Richard Roundtree made his film acting debut in 1971’s “Shaft”, which became a blaxploitation classic. Samuel L. Jackson continued the legacy of the character 29 years later in the part remake, part sequel, “Shaft”. Now, Jessie T. Usher makes it three generations in the new follow-up — also simply called “Shaft”. All three eventually join […]
I’m proud to have some first-hand, late night network talk show experience. I’ll never forget my two appearances on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, including getting to learn a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes at these shows. I got to watch Jay rehearse his monologue (in his trademark denim on […]
I doubt Keanu Reeves could’ve guessed that he would be part of another blockbuster film trilogy following “The Matrix”. But 2014’s “John Wick” quickly became a cult hit, spawning the 2017 sequel, “Chapter 2”. And now we get “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum”. And like a good dog, it’s loyal to the series and […]
Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” stunned audiences with an untold, incredible true story set amidst the racial tensions of 1970s America involving the Ku Klux Klan. Less than a year later comes “The Best of Enemies”, a softer, but just as surprising, real-life story about 70s race relations and the KKK. Sam Rockwell won an Oscar for […]
Writer/director J.C. Chandor gave us the grittiness of crime and money with “A Most Violent Year”. Fellow writer Mark Boal took us into the war zone with “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty”. These two put their skill sets together, teaming-up on the new Netflix all-star action drama “Triple Frontier”. Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, […]
“Velvet Buzzsaw” is written and directed by Dan Gilroy, who re-teams with his “Nightcrawler” leading duo Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo. Last time they dove head-first into the world of TV crime reporting. This time they take the art world by storm with a dark, satirical, oddball slasher dramedy. Unique. Kooky. Absurd. Memorable. Those are […]
The release of “The Upside” had been a long time coming. This Americanized remake of the 2011 hit French movie “The Intouchables” began filming in January 2017. At the time its distributor was The Weinstein Company. That September, “The Upside” had its world premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival – to mixed reviews […]
“The Favourite” took the historical monarchy storyline and put a modern, darkly comedic spin on it. “Mary Queen of Scots” is much more straightforward, traditional and dramatic. And once again, strong women take centerstage. Saoirse Ronan plays Mary, who began her rule of Scotland when she was just 6 days old. She was married at […]
Earlier this year, I walked out of “The 15:17 to Paris” thinking Clint Eastwood could not have possibly directed that movie. His two previous films, “American Sniper” and “Sully”, were both knockouts. How could what I just watched have been so flat and lifeless? Thankfully, Eastwood’s second 2018 release (he began principal photography in June) […]
The hit 2015 YA novel Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy features a girl who’s deeply inspired by the music and life of Dolly Parton. The singer learned about the book – and a short time later got a call from actress Jennifer Aniston, who optioned that book for a movie. The Netflix film version is both […]