I’ll never forget the first time I tried weed. It was the summer before starting my freshman year of high school and my friends and I went to see Friday. Then when Belly came out a few years later I remember thinking “Wow, Nas and DMX look cool doing it, maybe I’ll give it another try.” Nope. Marijuana use in film is not some recent trend. In fact, the 1932 film Jewel Robbery features a scene where a character is forced to smoke a marijuana-laced cigarette that makes him forget his troubles. Two films were released in 1936 that were…
Author: DB
If you’re single, today is just another Friday. But if you’ve got a special someone in your life, it’s Valentine’s Day. And what better way to spend the holiday than a romantic trip to the movies! Awwwww The Photograph was written and directed by Stella Meghie, and stars Issa Rae as ‘Mae Morton’ and LaKeith Stanfield as ‘Michael Block’. Michael is a journalist who is doing a story on Mae’s mother ‘Christina Eames’ (played by Chanté Adams), who is a famous photographer. Michael meets with Mae to get more information but soon the two develop feelings for each other. Picture…
As the decade draws to a close, I figured I would write about 10 films from the 2010’s that I thought deserved some recognition in my opinion. This could’ve been a “Top 100” to be honest and I’m sure plenty of people will disagree with my choices, but hey, it’s my list and I’m sticking to it. This is not a best/worst ranking. I listed them according to the year they were released. DRIVE (2011) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBiOF3y1W0Y Director: Nicolas Winding RefnScreenplay by: Hossein Amini, based on the novel Drive (2005) by James Sallis.Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks,…
I’ve always loved a good mystery film, whether it’s the 1985 classic Clue or something as recent as 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express. If you’re like me then prepare to put your detective skills to the test when you watch Knives Out. Rian Johnson (no relation to Don) directs a star-studded cast that includes Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer. Christopher Plummer stars as wealthy novelist Harlan Thrombey, the patriarch of the Thrombey family, who is found dead on the…
Queen & Slim is the story of a first date that goes horribly wrong. Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) meets Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) at a diner after matching on the popular dating app Tinder. Slim struggles to find a way to warm up to her as Queen seems to only want company and nothing more. Soon after, they are pulled over by a police officer and what started as a stop for failure to signal quickly escalates into a fight with Slim killing the officer in an act of self-defense. *deletes Tinder* These two characters have only just met and already they…
The late Rudy Ray Moore (1927-2008) was a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer. In today’s world, a person can become famous solely for the amount of followers they have on social media and not for possessing any sort of actual talent. Rudy lived in a time where technology wasn’t available for personal gain, and therefore he attempted it all. Throughout his life he was a preacher, a singer, dancer, a comedian, and even served in the Army before moving from Seattle to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of stardom. He developed the character Dolemite and turned…
I realize that some of you reading this may or may not be fans of The Fast and Furious franchise. Some people have seen 1 or 2 movies, some haven’t seen any of them. For those wondering why Hollywood is still making F&F sequels, here’s a crash course to get you caught up: Over $5 BILLION worth of movies Back in 2001, The Fast and the Furious was released. Paul Walker played undercover LAPD officer Brian O’Conner who poses as a street car racer in order to infiltrate Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) crew of criminals. Brian falls in love with…
The first Men in Black starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones was released back in 1997. Some of you reading this probably weren’t even born yet. There were no smartphones, social media wasn’t even a word, and most people were still using dial up to access the internet. Will and Tommy teamed up for two more sequels, Men in Black II (2002) and Men in Black 3 (2012) before both actors decided to call it quits and hang up the suits. I forgot what I was gonna write here…. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson have now taken over as…
The 70’s was a decade known for disco, the end of the Vietnam War, and the birth of Blaxploitation cinema. The are two films credited for launching this genre, both released in 1971. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, which was written, produced, directed, and starring Melvin Van Peebles. The other was the iconic Shaft starring Richard Roundtree. Melvin’s film was notable for the fact that he performed all his own stunts (including jumping off a bridge 9 times) and even contracted gonorrhea after a sex scene. Shaft would produce two sequels, Shaft’s Big Score! (1972), Shaft in Africa (1973), and Isaac Hayes…
The End. It’s over. Done. A wrap. No mas. Or as Porky Pig would say “That’s All Folks!” Yes, the time has come to say goodbye to our beloved superheroes. It all began back in 2008 with Iron Man as we watched Tony Stark build his first suit of armor, the Mark I, in order to escape that cave. Since then, there have been 20 films (and also 10 tv series) that make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is a little bittersweet because over the last 11 years we have all eagerly anticipated each Marvel film, the sequels, the…