic adventure. The quartet quickly goes over their heads when one of them is kidnapped by a notorious medicine lord. To action and protect themselves, each…
Some memories are too painful for us to carry them day after day. There are compartments in our heads where we keep our heaviest memories to protect ourselves from despair. This is especially true for traumatic events-events that are so important that our reactions cannot be controlled. Some people may move forward without remembering, but…
This chronicle of the tiring and tumultuous return of retired American cyclist Greg LeMond to his former glory during the 1989 Tour de France seems to be something that would be at home in the famous ESPN documentary series “30 for 30”. Unfortunately, there is already a “30 for 30″ documentary —”Slaying the Badger” in…
“The Stroll,” by Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker, is a riveting documentary about transgender women of color in the 1990s and early 2000s engaging in gender work in an area called the Stroll in the meatpacking district of lower Manhattan. It is a story of despair, brotherhood and triumph. From the very beginning, it turns…
It’s been five years since director Boots Riley’s debut film, “Sorry to Bother You,” dominated conversations. With a skillful hand that created comedy with a hard-hitting social critique, “Sorry to Bother You” put Riley’s creativity and contributions to Afro-Surrealism on the map. The style he has implemented in this Film does not turn out to…
Just enough of the recent high-profile thriller from Apple TV recommends him, even if he never quite reaches the heights he should with his premise and captivating lead actor. Idris Elba has had a fascinating career, as he has the charisma on the screen to be a movie star, and yet his most popular roles…
The theme of motherhood has long given the horror genre some of its greatest stories. From “Rosemary’s Baby” to “the Babadook,” it’s inherently scary to watch your beloved child get overwhelmed by the forces of evil, or to reckon with the idea that parenting makes us vulnerable to pretty much all the terrible things in…
